- [computer] Healthy. Permission granted. - [Iesha] Wait, y'all remember this one?
Digital assistant, play Missy Elliott, "She's a Bitch."
[all] Oh!
[computer chimes] Playing after this advertisement.
[Sam] Who's not paying for a subscription?
["Together All The Way" playing over speakers]
[Al] Come on, Miss White!
♪ All the high times and the lows ♪
- Get it, Sam! - Sam, this is your ad?
Gabe, you've never heard this?
It's played on every commercial break for the past two years.
I've heard it. I just didn't know it was Sam's.
Digital assistant, mute yourself forever, please.
[computer] Commands are disabled.
- Ad playing. - Oh, my God.
That was the shit, Sam.
♪ Together all the way ♪
- [Al] Better sing it, boy. - Oh, look, Troy!
- [door closes] - No, he's right there.
- You had us worried. - Now we're not. We can change subjects.
- Let me get you a drink. - Don't get up.
♪ Together all the way ♪
[Lionel] To Troy, for making a dream of Sam's...
[Sam] And Lionel's.
- ...and mine come true. - Hold up, no one did a cheers for me.
'Cause your name ain't on the check, booboo.
[Sam laughs]
Fried Chicanery, Inc. is publishing the book and funding the TV show.
Must I deal with shameless lobbyists in all areas of my life?
To Reggie, then. I think we can all agree that we wish he was here.
- [Coco] To Reggie. - [Gabe] My man.
[Iesha] Cheers.
Come sit, Troy. We're swapping stories.
- [Michael] We're at Varsity Show's Eve. - [Troy] Okay.
Please, don't let me interrupt.
[theme music playing]
- Does that make any sense to you? - Yes. No, I know I'm the...
- Yes, I'm the assistant. - I need to talk to Troy about your place...
Okay. I know. I know.
[indistinct chatter]
Five minutes, everyone. Where the hell is Troy?
Is Troy out there with you?
No, he's not.
Neither is Lionel.
- Dude, where were you? - Sorry, I went to the bell tower.
This is less dramatic but a bit more convenient, no?
I was telling Troy that my friends and I are very happy
with how the show is proceeding.
We also have a few guests we'd like to accommodate for opening night.
Two Hollywood casting directors, a few network and studio heads,
and an editor of a major publishing house.
All of your hard work is about to pay off.
That's amazing, sir.
But after giving it a lot of thought, I can't join the Order.
This isn't an invitation.
- But the Order is... - Of fries?
Yes, let's think about ordering some fries.
I don't think they have fries.
Just kettle chips.
Oh.
[Troy] We don't use the organization's name in public.
Now, we love the new ending being proposed for the show.
It's controversial, in the right way.
But the gay hooker number?
I think the correct term is sex worker.
Yeah, well, that's more controversial in the leaked-sex-tape sort of way.
We want it cut.
Uh, not the whole thing, just the seedy part.
But, sir, that's the whole point that Michael was trying to make.
He felt, and I feel, like the piece points out
how queer Black culture is only acceptable when it's sanitized and made fun.
I hear that, but one thing at a time.
My friends and I don't want to see the gains AP's made
overshadowed by unnecessary controversies.
The ending is going to rattle people as it is.
With all due respect, your friends are wrong about this.
Well, it is your show.
But maybe I should tell my friends,
the ones from Netflix, Lionsgate and Penguin Random House,
not to make the trip to Winchester after all.
It won't be a problem.
Sir.
They're about to start the final dress rehearsal any minute.
Great.
Well, let them rehearse it their way,
and you'll figure it out before opening night.
Yeah.
[Troy] Unfortunately, I don't see any way to save it.
I see. Well, Lionel, if you can figure out the transitions...
[dour music playing]
Uh, I could.
But I agree it's better to leave it as it is.
Well, look, I already have my next job lined up, so...
And there's a lot on the line for you two, as well as them.
Right. We're cutting it.
Lionel, let Michael know.
That was wonderful. We're gonna do notes tomorrow night at call time.
For tonight, rest.
You are going to have an absolutely fabulous opening night, okay?
- Thank you. Yeah. - Yes.
- All right. - [whoops]
Troy, can I speak to you for a second?
When the dust settles, we should have a little chat.
I've been thinking about some of the things that you said to me.
Yeah, of course.
Um, hey.
I just wanna say...
Great job.
Sorry.
[camera beeps]
- [Lionel on video] Great job. - [Michael chuckles on video]
[keyboard clicks]
And then footage from the show and its reception,
big fun third act, et cetera.
Sam, the movie's incredible.
After this plays the festivals, you're totally on your way.
Which version?
[Gabe] It's not a question. What I just watched
was a compelling narrative about a lovable but flawed gay man of color
trying to navigate a complicated relationship,
you know, artistic pressures.
It doesn't have an ending yet, and I'm still floored.
Mmm, and that gay man of color,
what if I told-promised him
that I would not make him the center of said film?
Then you have the first version that you showed me,
which is an overlong making-of featurette.
Fuck.
- Sam, just talk to Lionel. - I don't want to.
We've been touch and go ever since Houston.
I might not actually be anything close to a moral authority on these matters,
but our business comes with a lot of impossibly tough choices.
Every one that you make is gonna have fans and detractors.
But what I just saw, that's the beginning of an amazing career.
People watch this with Lionel at the heart of it and you're in.
Do what I couldn't do.
Make the best choice for the movie.
[Sam] You're right. You're not the moral authority on these things.
[Gabe clears throat]
But thank you.
Friend.
[Joelle] Gabe, you did that.
I did not know it was possible
to thread overtly Christian and objectively good but wow.
No, seriously.
Thank you. Thank you.
My financier, he made a bunch of changes, but that means a lot.
- Thank you. - I have no doubt you'll figure it out.
I'm proud of you.
[mellow music playing]
New Green Book is all anyone can talk about.
You were right to follow your heart.
- I was? - Yeah.
And you were right about something else too.
I put a lot of pressure on us looking and being a certain way,
and that wasn't faith.
That was fear.
I see that, and I'm so sorry.
Jo...
I proposed to you.
If that's not pressure, I don't know what is.
Hey, you were just doing what you always do,
which is trying to make a dream of mine a reality.
That's what I love about you.
Well, soon they'll start backing that Brinks truck up to buy New Green Book.
Well, they did.
- Oh. - But they wanted me
to change the core concept and make it for everybody.
And I was like, "Nah."
- I know it's crazy. - No.
That's integrity. That's what I love about you.
- Tonight's opening night, if you wanna... - Jo... I wouldn't miss it.
- You hit them notes. - You know I will.
[jazz music playing]
[cell phone chiming]
[ominous music playing]
Oh, you're filming me? Really?
I ask for directions, and then you ignore me,
and then when I barely, barely raise my voice, I'm the bad guy?
These videos make you people look bad.
Oh, I'm so sorry, I said "you people."
Not the people standing right in front of me.
Nope. Has to be racist. Everything is racist!
- [Iesha over megaphone] Really, my dude? - [man] To be continued!
This is a minstrel show!
You must be here for the minstrel show.
So, what, y'all just gonna stand out here making me and every Black person
that walks by feel like we ain't Black enough?
We plan to make the white people feel bad too.
Yo, about the other day.
Look, emotions are fucking monsters, and I try to just avoid them,
but they catch a bitch by surprise.
Uh...
Wait, was that an apology?
I'll take it.
- Great turnout. - Oh, I think it is.
Troy, happy with the turnout?
Mm-hm.
Wow.
Okay, great family talk.
- [Coco] Sure. Why not? Go ahead. - [camera clicks]
Troy, there you are. Excuse me, ladies.
[Troy] New friends?
It's nice to get recognized,
but literally all I do is talk to strangers about that fucking show.
Please, ask me about anything besides Big House.
Oh.
Great.
There's nothing about that show I want to ask you, at all.
Co, we don't have to go there if you're not ready,
but that finale speech about the fuckboy and...
I remember the speech. Troy, it's a TV show.
It's not all real.
It's more like playing a character named after you.
How much of a character were you playing?
Whether I played a character close to my real life or not...
was entirely my choice.
I don't owe you any explanation.
And you don't owe me anything either.
Joelle, the gospel number is sensational.
But you can hold back at the top and then go all the way after the bridge.
Okay. [humming]
Did you tell Michael yet?
Lionel, did you?
Michael, uh, there's just one more note.
We'll end with "I Wanna Sex You Up," and we're gonna cut "Hate Me Now."
Uh...
[clears throat]
- But that'll change the whole meaning. - [Helen] It's above our heads, kiddo.
Okay. Uh, Lionel, did you know about this?
[Helen] All right, everyone. I just wanna say how proud I am of all of you.
You have taken your personal stories, your pain,
and you have turned it into something that's truly special.
And I'm just so proud.
[light applause]
- I really tried to defend it. - Yeah.
[Troy] Just give him some time.
- Really? Don't you record the show? - I'm just getting B-roll.
- I've got a three-camera setup. - God.
Lionel. Um...
What?
- I just, uh... - What?
I just, I...
I wanted to say congrats.
[band warms up]
This was my last year to get into the Varsity Show.
I killed that audition, man.
Yeah, but did you meet the requirements, my brother?
Man, why would a brother wanna be in that corny show?
Every year it takes place in Beckford Hall.
You know, the same building that's named after a slave owner?
- But it's the '90s. - [audience laughing]
- We should protest. - Why? 'Cause you ain't get in?
'Cause it's the right thing to do.
Mm.
This is the BSU. If we don't do what's right, who will?
- Al! - Come on, Al!
Al, you got this!
[hip-hop music playing over speakers]
It's not gonna work.
♪ What about your friends? ♪
♪ What about...? ♪
♪ What about your friends? ♪
♪ What about...? What about...? ♪
♪ Every now and then I get a little crazy ♪
[woman] Yeah!
♪ That's not the way That it's supposed to be ♪
♪ Sometimes my vision is a little hazy ♪
♪ I can't tell who I should trust ♪
♪ Or just who I let trust me, yeah ♪
♪ People try to say I act a little funny ♪
♪ But that's just a figure of speech To me ♪
♪ They tell me I've changed Because I got money ♪
♪ But if you were there before ♪
♪ Then you're still there with me, yeah ♪
♪ What about your friends? ♪
♪ Will they stand their ground Will they let you down again? ♪
♪ What about your friends? ♪
♪ Are they gonna be lowdown ♪
♪ Will they ever be around ♪
♪ Or will they turn your backs on you? ♪
[music stops]
We did it, bro.
[audience cheering]
- That was amazing. - Fuck you.
What? They're loving it.
Of course, because it's all sugar and no medicine.
- [hip-hop music playing over speakers] - It wasn't my call. I tried.
You're the writer. Have courage of your convictions.
The sex-worker stuff was just a little too controversial.
- The new ending is controversial. - But in a civil-rights way.
The sex stuff is about civil rights.
It's about how I'm treated less than because of who I am and what I do.
If I'm beaten up, robbed or worse,
it's not a problem because people think I deserve it.
If that's not civil rights, then I don't know what is.
Right. Because of the sex work.
No, Lionel. Because I'm a queer Black man and so are you.
When are you gonna get the nerve
to put who you are next to what you are on the same goddamn page?
Or did you change your name to Chester?
You're gonna cut that?
I've been meaning to talk to you about that.
And maybe now's not the best time.
- Come the fuck on, Sam. - Lionel, we all have hard choices.
You obviously have had yours, and I've got mine.
- There's no judgment. - Sam, what the hell are you saying?
Lionel, I know what I said after Houston.
But you're the best part of my film. You're the heart of it.
- Lionel, please just... - Sam!
Just... stay the fuck away from me.
- [Kordell] No sign of Joelle. - Man, where is everybody?
♪ Lately there seems to be Some insecurities ♪
♪ About the way I feel ♪
♪ Where I wanna be I wanna be with you ♪
♪ No one can do ♪
♪ The things we do ♪
♪ It's true ♪
♪ Never to be mistaken ♪
♪ Long as it's love we're speakin' ♪
♪ There's gonna be some rain ♪
♪ Gonna be some pain ♪
♪ But as far as I know ♪
♪ Time will show ♪
♪ Our love will grow ♪
♪ And I know love will be right here ♪
♪ Be right here ♪
♪ Right here ♪
♪ Be right here ♪
♪ No fear ♪
♪ Have no fear ♪
♪ No tears ♪
♪ Love is here ♪
[door opens]
[Iesha over megaphone] I don't believe this!
How can y'all put on a show about a protest
when there's a real one behind these doors?
[Al] Man, she's right.
Iesha, what the hell are you doing here?
- She's doing what we should be doing. - [Michael] Yeah.
We let these people pat themselves on the back
while they ignore the real issue?
Why should the name Beckford, or any remnant of slavery,
be something any student has to encounter at school?
Well, maybe we should take this fight outside.
[Michael] Come on, y'all! Art is participatory.
Are you okay sitting in a building named after slave owners?
Come on, it's time to get out of your seats.
Tear down Beckford!
[all chanting] Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford!
Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford!
[ominous music playing]
[door opens]
[crowd chanting] Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford!
Okay, what do you say?
Should we take this shit to the president's house?
But I'm already here!
[Iesha] Let's go! Tear down Beckford!
[all chanting] Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford!
Look what we did.
Lionel...
Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford!
I love you. I do.
Tear down Beckford!
I just wish you weren't so fucking scared of yourself.
Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford!
Reggie. Hey.
I said, stay away from me.
Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford!
Lionel, I'm literally filming the whole thing, not just you.
Sam, just leave me alone.
Tear down Beckford! Tear down Beckford!
Do what you do best. Go film the chaos you've caused.
[gunshot]
[crowd clamoring]
Reggie?
What the fuck?
[man] Let's go! Let's go!
[sirens wailing]
[woman] Oh, my God!
[ominous music playing]
[officer] I got eyes on one victim! Keep your hands where I can see them!
[Reggie] That shit wasn't easy.
Getting put into a cop car, the cops all assuming that I was the assailant.
Yeah.
It's no wonder that the forces behind American capitalism wouldn't
get behind an app for Black people to track dangerous whites.
What if gangs used it to track the innocent?
There were people that tracked my address...
down to either harass me or pitch an app.
I try to keep a low digital footprint
and stay away from y'all
so y'all don't have to go through that shit.
[Joelle] Baby, what are you doing here?
It was time.
Yeah.
I'm sorry it took so long.
You're with us in spirit.
Always.
[commencement strings playing]
- Hey. - Yeah. See you, man.
Hey, do you know who's handing out stoles for BSU?
- Reggie would've had them, but... - Did y'all see?
They put out the shooter's manifesto. Dude was a white supremacist.
- You get this from Black AF? - Yeah, we cool AF now.
The shooter was a Big House fan who was mad that Coco won.
Yeah, I read he was rejected by Winchester back in the '90s
and he never got over it.
- Blamed it on affirmative action. - Send me the link.
- Sorry. BSU, come get your stoles. - Sam, did you read the manifesto?
No, and I don't want to.
Really? You don't wanna know why he did this?
The entire world always obsesses over the shooter's backstory.
Their names and faces become the conversation
every goddamn time but never the people they kill.
Yeah, the cops let Reggie go, but are they going to let it go ever?
[indistinct chatter]
Reggie's a goddamn hero, but the media will forever paint him
as the Black kid who had a gun on campus.
It's bullshit.
- [Troy] Anything? - I don't think she's coming, son.
She must have gotten tied up at the show in New York.
But I don't understand why she wouldn't have e-mailed or called.
Pops, it's okay.
But I'm gonna keep on trying.
Joelle.
My sweet Joelle. Come here.
Mmm.
- How are you holding up? - I'm great.
You know you don't have to be, right?
I appreciate that.
Listen, I got your e-mail about next year's schedule. Looks great.
- But we'll talk about that later, okay? - Yeah.
All right.
- Hey, Jo. - [Joelle] Hey.
- This weird for you too? - I guess.
Hm. This time next year, that'll be us.
Speak for yourself.
I'm taking the year off to travel, fuck around.
Live my life.
Well, I've got enough credits to graduate. Maybe I'll follow your lead.
I got an offer from a publisher to write a memoir about being Black at Winchester
'cause obviously I'm an expert on Blackness at Winchester.
What about the rest of it?
The rest of it never seems to come up.
[applause]
Thank you. Thank you all for coming.
I'm sure it must be difficult for some of you
to be back here so soon after the incident.
But the administration felt it was important to have this be
the first event to be held here at the newly minted Spencer Wood Hall,
named for the first Black graduate of Winchester.
The last few days have been painful.
You see something so senseless happen,
it's all so terrifying how unsafe the world can be,
and often is, and how the world can disappoint you.
♪ Wake up, kids ♪
♪ You've got the dreamer's disease ♪
♪ Twenty-two ♪
♪ We've got you down on your knees ♪
♪ So polite ♪
♪ You're busy still saying, "Please" ♪
♪ But when the night is falling ♪
♪ You cannot find the light ♪
♪ You feel your dreams are dying ♪
♪ Hold tight, hold on tight ♪
♪ You've got the music in you ♪
♪ Don't let go ♪
♪ You've got the music in you ♪
♪ One dance left ♪
♪ This world is gonna pull through ♪
♪ Don't give up ♪
♪ You've got a reason to live ♪
♪ Can't forget ♪
♪ We only get what we give ♪
♪ Get what we give ♪
Brooke Morgan.
[audience cheering]
Al Lucas.
Kordell Washington.
Colandrea Conners.
James Dickerson.
Troy Fairbanks.
Samantha White.
Reggie Green.
[silence]
[Reggie] I was everything the gun-rights people said they wanted.
A good guy with a gun stopping a bad guy with a gun.
But they weren't there when the good guy's Black.
Yeah, but that lawsuit though.
No amount of money could ever make that shit right.
- Reg, when you sort of went into hiding... - [Reggie] I had to.
When white supremacists started using my face as a recruitment tool...
I know, I know. And believe me, I... I always understood. But I...
I mourned you.
I really missed you. We all really missed you.
[Troy] Mm-hm.
- It's really good to see you. - Thank Jo.
She got me through it. She's still getting me through it.
[Iesha] Aw.
[Al] Y'all so cute.
I have a very attractive husband.
[Joelle] Iesha, good luck.
- [Iesha] Right now, we just have a puppy. - [indistinct chatter]
- Hey. - I know it's been a while, but I know you.
What the fuck is going on?
After this, let's...
Let's grab a drink.
At least start sorting through everything.
[Gabe] Mm.
Yeah.
Did you tell them?
Well, I mean...
I'm sure Sam sensed it.
...insecure as fuck simply by existing.
[Michael] Somehow... you're still putting yourself off-screen.
Well, whatever we are to each other is complicated.
[Michael] Complicated?
Undefined because of your reticence? Hard to say.
You're right.
[Sam] I knew it!
[all clamoring]
- Toast. - Toast, toast, toast. [clears throat]
To Sam and Lionel.
What y'all are doing is important. Tell the story.
- Just how it happened. - [Sam] No, no.
This one's for all of you guys, truly. Especially you, Reggie.
I know how hard it was for you to come back, and thank you.
None of us wanted to open Pandora's box for you on this.
- Yes. And let's not forget Troy. - This Negro already got a toast.
[all laugh]
Fuck.
[sighs] How to tell you guys, um...
Wow.
CasaBLACKKKa tanked at the box office.
We know. We just weren't bringing it up to be polite.
- Yes. Growth. - [people chuckling]
The board is not letting me put up both the book and the TV show like I thought.
I threatened to resign. Apparently, that's what they were hoping I'd do.
'Cause the press release for the announcement of my departure
came so fast for my approval, they must have had it ready.
I'm gonna raise the funds for this.
We're gonna make it.
I promise.
It just won't be today.
I am so sorry.
Remember when we weren't doing it for the publishers and the networks?
♪ Been through changes together ♪
Jo, please. No.
♪ All the high times and the lows ♪
Okay, Jo. We get it.
♪ But we all stayed connected Through the years ♪
- ♪ And we're still close ♪ - ♪ And we're still close ♪
♪ So close ♪
I can't stand y'all.
♪ Nothing lasts forever No ♪
♪ But all the struggles We've been through ♪
Y'all really get on my nerves, for real.
♪ Bonded us together for all time ♪
♪ That's how we do ♪
♪ We do ♪
♪ But we don't have to worry ♪
♪ No, no ♪
- ♪ And we don't have to wonder ♪ - ♪ Uh-uh ♪
♪ Never have to guess who's by your side ♪
♪ Who's by your side ♪
♪ We've been together all the way ♪
♪ And together we will stay ♪
♪ None can separate us from one another ♪
♪ Together all the way ♪
- ♪ We've been together all the way ♪ - ♪ Together ♪
- ♪ And together we will stay ♪ - ♪ Yes, we will ♪
- ♪ None can separate us from one another ♪ - ♪ None can separate us, one another ♪
- ♪ No, together ♪ - ♪ Together all the way ♪
♪ Together all the way ♪
[silence]
["Round and Round" playing]
♪ Can you tell me where we're going to? ♪
♪ Can you tell me what it is We really want to find? ♪
♪ Is the truth really there? Or is it right under our hair? ♪
♪ For all we know It's been there all the time ♪
♪ I say, nothing comes from dreamers But dreams ♪
♪ I say, sittin' idle in our boat ♪
♪ While everyone else is down the stream ♪
♪ Nothing comes from talkers but sound ♪
♪ We can talk all we want to ♪
♪ But the world still goes Around and round ♪
♪ Round and round ♪
♪ We go round and round and round ♪
♪ And what we're lookin' for Still isn't found ♪