Memphis Beat

Of y'all never been down south too much.

Some of y'all never been down south too much.

Tell y'all a story

So's you understand what I'm talking about.

It's a little something like this.

thank you.

Dwight: Ah, here we go.

Here you go, Dwight.

Mmm. Beautiful.

Oh, thank you, darling.

Don't you boys think it should be some kind of crime

The way these so-called hotshots parade in here every year

Thinking they know something? Yes, indeed.

Texas, Georgia... no, sir.

Barbecue ain't barbecue unless it's Memphis barbecue.

Yeah, baby. come on, fat red.

Little sister, these boys look skinny to you?

Nah. Annaliese: If you say so, red.

Don't just stand there, Annaliese.

Bring them another pitcher, on the house.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now, these here are my new special ribs.

Be the first ones to try them before the competition starts tomorrow.

Oh, my. Mmm, that's good.

Good. Lightfoot: You're gonna win again, red.

Mmm.

I mean, fat red, what the hell is in this?

What is that, maple syrup?

You think I'm gonna tell you?

I got spies creeping 'round here this time of year.

So you just shut up and eat up.

Will do, baby. All right. Dwight: Thank you, red.

Whitehead: Thank you, red. Thank you.

Greenback: Yeah. Man. Mmm, it's good.

This is good, but Trammy's ribs... it's tradition, you know.

You know, something like dad's daddy.

I always been partial to Eugene's roadhouse.

The barbecue spaghetti there is a revelation.

You both are ignorant, and it saddens me.

Seriously.

I mean, y'all ain't never gonna find a dry rub

As... as rich or... or complex as fat red's dry rub.

Mm-hmm.

There's a reason he wins

The Beale street barbecue fest every year.

He gonna do it again this year, too.

Ain't that right, Dwight?

Dwight? We got trouble, boys.

It's heading for the register.

I don't want to spook him in case he's armed.

You guys cover the side doors. Be cool.

Whitehead.

Whitehead: Gun!

Aah!

Now you can return to your dinners now, everyone.

On behalf of this scumbag,

I'd just like to say that I'm truly sorry.

Never seen you move so fast, greenback.

Oh, man, like a gunshot.

Now, barbecue is a religion. You hear me, kid?

Which makes fat red a high priest

And makes this a place of worship,

Makes you nothing but a dirty, blasphemizing heathen.

Get your ass...

Okay, got it.

Rice: Okay, hello! Everybody gather 'round.

Listen up. Come on, gather, gather.

As you know, the Beale street barbecue fest starts today,

Which means thousands of out-of-towners to protect.

It means media.

But most importantly,

It means hundreds of thousands of first impressions.

Remember this as you venture out into this beautiful day today,

General assignment...

The eyes of the world are on Memphis this week.

You carry your city with dignity

And be safe out there.

Let's go.

Dwight.

Come here.

Are you familiar with that strip of silky fabric

That men wear around their necks to appear civilized?

I'd like you to wear one this week.

I think it'd be pretty on you.

[ Johnny cash's "Tennessee flat-top box" plays ]

Keeping Memphis classy. Keeping it classy.

Dwight: Hey, there's fat red.

Oh, my God! Red! What happened?

What happened?

What happened?

So, Annaliese, what happened?

we were at the booth,

And red saw that the sign, the big red sign, was drooping,

So he went out into the crowd to try to fix it,

And then, the next thing I know,

He was clutching his stomach,

And... and blood just started pouring out.

Did you get a look at the guy who stabbed him?

I-I don't know.

I saw a black guy hurrying away, I-I think...

Like a big guy with short hair...

But I don't know.

The whole thing just happened so fast.

There were so many people. I-it was a big blur.

I'm so sorry.

You have any idea who would want to do this to red?

No. I mean...He's red, you know?

Everybody loves him. You guys know that.

You hang in there.

We're gonna find who did this to your brother.

All right, guys.

We're looking for a man with a blade.

We need crowd control.

Pat people down. Search their bags.

Let's find this guy.

Greenback: Dwight.

Thug who tried to rip off red's last night...

He got released on bail, 7:00 A.M. This morning.

We got two crimes against red in 24 hours?

I don't think we can ignore that they could be related.

Let's pick him up.

This is no random robbery, was it?

You got something against big red.

And when we find that knife, your prints are gonna be all over it,

Aren't they, Merrick?

Come on, man, I just got sprung,

And now you're trying to haul me back in?

You're gonna get me fired, man.

I don't have nothing to do with this.

Whitehead: Where'd you go this morning when you got out of jail?

Went home...

And made love for hours... right, Renee?

You're remarkably loyal,

Considering, Renee...

The two-timing.

Wait. What?

Baby, don't listen to him.

You got a job,

No obvious health problems, no kids.

Why's Merrick here holding up a restaurant?

Where's the cash drain?

What's her name?

You told me it was over!

Why are you listening to him?

He wasn't making love to me.

He didn't get home till 10 minutes ago.

Damn it, Renee!

Look, maybe I was out, okay,

But I wasn't out stabbing no guy at no festival.

We should probably go talk to this girlfriend.

Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

What's her name? Come on, now.

Man, what about the other guy who robbed him, huh?

Y'all harass him, or no, 'cause he's white?

You're the only guy that's robbed red in three years.

Then what was the bald-headed guy

With the weird mustache doing,

Sneaking around fat red's, same time I was,

Few days ago?

dude almost scared me off.

You remember anything else about this guy?

Had on some kind of white outfit and green boots.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, like a white jump suit? Yeah.

Muddy-looking? Yeah.

Guy's a hog farmer.

About six farms around here use that uniform.

See who red's suppliers are. Start from there.

Thank you, Romeo.

Dwight: Brice cutter's been red's supplier for 10 years now,

Till about six months ago,

When they had some sort of falling out.

How are we supposed to find one hog farmer

In this crowd of pigs?

Might not be that hard. There he is.

Man, look at this freakin' guy.