Party of Five, Season 3

Charlie:
Miss Levin. Boy, I haven't thought about her in years...She always liked me.

Claudia:
Yeah? 'Cause when I told her I was your sister, she kinda had to grab hold of the desk and her face got all pale.

Girl:
Hi, Justin.

Justin:
[to Julia] She's just a friend.

Julia:
So am I; a friend who's seen you naked.

Bailey:
I have a feeling you're one of those girls. One of those never-a-dull-moment girls.

Callie:
The kind you're attracted to?

Bailey:
Nope. Not any more. Recovered.

Callie:
Recovered, or non-practicing?

Sarah:
You can't drink or have sex...you did one...why not the other?

Bailey:
I did both. It's not your fault. I can't lie to you. Callie...I ...with Callie.

Sarah:
[crying] Wow.

Bailey:
Fine, I'll stop by sometime.

Julia:
Oh, that's great. Another one of your "drive-bys."

Bailey:
What do you want from me?

Julia:
I want you to come home for Christmas.

Bailey:
I'm not doing Christmas this year.

Julia:
Oh, get over yourself, Bailey, okay?

Grace:
Are you okay? Maybe you should--

Bailey:
You know what, Grace? You tell too many people what to do. Maybe if you were less of a bitch, more people would like you.

Claudia:
Bay, are you gonna be okay?

Bailey:
Get out of here, Claudia.

Claudia:
Come on, Bay, please don't be like this. You're just... you're just upset or something--

Bailey:
I'm not upset. I just don't want to hear your stupid, whiny voice! Now get the hell out! [slams door in her face]

Claudia:
[after her siblings ask her to lie to Bailey about Owen being hurt in an attempt to get him to come to the house] No. Uh uh. No way.

Charlie:
Claud.

Claudia:
No. Forget it. That's a terrible thing to do.

Julia:
Yeah, it is. It is. But how else, Claud. How else can you get him here?

Claudia:
I don't know. But that? No, no. You can't tell him that. I mean, you can't have him get in his car and drive all the way over here thinking that. [to Sarah] You don't think this is, like, the cruelest thing you could do to a person? I mean, you're actually okay with this?

Sarah:
I know it'll get him here, Claud. So yeah, I am.

Claudia:
Well, I don't care. I won't. I don't care, and you know, if you think it is such a great idea, you call.

Julia:
It won't make any sense coming from Sarah. Or me, or Charlie.

Charlie:
It's you, Claud. If you call him and say that you need his help, that you don't know what to do, then he'll believe you. And he'll come.

Julia:
He's in trouble, Claudia. I mean, aren't you willing to do whatever it takes to help him? I am.

[Claudia looks torn; starts dialing]

Claudia:
[crying hysterically on phone] Bai! Bai, um, it's Owen. He...I wasn't looking and he...he fell down the stairs and he hit his head...hard. I don't know...I don't know if he's breathing...but he's not moving, Bailey. And I don't know what to do! You gotta...you gotta...okay. Okay, but hurry. [hangs up. To Charlie] Shame on you.

Bailey:
Sarah. So, you too, huh?

Sarah:
Yeah, me too.

Bailey:
What is this...is this like your way of getting back at me for Callie? Is that what this is?

Sarah:
You really think this is about revenge?

Bailey:
It sure as hell feels like it to me.

Sarah:
I'm not trying to get back at you, Bailey. I'm here because...because I've seen how you drink. How much you drink and what it does to you.

Bailey:
Uh huh. So you think I'm an alcoholic.

Sarah:
I think you have a problem, Bailey.

Bailey:
[raising his voice] You think that I'm an alcoholic. Why don't you just say it? That's what you came here to say, isn't it?

Sarah:
I think you're an alcoholic.

Bailey:
Well...well I think you're full of crap. I think you're all full of crap. And if you think I'm gonna hang around here and listen to you all tell me what a lush you think I am, as delightful as that sounds...it's been real.

Sarah:
If we're all wrong then why are you running away? See, you leave now, and all that does is say to us, Bailey's got a problem and he's too afraid to deal with it. So, so okay. So I'm wrong. So we're all full of crap. So set us straight, Bailey. Explain it. You know, make us see it from your side. [pause] Stay.

Joe:
[after telling Bailey that their father was also an alcoholic] I'm sorry, Claudia. I didn't know you were standing there.

Claudia:
It's OK. I should know, right? Who my father really was...

Joe:
That wasn't who he was. It was just a small part of him.

Claudia:
It isn't small. It's everything. He was an alcoholic.

Joe:
He stopped drinking long before you were even born, Claudia.

Claudia:
But it...it changes everything.

Joe:
How?

Claudia:
Because I thought I knew him!

Joe:
You did, sweetie! Everything you remember about your father is still true. He wasn't perfect, Claudia. He made mistakes, he had faults... it didn't make him any less of a person. Just made him human.

Bailey:
I um, I was think about us...about you and me.

Sarah:
You were?

Bailey:
It's funny. Because this is, like, what we used to talk about. Remember? And, and I finally have an answer to that question that you asked me.

Sarah:
I don't...

Bailey:
When you were looking for your mom. And you'd say to me, I wonder what I got from her. My voice, or my dark hair. Remember? And you asked me what I got from my parents.

Sarah:
Bailey...

Bailey:
It's like, Claudia plays the violin, and Julia looks like her, and Charlie looks like him. And this is what I got. This is what my father gave me.

Bailey:
I don't need to be taken care of. And I don't need any AA contact. I mean it's okay, Charlie. I kind of feel better, actually.

Julia:
You do?

Bailey:
Yeah, I do. Anyway. I guess you guys were right about me. Turns out you were right. Of course you were. I mean, I'm my father's son, right? Which is...which explains a lot of things. I mean, I can finally stop looking at myself and thinking, what is going on here? What am I turning into? Who am I turning into? Because it's him. I'm turning into him. And it's not my fault. It's not my fault. It's his fault. So...so I'm gonna stop beating myself up and I'm gonna stop letting all of you guys beat up on me. Because this is just who I am, and this is what I do. I drink. Anyone seen my coat?

Claudia:
That's it?

Bailey:
Yeah, Claud, that's it.

Claudia:
[upset] No. No no no no no no no. I can't take this, Bailey. I mean, you can't do this anymore.

Bailey:
Claudia...

Claudia:
[crying hysterically] No, Bailey. I mean it. That's it...that's it! I mean if you don't...if you don't get help, I don't want to see you. You can't talk to me...and you can't talk to Owen...and you can't come over to the house...and I'm not going to come and see you...and I'm not going to call you...and I'm not even going to think about you.

Charlie:
Claudia...

Claudia:
No! I love you, Bailey. More than anyone. I love you the best. You know that. This is the only thing I have that I can take away from you...to make you stop. So either you get help right now...or get out of here.

[long pause; Bailey finds his coat and leaves]

Avery:
Claudia, please. I really don't--

Claudia:
No! Because I know what you're doing. You're trying to protect me. But see...you're not.

Avery:
How does it help you to think bad things about your father?

Claudia:
I don't want to think bad things, Avery. I want to think good things, but I can't, because whenever I try...whenever I remember him posing us for one of those stupid Christmas cards, as a human pyramid or something...it seems fake, like I'm remembering something the way he wanted me to, but not how it really was.

Avery:
He drank too much, Claudia. What more do you need to know?

Claudia:
I want to know what he was like. What he was really like.

Charlie:
Why did you tell Claudia all that stuff about our father?

Avery:
Well, she came in all upset, and I just--

Charlie:
Exactly. Exactly! She's upset. She's upset about drinking in our family, so you tell her that her father was some kind of abusive drunk? Why would you do that?

Avery:
Charlie, wait--

Charlie:
Because this whole alcoholism thing, the way it works, she's gonna think that whatever happened to Dad is gonna happen to Bailey!

Avery:
She asked me what I remember. All I did was--

Charlie:
The fact of the matter is that Dad was never that bad! I remember him from back then too, you know, and I don't remember any of the stuff that you told Claudia. I mean, he drank too much, sure, and there was some yelling, definitely, but he got his act together pretty quickly, and Bailey will too. So as far as all this stuff you told Claudia, I don't know, maybe you have your own reasons for believing it, but we don't need to hear it, okay?

Avery:
You think I'm carrying out some sort of old grudge against Nick?

Charlie:
Everyone knows you were in love with her, so of course you're going to blow up every flaw he had. You didn't want to believe that he belonged with her.

Avery:
That's not it.

Charlie:
You're just trying to get back at him.

Avery:
That's not even close, Charlie. Because there's so much worse that I could have told her.

Charlie:
I'm sorry, Claud. I shouldn't have yelled at you. But I don't get it. I don't get why you're so mad at him.

Claudia:
Because of what he did to us.

Charlie:
But what did he do to you, really? Because he didn't make Bailey drink. I know you think he did, but--

Claudia:
Yes, he did. He gave him his problem.

Charlie:
No, Claud. Even if he did get the alcoholism from him, Dad couldn't help that, any more than Mom could help giving you her music.

Claudia:
Maybe not, but…he could help what he did to her. He could help being a bad husband and a bad father.

Charlie:
He wasn't Claud. He quit drinking. He made himself better, and the guy he was after that, you loved him. You thought he was a great father.

Claudia:
I don't care. I don't think that anymore.

Charlie:
You know, I've made a lot of mistakes, too, stuff that's hurt this family, and I tell myself that you need to screw up before you can learn, you know? Maybe you've got to be a lousy person before you can be a good one. And Owen, I mean…what if someday, Owen looks at me the way you're looking at Dad? Because if he does, there's no reason he won't decide to hate me.

Claudia:
You're different, Charlie. The stuff you did, it's just not the same thing.

Charlie:
Yes, it is. It's exactly the same. He was a good father, Claud, and if he was still around, he'd be a good father now. [long silence] Claudia?

Claudia:
Is Bailey gonna be okay?

Charlie:
I hope so. But I don't know.

Bailey:
Who's your favorite brother? [Owen doesn't answer] Bailey, stupid!

Owen:
Bailey, stupid!

Bailey:
Okay, we're gonna have to work on that one.

Charlie:
Where the hell were you?

Bailey:
I took my little brother out... what the hell is so the hell about it?

Charlie:
Have you been drinking?

Bailey:
Is that what this is about? God, just when I thought my family couldn't love me any less...

Charlie:
Let me smell your breath.

Bailey:
No...okay, I had one beer. That's all.

Charlie:
You drank and you drove with your little brother in the car! I don't believe you!

[He grabs Bailey by the shirt, and the others run to stop him]

Bailey:
He's my brother too!

Charlie:
No he's not!

Sarah:
So, do you have a plan? I mean, is there, like, some sort of treatment or something?

Bailey:
Yeah. AA. I'm gonna go to my first meeting tonight.

Sarah:
That sounds good.

Bailey:
I guess I better practice. "Hello, my name is Bailey Salinger, and I am an alcoholic."

Sarah:
Bailey, um, it's Alcoholics Anonymous. You're not supposed to give your last name.

Bailey:
Oh. Well, then, it's a good thing I practiced.

Bailey:
[about his AA meetings and the man who killed their parents] They're all the same. Everybody sits around and talks about how you have to believe in a higher power. You have to surrender yourself to God. It's written in the first couple of steps, and when has God ever taken care of us? We're sitting here without Mom and Dad! Come on! Walter Alcott is living proof that there's no way there's a God.

Sarah:
You have to go to AA, Bailey. You have to.

Bailey:
And say that I believe in stuff that I don't? Lie? No, I don't want to do that. I'm sick of lying, Sarah, so no.

Sarah:
No! No, Listen to me, okay? I'm here, and I'm here with you because you promised me you were going to get help.

Bailey:
I tried!

Sarah:
So try again, okay? This isn't optional! Look, you don't have a choice here. You have a disease, and you need to do whatever it takes to get well, okay? So skip the God part, do the rest!

Bailey:
No, it doesn't work that way, dammit! Don't you think that I wanted AA to be it? I know there's something wrong with me, and if I could believe that there was really someone who would protect me and help me not want to drink 24 hours every stupid day, don't you think... Sarah, don't you think that I would want that?

Bailey:
I know you said you didn't want me to be here, but wow, Claud. You were incredible! The couple next to me, they were clapping so hard for you, if you didn't do an encore, I think they would have ended up in the hospital! So, you want to do something? You want to get some dessert and celebrate? Or we could check out--

Claudia:
Just cut it out, okay?

Bailey:
Cut what out?

Claudia:
Being all nice and concerned and "What do you want, Claud?" You're only doing it because you screwed up.

Bailey:
Claudia. Look, Claudia, what do you want me to say? I'm sorry.

Claudia:
You're always sorry, and I'm just getting sick of it, okay?

Bailey:
Well--

Claudia:
Because all I do is worry about you, Bailey, and...what happened to you worrying about me?

Bailey:
Of course I worry about you, Claud.

Claudia:
Do you? Do you know what a big deal tonight was? Do you really know how scary it is to stand up in front of a thousand people who have heard it a zillion times, only, only played by Itzhak Perlman or Isaac Stern? It's...it's hard to breathe, and your fingers, they...they feel all thick, and you...you, you feel...you feel...

Bailey:
What?

Claudia:
[crying] Alone. I felt alone. I can't count on you anymore, Bailey, and I can't go to you to make me feel better, because you're...all of a sudden, I'm the one taking care of you, cleaning up after you, watching out for you, and it's not fair!

Bailey:
Why not? Why isn't that fair? Because I'm older than you? Because you need to be taken care of, and I don't? Will you stop? [Claudia stops walking] Listen, Claudia, I wish more than anything that you didn't have to watch me fight this the way I am, but you do. Look, I am sorry, but that is just the way it is.

Claudia:
Great.

Bailey:
Hey, you know what? You know what? You're not a baby anymore, and you're not gonna be a kid for that much longer, either, so maybe...maybe you could come through for me.

Will:
What is that?

Bailey:
What?

Will:
It's your window, I think.

Bailey:
What? No way. Oh no! I don't believe it! Damn it! Is there something you want to say here, Will?

Charlie:
End of the week and you're out of here. And pick up your crap in the living room, I'm sick of tripping over it.

Justin:
I am not going to win. I have nothing to write about. A-- A pivotal event in my life? What am I--? What are you writing about? What's your essay? Your, uh-- Your entry?

Sarah:
Well, uh, meeting my birth mom.

Justin:
Oh, great. Fantastic. They're gonna love that. They're gonna eat it up with a spoon.

Sarah:
Well, excuse me. It's not like I made it up so I'd have something to write about.

Justin:
And don't even tell me. You're gonna write about your parents.

Julia:
Well, yeah. But I don't know what that has do with anything.

Justin:
Man, talk about a ringer.

Julia:
Justin, that is disgusting.

Justin:
You know what? I bet you'll both win. Yeah, you'll tie. And you'll both go to Stanford, and I'll be busy over at, uh, Stop & Shop saying, "paper or plastic?" Paper or plastic? Can I double-bag that for you? Paper or plastic? Paper or plastic?

Sarah:
I'd be okay with a tie.

Julia:
Yeah.

Alec:
Do you think that little red thing grows in the olive or someone shoves it in there after?

Julia:
What?!

Sarah:
Ready? Cribs and beds and tables and chairs, Mom buys them at Baby Bear's.

Bailey:
What's with the voice?

Bailey:
It was-- He pushed-- It was an accident. The hell with all of you.

Walter Alcott:
Bailey?

Bailey:
No. Don't talk to me.

Man:
You two know each other?

Bailey:
My parents are dead because of him.