Okay, we're ready. You can come down.
Okay.
Where are you?
- Batman and Robin! - You notice anything different about us?
You want to put on this one?
- It's Batman's mommy. - Cute.
I don't celebrate Halloween.
- What? - I don't celebrate Halloween.
- You don't celebrate Halloween? - No.
Was there a reason?
Because it's the highest satanic holiday of the year.
So, the Satanists do sacrifices on this day.
- There's sacrifices? - Yes.
I thought it was just going door to door for candy.
- Did you want to put on this? - No.
- Mommy isn't gonna put on a costume. - Why?
Mommy doesn't celebrate Halloween.
I guess there's a lot of ghosts and that's scary for Mommy, maybe.
Yeah.
I've never seen that celebrated anywhere.
Because you won't see it because it's underground.
But where does it happen?
It happens at places like Bohemian Grove
and lots of different places.
Have you ever heard of Satanists?
- Yes. - You should Google the origins.
- I saw another Batman mask. - Okay, I had no idea.
Nathan, where have you been?
I thought it was just trick or treating, really.
I didn't think it was like…
- There was a… - Not everything is make-believe.
Some things are real.
You have to open your eyes to reality.
I had been a father for two days now, and I was still getting my bearings.
Angela had such a grand vision for her future life,
and I was starting to understand what it meant to be a part of it.
She saw herself living as a homesteader,
which she told me was a lifestyle of self-sufficiency.
Leafy greens. Root veggies. And some flowers.
- The tractor. - Flowers.
That meant there was a lot to do in the farm.
But I noticed it was mainly me doing it while she was in the house
raising our now three-year-old son.
The water need to be evenly distributed.
- You can run a line or run a hose. - Okay.
And make sure they get down to the roots.
Okay.
I'm not much of a gardener,
and I definitely don't know anything about irrigation,
but Angela seemed to prefer being on childcare duty…
- Thank you, Adam. - …which made sense,
She was good at it.
Hello.
- Here are the eggs from the coop. - Oh, nice.
- Hey, Adam. - Hey. Who's that?
But for this rehearsal to function, I needed to feel like a real family.
I just hoped that I could make that happen with everything else
I had going on.
This is where he, you know, everyday,
I'm wearing the necklace like this and he's in this urn.
- These his ashes? - Yeah, his ashes right in here.
Both of my grandpas are here.
What's that other thing on the necklace?
- That's the Punisher emblem. - What's that about?
I like the Punisher just because he takes the law into his own hands
to, you know, punish the people that wronged him.
I had a number of rehearsals already lined up
when I moved into the house.
Which meant I was now having to balance
my time between work and family.
- Nice to meet you, Patrick. - He's an actor,
- he'll be playing your brother. - Okay, cool.
This guy I met named Patrick had an unresolved issue with his brother,
who is the executor of their late grandfather's will.
You know, my grandpa in the will, he'd stated,
if I'm going gonna be dating a gold digger,
that I shouldn't be allowed my money to protect it.
- It said in the will? - Yeah.
- You can't date a gold digger? - Yeah.
And my brother considers all the girls I've dated recently,
that they're a gold digger out for money.
Can I get the Caniac Combo?
Patrick wanted to change his brother's mind
about his girlfriend being a gold digger
at a Raising Cane's Chicken Finger restaurant.
A place their grandpa used to take them
as an annual family tradition when he was alive.
He said if you are with somebody that can't be trusted with money,
then I'm not supposed to give it to you.
And as long as you're with Nes, I'm not giving it to you.
A gold digger, but she's not.
She's a penny pincher. She's a Jew about it.
And you know how the Jews are 'bout that kind of thing.
She just penny pinches and she's not one to hurt me in that regard.
I'm trying to just calibrate, because to me it's like,
"Oh, that's an anti-Semitic stereotype."
I got you.
It is a personal conversation with you and your brother
and I do want you to be yourself.
My brother would say a similar thing.
- I mean… - It would work?
It's like, "Oh, you know, don't be so Jewish like to me on things."
Yeah, I mean if that's how you communicate.
I don't want you to use language that wouldn't be effective, so…
Yeah, then…
Patrick's rehearsal presented some fascinating dilemmas,
that I saw as an opportunity to advance the art of rehearsing.
At what point in the conversation would you wanna say Nessa's a Jew?
The biggest challenge was that he couldn't seem
to follow any coherent strategy, and I couldn't figure out why.
He's an air traffic controller… I mean, he needs logic,
- He keeps planes from crashing. - Yeah.
I don't know how much that argument would just…
An arm wrestle's gonna work with him or…
I get what you're saying.
On my first day with him, I stayed pretty late.
- And when I got home, - Adam was already in bed.
There you go.
You just did it when you moved the small hand under the big hand.
And by the time Angela finished her bedtime story,
it was too late for mine.
This was actually a book that Adam picked off the shelf
from the book up. The shelf upstairs.
Really?
Yep, he just picked this one off the shelf.
And you've been reading it?
Yeah, I've just been looking at the different kinds of flowers in there.
Cool.
Does he ever ask about me or anything?
I don't think so.
Not that I could think at the moment.
Good morning.
- How are you? - I'm great, thank you.
How much?
- Is that enough? - Yep.
I told Angela that I would take Adam for the day
to give her time to work on her Etsy business
selling home-made skin creams.
- Hey, here's your tea. - Hi.
- Oh, thanks. - And here's some cereal…
- Thank you. Thanks. - For breakfast. Okay.
Do you know if it's gluten-free?
There are several components to a good rehearsal.
So far, my focus has been on practicing the actions
and the words that you're likely to encounter in your real life.
This is where Daddy works.
- This is Adam, he's my son. - Hey, Adam.
She's not doing that at all, dude. You don't know her.
- She is a gold digger. - Dude, she's not.
But I've recently come to realize I've been neglecting one key component
of every crucial life event. Feelings.
When I did my rehearsal with Core, he was able to master the verbal
and physical choreography of his situation.
I've decided to give you a little buzz.
But when it came time to confess his lie at the real bar
to his real friend, he completely froze.
It's like you could see the adrenaline running through his veins.
The pressure of the real situation finally hit him.
And this is something that never happened once in his rehearsal.
Which means, I failed to prepare him for how he would feel.
Me spending time with Adam has only confirmed this theory.
I'm acting like a dad, but I definitely don't feel like one, that's a problem.
So, how can I prepare Patrick
for the feeling of sitting across from someone
who's withholding an inheritance he feels entitled to?
Well, there's a part of this rehearsal I've been keeping secret from Patrick
to accomplish exactly this.
Hey, Pat.
Hey, man. My family barn's not too far from here.
And there's a generator that I have to actually move
for the day out of that barn.
Yeah, I can help you move it.
After today's rehearsal,
I had the actor playing Patrick's brother ask Patrick
out of character to help him move an old generator at his grandpa's barn.
- I'm Johnny. Patrick. - Patrick.
- Nice to meet you. - Pleased to meet you.
Thanks for coming out.
But this is not the actor's real grandpa.
This grandpa is also an actor, but Patrick doesn't know that.
- What's all this? - They're filming me.
I'm not in a documentary.
They're not filming you, Grandpa, they're just filming…
- All right. Nice. - Yeah.
- That's it, yeah? - Yeah.
- I got one more thing. - It's date night, I can't stick around.
- "Date night"? - Yeah.
- I have to go. I promise… - I'll help you out.
- Are you sure? - Yeah. I can help out.
Dude, that's not his job to do. It's your job!
I hope she fuckin' leaves you. You can help me with this?
Yeah, I can help you out. What do you need?
And that's when the grandpa reveals that beneath the floorboards
is a map leading to some gold that he had buried
on his property years ago to avoid taxes.
There's just a lot of valuable shit in there and…
Yeah.
I need to get it out.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate this.
Over the next several hours I needed Patrick
and this old man to form a bond.
I used to help my grandpa all the time whenever he needed something.
My younger brother, he never really kinda would do it.
He was always joking around.
- But you were there. - Yup, I was there, cause…
- That's the way I was raised too. - Yeah.
A bond strong enough that will result in this grandpa
including Patrick in his will.
Just days before he drops dead of natural causes.
So then, the only thing standing in the way of Patrick
getting this inheritance is the will's executor,
the actor playing Patrick's brother.
Giving Patrick's rehearsal the exact same stakes,
and hopefully, the exact same feelings as his reality.
But before meeting up with them, I had to take Adam home for his nap.
Yeah, I was just thinking…
I don't know if you'd be open to a part-time nanny maybe
- and that would allow us to… - Oh, a part-time nanny?
Yeah. I would be open to that.
That way you could do your work and I could do mine.
Yeah, I think that's a good idea.
If we can find a person we trust.
Yeah, okay. I'll see you later though.
- Okay, see you later, Nathan. - Yeah. Okay.
- Thanks. - Thanks.
- You're good to put Adam to bed? - Yes.
Patrick and the old man had been searching for the gold for hours.
Two men in the woods building trust as only men do.
Like, I'm pretty loyal to the things that, like, I like.
Kind of like, if it's food, I like pizza. And then I like chicken.
- And then I like steak. - What kind of pizza you like?
- Cheese pizza, simple and plain. - That's it, huh?
I mean I like pepperoni but it gives heartburn like a motherfucker.
But before finding it, there was one more thing
I hoped would cement their bond.
Hold on a minute, I got a little issue here.
No worries.
Patrick frequently cited changing his grandpa's diaper
in his final years as evidence of why he deserved his inheritance.
I fucking changed his diapers. You… you never changed his diapers.
Whenever he went to the bathroom,
"I need to change my underwear," you know, "D'you have boxers?"
I'm over there wiping grandpa's ass, while we were watching Dragon Ball Z.
I wanted Patrick to have a similar experience with this grandpa.
- Patrick. - Yup.
This is a little embarrassing…
I wonder if you could give me a hand here.
What's that? So, friggin'…
- Sorry, man. - No worries.
All right, is there any mess back there?
I need a cleanup on aisle ten or anything?
- There you go. - Thank you.
It was a beautiful moment,
but I couldn't help but feel sad knowing that this old man would soon be dead,
and I was the one who would have to break the news.
Fuck… fuck me to tears!
Hold that for me.
- That's awesome. - Yeah, you see them bad boys?
Yeah, very cool.
- That's not silver, baby. That's gold. - Nice.
Every one of them fuckers is worth somewhere
- around two grand right now. - Nice.
I don't really got a lot to spend it on, but…
I want you to have some of this.
Well that'd be cool, but I mean I don't, you know…
You've done more for me you've been kinder to me today
than my own grandson has for the last year.
I can't take it with me.
- That's true. - Well, shit.
Good working with you, sir.
So I'm just gonna get this all appraised and I'll call you in a week.
Yeah. Thank you.
You earned it and a lot more
and you're gonna get a lot more.
So, we just got a call from Isaac, the actor playing Patrick's brother,
and sadly, he's had a death in the family,
so we're gonna take the day off from rehearsing today.
Cool.
Let's go home and… how about we spend some time
with our families and cherish every moment
because you never know when it's gonna be your last.
- Sorry about that. Yeah. - No worries.
- Pick up on a different day? - Yeah, definitely.
Oh, Hermie! Good to see you.
Hey, I heard what you said. Have you ever lied?
Yeah, there have been times that I didn't tell the whole truth.
So, you're a liar?
Well, no, I mean, I don't make a habit out of lying.
- Then I can't believe anything you say. - Why not?
All right. Isaac, everyone.
- Thanks for coming in. - Oh, thanks, man, I appreciate it.
You sure you're okay to rehearse today?
Yeah. I wanna get back into it. It'll take my mind off my grandpa.
- Okay, cool. - Yeah.
We're just back at the table?
- Yeah, yeah. - Hey, dude.
- I'm sorry, man. - Hey, thank you. Appreciate it.
I mean, I know you guys got to spend some time together.
- Yeah, it was cool, you know? - He obviously liked you.
It was cool, you know. Friggin'…
You know, your grandpa was cool. I'll tell you that.
- So just… Yeah dude. - Thanks, man.
The foundation had been laid. And Patrick was about to be thrust
into the exact situation he had come to rehearse.
Yeah, there was something
that I wanted to talk to you about… before we started today, which was…
I went to the hospital and saw my grandpa before he passed
and he told me he was pretty adamant about that he wanted you
to have some of his gold?
Yeah. He was really, you know, excited about finding it,
like, we found it from his map and everything.
He clearly wanted you to have it.
So, you guys made some kind of connection, which is great.
It's awesome.
I'll never forget that. You know, that was awesome.
- Yeah. - You know?
I want to honor that, but also, I feel little bit uncomfortable
giving you the gold because everything I know
about Nessa being a gold digger. It makes me feel like
if I give you the gold,
what's to stop her from just taking it and leaving you.
Nessa isn't a gold digger 'cause you know…
But I mean, like, he wanted it to go to you
and I'm a little bit afraid that Nessa being a gold digger…
In regard to Nessa being a gold digger, she's not.
And I would just say that, you know, I did say…
- I did earn it. She was… - I feel bad 'caus
if we hadn't had tis conversation about Nessa's past,
I wouldn't even know to think this.
But you don't know her, so she's like a nobody to you.
All I know is, like, what you told me about her.
Yeah, I told you great things about her too,
so I mean, why are you only picking on one side?
I could tell Patrick was getting quite worked up,
so I took him aside and said he could deal with this stuff
on his own time, so we could begin rehearsing.
Hey, Chris.
- How's it going? - You started without me.
You were taking a second longer, but it's okay.
What do you need to talk about?
I'm telling you right now, Nessa's not a gold digger.
She's been helping me out, you know,
and my life has been better because of her.
You should be able to say, "Hey, look, you know what,"
you believe me on that. Okay?
But I mean, I think in Nessa's case, like,
she's hoping that you get this inheritance money, right?
- That, like, you're trying to give… - Well, I wish you could trust me more.
You know, I'm sorry that you have any resentment
built up towards me, but, you know…
you're still my younger brother, and I love you, you know.
Congratulations for doing everything you're doing, you know.
Fucking, just… we don't have that communication no more.
And I wish we did sometimes.
I wasn't sure what strategy Patrick was using,
but it wasn't one we had rehearsed.
You know, 'cause it's, like, I can't… Dude, I can't grieve.
I haven't been able to grieve so much
'cause there's been lawyers fighting this whole time since he passed away.
I have yet to have the day where I just sit and cry about it.
Yeah, I'm tired of having little spurts about it.
I want it to be one and done. So if you could just…
find it in your heart, how Big Wilf would've wanted you to,
and just give me my portion.
Where I don't have to fight you on it, where I don't have to call you about it.
I could just handle it my way and it'd be done.
That's what I want. I think that's what he would want.
So, please. We're brothers, you know, we're supposed to be working together.
I'm tired of living like it's the day after he died.
So, please, just let me move on, man. Just let me have it.
And all right, it's your life, it's your money,
it's what grandpa wanted for you to have in the long run, so…
You're a man and you deserve to make your own decisions.
- Thank you, Chris. Yeah. - Yeah, man.
- Okay, give me a hug. - Yeah.
Thank you, Chris.
- I love you, brother. - I love you too.
All right, all right. I'm done crying.
Thank you.
Something had happened inside Patrick,
and it seemed like we had made a breakthrough.
But this would only be a success if he could repeat it with his brother.
- Which one do you want? - Uh, watermelon.
Oh, watermelon.
Yeah, the nanny's running a little late. But I can, I'll come by right after.
- Hi! How are you? - Hi. Good, I'm Destiny.
- Destiny, yeah. Thanks for coming. - It's right here.
- This is Angela. - Hi!
- Hi. Nice to meet you. - That's Adam.
- You too. Thank you. - Yeah, welcome.
I have around eight years' experience.
Began originally with my church as a church leader.
So, Angela and I are kind of in a non-traditional,
non-romantic relationship.
We're here to co-parent this child as part of a rehearsal.
- It's a simulated experience. - Before we have… Yeah.
Before deciding if we wanna do it in our real lives.
Separately.
- Okay. - Yeah, separately.
We wouldn't together, yeah.
- Oh, okay. - Yeah, so the extensive camera
set up here is not because we don't trust you.
- Okay, so… - Yeah, they're not nanny cams.
- Oh, okay. - Yeah, yeah.
So, this is a camera in regards to the production?
- Yes. It's… - Okay.
Same with the timer, I see.
Yeah, the clock is a countdown clock 'cause this is an actor.
The child, so he can only…
They can only work for a certain amount of hours.
- Okay. - So…
- I's really… - Oh, yeah, that makes sense.
Okay, bye, Adam.
- Why? - I'm going to work.
Come on.
But when I got to the warehouse,
Patrick wasn't there, and no one could track him down.
So, I just had to wait.
I don't want you.
When I finally got him on the phone,
he told me he was at an amusement park with his girlfriend.
I kinda had plans with the girlfriend now to go have like a…
What's that cake called?
Funnel cake. Like, I've never had funnel cake before.
- Okay. - So, yeah.
I'd like to have some… a little bit of funnel cake.
- Treat myself for a second. - Right.
He said I could come join him for funnel cake if I wanted.
But by the time I got there, his cell phone had died
and I couldn't find him.
I never heard from Patrick again.
Maybe for some, the rehearsal itself is enough.
What is it? Why do you keep turning away from me?
I was starting to wonder how I could so easily
create feelings inside other people's rehearsals
- when I couldn't do it for myself. - Where are you going?
Okay, I'll just leave it here with you and then you can change it
when you're ready, okay?
This is the day Mommy bought you home.
- You were just a baby. - Yeah.
I had a photo album made that blended false memories
with real ones to help fill in the gaps
and enhance the feeling of a complete life.
Thomas, the train! I need to go there now!
Time moved differently in here, and I was still getting used to it.
- It was behind it, here. - Okay, yeah. It was.
When your three-year-old son goes into his room…
- Adam? - Yes, Dad?
And emerges as a six-year-old a minute later,
it can be hard to stay in the moment.
Um, so what do you wanna do today?
So, you need to have custom digital mirrors installed
that allow you to see yourself age at the same pace as your child.
But that means the world around you has to move faster too.
Seeds that are planted one week have to be plump vegetables the next.
Nature's timeline has to be accelerated…
and your brain desperately tries to adapt to your new reality.
And then every now and then, there are these glimmers…
- That was kind of fun, huh? - These moments where you forget
and you just feel like a family.
You're gonna get me?
Don't get me! You threw it! What the heck!
That's when you know the rehearsal is working.
No! Help. I'm dead.
I often feel envious of others.
The way they can immerse themselves in a world with so little effort.
The way they can just believe.
I Googled origins of Halloween and it came up Celtic tradition.
Oh, maybe… Did you do a keyword search?
"Halloween satanic origins?"
To gather only what they need to know and ignore the rest.
Yeah, and Google's really censoring a lot of stuff now.
That's weird. Why would Google be, like, incentivized to suppress results
like that, like, what do they have to gain?
'Cause they're controlled by the Devil.
- And the Devil is… - Google is?
Yeah, and the Devil's biggest trick
is to convince people that he doesn't even exist.
Yeah, maybe let's not talk about this around the kids.
Yeah, okay. Yeah.
These are smart labels and covers.
I think we need to take that part off.
Emotions are a funny thing.
They're not easy to engineer.
After all, there's only so much you can do to deceive yourself.
And even when you think of everything there will always be things you forget.