Dickinson

Mom!

I need your help.

Austin, what's the matter?

Don't tell me. You've run out of clean socks.

No. No, it's worse than that.

I'm hosting a reunion for my college friends and Sue's out of town.

Where is she?

She went to visit a friend.

What friend?

I don't know. I don't know.

You know, for the life of me I can't figure out

how shy, little Sue ended up making so many friends.

Mom! What am I gonna do?

All the guys are coming over, and I told them that we would have lunch

or, you know, at least snacks.

Oh, my dear boy. Do not fret.

I'll help you.

Oh, my God. Would you?

Of course.

I've been itching to get into that new kitchen of yours.

I can't wait to get my hands on that shiny new pastry jigger.

Oh, yes.

I'll throw you boys the best tea party you've ever had.

Well, what's this?

Why's the boy over here in his slippers?

Our son is throwing a tea party for his friends, and I'm going to help.

Well, can't he take care of himself?

-No. -You're already needed here for tea.

The board meeting, remember?

What board meeting?

Edward, you seem to forget you've married the best housewife in all of New England.

I can host two tea parties with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back.

Well, there's no need for contortions.

Maybe Emily can help.

Oh, I'm afraid she can't.

She's been locked in her room since yesterday.

Since her poem got published.

No one's seen her.

I imagine she's dealing with a lot of shame.

I saw her last night.

You did? Where?

You know, actually, I didn't, come to think of it.

It was very strange.

She's been doing this more and more these days.

Hiding like some madwoman in an attic.

It's really quite unsettling. I do hope it's just a phase.

Dad.

What's this board meeting?

A board meeting of the investors of The Springfield Republican and affiliates,

of which we are now one.

Wait, you put our money in that man's paper?

Yes, that's right. The remainder of the Newman estate.

I've decided to invest it with Mr. Bowles.

-But Dad, he-- -I must admit,

I was a bit skeptical at first, but he's made a rather compelling case.

The newspaper business can only expand.

Print journalism is the future.

But, Father, I don't understand.

I mean...

how could you give money to the man who published Emily's poem?

I thought you were completely opposed to that.

You know, he plans on publishing even more of them.

Well, I suppose times change, don't they?

And besides, if I'd made a fuss about that,

it might have made it more complicated to make the investment.

Oh, okay. So it's all about the money?

I get it.

So much for your principles.

Don't you speak to me like that.

You should've consulted with me before making this decision.

Consult you?

Yes.

I am a partner in this business with you.

Yet you keep making decisions entirely without me!

You treat me like a child.

My dear boy, you are a child. My God, look at yourself.

It's almost noon, and you're still in your dressing gown.

I have been too busy to get changed.

Too busy being frantic about a tea party with your friends.

Just one of the many aspects of your life over which you seem to exhibit no control.

I thought you made me a partner in this firm because you value my opinion.

I made you a partner in this firm because you are my son.

And if I hadn't, it would have reflected badly on the family.

Your opinions have nothing to do with it,

least of all in matters of investment.

Okay, well, just so you know, I've invested in things too.

Good things. Things that will make the world a better place.

Like what? Like your forged painting?

You thought I wouldn't find out about that.

Honestly, to think of everything I've given you.

All the opportunities I've handed to you on a plate,

and what have you done with it all? What have you accomplished?

Nothing.

It's just one failure after another.

-I have-- -You say what you will about Emily,

but at least she has her damn poems.

Come in.

Good morning, Dickinsons.

Did I come at a bad time?

No. I was just filling Austin in on the exciting news of our joint venture.

Yes. The newest members of our board.

The fine upstanding leaders of New England's largest daily newspaper.

We are gonna change the world together.

That is when it's not changing itself.

Here. You are not gonna believe this, Eddy.

Can I call you Eddy?

Here is a telegram from Mr. Greeley down in New York.

There's absolutely crazy news coming out of Virginia right now.

What news? What's happened?

That madman, John Brown, the abolitionist?

He tried to raid Harpers Ferry.

John Brown. That bloodthirsty man with the bowie knife

that caused all that trouble down in Kansas?

Yes, exactly.

The guy thinks of himself as some kind of biblical prophet.

I mean, what a face, crazy hair. Has all the makings of a celebrity.

We've been covering him quite extensively in our paper.

Just tell us what happened.

Well, turns out he formed a ragtag little army

and tried to raid the federal arsenal down at Harpers Ferry.

I'm told his plan was to instigate a massive slave rebellion in the South.

Oh, my God, that's insane.

Did it work?

Of course not. It was a total shitshow.

Most of his men were killed.

The rest of them, including Brown, will be in custody soon.

Brown will be hanged for treason, and I wouldn't be surprised

if this doesn't heat things up all the way to a civil war.

No, it can't. It won't.

Cooler heads will prevail.

They can't prevail forever.

I mean, this country's a tinderbox, and this could be the match that lights it.

God, what a disaster.

Eddy, you're right. This is a disaster.

But it could be good for us.

What the hell does that mean?

War sells papers, my friend.

War sells papers.

Even now, the rumors are flying.

All of Brown's collaborators will be exposed.

I mean, the guy couldn't have made more mistakes if he tried.

All of his associates will be tracked down, everyone who funded this,

and we will sell hundreds of papers as the facts come out.

I mean, thank God this guy was such a failure.

No one is a failure who stands up for what he believes in.

Goodbye.

You're not gonna stay for the meeting?

No. I have better things to do

than sit around and figure out how to profit from war.

Yes, he's having a tea party.

Where's Emily?

She's up in her bedroom.

Henry. Thank God, you're safe.

I'm not safe.

I thought people were going to rise up.

I thought this was the beginning of a whole new world.

Things will have to get worse before they can get better.

This country is gonna have to be destroyed before it can be healed.

Isn't there something that we can do?

I'm doing what I have to do.

I'm leaving.

With my family.

Betty was right. I put my daughter's life at risk.

And if they track us down, Lord knows what they'll do.

But...

where will you go?

I can't tell you that.

Goodbye...

Mr. Dickinson.

Austin.

Will I ever see you again?

It doesn't seem likely.

It's so nice of you to come all this way.

Mary, it's nothing.

It's been far too long.

And it felt wrong, you know?

To see so much of Sam and so little of you.

Well, most people see more of Sam.

He loves to be out in the world.

I prefer to stay home.

Of course. I know that.

But, Mary, I've missed you.

Have you?

You were once my dearest friend.

Do you remember that summer?

That incredibly hot summer in Geneva

when you and I would go swimming in the lake every day?

Yes, that was the summer my father died.

Was it that summer?

I thought that was the summer after.

The summer my father died.

No, your father died the year after my father.

God.

What happy childhoods we both had.

Yes, things were difficult.

I got you, Sam!

Although...

looking back on it now, it seems like those were the easiest years of my life.

Really?

Are things very hard?