John From Cincinnati, His Visit. Day 20

DISCLAIMER: John From Cincinnati and its canon characters are the property of HBO and the show's producers; no copyright infringement is intended.

Written by: svengali2 

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On the ragged outcrop beneath the Elephant Tower we see a figure in a wetsuit  lying face down at the water’s edge, with long blond hair covering the shoulders. On a road a white Mazda Miata races toward the scene. Butchie is at the wheel, Mitch is riding shotgun. Perched behind the front seats are Freddy and Bill, who hold onto each other, trying to stay in the car as it speeds over the bumps in the road. The Miata brakes and skids to a stop at a distance from the fence. Bill and Freddy climb down with difficulty and grumbles, and  everyone starts to walk down the path to the Elephant Cage while looking around.

Bill: (rubbing his neck) Yes, he informed me we should search here, at the elephant tower. Fuck if I know the exact spot! It's a bird, for Christ's sake, not a fucking GPS!

Freddy: Yeah, whose fucking place is on a wall, stuffed and mounted! If we follow your prophetic parrot instructions, we’d be wandering around this fucking cage for the next seven years and... and get irradiated! (he looks with suspicion at the buildings in the Elephant Cage.)

Bill: Oh, this bird’s got more brains then you, pal. If you'd just taken off your glasses, you would see what’s under your feet, you’re shuffling ... like a zombie.

Freddy: (indignantly) These are prescription glasses, for reading. They are not tinted, don't you notice?

Bill: (nods) Which proves my fucking point!

Butchie: You see anything Dad? I gotta tell you, driving a Miata without a stick is like Surfline saying the waves are double overhead and you fucking get there, it's only chest high and backed the fuck off!

Mitch: There certainly was no need for speeding. Freddy and Bill were clinging on for dear life. (Butchie chuckles) If your mother sees that the tank is almost empty, you know... Better fill it up on the way back. (after a pause) You think we should be here in the first place?

Butchie: C’mon, Dad, after all the shit that happened, Bill's parrot gets my vote. Hundred percent!

Mitch: I think Bill, as a serious aviculturist, might consider Zippy a nanday conure, a parakeet, that is a species of parrot...

Butchie: (taking a sideways glance at Mitch) Huh? A Monday parakeet? Shit, Dad, whatever, thanks for the fucking pointers!

Back on the road roars a motorcycle, raising a cloud of dust. Moana and Palaka dismount and run to the group.

Palaka: Boss, boss, only two minutes behind, here I am! Nothing to worry about, made it here in one piece!

Freddy: No, you should be dead from fucking stupidity. Look at this jackass, he got there! You think anybody’s safe?

The sound of squealing car brakes followed by a loud scream “Motherfucker!” is heard from the road.

Mitch: That must be Cissy.

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Cissy and Tina, not looking at each other, join the group.

Cissy: (to no one in particular) I’ve learned how to downshift at fifteen.

Tina: I've learned a few things, Cissy!
 
Cissy: Oh, what? So now you can say “fuck me” in French?

Tina: What if I can?

From above we see a car with the roof of blue solar panels stop next to the Miata.  Dwayne jumps out of the car leaving the door open. He is wearing a t-shirt with LUDDITES printed  on the front. On his head are massive goggles with a wide black band.


Dwayne: We should go down to the water! There is someone there, I see it!
 
Bill: Through those things on your head? Do they also take your fucking pulse and blood pressure?

Dwayne: Uhh, why? Yes, sure.

(Bill shakes his head in disgust.)

Cissy: (looking at Mitch) Are you going to tell me what the fuck we are doing here?

Butchie: Dad?

Mitch: I didn't tell her. (to himself) What could I possibly say - a bird issued an order? I really have no idea myself why...

Tina: (suddenly proclaims very loudly) Va te faire foutre! (leaving everyone and, most of all herself, dumbfounded)

.
 translation: va te faire fourtre - fuck off
 
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Inside the fenced area of the Elephant Cage the military is conducting a training exercise. The silent loudspeakers fixed on lampposts around the field suddenly emit a high pitched noise, then transmit the conversation:

"We should go down to the water! There is someone there, I see it!"
"Through those things on your head? Do they also take your fucking pulse and blood pressure?"
"Uhh, why? Yes, sure.
"Are you going to tell me what the fuck we are doing here?"

 Special Ops trainees lift their heads in surprise.

Outside the fence Dwayne cries in pain. He grabs and pulls off the goggles and begins to turn them in his hands, examining them.

Dwayne: I don't know how it could... Have they... are they testing an upgrade? ...We went live!

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Somewhere in Southern California in a house overlooking the ocean, Linc is staring at the pounding surf through a big window in his room. It is sparsely furnished and looks unlived in as a hotel room. Turning away from the window, Linc sees John in a black wetsuit.
 
Linc: Fuck me! Tell me I’m not dreaming, John. Tell me you are not a garbled transmission, all pixelated, floating like a genie from a bottle!

John approaches Linc with an outstretched hand. 
   
John: Give me a pound! (they bump their fists) We are coming...

Linc: 9-11-14, I know. Time forward... or ... are you counting backward John? Crosswise? Right to left? What's your system? Who’s been teaching you math, John? 
 
John: ( agreeable) Backward and forward! Who's been teaching YOU math, Linc? (smiles) Tina learned a few things. Cissy learned how to downshift at fifteen!

Linc: Downshifting, I've heard of it, my brother. Slow down and green up, is that what you’re talking about? (He motions his hand around the room) Couldn't find me a yurt with creature comforts, don't like to shit in the woods, but you won't see me eating foie gras, John.  Never developed the taste.



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While the first minutes of the music are playing, a wide panoramic view of the ocean, endless and powerful, ever moving and changing fills the screen. 
 

We see a marine research vessel, its masts with radars and antenna arrays and a towing platform on the aft. Cass is positioned on the deck, she's filming a pair of humpback whales.  Suddenly, the whales she sees in the viewfinder are replaced by a streaming video feed from around the Elephant Cage. Cass lowers her camera and stands quiet, looking out to the ocean.

Cass: If you are anywhere, you are everywhere. 

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Down on the shore at the water Butchie and Moana are the first to reach a still figure in a black wetsuit. They gently turn the body. The long blond hair falls to the side uncovering the face of an unconscious young man with a scraggly, unkempt beard.

Butchie: (slipping on the wet sand and landing on his knees.) Jesus fucking Christ! (incredulously) Shaunie?

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Paddling out to the swell, Kai drops into the wave and sees it start to barrel above. Stalling, she drags her arm in the water to the wave’s face. Then she is inside the curving liquid wall, with the foam ball running behind. A slim figure in a black wetsuit appears next to her, so close that she can almost touch it. John turns his head and smiles. Together they are riding in the arching green tunnel of the roaring water, propelled by the wild power of the ocean. The tunnel seems endless. The sunlit opening  is approaching in the distance. 

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Beneath the Elephant Cage, down at the water.

Bill, Freddy, Mitch, Palaka and Dwayne run down the slope and surround unconscious Shaun. They stand aside to let Cissy and Tina through. Cissy, out of breath, unceremoniously pushes Moana away. She slides down to the sand and pulls Shaun up into her lap, cradling his head in her arms.

Butchie: What the fuck! He’s surfing in Indonesia!

Cissy and Mitch:( together) In Hawaii!

Bill, Palaka and Freddy: In Australia!

Dwayne: (whispers) M-m-mexico.

Confused, they look at each other.

Shaun opens his eyes, sees his father's clean shaven face few inches from his own and giggles.

Shaun: Dad, you look like a... captain!

Butchie: Yeah, buddy, it's me, a fucking space ship commander!

Cissy: (scoffs) Yeah, sitting on your ass on the ground. (Shaun's eyes close, as he again loses consciousness)

Tina  is standing at Shaun's feet silent, with tears in her eyes.

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Linc  and John walk out of the house at the ocean. 

Linc:  So, a bringer of news, is push coming to shove...  ahead of schedule?

John: I don't know Butchie instead!

Linc: You know, John, eight times out of ten when I jump in the pool, there is water in it!  (to himself) Shouldn't ask why, or what, or when, that will end in another mind fuck...  What the fuck am I supposed to do?

A few yards away from the house a black helicopter is slowly descending to the ground, the wind from the rotor blades is whipping up the sand. John spins around, full circle, his outstretched arm is pointing to the helicopter. 

John: (smiling) Get in the fucking thing and drive Linc! 

Linc: Fucking Uber now sends helos on request? Who's your friend John - Camp or Kalanick? I'm guessing it's both.

John: (tilting his head) Uber doesn't ring a bell!


"Eight times out of ten when I jump in the pool there's water in it" and "Get in the fucking thing and drive" are direct quotes from David Milch presentations,  - a commentary to the Ep.10 of JFC and a talk at The Writers Guild Foundation in 2006.


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Beneath the Elephant Tower.

Cissy: (smoothing Shaun's hair, looks up at Butchie and Mitch) You two, do something! He's fucking unconscious!

Palaka: (wiggling in between Bill and Freddy to get close to Shaun) Been a long trip, the kid needs his, uhh, beauty sleep, eh, boss? What do you say?

Freddy nods to Moana.  Moana lifts Shaun in his arms as one would hold a child. Palaka rushes next to Moana and tries to lift Shaun’s legs up. 

Palaka: Oxygen infusion and such… increase the blood flow to the head!

Freddy: Get the fuck outta the way!

Moana carries Shaun up the slope, everyone is following.

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John and Linc run to the helicopter, hands covering eyes against the whirling sand. When the door to the cabin slides open, we see a tall figure in camouflage with aviator sunglasses and a cap that shadows the face. The man helps Linc and John climb in, points them to the seats in the back and plugs in a headset, showing Linc how to turn it on. He smiles to John, then proceeds to the pilot's seat. 

Man: May I welcome you aboard The Flying Whale, my good friends! Not the best accommodations for our upcoming travels, as I myself am first to acknowledge and apologize for subjecting you to a certain discomfort... (John starts to wiggle in his seat and make grimaces) Alas, that was the only vessel we, attorney Dickstein and I, could legally acquire on such a short notice, as I should say in our defense!

 Linc: Hell freezes over! Barry?

Barry: (softly laughing) Ah, a souvenir of our tender times! And dare I say the title may have foretold our harmonious reunion in the sky!

John is listening to the conversation while holding his hands over his ears, imitating headphones. 

Barry slowly begins to whistle a tune. 

Linc: Where did you learn to... uh, whistle?

Barry: (looking through the cabin's wraparound glass down to the ground, distracted) Joe has wonderful friends with impressive skills and generosity of heart... and spirit... Oh, you meant whistling? That, too, is a kind gift for which I am eternally grateful... from our young friend, Adam! That boy.... whose many talents I not so secretly admire and envy.... we spent quite a few afternoons in the Snug Harbor courtyard... me listening and trying to follow, and him whistling and singing...
Beautiful voice! I'm doubting I would hear those songs again...

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Cut to the Internet Café. In front it’s the same tables and chairs and a food display. In the back, behind a glass partition, is an improvised office with computer stations, a ping pong table and a blackboard covered in drawings and numbers. Seven people of different age are working at their computers.

Jerry: (to a customer, setting a steaming coffee mug on the table next to another one already there) Is that hot enough for you, dear?  

Suddenly, startling her, her cell phone plays first accords of Hotel California.

Jerry: Who? Who? Jesus fucking Christ! (shocked customer spills her coffee and grabs paper napkins to mop up the liquid) And who wants to know? … Ah, returning from the wilderness!  (she leans forward to the customer, covering the phone with her hand)  You thought it’s Jesus Christ calling?  Yeah, so you could ask him to make you a "cup of real hot coffee"? (speaking in the phone again) No Linc, he is not here with his bunch of useless little shits! …He doesn't have a phone, he has a… rope making machine on his head! ... That's how it fuckin' looks to me… I will, if he gets here! (turning back to the woman, she sees that coffee is still dripping from the edge of the table) I'll get you another cup...

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A group of camouflaged men is leaving the training ground at the Elephant Cage, running in the direction of the parked cars.  

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In the El Camino Butchie is settled in the bed of the truck, he is holding Shaun in his lap; next to them distraught Tina is wiping her tears.

Butchie: Hey, c'mon, Tina. He's gonna be fine!  

Tina: (sniffling) What happened to him? 

Butchie: (wraps his arm around Tina's shoulders.) We'll figure it out. 

Palaka is in the driver's seat of the El Camino, Freddy and Bill are standing at the metal railings looking out.   

A scratched and dented white  van, appearing at high speed from the road, cuts in front of the soldiers. Two men jump out of the van yelling something unintelligible in Spanish. Slowing down, the van drives to the parked cars. More men surround Mitch and Cissy who are walking to the Miata, still couple of yards away.

Cissy: (to a man with a black bandanna on his head) What the fuck is this bullshit now? What do you want?

Mitch: Are we being kidnapped?

Freddy is climbing over the railing intent to jump down when Bill tries to stop him.

Freddy: (throws off Bill's hand) You fucking blind? The Mexicans are taking them to Tijuana! 

(Palaka opens the door of the El Camino and gets out, pulling out a gun tucked under his belt. He looks to Freddy, waiting for a signal)

Man with bandanna: Señora, the... federales, you go, rapidamente, uhh, fast, with us, to protect! Entiendes? Andale, andale! 

Cissy:  Are you fucking kidding? I am not going anywhere with you, dipshit!

Bill: (frustrated, to Freddy) Wait, Jesus F. Christ! It’s Alejandro!

Freddy: Who the fuck is Alejandro, your butt-ugly twin lost at birth?

(Alejandro grabs Cissy by the arm and pulls her to the van; the men drag resisting Mitch along)

 Bill: Zippy!...  Goddamn Zippy has him on probation!

Freddy: That should make me die happy? (to Palaka, seeing him wave a gun) Get in the fucking car, or I'll jump down and shoot you in your stupid monkey face with your own fucking gun.... (Palaka nervously scratches his stomach) before you blow off your own dick!

The van with Cissy and Mitch quickly drives away. Freddy hits the cabin with his foot, Palaka starts the engine, and the El Camino follows the van. 

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Cut to the helicopter.

Link: Where are we heading, Barry?

Barry:  I am, as of this moment, not completely sure, Linc. I was being drawn it felt, to the Silver Strand facility, or perhaps it is called Elephant Cage? If we could only possess a sixth sense... Imagine... unencumbered by mechanical contraptions, released ... as birds that innately know their way to the nesting ground that lies thousands of miles away! 

Linc: That would be…magnetoreception, a useful treat...

Barry: (intensely searching the landscape below) Here! Here it is, the sign, the path we are to follow.... and let us act in faith! 

Linc looks down to the road along the shore, leading to Imperial Beach where the El Camino is in pursuit of a white van. 

Link: Amen, my brother! Skyway One Oh One! (turning his head he sees that John's seat is empty)  Hang loose, Barry, our tour guide has disappeared, we must be in the right place!

--svengali2

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The helicopter flies above the palms and sprawling roads of IB. The El Camino and the white van are lost in the street traffic. 

Barry: (speaking in the mic) I owe a thank you to Meyer Dickstein, who insisted we have kept the parcel undeveloped! It should make a safe landing spot without undue interest from any and all authorities.

The helicopter sets down in the empty lot where the Snug Harbor used to be. Two tall palms sway in the breeze. 

Linc: The motel? 

Barry: The sands of time, Linc. In reverence to... the eventful days we transported the part of the structure with the bar to a new venue, so as not to worry about the building codes, permits, roaches and other vermin infestations.
 

Linc: (looks around) I see. The palms are what’s left then… not much, eh? And the space cadet... if he decides to stick around.

John: (appearing next to Linc, smiles) Help you think? That's what I'm good at!

Linc: (laughing) Pay dirt, my brother!

Barry: (dreamily) Star dust...

svengali2

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