Saturday, November 5, 2022

LRF NOW Original Series: Can You Hear Me? - Season 1 Episode 3

 

Can You Hear Me?
Genre: Drama / Dark Comedy
Executive Producer: Emerald Fennell
Writer: Mo Buck
Based on the French-Canadian series

Season 1 Episode  3 - I Exist

Cast:
Emma Mackey …. Amy
Danielle Brooks …. Shauna
Maya Hawke …. Cass
Megan Mullally …. Bianca
H. Jon Benjamin …. Pretzel
Ramy Youssef …. Nassim
Amandla Stenberg …. Nia
Robin Tunney …. Karyn
Eric Dane … Eric
C.C.H. Pounder …. Shauna’s Mother

Plot: The three girls are in the subway, getting ready to sing their original song. Amy (Emma Mackey) puts a shoe in front of them for people to throw money in and Shauna (Danielle Brooks) looks under her skirt. She tells her she should wear underwear, it’s slutty, but Amy says her washing machine is broken. Cass (Maya Hawke) expresses her concern about their new song and Amy says they worked too hard not to sign it. They start signing a song about one of Amy’s encounter with a guy who smelled bad down there and no one gives them money. Amy says perhaps the chorus is too vulgar, but Amy says it’s the whole song that’s too vulgar. She agrees to sing Christian songs again, but only because Shauna has her audition coming up and she needs to do good.

Cass is at an abortion clinic and she sees a young woman leaving the room where they give abortions and she is crying. Cass is suddenly unsure about her decision and she runs away. On her end, Amy is trying to wake up Bianca (Megan Mullally), her mother, who passed out drunk on the floor. For Shauna, it’s much more pleasant, as she decided to cheat on her diet and is eating cookies without counting. Cass finally stops at a phone booth and calls her mother, Karyn (Robin Tunney). She tells her she missed her and Karyn invites her home. Her father, Eric (Eric Dane) wants to talk to her and she steals the phone from Karyn. When Cass hears her father’s voice, she has flashbacks to when she was younger and Eric had a drinking problem. He used to be violent with her. She starts to cry and she hangs up the phone violently, passing her frustration on the phone.

Amy is sitting at the bottom of stairs outside when she sees Pretzel (H. Jon Benjamin) passing in the streets. Amy calls her and they share a cigarette together again. Amy doesn’t have a lighter with her Pretzel grabs one from her bra, saying it’s a gift from a customer, he also gave her flowers earlier this week. Amy says he seems nice and she says he’s a class-A pervert, but he gives gifts, so she keeps coming back. She asks Amy what she’s doing outside and she says she got frustrated about her mother who was passed out drunk on the floor again. Pretzel says she should be careful with her mother, she got thrown around quite a bit last night, she was trying standing on the wrong corner, stealing clients from other girls. Amy asks her what she means, and Pretzel says she’s so sorry, she didn’t know Amy didn’t know. She leaves her and says it was a nice talk as Amy goes back inside. She asks her mother, still on the floor if her father was one of her clients and Bianca says Amy’s father was Brad Pitt and she bursts out laughing. By the time Amy asks her to be serious, Bianca has fallen asleep.

Shauna is at her audition to enter in a church choir and they tell her that choir takes itself seriously and it’s not just a choir, it’s a way of life. They ask what she does for a living and she says she’s been a manager at the burrito place for four years. They take notes in their pads and don’t look impressed by her overall presentation. She starts signing an original song and even though Shauna is proud of herself, they don’t look to impress. They tell her they’ll let her know of their decision shortly.

That night, the girls decide to reunite at the bar where they drink and rant about their day. Amy omits to mention what she learned from Pretzel though. Shauna thinks she bombed her audition because the pretentious cunts were judging her, while Cass remains vague. They start to dance and poke fun at Cass for not knowing how to dance. It’s at that moment that Amy notices the new bartender (Ramy Youssef). She thinks he’s hot and goes over to order a pint. She points out that he’s new here and he says she’s perceptive. She says he’s hot and he says she’s not shy. She asks him what he’s doing after his shift and he says he’s studying quantic physics. She says it would be better if he studied her instead and he refuses the invitation, saying he’s more interested in complicated subjects. She doesn’t understand that he’s not interested and goes back to her friends. She asks them what it means to be perceptive and Cass says it means she can be intelligent. Amy is happy to learn the new bartender thinks she’s intelligent and starts to dance with Cass, but she’s not into it. Shauna receives a call and leaves them for a bit, while Amy asks what’s up with Cass, she hasn’t been herself lately. Shauna has to go back home because her junkie sister is mad at her because she threw all her drugs down the toilet this morning. Amy is then mad at Shauna for ruining the fun and not giving them the drugs. Shauna doesn’t want to answer to that and leaves. Amy decides to shoot her shot with the bartender, but he declines her once again. She decides to settle with a random guy sitting at the bar. She’s in the middle of blowing him in the bathroom when she receives a call from Shauna to come over, it’s not looking good for her sister. She goes to get Cass, but she’s passed out from the alcohol, so she carries her out of the bar.

Amy arrives at Shauna’s place carrying Cass on her shoulders and she drops her on the sofa. It’s cacophonic in there, with Shauna’s niece crying and Shauna shouting at her sister who locked herself in the bathroom, with Shauna’s sister. Cass wakes up and wants to start a conversation with Shauna’s mother (C.C.H. Pounder) and tells her all about her problem, but she’s mute so she can’t talk back. During this time, Amy works out a plan with Shauna to calm down her sister. They countdown to three and Shauna opens the door and confronts Nia (Amandla Stenberg) and she pushes her in the shower and turns it on. Nia keeps telling Shauna she’s going to kill her and Amy explains to her that they threw away all her drugs so she can get her life together. Nia starts to scream that she’s cold instead of threatening her sister and Amy says she will turn the hot water on if she calms down and Nia finally calms herself down.

The episode ends with Shauna signing a lullaby to calm her niece down in her bed, while Amy and Cass are lying down by her side.

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