People Who Knew Me - 4. Jack Daniels

Episode Date: June 8, 2023

New episodes released on Tuesday and Thursday. If you’re in the UK, listen first on BBC Sounds. Claire takes Connie wig-shopping as a surprise for being halfway through her cancer treatment. Trying on a wig provokes some painful memories of Connie's life back in New York. A friendship with her sassy work colleague highlights the failings of her marriage, further compounded by Drew's restaurant falling through. Then when they try to escape on their delayed honeymoon fate steps in to truly derail them. Credits Connie / Emily - ROSAMUND PIKE Drew - KYLE SOLLER Claire - ISABELLA SERMON Gabe - ALFRED ENOCH Jade - JESSICA DARROW Marni/Jenny - DANIELLA ISAACS Dr Richter / Reporter - CHARLES HAGERTY and HUGH LAURIE as PAUL Additional voices: PIPPA WINSLOW, NANCY CRANE, JOEY AKUBEZE, BARNEY WHITE, JILL WINTERNITZ Written and Directed by Daniella Isaacs Adapted from the original novel and Consulting Produced by Kim Hooper Produced by Joshua Buckingham Executive Produced by Faye Dorn, Clelia Mountford, Sharon Horgan, Kira Carstensen, Seicha Turnbull and Brenna Rae Eckerson Executive Producer for eOne Jacqueline Sacerio Co-Executive Produced by Carey Burch Nelson Executive Producer for BBC Dylan Haskins Assistant Commissioner for the BBC Lorraine Okuefuna Additional Commissioning support for the BBC Natasha Johansson and Harry Robinson Production Executive Gareth Coulam Evans Production Manager Sarah Lawson Casting Director Lauren Evans Audio Production & Post-Production by SoundNode Supervising Dialogue Recordist & Editor Daniel Jaramillo Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Design & Mix: Martin Schulz Music composed by Max Perryment Additional Dialogue Recording: David Crane, Martin Jilek Assistant Dialogue Recordists: Jack Cook, Giancarlo Granata Additional Dialogue Editing: Marco Toca Head of Production Rebecca Kerley Production Accountant Lianna Meering Finance Director Jackie Sidey Legal and Business Affairs Mark Rogers at Media Wizards Dialect Coach for Rosamund Pike - Carla Meyer Read in Hannah Moorish Artwork: Mirjami Qin Artwork Photographer by Sibel Ameti Additional thanks to: Emily Peska, Caitlin Stegemoller, Sam Woolf, Charly Clive, Ellie White, Ellen Robertson, Kate Phillips, Ed Davis, Ciaràn Owens, Jonathan Schey, Daniel Raggett and Charlotte Ritchie.

Hi, I'm Dr. Julia Shaw, and I'm Sophie Hagen. Our podcast, Bad People, is back for a new season. Every week we combine true crime and research from criminal psychology to investigate the deliciously dark question. Why do people do bad things? In this season, we dig into questions like can video games ever cause violence? I mean, how do you meant to react to that? Do doctors need dark humor? No, I never want to hit that again.

And what rights does a dead body have? That is horrible. Bad people is back. Listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. This episode contains themes and strong language, which some listeners may find upsetting. All events are dramatized. Emily, I've been reading about psychopaths. Mom! Psychopaths can assume the burden of mental accounting, the burden of their lives without

any obvious distress. Mom? Now, I don't remember you experiencing any mental distress. Coming! So that means you're a psychopath. When did you, kind, doding, sweet Emily Morris, you? When did you become such a selfish psycho? I started with the coin toss, that uncontrollable stroke of chance, that bad choice, that quarter spinning round,

and round, and round, and round, and round in my head. Alright, I'll be in the car. Claire's taking me for a surprise. I don't deserve a surprise. I don't deserve anything. She says she wants to celebrate being half of her through treatment. Honey, you don't have to.

And to say that I shouldn't have made you so stressed throughout Dad, Elliot, Elliot. I've decided I'm not going to call him Dad anymore. I'm in a tantrum, Emily, and I'm blaming it on you. Why didn't you say no to that stupid coin toss? You wouldn't have become a serial liar. You wouldn't have run. And fuck it.

I don't think I'd be marching to my death. Keep going. And there. See? Wicked out. Oh, wow. It's the best wake shop in LA, and I thought we could wear the same ones in the road trip. Fun, right?

Very fun. I gaslit my kid into thinking her dad was monthly abusive. She knows nothing about him at all, Emily. To soothe my guilt, because unlike you, I'm crippled by it, I told her we could book a road trip, and now she won't stop talking about it. She thinks we've won, Cancer. All the kids in her class are wearing pink ribbons on their shirts, like a teenage Cancer Army.

What I'd pay to win, Emmy. Oh my God, Mom, you got to try this one. I want to see what you would look like with Brown hair. The Winona. The wig is parted down the side. A few strands sweeping across my forehead. I love it. Don't you love it? It's you, Emily Morris.

You staring back at me. Exactly how you wore it at Mathers and James. Pixie, this is Winona. Because we're cute little finger-like Bob. I'm Winona. This is Pixie. She's Pixie because she has this outrageous sexy Pixie haircut when she turned up in this vintage cute little finger-like bob. I'm Winona, this is Pixie, she's Pixie, because she has this outrageous sexy Pixie haircut when she turned up in this vintage cute little place

suit for her interview. Stop. Genuinely. Almost turned red. Stop it. She's a Mathers and James icon, covered her walls and wore all postcards. They're Boscow.

Girls, you can thank me later, right? There's nothing like paying work neighbors. I'm Marny. I just by being called Pixie. I'm not an elf. She said you had a good aura in your interview, right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, me too. It's Jay Tiring line. And let me tell you something.

Wait, what's your actual name? Because I can't be dealing with an owner. Emily. Emily might or a fucking sucks. Marney introduced you to the concept of warp drinks. Is this for someone else? Yes, sir. Margarita. Oh, yeah. Why'd she not this press or marketing? Yes, sir. Margarita? Oh, yeah.

Why'd she not take it? And your number, please. She also introduced you to using the word pussy as a verb. I'm just saying I think he's pussying you around. He's not, really. So let me get this straight in my brain. You got chosen out of thousands to study at a prestigious lip course, but you had to get a job writing about toilet roll. So your pathetic little husband,

his name's Drew. Sorry Drew, could follow his pipe dream of becoming a chef. It's not a pipe dream. And you decided who goes first not by working out which career would be more profitable, but by a coin toss? So I had pussy little coin toss.

You never understood how she got pussy, and to so many sentences. That was the fairest option. You're a little pussy, Emily Morris. You never understood how she got pussy and to so many sentences. It was the fairest option. You're a little pussy, Emily Morris. Before Marnie, the idea of talking about sex in public made you blush. Flirting with anyone other than Drew made you feel guilty. Before Marnie, you are an accepting obedient wife.

He better be giving you the best orgasms of your life. Oh no. What? Same expression as my celibate sister. Oh, when did you last fuck? Uh. Oh. You're literally a child bride. How old are you? 2026, 25.

25? 25. Fuck me, you're a kid. I just want to be with some kind of general injury. This is not okay. Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit. So it's checking you out to a clock, to a clock, hot fucker. Check. Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit.

So it's checking you out to a clock, to a clock, hot fucker, check your ring out, check your ring out. You stacked up almost a hundred business cards over those years. You didn't stray, but you did like the attention, and you did like impressing Marnie, and you did like the thrill. You weren't built like her though.

There had to be an actual connection for it to be worth pursuing, and that was reserved solely for Drew. Wasn't it? Eight of the dogs, seven of them on the road. Meet me at the spot. After work, Drinks started weekly, then monthly, and when Marney moved to another agency, it was whenever she had a dirty sex story.

You counted down to those nights. Tell me your spoil, little husband's finishing school soon. It was early 97 when it dawned on you. Studying a Brooklyn was a fantasy. He's got one summer quest left, and then he's opening a taco shop with his friend Domingo in Williamsburg. Domingo? Sorry. Alright, who the fuck's Domingo?

A guy he met on the course. It's his Spanish name. You're having sex? You lied. Felt to embarrass to tell her it had been three months because Drew always felt too stressed. Yeah, yeah, it's good. It's just that it's difficult for him because food businesses fail all the time. So do marriages, then. Oh my god. Wait, what about a threesome?

Generally, I just did one with a couple and it was truly transformative. Are you asking me for a threesome? Come on. Ha ha ha ha. Do it. Woo! Mom, what's wrong?

I don't like it. No, I don't like the idea. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't like it. I pick a pink wig off the shelf. One for Claire too. I breathe.

I pay. I don't even think about the money for once. We walk for something to eat. I'm not really there. I'm with you, Emily Morris, and Drew, and that fucking quintus. He opened the dirty taco on November 9, 1997. He was on a's, uh, it's, it, it, it, pork? Eh, it is lobster and beautiful motherfucking black bean! He loved it. Domingo loved it.

The customer is fuck, everybody loved it. Even your sex life loved it. You started scheduling getting laid every Sunday morning. Oh AM. 9 AM. But after the initial opening rush, the foot flow dwindled as expected. You definitely sure you want the expensive tables, people like most people take out. The Mingo one in tables. Maybe you should put some signs up on the street. I got a mix of stuff.

Sure. Sorry. Time was better spent collecting business cards in Manhattan. And then, October 3rd came around. The Mingo's out. Domingo was a bow shitter. You always knew it. He'd been bleeding money since it opened.

He didn't even have a bookkeeping system. Said we're done. You poured two tumblers of Jack Daniels, opened a bag of barbecue chips. You joined him in his misery. But be honest, all you could really think about was... If that coin toss had just landed on tails, you'd have a professorship at NYU by now. Drew would be cooking without even having to think about the bookkeeping.

Let's do our honeymoon. What? We should do it, our honeymoon. It's like not really the time to... I've been saving. Ouch had emasculated him. You took a leaf out of Marnie's book. Didn't want to be a pussy anymore. This was your chance to move on from that shitty coin toss.

You confidently put your hand on his leg. He jolted. Now was the time for you. Look, if you want to go find, but I can guarantee you it'll make me happy, though. You don't have to guarantee me anything. His mood shifted as soon as you booked the trip. You gloted to Marnie.

You were a committed couple who were in no need of a threesome. He planned the days, you planned the nights, new sex toys, along with a carefully plotted agenda of issues, job swapping, a cash flow forecast, and your desire for children, the coin toss, was history. You were starting again? Can we, Mom? Huh? Book Hamilton.

It's on Broadway. And Holly said it's going to be huge. What is Hamilton? We should get tickets for when we go to New York. Mom? Once, once, I just need the restroom. It was 4.35 pm when the call came. Four hours before your big trip.

Janet was going out to get the mail. Sorry, I didn't live at number 72. She had her head pretty bad, I think. I think she had a broken wrist. 4.44pm. You didn't talk for the first 20 minutes on the way to his mother and then... Uh, what time? To start flight leave.

Hey, we need to get there by 6. You were good at this type of chat. Denial. 506pm. The moment you realized your honeymoon wasn't gonna happen. She lay there looking old. Desper desperate for help 510 you realized you were the fucking hell

You looked for the alleged cracks They were none you were desperate for it to be just a bad bruise that she could deal with along It's calling you a? 512 PM. You clocked the bills leaking out of the mailbox and realized she didn't have insurance. 518 PM. You go into her house. You notice trails of urine on the floor. Oh my God.

548 PM. East Orange General Hospital. Waiting. 733 PM Orange General Hospital waiting. 733 p.m. I'm Dr. Racice. You were supposed to be down in Cosmopolitan's waiting for your flight. When was she diagnosed? Was diagnosed?

Parkinson's? The doctor didn't look up from his clipboard. You were meant to be pulling out lingerie you'd hidden in your purse as you stood in line to get on your flight. I can see that she's headed for about five years. My guess is she's at stage four of five. What happens at stage five? 7.50pm. You'd be in your seat.

At stage five, you really need full-time nursing care. Increased difficulty with movement, walking, talking, eating. It's not terminal. You knew immediately that wasn't good news. Eight o of all. The trip you'd pinned your whole future on. Suddenly felt so pathetic. I'm fine. Just give me one sec. I'm just tired.

This isn't tired. You don't throw up from being tired. We should run the doctor. I mean, my lies are making me sick. Let's go outside. She was trying not to cry. Playing with a tortilla chip. I couldn't watch. The treatment isn't working as well as we thought, you sweetie.

I saw a doctor director last week and he is changing my treatment plan, which is a good thing. Well, he said you were getting better last week. That's what you said? I did say that what you said. I did say that, yeah. A bald mother failing her bald daughter with wigs in their bags. We drove home in silence, and just as she was getting out of the car. You said it was the chemo that was making music.

It is. Also. Make your mind up then. And don't lie to me, it's pathetic. She stopped making me breakfast. She hasn't mentioned the road trip. Also. She stopped making me breakfast. She hasn't mentioned the road trip. She said she wants to be alone. And then on Wednesday, I drove back from work at around midnight. Claire?

Three of her friends lying on the deck, clinging on to a bottle of Jack Daniels. She hates me, Claire? Claire, go home, you three. Before I have to call your parents. This is ridiculous. No, I'm ridiculous. You're the one that lied to me. That's pretty... You know, lying to me is pretty ridiculous. I know.

I know. I'm sorry. Did I make you sick? What? No. No. Of course you didn't make me sick. I know.

I know. I know. I'm sorry. Did I make you sick?. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I sweetie. Sometimes these things don't have a reason. I take the Jack Daniels to my room, just like you did, Emily. While Drew sat with his mom at the hospital, you made yourself come with your new sex toy in one hand and a tumbler of whiskey in the other. You knew a vacation was never going to happen now. You knew Drew wouldn't come home that night to console you.

You knew you were being a selfish bitch. And you also knew that if you'd just chosen heads, things wouldn't be like this. And that night, as you down the whiskey, it dawned on you. You are now gonna be the corporate breadwinner forever. And Drew, the kid who stays home with his sick mom, his mom who you'd been begging to get checked by a doctor for years, his mom whose health care you were now bankrolling, but denial was his safe place, and it was quickly becoming yours.

It's so much easier to lie than admit to being the bad guy. Let me if Claire hates me now. What would she do when I tell her the truth about her dad? Hmm, what the hell would she do when she realizes that I am a mother fucking psycho? Let me? How honest do we need to be? People who knew me, starring Rosamond Pike, Kyle Saller, Isabella Sermon, Alfred Inock, Jessica Darrow, Charles Hackerdy, Daniela Isaacs, and Hugh Laurie. Other voices, Gippa Winslow, Nancy Crain, Joseph Ackabase, Barney White, Jill Winternitz,

written and directed by Daniela Isaacs, adapted from the original novel by Kim Hooper, producer Joshua Buckingham, executive producers Faith Dorne, Cleelya Mountford, and Sharon Horgan, executive producer for the BBC, Dylan Haskins, production manager Sarah Lawson, Casting Director Lauren Evans, Supervising Dialogue Record As an Editor, Daniel Haramizzo, Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Design and Mix, Martin Schultz, Sound Design and Recording by Sound Node, Music composed by Max Periamont.

If you've been affected by anything you've heard in this episode, details of health and support in the UK are available at bbc.co.uk forward slash action line. People who knew me listen first on BBC Sounds. I hear sobbing and I absolutely knew that nobody else was in the house. Uncanny is back. The Oenduti flight lieutenant came in worried as a sheet and he said it's back. Season 2 featuring brand new stories of real life encounters with the supernatural. I had never been so scared in my life. I don't believe in ghosts, but I believe in what was in that house.

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