The Life of Chuck

"It is not chaos or death.

"It is form and union and plan.

"It is eternal life.

"It is happiness.

"The past and present wilt.

"I have filled them, emptied them,

"and proceed to fill my next fold of the future.

"Listener up there! What have you to confide to me?

"Look in my face while I snuff the sidle of evening.

"Talk honestly, no one else hears you,

and I stay only a minute longer."

"Do I contradict myself?

"Very well then, I contradict myself.

I am large, I contain multitudes."

My God.

What is it?

Clearly something more interesting than Whitman.

California. There was another earthquake.

A huge chunk's gone from Santa Barbara to Fresno.

- It's fucking crazy. - Into the ocean.

- Just like that. - Alright, alright.

Settle down.

Got no connection.

Anybody else have one?

No.

Oh, eh, sorry. Network's still down.

I've got his file here, though.

Uh, Dylan's been diving lately.

I mean, this semester, he's gone

from As and Bs to Ds.

You keep hard copies?

When the network started acting up,

a lot of us started keeping hard copies.

What do you think? I mean, you think it's coming back?

Well, I don't, I don't know.

I remember the world before the internet.

Why is it so hard to imagine carrying on without it?

It is, though, isn't it?

How do we go back? How-- Can we go back?

What if it's down for good this time?

Internet's still down.

Yeah, but lucky for us,

I've got hard copies for each student.

I think this might be it.

I don't think it's coming back this time.

You might be right.

But I do think we should talk about Emily.

Her attendance has really fallen off.

Her attendance?

Absenteeism's at an all-time high

all over the world.

We got doctors and pilots and cops

and everyone's just pissing the fuck off, right?

But you, you want to talk to us about Emily?

How are they supposed to study, anyway?

Web's been on the fritz for eight months.

Half those sites are just garbled.

I mean, I get it, sites go dark.

But what about all that other stuff?

Like, sites are there, but all the punctuation's wrong.

Words spelled wrong. How do you explain that?

Well, I can't,

but Brian can still prepare for class.

I mean, the library's still here. Internet or not.

Pornhub's down.

Did you know that, Mr. Anderson?

Yeah, I, uh,

I, I, I had noticed that. Yeah.

Sorry if Bri's been any trouble.

It's just me now. His mom...

she left, I don't know where.

That's been happening a lot more I hear,

people just ghosting.

Hers was some star-crossed boyfriend from high school.

They dated a month.

Goddamn month. She's gonna throw 20 years

in the trash to chase down a month.

I guess she never stopped thinking about him.

I guess we've all got someone like that.

I mean, I get it, if it really is the end,

like those kooks in the purple robes say,

then who do you want to be with for it?

But to leave her son?

Uh, she says she'll be back.

I don't know. Um...

Fuckin' Pornhub.

What if that never comes back?

Fuckin' tragedy.

I mean, even if it is the end of all things...

that's just fuckin' mean.

-Sorry. -Yeah.

It's a scene of devastation

and heartbreak in California,

as rescue workers sift through what remains

of the northern portion of the state.

350 dead in North Yorkshire

as water levels continue to...

The day Marty Anderson

first saw the billboard

was just before the internet finally went down for good.

It had been wobbling for eight months,

but other problems, like fires, earthquakes,

and whole species of birds and fish dying off

had taken priority.

...till today, thought to be

the largest wildfire in United States history.

Ordinarily, Marty would've driven home

by way of the Turnpike bypass,

but that wasn't possible

due to the collapse of the bridge

over Otter Creek.

Well, with what happened in California,

that officially makes Nevada one of the most

populous states in the Union now.

The thing that must be said here is...

Felicia Gordon is a nurse

at City General.

Though for the last few weeks,

she's felt more like an undertaker.

The staff, whose numbers have been dwindling

since late summer, have begun referring

to themselves as the Suicide Squad.

We'll be back to talk more about this

and, uh, also about the fires in the Midwest,

speaking of water scarcity, back after this break.

We'd like to say thank you

to Charles Krantz

for 39 great years.

Thanks, Chuck.

Hey.

Heard you got another one.

Yeah. One more.

Mine wasn't so lucky. Slit wrists, so...

what were we supposed to do really?

Hear about Marilou?

No. What about Marilou?

She left!

-Her ex. Remember Pedro? -Mm-hm.

He showed up, and I don't know what he said to her,

but she walked out holding his hand.

And I remember how bad that divorce was.

-Do you remember? -Yeah, I remember.

Well, I guess that's all bridge water

'cause off she went.

...sinkholes that have been opening up.

I wonder what the stats are.

You think more people are splitting up

or getting back together?

I mean, do you think marriage rates are up

-or divorce rates-- -Marriages.

- You're an optimist. - No.

Divorce takes way longer,

and I don't think anyone's filing.

Why bother? Six months of paperwork at least.

Probably more.

Marriage license is one page

and it takes an hour or so.

I'm gonna guess marriages.

Missed you for lunch, missed you for dinner.

What's the matter? Don't you eat anymore?

Well, I wasn't hungry tonight.

Weren't you hungry this morning either?

Who stole my nylons?

Egads! The very... Not very.

Too much rehearsal last night, huh?

It was kind of a workout.

That why you slept late?

Oh, I didn't sleep late.

I went uptown.

- Shopping? - No.

Hey.

Hi.

You hung up?

Yeah.

But then I figured you probably saw it. So...

How are you?

I'm okay, I guess.

How are you?

I was, um, thinking about you today.

We were at work talking about marriages and divorces.

Like, which are happening more now--

Marriages, I bet.

Ain't nobody waiting on a divorce.

What about remarriages?

You want to buy a guy a drink first or...

I bet those are happening.

I mean, it makes sense.

People wanting something comforting and...

familiar.

So... how was your day?

You're just going right for it, aren't you?

Humor me.

It was, um...

It was a day, I guess.

You know? Weird.

Parent-teacher sessions,

felt like pissing in the wind.

You know about California, right?

Yeah.

I know they're saying most of it was already evacuated,