JOE: Allison.
Al, time to wake up.
Hey, there, doll face.
You slept through the alarm.
You doing okay?
Middle of the night, you woke me up
and told me you were feeling a little stiff.
Why are you looking at me like that?
ALLISON: I don't know.
Things just seem... different.
You seem different.
Different?
What do you mean different?
Look at your face.
Look at my arms!
What are you talking about?
Oh, my God!
I think we're dolls!
We're in the middle of a family crisis.
I need everyone to pull together.
ARIEL: What is it, Mom?
BRIDGETTE: What's the big deal?
Honey, I really think you're overreacting here.
ALLISON: Overreacting?!
We're dolls!
All of us!
Al, honestly, everything is as it's always been.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
I'm talking about the fact that you're six inches tall
and your face is made of plastic!
I'm talking about the fact
that if I stripped off all those doll clothes you're wearing
I'd find a smooth little nub
where your boy parts are supposed to be.
Dad, what's wrong with Mom?
She's just a little...
Nothing!
What is wrong with all of you?!
You act like this is normal.
We're human beings!
We always have been!
We don't live in a dollhouse!
Shh!
Mommy, you better be quiet.
If you make too much noise, he'll hear you.
ALLISON: What do you mean?
Who'll hear me?
Who's "he"?
You know who "he" is.
Ariel!
Joe, we have to do something!
Mommy!
Bridgette!
Joe!
We have to hide, sweetie.
No!
Please!
No, please!
Don't hurt my family!
JOE: Hey.
You slept through the alarm.
You doing okay?
Middle of the night, you woke me up,
told me you were feeling a little stiff.
Why are you looking at me like that?
You have, uh...
toilet paper all over your face.
I cut myself.
We're all out of shaving cream.
I was trying to make do.
Ah, poor baby.
I'll get you some.
I was gonna go by the drugstore this morning anyway.
Thanks.
You're a doll.
: "My lord, I have remembrances of yours
"that I have longed long to redeliver,
and I pray now that you receive them."
"No, not I. I never gave you aught."
"My honored lord, you know right well you did."
This play is stupid.
And how am I supposed to learn this for class
if Bridgette keeps tickling Marie?
Hey, Bridge, Ariel's trying to concentrate.
Stop tickling your sister.
I'm not tickling her.
I'm checking to see if she has chicken pox.
Why would you be doing that?
Well, I had this dream last night
that Marie was all covered in chickenpox.
But it looks like she's okay.
Ariel: dad...
Hi, sweetie.
You feeling okay?
JOE: I cannot get chicken pox, not now.
I've managed to get through
almost four decades on this planet
without getting chicken pox.
I dodged the bullet when Ariel and Bridgette had it.
And right now, this month, I'm looking at
an uninterrupted string of 14-hour days...
so that we can make our deadline on the Haspel project.
I just don't feel like calling my boss and telling him
I can't pitch in because I came down with a disease
that's usually associated with kindergartners.
What is so funny?
Joe, Joe, you silly scientist, you.
You're worried about nothing, literally.
There's a vaccine for chicken pox now.
Marie had it almost six months ago.
There's a vaccine?
Marie had it?
Same time she got her measles shot.
Uh-huh.
Huh.
Oh, wait a second. Wait.
Actually, I think I do see some marks.
Some red spots.
Toilet paperus poxus.
Healed.
Funny.
Allison: no!
Please! No!
Excuse me.
Where are your parents?
I'm so cold, Daddy!
I want to get out!
Oliver, don't complain.
This is for your own good.
We don't complain about things that are good for us, right?
MAN: Oliver.
Oliver. Son, I'm ready to go.
Why are you just standing there?
Come on. Come here.
Kids.
They didn't have it.
We got to go somewhere else.
WOMAN: You look good, Daddy.
I know you've been sick, but it doesn't really show.
I mean...
you lost some weight and you look good.
That's not why you're here.
You want the truth?
You want the awful truth?
It had nothing to do with you.
And it's killing Mom that you take this on every year,
that you wear it like...
like a coat of shame.
All she wants to do is talk and cry and laugh
and look at pictures, and all you want to do
is climb into your own darkness by yourself.
Two years of college...
now you know everything.
20 years of you.
And, yeah, I do know everything.
WOMAN: I'm sorry to interrupt, sir,
but if you don't leave now,
you're going to be late for court.
What did your boss say?
ALLISON: I told you.
I couldn't get to him.
He was behind closed doors
and then he was in court all day.
Had Scanlon run the plates.
There was nothing there.
I assume he has a name, though.
Michael Levitt.
Never been arrested.
Child Protective Services has never been called to his house.
Are you even listening to me?
I knew it. Look at this.
I knew I'd read this somewhere. What?
Even if you've been... even if you've been vaccinated,
there's still a one-in-ten chance of getting chicken pox.
And if you get it, you're contagious.
Who's the silly scientist now?
Well, congratulations.
So what are we gonna do, put Marie in quarantine
until your project's over?
Is there a reasonably priced facility nearby?
You okay over there?
I need to visit Arianna next week.
I need to.
Okay.
I don't know if I can make that work.
I have court.
There are motions pending.
You're her father.
Don't you want to see her?
Don't you need to be near her?
Well, I do.
It's been six years.
I want to go visit my daughter's grave.
: Shh! He'll hear you.
Shh!
Oliver...
you were supposed to be asleep an hour ago.
You know the rules about bedtime.
And you know what happens when you break them.
You get one minute.
No, Daddy.
I'm sorry.
I wasn't tired.
Then you lay there until you get tired.
You don't sit up talking to Maggie.
Now, give her to me.
But I like her.
It's a girl's toy, Oliver.
Now, give her to me.
Hello.
Allison, it's Lee Scanlon.
Sorry to wake you.
No, no.
I'm glad you called, actually.
I wanted to talk to you about the man
we were checking into yesterday-- Michael Levitt.
Funny. That's who I'm calling about.
Oh, no.
Am I too late?
What is it? What happened?
Is the little boy all right?
Well, if you call losing your father to a tragic accident
when you're six years old "all right."
The cat must have gotten up on the roof
sometime before dawn.
She couldn't get back down and she was crying.
It was about 6:00 in the morning.
Michael was trying to get her down...
: ...when he fell off the ladder.
Uh, Ms. Levitt, this is Allison Dubois.
She's here as a representative
of the District Attorney's office.
Allison, this is Sarah Jane Levitt.
This is the woman who made the 911 call this morning.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Thank you.
I was, um, back in the kitchen
making coffee when I heard... the scream.
: I ran out to the patio, and he was just lying there.
Sorry.
What about your son?
Is there any chance he might have witnessed it?
Oliver's not my son.
He's, he's my nephew.
I'm just visiting here
for a few days.
Oliver...
didn't see anything, thank God.
He was asleep in his room when it happened.
He doesn't even know his father's gone yet.
I told him to wait in the playroom...
OLIVER: Shh! Quiet.
...until, uh, we're done here.
OLIVER: Shh! I'm not looking forward to telling him.
OLIVER: Shh! He'll hear you.
Forgive me.
Is there a restroom I could use?
OLIVER: What are you talking about?
GIRL: Now we can play with each other.
Now there's no one to get mad at us, Oliver.
But I don't feel like playing right now.
Oliver?
Are you alone?
I thought I heard talking.
Voices.
Are you all by yourself?
My dad's dead, isn't he?
My aunt Sarah Jane told me he had an accident,
but I think he's dead.
SARAH JANE: Oliver?
Hello.
: Again.
Um... I take it you found what you needed.
Yeah, I'm sorry. I just heard Oliver.
I poked my head in to make sure he was all right.
I'm, um-- I'm all finished
with the, with the police and the ambulance people now,
so come on, sweetie.
Ooh!
Let's show this nice lady out,
and then we'll go down to the kitchen
and then we'll be able to talk a little bit.
Okay? Okay.
Lily.
It's me.
Made it all the way to work
and I realized I forgot my damn pills again.
Here they are.
You must be Manuel.
I've heard a great deal about you.
I'm sorry. You, you are...?
LILY: Franklin, will this do?
Manny.
Dr. Franklin Gates.
I'm with the University of New Mexico.
I'm Manuel Devalos and this is my wife Lily,
but then, you seem to know that.
LILY: I'm so sorry, Manny.
I didn't want it to go like this.
It's all right, Lily.
Everything happens for a reason.
Even forgetting one's pills
may not necessarily be the random event
it appears. Okay.
Forgive me, I don't mean to be rude,
but I'm still unclear as just to who you are
and what you're doing in my home.
I gather you're a doctor of some sort.
Exactly who and what are you here to treat?
I'm a doctor of philosophy.
I also have some experience working as a conduit
between the living and the dead.
Your wife contacted me
and asked if I might be interested
in helping her communicate
with your daughter.
Manuel.
I beg of you.
I know how silly this sounds,
and I know how much it pains you to even think about it,
but...
I must say, our other sessions have been quite remarkable.
GATES: We were just putting together a few things
that Lily felt were special to your daughter.
White zinnias.
Franklin brought them.
Wasn't that thoughtful?
I told him they were her favorites.
They're not real.
Of course not.
It's too early for zinnias.
She's here...
and she'd really like you to stay.
Are you referring to my daughter?
Of course I am.
Please.
How much do you charge for this...
sort of... blasphemy?
Excuse me?
DEVALOS: What's your fee schedule?
GATES: I don't charge a fee.
You do this out of the kindness of your heart?
Your wife has agreed to an honorarium.
$300 an hour, although that's half what I usually...
Lily, honey, this man is as phony as these flowers.
Manny...
Lily.
Our daughter is not coming back
for a pleasant chat about the ribbon she won
on Sports Night in tenth grade.
Our daughter died with her heart
full of despair, sitting in a running automobile
in a locked garage in upstate New York
on a freezing winter night.
She tried calling you... twice.
: She tried calling me six times.
She didn't leave a note.
This is beautiful.
Did my wife mention to you
that I am the District Attorney of the city of Phoenix?
She mentioned you worked in government.
You leave now and you lose my phone number.
I won't press charges.
If you're still standing there in 30 seconds,
the deal is off.
I miss Daddy.
Bridge, don't be silly.
Daddy's just working late.
He'll be here when you wake up tomorrow.
Hmm.
How about I give you two kisses to pick up the slack?
Hmm?
That's one.
That's two.
Hey, are you trying to steal
my kissing duties?
Man works late one night,
and then when his back is turned,
his wife tries to steal his kissing duties.
Hmm... my humblest apologies.
Shan't happen again.
Yeah, it better not.
Is Daddy home?
He sure is.
Lucky you woke up.
You almost missed your good night kiss.
Hi, sweetie.
What are you doing? Nothing.
Checking. Checking what?
Checking nothing.
Give her a kiss.
She wants a kiss.
Kiss, Daddy.
Aw...
Come here, little one.
Ugh!
You're strangling me.
My neck.
Night, ladies.
Ain't he something?
That was hard for me, Oliver.
It's hard for everyone when you don't follow the rules.
There you go.
I'm going to try and put this behind us.
I think you should do the same.
Just stay in bed and go to sleep.
MAGGIE: He'll never stop, Oliver.
You know that.
Shh!
I have to go to sleep.
You know he won't stop.
Not until he kills you...
or you kill him.
What are you talking about?
I wouldn't do that.
I couldn't do that.
Oh, I'll bet you could.
Ugh.
What if I told you I wasn't going to say anything
to the District Attorney?
About your suspicion
that a homicidal doll helped a six-year-old, 65-pound boy
kill a full-grown adult male?
I'd say that's an absolutely prudent course of action.
Okay, forget about the doll.
Leave the doll out of this.
Imagine for a second that
that little boy did pull the ladder away
from underneath his father.
Can you blame him?
You know what?
I'm not in a position to blame him or not.
And neither are you.
I mean we don't even know for a fact
that his father was abusing him.
Just like you don't know for a fact
that the little kid had anything to do with his father's death.
I mean didn't you say
that the police had already declared the death accidental?
So what's your point?
My point is the reason not to discuss this with your boss
is because there isn't anything really worth discussing,
not because you think
the little boy might have been actually justified
in taking his father's life.
I mean, you're the judge and jury now?
That can't really be what you meant.
I don't know.
I don't know what I meant.
Besides it's like you said.
There's nothing to discuss.
The man's death was an accident.
Where you going?
To bed. I...
I just made the coffee.
Wait a second.
I need you to feel my head.
Well, you're fine.
DEVALOS: I need to ask you something,
but I'm afraid it might sound a bit...
abstract.
Okay.
Do you sense...
any kind of energy in this room?
A presence of any kind?
Are you asking me if your office is haunted?
About two and a half years before you started working here,
my daughter took her own life.
She was 20 at the time.
Every year around this time, I...
Two days ago she was sitting right where you are now.
I'm sorry. I don't see anything.
I don't feel anything.
Of course not.
The truth is there's nothing she could really say.
I mean when a child kills themselves
they really do get the last word.
That's sorta the point, isn't it?
Don't blame yourself.
She wouldn't want you to do that.
Who, who can I blame?
It's kind of a baseline requirement of a parent
that their child survive, isn't it?
You have no way of knowing what she was thinking,
what she was feeling.
That's funny you should mention that
because I just discovered yesterday
that my wife has been working for some time with a man
who claims he can see the dead.
He can communicate with the dead.
He's a charlatan.
It enraged me.
And I realized, here I am working
with the genuine article for almost three years now.
Never once did I tell you about Arianna.
And never once did I ask if you could reach her.
Not much of a father.
: I didn't...
I didn't realize
I was saying anything worth jotting down.
"Last gasp." Does that mean anything to you?
"Last gasp?"
What is that?
No.
Doesn't mean a thing to me.
I gotta go.
Don't ask.
Sorry, but I just gotta cut out.
A.J.'s been really patient this week,
but he's officially reached the saturation point
when it comes to spending days at this dad's office.
Uh, the good news is Tracy'll be back in town tomorrow
and I promise I'll be good for some late nights.
Okay, then.
Joe, you okay?
Yeah, I'm fine.
Don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow.
Okay.
That you, darling?
What are you doing out of bed?
I'll be in to give you kisses
and hugs and touches in a bit.
I said back to bed, honey.
Whatever you say, Daddy.
It's done.
I know it sounds bizarre.
That point is not lost on me.
So there's this killer doll...
I didn't say that!
What I'm saying is I saw another child kill her father.
And it seemed the doll...
seemed to be mastermind.
Even made it look like a mishap, like the Levitt killing.
The Levitt accident?
The mastermind. Cool.
Any sense of where this may have happened?
I can send some men down to the mall.
We can round up some Kens, some Barbies, some Cabbage Patches.
One of those little bastards is bound to know something.
What?
You're not gonna help me, are you?
With what?
Fine. I'll do it myself!
Be careful.
That Raggedy Ann may look out of shape,
but she'll kick your ass in a fight.
Hello.
Ms. Levitt, Allison Dubois
with the District Attorney's office.
We met the morning of the accident.
I just wanted to pay my respects
and see how you and Oliver were doing.
Okay.
Thank you.
Um...
Make yourself at home.
If you'll just excuse me, I have something I need to do.
Hello, Oliver.
Sorry about your father.
No, you're not.
Who's your friend?
It's not a friend.
It's just a doll.
Really?
Well, when I was young, my dolls were like friends to me.
I would talk to them.
Tell them things.
Things I couldn't tell anybody else.
Secrets and things.
Do you ever do that?
Maybe.
Sometimes.
So what kind of things do you tell her?
Things about your father?
You think it wasn't an accident, don't you?
I don't know.
What do you think?
You can tell me the truth, Oliver.
I really wanna help you.
LEVITT: Oliver.
Your mommy's on the phone, sweetie.
She really wants to talk to you.
Come on.
Mom's home!
Pizza, guys! Come and get it.
Come on!
Can I talk to you?
Can I show you something?
No.
There's really nothing to talk about.
I'm visiting my daughter
and you have your work.
What else is there to say?
I'd like to go with you.
I'd like to try to get a seat on that plane tomorrow.
I just... before we visit our daughter's grave, I...
I'd love you to take a little road trip with me.
2:20 in the morning.
I tell you. This ought to be illegal.
I got it.
Yeah.
CHILD: May I please talk to your wife?
It's a kid.
Who is this?
How old are you?
Do you know what time it is?
It's 20 minutes after 2:00.
Will you hand the phone to your wife, please?
No, no, as a matter of fact, I will not.
It's the middle of the night, and she's in bed,
which is where somebody your age ought to be.
Now, if you call here again, I'm contacting your parents.
Trust me: you'll wish you'd never been born.
What did he say?
I don't know.
He said he wanted to talk to you, uh.
Yes?
I really don't have any parents.
And I already wish I'd never been born.
So, if you don't mind, may I please speak with your wife?
Hello?
Do you have my doll?
Oliver, it's the middle of the night.
I couldn't sleep without Maggie.
Okay, all right, I'll bring it right over.
You'll bring what right over?
I have to run a quick errand.
At 2:00 in the morning?
Don't you want to know why I took it?
No. I already know why you took it.
SARAH JANE: Oliver?
Oliver, who's at the door?
What's going on?
Mrs. Levitt,
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you.
I... Somehow your nephew's doll got...
I was playing a game, and I hid it in her bag,
and I forgot to bring it back before she left today.
I looked her up in the phone book
and asked her to bring it back to me.
Oh, my God. And she did.
Oliver, it's the middle of the night.
No, no, no, no. Please. It's okay.
Really. You-You two have been through a lot lately.
Sounded like he really needed the doll.
You're a very perceptive person, Mrs...
Dubois.
And if you'll forgive me,
Mr. Dubois and the three little Dubois are at home
waiting for me, so...
Was he excited
when you slid down the chimney with his toy?
Actually, he was waiting for me.
Well, then, I guess he was excited.
Oh, maybe, or maybe he has a little bit of what I have.
Oliver Levitt is psychic.
What do you mean?
Well, I mean, I'm a freak, but I'm not that big of a freak.
There are other people out there
who feel things, see things.
Especially children.
A lot of people believe.
All children start with it,
and they lose it when they start to...
talk and start to read.
That boy definitely has it.
He knew I was at the front door before I got there.
He knew I didn't think
his father's death was an accident.
He knew I took his doll.
Okay,
but none of that makes him a murderer.
None of that makes his doll evil.
None of that proves
his father didn't actually fall off a ladder
trying to get a cat off a roof.
No fair.
It's the middle of the night.
You can't attack me with logic.
Sorry, baby. I'm tired,
and this is war.
Hmm.
MAN: Good night, sweetheart.
It happened again.
It happened again. It happened again.
MAGGIE: We have to get rid of him.
I can't.
Sure, you can.
No, I can't. I can't do it.
Well, why not?
Because... because he's my father.
He's so much bigger than me.
MAN: Sarah Jane, didn't I tell you to go to sleep?
Sarah Jane?
Sarah Jane Levitt.
Oliver's aunt-- it was her doll.
I think the car is here.
Well, hello.
I seem to have got you at a bad time.
We were just getting ready to go back home to San Francisco.
There's a lot to do.
You know, getting Oliver into school, and...
...starting the formal adoption,
and dealing with his mom.
He's been through so much.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, by the way, thank you again for returning Oliver's doll.
It meant the world to him.
Oh.
I couldn't help but notice, it's a rather old doll.
Well, actually, it belonged to me when I was a little child.
I used to confide in it, tell it things.
About a year ago, I sensed that Oliver had a lot on his mind,
and, uh, it made his father angry,
but I thought he might take some comfort in talking to her,
letting her keep his secrets.
I'm sorry. Was there something specific?
Something you need from me?
I just wanted to tell you...
you're going to get away with it.
Nobody senses.
Nobody cares.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Really? That's funny, 'cause I did a little research,
and it seems
tragic accidents
kind of follow you wherever you go.
First there was your father falling down the stairs,
now your brother?
My father passed almost 35 years ago.
What does any of that have to do with Michael?
Your father was a very troubled man, wasn't he?
The social worker
who interviewed you and your brother
shortly after his death
indicated a probable pattern of abuse.
Funny thing about abuse.
Oftentimes the victims become the abusers themselves.
Your father was awfully hard on you,
and he tortured the hell out of Michael, didn't he?
So what are you suggesting?
He's gone.
They are both gone.
Oliver is safe.
I just want you to know...
it stops here.
I'm going to keep in touch.
Have a safe flight.
I'll call you when you get home.
Bye!
Hey, you!
How you doing? You ready for your big trip?
I just told your aunt that I want to keep in touch with you.
I want you to tell me all about your new school
and all about your new friends.
Speaking of friends, where's your doll?
I don't know.
I think I lost her.
I'm usually pretty good at finding things,
guessing things,
but all of a sudden, I can't remember where she is.
Well, she'll turn up if she's meant to.
I don't care.
I'm kind of tired of her anyway.
Well, sounds like maybe you've outgrown her.
Sounds like maybe
you're outgrowing a lot of things.
Happy travels.
That sign said we just left town.
Do you have any idea what it is you're looking for?
Not really, no.
I don't understand.
We're at least 20 minutes from Ithaca,
from the cemetery.
It's after 3:00.
It's going to be dark soon.
Now we're not going to be able to see her grave
till tomorrow morning.
I should have known better.
I should have come by myself.
Manny, what are you doing?
Manny, where are you going?
I'm sorry.
I shouldn't have said that.
Tomorrow is time enough.
I'm just happy you're here with me.
It's all crap, Lily.
Everything they try to tell you about dying--
it's all crap.
They're just trying to sell you coffins
and gravestones and funerals.
The truth is, when you die, you're dead,
and that's that.
There are no messages from the beyond.
There are no souls trying to reach out to the living.
You're here, and then you're gone,
and that's why it makes me so mad that she just...
...she just threw it all away.
Manuel?
Manny, come here!
Manny, please!
Now I know why you brought me here.
Look.
My God.
Zinnias.
White zinnias.
Shh.
But it's the middle of winter.
: They were always her favorite.
Hello?
Hold on a second.
Honey, we overslept. Oh.
Phone's for you. Someone from work.
Yeah.
Joe Dubois.
Hi, Aaron.
Everything all right?
Oh?
Chicken pox?
What? You got it from your kid?
This wouldn't be the same kid
that you were bringing into work last week, would it?
I see. I think I'm gonna have to get back to you, Aaron.