[nun] How many times? Get your nose out of the dirt.
[stammers] I'm sorry, Sister. [grunts]
One day your curiosity will lead you down a path you can't come back from.
[nun 2] "And die in an instant, in the middle of the night.
His eyes are on the ways of mortals. He sees their every step."
That will be a demerit for tardiness, Calvin Evans.
Now, where did we leave off?
"There is no deep shadow,
no utter darkness where evildoers can hide.
God has no need to examine people further
that they should come before him for judgment."
Eyes on the board, please.
The verse reads, "The Lord is the maker of them all."
Sorry to interrupt, Sister Beth Ann.
- [children whispering] - Children.
[nun 3] Now, we just finished the meeting with the bishop.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith are ready to take him home.
Jeremiah,
there are some very special people who have come back to see you.
Say hi.
Jeremiah. Hi. Let's walk outside.
- Thank you. - God bless.
[Sister Beth Ann] Back to your compositions.
[door closes]
"The Lord is the maker of them all."
["Wham (Re Bop Boom Bam)" playing]
All right, boys. Load her up.
[bishop] Same order for next week?
If you can double the output, I'll make it worth your while.
Thank you.
[orphan 1] Careful. Don't spill any hooch. The bishop will kill us.
- Hey... [sighs] ...bring me another empty one. - [orphan 2] Yeah.
[orphan 1] Use this as a strainer.
Bottles go over there when they're filled.
Oh, Calvin. There you are.
Everyone is really impressed with the work you're doing down here.
I think it's time to increase production.
Is that the temperature gauge?
Yes, the one you mentioned.
That's great. [chuckles]
Now, what else do you need?
Put that over here. And careful.
Take it off your arm.
[Calvin] Put that on that second stove.
[orphan 3 speaks indistinctly]
- [orphan 4] We're running out of room. - [orphan 5] Yeah, we need more crates.
- Holy shit, it's a limo! - [Sister Beth Ann] Language.
[grunts]
[orphan 6] It's a Cadillac!
I bet he's a professional baseball player or a movie star.
[children chattering]
[orphan 6] What do you think he's here for?
[orphan 7] Don't kid yourself. I bet he's here for me.
[orphan 6] In your dreams.
[stammers]
[Calvin sighs]
[children murmuring]
Calvin.
Calvin, I wanted to take a moment to discuss your future.
You've become indispensable to me, and that should be rewarded.
Which is why I'm excusing you from your daily chores. [chuckles]
Is something the matter?
Who was that man who came today?
I had a feeling he was here for me.
He was here because of you.
I knew it. [breathes heavily] He-He's my father, isn't he?
Calvin, I'm sorry.
I told him everything about you, and he saw you.
[breathes deeply]
But he doesn't want you.
I'm sorry, Calvin.
But-- But what if I-I could just talk to him.
- He'd see I'd be-- - No.
Look, I-- I care about you too much
to subject you to those hateful, selfish people.
It's bad enough that you have to carry their brokenness in you.
That you will be burdened with it,
no matter how good you are, no matter how hard you try.
[camera flashes]
Try and act natural but distinguished.
How much longer is this going to take?
Would it be good to do one with the whole lab?
You worry about delivering us another tennis trophy
against those sons of bitches from JPL.
- Let Dr. Evans have his moment. - Of course, sir.
Those-- Those cables on the electrophoresis are inverted.
No. I don't think they--
Dr. Evans, lean a little to your left. I'm catching a shadow.
I'm certain that I checked.
Goddamn it!
These samples are-- are useless. This is no way to work.
There's too many people, too much noise, too many unnecessary distractions.
- Dr. Evans, I can assure you-- - You are completely right.
Tell me what you need.
I need my own space. No chemists, no lab techs.
None of this attention. I just-- I just need quiet.
By the time you get back from Boston, you'll be all sorted.
Robert, you'll see to it.
Yes, sir.
Make Hastings proud. And then hurry back.
Fame only lasts as long as you give them something to write about.
So you can see now that every living thing on our planet,
- from lichen to mice to Harvard students... - [students laughing]
...forms its proteins from the same set of 20 amino acids.
RNA and DNA may be comprised of only four nucleotides,
but their chaotic processes indicate that life is born of random,
infinite permutation, not stable and efficient amino selection.
Thank you.
[students applauding, murmuring]
Thank you.
Thanks.
[chuckles]
[Wakely] Dear Dr. Evans, I have no background in chemistry.
And yet, after listening to your lecture, I felt compelled to write.
I find your work fascinating. Downright exhilarating, in fact.
But I think your research may be overlooking the mysteries
of the divine.
[panting]
[Wakely] What if God is a spontaneous generation?
What if the missing link between nucleotides and early life-forms
is in fact a force that science alone cannot explain?
I simply share your affinity for questioning commonly held beliefs.
Respectfully, Curtis Wakely.
Oh, that can go at the end table there. Thank you.
[sighs]
[Calvin] Dear Mr. Wakely, Reverend Wakely?
I'm unclear when you are bestowed the title.
As if it bears stating, I am a staunch atheist.
But regardless of one's views, only an intellectually dishonest person
could watch a chromosome undergo the metaphase of cell division
and still believe that an all-powerful bearded man
in the sky designed it that way.
But please, convince me otherwise.
I've never been one to shy away from a good debate.
- [chuckles] - Yours, Calvin Evans.
[Wakely] Dear Dr. Evans, Thank you for your response.
I have never had the pleasure of watching a chromosome in metaphase,
so I will admit to my bias.
But I believe that the mystical
and the natural are not fundamentally opposed.
The way I see it, science is the how and religion is the why.
[chuckles]
[Calvin] Rather than argue this with you,
I thought I would leave it to Charles Darwin,
who proved that science is the how and the why.
[chuckles]
[muffled jazz music playing]
Do you hear that? Is that Charlie Parker playing?
Ah, yes. My archnemesis. The other Charlie in your life.
- Oh, my love. It's no contest. [chuckles] - [chuckles]
Ooh, these people got taste.
Probably can't hear over the music.
Uh, Harr, we should go back.
Nonsense.
No, he's a white fella.
[panting] I am. [sighs] Uh, how can I help you?
Hmm.
Welcome to Sugar Hill, neighbor.
Oh. [sighing] Thank you. [breathes deeply] Come inside.
- There you go. - [sighs] Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
So... [clicks tongue]
Oh, was that Parker I heard you playing?
Oh, yeah, good ear. It's the B side actually.
Don Byas's single. Here. Take it. Give it a listen.
- [stammers] I couldn't. [chuckles] - Mmm.
She only says that when she's definitely gonna do something.
[both chuckle]
I don't mean to pry, but, um, how did you end up in this area?
Oh. I-I-I, uh-- I found this place on one of my runs actually.
What kind of run?
Just jogging. You know, exercise. [sighs]
- Oh, must be a white-people thing. - [clicks tongue]
[laughs] We're only 5.2 miles from where I work, so...
Is the work that's 5.2 miles away the Hastings Laboratory?
Um, yeah. I'm a chemist there.
Huh.
[stammers] And what-- What do you do?
I'm a resident intern at Kaiser Hospital.
Huh. Yeah.
And I'm a legal aid in the offices of Hollis, Morrison and Douglas.
[gasps] Oh. Oh. Oh, this is gr-- this is great.
That's great. I, um-- Yeah. You know, I--
[sighs] They did some press on me, and ever since then,
I've been getting all sorts of correspondence.
You know, religious threats, proffers of marriage.
Even though my parents are dead, people pretending to be my family.
They seem to have confused being a chemist with being a, uh, Rockefeller. [chuckles]
[Harriet stammers]
What, um-- Can you-- I don't know. Can you help me with this?
Well, firstly, I'm a legal aid and-- and not an attorney.
- Smartest attorney you'll ever meet. - [clicks tongue]
But in my non-legally-binding opinion,
well, we could issue individual cease and desist letters.
Yes! [chuckles]
I would love for them to cease and then for them to desist. [chuckles]
- [chuckles] Okay. [sighs] - [laughs]
[Harry] I'd like you to meet my new secretary...
- Well, hello, everybody. [stammers] - Hi, Gracie.
- [Gracie stammers] Aha. - [audience laughing]
[Gracie] So you're the girl Harry Morton's chasing after.
[George] Gracie, this is Harry's secretary.
Oh, really? Well, you're silly to chase after him.
She's much prettier.
[audience laughing]
- [Harriet scoffs] Really now? - [Charlie] She hasn't talked to you
in over a week,
- she assumed you must have died. - [Harriet chuckles]
That's all with that woman.
I will call her when I am good and ready. Excuse me.
I have the answer.
- I have the answer. - [whispers indistinctly] Me too.
[both laughing]
[Charlie] I got the answer.
- [Harriet chuckles] - [Charlie] Just call on the doctor.
- [Harriet] Oh, see. No! [chuckles] - [Charlie chuckles]
[Wakely] Dear Dr. Evans, Thank you so much for the gift.
I've been enjoying the read,
and my daughter keeps stealing it from me to color in the pictures of the birds.
[Calvin] While I don't think Darwin intended for his greatest work
to be used as a coloring book,
I'm glad it's getting use from the whole family.
[Wakely] Do you have children of your own?
Aside from the occasional tantrum and damage to personal property,
I'm a big advocate.
[Calvin] To answer your question,
I have no wife, no children, no obligations.
I'm married to my work, and that's the way I prefer it.
[Wakely] If there's one thing that Darwin and I agree on,
- it's that man is not meant to be alone. - [laughing, speaking indistinctly]
[Wakely] Are you aware that in The Descent of Man
- he mentions love 95 times? - Oh.
Uh-oh.
[Wakely] Exposing the experiment of your life to outside variables
might just yield a result that surprises and delights.
So, I implore you, do not rule anything or anyone out just yet.
Food for thought, my friend.
Sorry that took a second.
I bumped into a coworker in the bathroom. What a funny coincidence.
What coincidence?
Oh, I just mean it's a small world sometimes.
Me seeing her, you and I here tonight.
It's more of an unremarkable statistical likelihood, right?
I mean, most people eat dinner
between the hours of six and eight o'clock,
and there's only four restaurants in the area.
If you and your friend live nearby, then... [inhales deeply]
...there's a pretty high probability of you bumping into each other.
You seeing her tonight is not because the world is small,
but predictable.
Right.
Sorry. I think I'm being rude.
No, not at all. [inhales sharply]
I was so excited when you finally called.
I had the perfect dress picked out,
but of course, I spilled nail polish all over it.
So I put on this old thing. [chuckles]
[stammers] Did-- Did the fabric have acetate in it?
I'm not sure.
Because if it-- if it did, you should not use acetone and water.
It'll ruin the fabric. Always use one part coconut oil
to one part solvent.
Oh. That's resourceful.
Might be five restaurants in the area.
[Calvin] Personal history has proven the experiment of my life
does not mix well with outside variables,
and the results are reliably futile. [sighs]
Someone once told me I was broken. [sighs]
Maybe they were right. I'm best alone.
[sighs, breathes deeply]
[Wakely] I hear the hurt in your voice,
- even on paper. - [sighs]
I'm so sorry that someone said that to you.
I disagree.
But there is no denying that love-- opening ourselves to it,
losing it, falling short of it-- makes us vulnerable to hurt.
Dad.
Normally, I would argue that it's all worth it.
But I'm afraid I'm in no position to lecture anyone on faith in this moment.
The doctor said put your jacket on. [speaks indistinctly]
- Yeah, yeah. - [speaking indistinctly]
[Wakely] My father has cancer of the gallbladder
and is refusing treatment,
choosing prayer to take away his illness from his body.
I hate to admit this, but I'm angry at God.
How can he leave the most pious among us gasping for breath?
[lecturer] ...in his innocence, and questions why God--
[Calvin] I'm truly so sorry to hear about your father.
I have enclosed a paper from Yale School of Medicine
that's found a chemical agent producing temporary remissions
in some patients with Hodgkin's disease.
Apologies if overstepping.
[Wakely] Thank you for your kindness.
I must say, whatever my doubts and whatever your resistance to faith,
I can't help but see the proof of the divine in our friendship.
This sort of unexpected connection? That's God.
I hope you'll continue to stay open to unknown variables,
because, Calvin,
no one is best alone.
[Calvin] Curtis, truthfully,
I didn't take your words to heart until now.
May I join you?
You may.
[Calvin] I have met someone.
Someone so unexpected
that her happiness supersedes my former life's pursuits.
[Calvin] I-I-- I want to give her everything.
Be everything for her.
[Calvin] She is my how, and she is my why.
[Wakely] Calvin, I am overjoyed to hear this
and not too humble to take just a little bit of credit.
By the way, I have some good news of my own to share.
My father has agreed to treatment.
Happy holidays to you and your someone.
Can I help you find something today, sir?
Oh, I'm, uh-- I'm not sure. I was just walking by.
[groans] Yeah, I wouldn't know where to start, really. [chuckles]
Well, what's your girlfriend like?
Uh, she's not my girlfriend. She is, um, something else entirely.
Okay. Take a look at this one.
Now, this is what all the ladies want right now. Trust me.
[laughs] No, Elizabeth doesn't want what-- what all the ladies want.
She doesn't even believe in marriage, really. Or she didn't. [chuckles]
But that was before.
You know, things are-- things are different now.
Everything's different since we met.
Oh.
Sorry. I shouldn't be saying all this to a stranger.
No, that's more than okay.
Most men who come in just want to know what's the cheapest or the most expensive.
I have a feeling that's not the case here.
Hmm.
She's simple.
No, what am I saying? She's not simple.
She appreciates simplicity. Practicality.
She doesn't wear jewelry normally.
But if she did, it would be complex but clear.
It's not a big stone,
but it is the clearest diamond in the shop right now.
The most facets too.
Tilt it around and see how it catches the light.
Yeah.
[chuckles] Yeah, it's her.
[lab attendant chuckling] Got the red nose on already?
- Do you have the-- - [stammers]
Did you just flinch? You're acting very strange today.
I think it's-- I think it's strange that you think I'm strange. [chuckles]
Okay, you strange, strange man.
[Fran] Come on, you scrooges.
If I don't see you during lunchtime carols, I'm writing you up.
- After you. - Coward.
I thought Six Thirty could be your running buddy.
Because I sure as hell will not be doing that with you.
- [both chuckle] - Oh. It's perfect.
[stammers]
I have one last thing. It's small.
[inhales deeply]
You should move in with me.
[groans]
[exhales sharply]
[groans]
- [Elizabeth] Hello? - One second.
I used my key.
- What are you doing? - Oh, just tidying.
- Tidying? Any particular occasion? - Someone's coming to stay for a while.
For a while?
Should I carry you over the threshold?
No, that's for marriage.
I, uh-- I-I bought forks.
Impressive. How many did you get?
Enough for two people to have a to-go order.
- So, two. - Two.
[chuckles] Did you get spoons and knives?
- Shit. [chuckles] - [chuckles]
[Elizabeth] I am excited to expand our library.
How many times can one person read Great Expectations?
[clicks tongue] You have made the same lasagna dish, uh, 79 times.
That is not a fair comparison.
- It's slightly different every time. - Hmm. Same thing with a great book.
- How is that possible? - 'Cause the book stays the same,
but you don't.
Oh. Well, you didn't tell me that it's a magical book.
- Tell me your secrets, magic book. - No, it only speaks to me.
- It's my book. - [chuckles]
[Calvin] A new kind of question for you.
How did you ever get up the nerve to propose?
I've never felt more certain about anything in my life,
and yet I am completely paralyzed by fear.
Paralyzed by the idea that as soon as I ask her
to spend the rest of her life with me, it'll break the spell
and she'll realize I'm not good enough for her.
[Elizabeth] Breakfast?
[Calvin] Perhaps the church did a better job of intertwining love and fear in me
than I realized.
[Wakely] Dear Calvin, My best advice is not to overthink it.
All we can do on this earth is love generously
and hope that we are given the same in return.
None of us is perfect.
That's why wedding vows include the words "for better or for worse."
Scripture tells us "above all, love each other deeply
because love covers over a multitude of sins."
But perhaps it misses something.
In order to truly love and be loved, you must love all of someone,
including their most difficult truths. Perhaps especially those truths.
Working on a sermon?
[people chattering]
More of a sermon for one. Writing a letter to a friend.
Ah. [chuckling] Let me guess. The godless man of science?
The one who sold me on chemo as
"God's way of restoring his original creation from
- wayward cells." -"Wayward cells." The very same.
[both chuckle]
[clicks tongue] Some coincidence...
the timing of this friendship.
Well, "when coincidences start happening,
they go on happening in the most extraordinary ways."
Did you come up with that?
No, that is Agatha Christie.
- [chuckling] Boy, you need to quit. - [laughing]
- [breathing heavily, grunting] - [Calvin] Dear Curtis,
Believing that love can conquer all is a beautiful idea to aspire to.
I will give you that.
Unfortunately, I fear for me, it is different.
I have spent a lifetime hiding the worst elements of myself.
I am terrified to think that anyone would have to witness my defects.
[Calvin] Especially someone I care so deeply about.
Gasoline is jammed.
Hmm. Shall I call maintenance?
They expect us to prepare for the Remsen under these conditions?
Absolutely ridiculous.
Thank you.
[chuckles] H-How many times?
I specifically redirected these correspondences to my lawyer.
I cannot work when I am being inundated by these unceasing and invasive lies.
I-I'm sorry, Dr. Evans.
- I wasn't instructed to sort any-- - Unacceptable! Who is your supervisor?
Calvin.
Thank you.
- [sighs] - Why did you do that?
I just need them to stop.
It's like no one appreciates what I'm trying to accomplish here.
Right. Well, I will let you get back to your important work.
[sighs]
Didn't think you'd be here.
Of course I'm here.
[sighs]
You still want to be around me?
Yes, I do.
I lost my temper.
People lose their tempers. I'm more interested to know why.
Uh...
Calvin, it's not like you've been spared from the worst parts of me.
Doesn't make me like you any less.
Well, what if I told you I feel the same way about you?
Try me.
It's all gonna come out eventually anyway, whether we like it or not.
Um, don't-- wouldn't know where to start.
Start slowly. Tell me what happened today.
[clicks tongue]
My parents abandoned me before they died.
Those letters, people pretending to care about me, claiming to be family...
It's-- It's salt on a corroding wound.
I'm glad my parents are dead.
It makes moving on simpler.
It's hard to say aloud the things we can barely say to ourselves.
[breathes deeply] So much for starting slowly. [chuckles]
[utensils clattering]
[Calvin] Dear Wakely,
I'm sorry it's been a while since I've written.
[speaking indistinctly]
[Calvin] I feel as if I've lived several lives since my last letter.
[chuckles] Left hand over right. That's good.
Always left over right. How is it? It's good. Nice.
Your instinct's to put your thumbs on the end.
- [laughing] - Do you know why? Yeah.
Hmm... Oh. [stammers] Freddie.
Hi. Um, I just wanted to apologize for the other day.
Again, I'm sorry.
I don't want to get married, and I don't want to have children.
Thank you for telling me. Now I know.
Know what?
What you need.
As long as I have you and you are happy, that-- that is enough for me.
Hey, buddy. Oh, are you ready to go on a walk? Okay.
Almost.
You wanna lick this stamp for me? [chuckles]
[clears throat, mutters] All right.
Okay. Let's go. Let's go.
[Calvin] As you know, I didn't want marriage.
And then I f-- I found myself buying an engagement ring of all things.
- I think... - Very close.
...I was compensating for what is broken in me...
- Yes, we're going. - ...grasping for something whole
and perfect to give her,
'cause I wanted to be perfect for her so badly.
[exhales deeply, clears throat]
All right, Six Thirty. You ready? Let's go. Come on. [kisses]
[Calvin] But as always, she surprised me.
She has seen the worst parts of me, and still she loves me.
Marriage, all those traditional steps,
they may not be for us, but we are for each other.
[sighs]
[pants]
[Calvin] We are for each other. [chuckles]
That sums up the whole damn universe, wouldn't you say?
[Wakely] Dear Calvin,
How can you say you don't believe in miracles
when a man as certain as you of being alone finds a love like yours?
It seems to me you may have disproven your own philosophy.
I am thrilled for you.
My family is preparing to return with my father to California,
and perhaps we can celebrate in person.
[growling, barking]
[chuckles] Come on. Hey, come on.
- [growling continues] - Six Thirty, it's okay.
Hey... [chuckles] ...Six Thirty, come on. Hey, come on.
[whines]
[employees chattering]
What should I do with Dr. Evans's mail now?
Babe... [sighs] ...something for you.
- [doorbell rings] - [dog barks]
Mom! He's here! He's here!
- Mr. Wakely. - Hello.
We called the boys home in Modesto and are visiting next week.
Can you believe it?
Hello. Good to see you again.
Wow. I had no idea you were Calvin's Elizabeth.
[chuckles]
It's incredible. I brought these letters he wrote me.
Thanks.
- [chuckling] - Come with me.
So, what are your plans?
Honestly, all of this business of Calvin's history,
rifling through his past...
I would never withhold answers from Mad,
but I am afraid of bringing people into her life that I can't trust.
I get it. You're afraid of unknown variables.
Calvin really rubbed off on you, didn't he?
- Or maybe I rubbed off on him. [chuckles] - Oh. Makes so much sense now. [chuckles]
Truth is, we changed each other for the better.
So... [sighs] ...a priest and a chemist.
What do you think brought you two together?
We both knew how little we knew
and preferred asking questions to answering them.
What about you two?
I think we found faith in each other.
That's a funny word to hear coming from you.
How so?
You do know that religion is based on faith?
And you know that faith isn't based on religion, right?
Yes, indeed. You two are perfect for one another.
[chuckles]
Mmm. I didn't know him long enough.
No, you didn't.
[church bell tolls]
[tolling continues]
[door opens]
Do you know what it means to temper your expectations?
To measure them?
Close. It's to keep them low, in case we don't get what we want.
Okay, I will temper.
No matter what comes of this, I love you, and your dad does too.
Mom, you always say that.
But how can Dad love me if he never met me?
Because, Madeline Evans Zott, some things defy empirical evidence.
Oh.
How can I help you, Mrs. Zott?
Miss Zott, not Mrs. My father and mother weren't married.
[clears throat]
You had a boy here named Calvin Evans.
He was my father.
And does your... [clicks tongue] ...father know you're here today?
He passed away.
I see. Well, I'm very sorry to hear that.
My daughter found several demerits
from this institution in his personal effects.
The name doesn't ring a bell. [clears throat]
You must have some sort of system here. Records or files you could refer to.
Happy to check. What year did you say your father was here?
1921 to roughly 1939, give or take a few years.
Hmm. [clicking tongue] Before the fire.
I'm sorry to say that unfortunately many of our oldest records burned.
Are you sure you don't remember him?
He loved science and books. He was very smart and a fast runner.
Might I suggest... [sighs] ...that you look to the Heavenly Father
to help heal what you're missing?
- Mad. I'm so sorry, bunny. - [breathing heavily, grunting]
- Bunny, I know how disappointing this-- - It doesn't make any sense! He's lying!
- [panting] - Mad.
[sighs]
[Mad sobs]
Bunny.
[sighs] I don't want another dead end.
- I'm sorry, bunny. I-- - I know he was here.
There's gotta be proof.
All right. I'll help you.
Mom, look.
What is it?
A lead. You were right.
- I'm heading out. [chuckles] - Good night, then.
- And don't stay too late. - Okay.