DEGRASSI: AFTERMATH - S08E12 - HOLLYWOOD PART 1
Disclaimer: I don´t own Degrassi or the characters from it.
1. Ext. Garden. Day.
Eddy and Manny are about to be married in Spinner and Paige´s front yard. It´s a small, but very cozy looking wedding and Eddy and Manny look very in love.
Minister:
Then, by the powers invested in me, I pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss.
Manny and Eddy kiss to the cheers of the small crowd of friends and family, that are assembled.
2. Int. Kitchen. Day.
Spinner a is busy preparing food, with Sally as his enthusiastic apprentice. Jay comes out to them.
Jay:
The people want to know, when the grub is ready.
Spinner:
It´ll be at least half an hour. Our damn oven is quitting on me.
Jay:
No worries. It´s not like they´re starving to death.
Sally:
While we have the time, can I ask you something?
Jay:
Sure.
Sally:
I hear that you used to be Manny´s boyfriend and live with her in L.A. Why did you leave?
Jay looks a little evasive.
Jay:
I´m not sure, you should know.
Spinner:
It was ages ago. What´s the harm in her hearing the story?
Sally:
Please.
She gives him the puppy dog eyes and he gives in.
Jay:
Alright. Don´t spread it around, because it doesn´t make me look good.
Sally:
I promise, I won´t!
She looks pleased, that she gets to hear the story.
OPENING CREDITS
2. Int. Manny and Jay´s Apartment. Evening.
Jay and Paige are trying to console a young Manny.
Jay (voice over):
It was the year of our Lord, 2016. To be honest, I never liked living there and I only did so for Manny´s sake. We´d been living there for 3 years and I thought we would do better, if we moved home again. Manny had been turned down for yet another part and as per usual, me and Paige had to pick her back up again.
Manny:
Who do I have to sleep with to get a part?
Paige:
At least, you still have the soap to fall back on.
Manny:
Only for one more episode. From what I hear, my character is falling down an elevator shaft.
Jay:
Does that ever happen in real life?
Paige:
Jay, we´re talking about Manny!
Jay:
Sorry.
He puts an arm around her to console her.
Jay:
You´ll get a part eventually. You´re a good actress.
Manny:
Then why did they tear "Miss Bad-Ass" apart?
Paige:
Hun, that was a badly written, un-original, fragmented and extremely poorly acted mess. Meryl Streep couldn´t have saved it!
Manny:
Maybe I should try my luck at porn. You don´t mind, as long as I only do solo stuff, do you?
Jay:
Not if I´m the one, who films it!
Paige punches his arm.
Paige:
You´re not helping! If she does porn, it will follow her forever.
Jay:
I wasn´t serious! Anyway, it worked for Stallone!
Paige:
Manny, you have to keep your head up and keep trying. The right part will come along, I promise.
Manny:
What if it doesn´t and I have to return home a failure? I´ll have to face my parents and tell them , that they were right all along. That this was a stupid pipe dream and I never should have dropped out of college!
She starts crying and Jay´s heart goes out to her. It´s clearly tough for him to see her like that.
3. Int. Laundry Room. Day.
Jay and a young Eddy are talking, while waiting for their laundry to be done.
Jay (voice over):
If it hadn´t been for me and Paige, I don´t think she would have lasted six months there. Eddy, or mister Reid as you call him at school, became a great addition to our little group of friends.
Sally (voice over):
You didn´t know him before? I thought, he went to school with you guys.
Jay (voice over):
No, it wasn´t until him and Maya broke up and he moved into our apartment building, that we got to know him.
Sally (voice over):
Him and Maya? Is there any potential couple among you guys, that hasn´t been tried?
Spinner (voice over):
If you think, that´s confusing, let Paige draw you a chart of the relationships, back in our day!
Jay (voice over):
Anyway, I quickly found out, that he wasn´t half bad at giving advice.
Jay:
It´s tough seeing her like that and know, I can´t do anything to change it.
Eddy:
Yeah, it´s not like you can force someone to hire her.
Jay considers it.
Jay:
Force someone to hire her. It´s an idea!
Eddy:
A bad one! Please, don´t consider it!
Jay:
It´s better than anything, I can come up with.
Eddy:
The best thing you can do, is be there for her. If I´d done that with Maya, things could have turned out differently.
Jay:
As in, she wouldn´t have dumped your sorry ass?
Eddy:
Something like that. You´re lucky to be with Manny. I wish, I could find someone like her.
Jay:
Too bad, Buddy. I´m not giving her up!
Eddy:
I wouldn´t either, if I were you.
The drier finishes it´s cycle and he starts getting his laundry out of it.
Jay (voice over):
Unfortunately, the idea of forcing someone to hire her, got stuck in my mind. When she was turned down for a small part in a TV series, because they said she wasn´t pretty enough and came home crying, I couldn´t take it anymore. I´ve never been one to stand by and do nothing. If they could be that mean to my Manny and make her cry, they deserved whatever happened to them.
Sally (voice over):
You really loved her, didn´t you?
Jay (voice over):
More than you can imagine.
Eddy waves goodbye to him on his way out. Jay is still thinking to himself.
Jay (voice over):
I couldn´t come up with a plan, but then I saw a movie called "The King of Comedy". Have you seen it?
Sally (voice over):
Isn´t that the one, where De Niro plays a failed comedian, who kidnaps a famous guy and ends up famous himself?
Jay (voice over):
Exactamundo! That happy ending didn´t help matters! I started fantasizing, that I would save her career and she would love me forever for it.
4. Int. Bar. Day.
Jay and Paige are drinking a beer after work.
Jay (voice over):
Me hating my job there, didn´t help matters either. I was sick of that city and homesick as hell. But I would be damned, if I wasn´t gonna give it one last try. Even if I failed, it would mean that Manny would be open to moving home and I would still win, right?
Sally (voice over):
I´m not following that logic!
Spinner (voice over):
We call it "Jay Logic". He´s the only one, it makes sense to!
Jay:
Who actually runs a TV show?
Paige:
Why do you ask?
Jay:
I´m just curious.
Paige:
The showrunner is the one, who makes the main decisions.
Jay:
They decide which stories to do, which characters, they want on the show and things like that?
Paige:
The stories are usually more of a group effort between the writing staff, but the showrunner does have final word, in most cases. It´s more or less the same with characters, but if the showrunner likes them or the actor that plays them, then they´re more unlikely to be written off. On the other hand, the studio could pull a "Walking Dead" and kill off all the former showrunner´s favorite actors, to get back at him.
Jay:
Why do you want to work in that business? It´s rotten to the core!
Paige:
Why else? It´s Hollywood, baby! I´m living the American dream and finally, mama here is making the moolah!
She smiles to herself and takes a sip.
Jay:
It´s weird to think, that they hold so much power and no one´s heard of them.
Paige:
Only those, who read Imdb pages.
A plan starts to form in Jay´s head, as he takes a sip.
Jay (voice over):
One quick look on Imdb and I found out that the showrunner for "The Restless and the Young" was a man named Lawrence Howard. A look at his Face Range page, showed a rich "Fat Cat" of the kind, I can´t stand. It also showed that he frequented a bar called "The Wharf House", a place for the well to do. The day after, I called in sick and it was time to get to action.
Spinner (voice over):
If you´d put that much effort into school, who knows what you could have become?
Jay (voice over):
Hey, if they had said to me, that I got a girl like Manny as a graduation present, I would have put in the effort!
Sally (voice over):
I can see how a cap and gown, don´t have the same luster to them!
5. Int. Pawn Shop. Day.
Jay comes into the pawn shop. The owner is an elderly man, who´s behind the counter.
Jay (voice over):
Since we were close to broke, I had to find out a way to do it on a budget.
Jay:
Do you have any fake guns?
The guy looks puzzled.
Guy:
A fake gun?
Jay:
I want to play a prank on a friend of mine, but I don´t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a real gun.
Guy:
I can see that. Well, we have some toy guns. They look pretty real.
Jay:
Let me see.
The guy puts three toy guns on the table. Jay picks out the most real looking one, a copy of a Magnum .357, the classic "Dirty Harry Gun". He does his best Clint Eastwood impression as he points it at the owner, who plays along and pretends to be scared.
Jay:
I know, what you´re thinking, Punk! Did I fire five shots or did I fire six? Now is the time, where you have to ask yourself, if you feel lucky. Well, do you? Punk!
The shop owner smiles, but a young woman, who comes into the store at that moment screams and runs back out again.
Jay:
It must look real enough. I´ll take it!
6. Ext. Car Lot. Day.
Jay is being shown to car by a salesman.
Jay (voice over):
Next, I had to get myself some wheels. I went to the cheapest car lot in the city and told them that I wanted the cheapest one, they could rent me. It wasn´t pretty, but it had four wheels, an engine and a steering wheel.
They come up to to an old van, that looks like it should have been scrapped ten years earlier. It used to be one color, but several quick repairs over the years to cover the many dents have made it a multi colored hodge podge.
Salesman:
I can´t guarantee, that it won´t break down. If it does, don´t bother getting it back here!
Jay:
Sounds like my kind of car!
Salesman:
You like pieces of rust, with an engine, that´s gone over a mill? You´re a braver man, than I am!
Jay:
It´s a fixer upper, but it´s also a classic! You don´t see many of these on the roads anymore.
Salesman:
It´s clear to see why. I´ll make you a deal. If you manage to get it started and drive it out of the lot, it´s yours. Free of charge.
Jay (voice over):
Now there was a prize, I could live with!
Sally (voice over):
I wish, I could have been there to see it!
7. Int. Van, Day.
Jay sits down in the drivers seat and blows the dust off the panel. Part of the passenger seat looks to have been eaten away by a dog and his foot gets stuck on some kind of sticky substance on the floor. He is undeterred however and turns the key. After a bit of muttering, the engine comes to life with an almost sad, up-giving sound, as if the van has become self aware and knows, that it should have been retired years ago. It shakes a bit when he drives it, but hey, it´s running and he´s pleased with the deal he made.
8. Ext. Movie Studio. Day.
Jay is now dressed in a suit and has come to pick Manny up after work. She looks shocked at the sight of him in a nice suit next to the most beat up van in the city!
Manny:
When did you lose your mind?
Jay:
Do you like it?
Manny:
We have no money! How could you spend what little we have on this crap?
Jay:
The suit cost me a full 8 dollars. It need a few holes mended, but I think, I did a decent job.
Manny:
What about this ... Zombie version of a van! How much did that set us back?
Jay:
Not a dime. They literally gave it to me.
Manny:
I can see why. How on earth is that thing still running? It must be a mystery of science!
Jay:
It looks better on the inside.
Manny:
There´s no way it could look worse!
Jay:
You´re the one, who´s been saying, that you´re tired of carpooling, because the girls you drive with, smell like fish tacos!
Manny:
I meant, get a car, when we´ve saved up for. Not give this sad excuse for a vehicle, one last chance at life!
He manages to slightly appease her with a kiss.
Jay:
I only did it, because I love you. You´ve also been saying, that you´re tired of seeing me in the same old clothes all the time.
Manny:
The suit is nice and I gotta say, quite a steal at 8 bucks! Just do me one favor.
Jay:
What´s that?
Manny:
Don´t pick me up in that thing again.
Jay:
Not even ...
Manny:
Not if I´m stranded in South Central at night!
He opens the passenger door, that sqeeks quite a bit, when it´s opened for what´s probably the first time in months or maybe even years. She quickly gets inside and tries to slump down, so she can hide as mush as possible from her co-workers.
9. Int. Van. Evening.
Jay is driving the van, still wearing his suit.
Sally (voice over):
And Manny didn´t suspect anything?
Spinner (voice over):
Would you have expected someone to come up with that plan?
Sally (voice over):
I guess not!
Jay (voice over):
It actually worked in my favor, that Manny hated the van. I won´t say, that it didn´t have it´s problems, but it somehow pulled through.
The engine starts to die and he looks worried for a moment. He punches the dashboard in frustration and it somehow makes the engine come to life again. He can´t believe his luck and continues onwards.
10. Ext. The Wharf House. Evening.
Jay comes up to the door, where there´s a large doorman.
Jay:
Hey, man. Have a nice evening.
The doorman blocks the doorway.
Doorman:
I can´t let you in.
Jay:
I have friends in there, who are expecting me.
Doorman:
Call one of them up and have them come to the door. If someone, who isn´t wearing a cheap suit with a pair of sneakers to compliment it, can vouch for you, I´ll let you in.
Jay:
It was the sneakers, wasn´t it?
Doorman:
Kind of a dead giveaway.
Jay:
They´re the only shoes, I own.
Doorman:
Why would a normal dude like you, want to drink in there anyway? The drinks are mega expensive and the clientelle are a mix of dick-wads and A-holes!
Jay:
I´m trying to help out my girlfriend. It´s a long story, but it would really help me, if you let me in.
Doorman:
No can do, my man. I´ve got kids at home and I need this job to support them.
Jay:
Got ya. No hard feelings.
Doorman:
You´ll have to find some other way to make your girlfriend happy.
Jay saunters back towards the van.
Jay (voice over):
I wish, I´d listened to him. In stead, I decided to stake out the place and follow him home, after he came out.
11. Int. Van. Evening.
Jay is singing along to "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift playing from the radio. He clearly knows it better, than a man in his 30´s should and has the hand signs to match the song.
Jay (voice over):
So, I put on some old school Megadeth and passed the time.
Jay (singing):
Cherry lips, crystal skies
I could show you incredible things
Stolen kisses, pretty lies
You're the King, baby, I'm your Queen
Find out what you want
Be that girl for a month
Wait, the worst is yet to come, oh no
He sees a man come over and checks with the picture on his phone. It´s the right guy. Jay tries to turn the engine on, but the battery´s too dead to start it up.
Jay:
Don´t do this to me!
He tries pounding the dashboard in different places, since it worked the last time, but with no luck.
Jay (voice over):
A friendly guy gave me a jumpstart, after he´d laughed at the state of the van and I was off. The guy, I planned to follow, had left an hour earlier.
12. Int. Manny and Jay´s Apartment. Evening.
Jay comes home to find Manny asleep on the couch.
Jay (voice over):
I had to return home a failure, once again. It was comforting to know, that she wouldn´t know about it for once. I wanted more than anything in the world, to be able to do or say something, that would take her cares away.
He sits down next to her and she wakes up.
Jay:
Sorry, Boo. I didn´t mean to wake you.
Manny:
It´s okay. Did you have a good evening?
Jay:
It would have been better, if I´d stayed home with you.
Manny:
Let that be a lesson for you!
She gives him a kiss.
Jay:
How was yours?
Manny:
Sucksville, USA! I got a call from my agent. Tomorrow is my last day.
Jay:
I´m sorry.
Manny:
After two years, they don´t even think I´m worth giving a send-off to. I just disappear, never to be seen or mentioned again.
Jay:
That means, they can bring you back, right?
Manny:
We both know, that´s wishful thinking. I might as well face it. I´ll never make it as an actress, not down here anyway. It´s bye, bye to my dream and hello to reality.
Jay (voice over):
At that moment, there´s no doubt, I could have convinced her to move back to Toronto with me. But this had been her dream for as long, as I´d known her and it wasn´t like her to give up. That wasn´t the Manny, I loved, it was a shell of her. The Manny, I loved had always been a fighter to the end. I knew, that all she needed was some words of encouragement.
Sally (voice over):
You chose her happiness over you own! That´s so romantic!
Jay (voice over):
I considered option one for a moment, but there was no doubt, as to the right call.
Jay:
I´m disappointed in you. That´s the first time, I´ve said it.
Manny:
Because I´m keeping it real? The writing is on the wall, Jay. I´m not talented enough or have the face to make up for it.
Jay:
You´re the most beautiful woman in the world and I love your acting!
Manny:
You have to say that, because you´re my boyfriend!
Jay:
I mean every word of it. Do you know, what I also love about you?
Manny:
My nice ass?
She smiles at him cheekily.
Jay:
That you´re a tough girl, in the sense, that when you put your mind to something, you keep at it, until you succeed.
Manny:
This isn´t something, I can make happen, because I want it to.
Jay:
It´ll never happen, if you give up.
Manny:
Lie down with me.
He lies down next to her and she shares her blanket with him.
Jay:
You know, I would try to help you, if I could, don´t you?
Manny:
I know, we only have this small apartment, no money, the most run down old Van in existence and a few friends here. As long as I have you, I can live with it.
They kiss.
13. Int. Bedroom. Night.
Jay gets dressed in the middle of the night. Manny is still sleeping.
Jay (voice over):
This meant, that I had to work fast. So ...
We can hear a phone alarm go off.
Spinner (voice over):
Finally!
14. Int. Kitchen. Day.
We´re back in real time, so to speak. Spinner turns the alarm on his phone off.
Sally:
I have to hear the rest!
Jay:
It´ll have to wait for later. I could eat a horse!
Spinner:
You´ll have to settle for chicken!
Sally:
Promise me, you´ll tell me the rest later?
Jay:
I wouldn´t leave you hanging, young Padawan!
Manny comes in.
Manny:
Is the food ready? I thought, I heard an alarm.
Spinner:
It finally is. I´m sorry about the delay.
Manny:
It´s okay, if it´s worth waiting for.
Sally:
Jay has been telling me, why he left L.A. behind.
Manny:
He has, has he? I´m sure, there´s details, he´s left out, to make himself look better.
He holds his hands up in defense.
Jay:
None at all! Am, I right, Spin?
Spinner:
From what I know.
Jay:
I only got to the night before ... you know.
Manny:
Ahh! I want to be there, when you tell her.
Jay:
Don´t you have more important things to do?
Manny:
If she´s gonna hear that story, I want her to hear the whole truth and nothing but it.
Sally:
Now, I´m really excited to hear it! Can´t we put dinner off for half an hour?
Spinner:
No can do, kiddo. Let´s get to work.
Sally looks annoyed.
CLOSING CREDITS
