EPISODE 5 -- THE ENCOUNTER

SOMERSET EPISODE 5
Written by: Steve Ungrey

SCENE ONE

FADE IN -- Cleypool Mansion

Evening has fallen on Somerset as we pick up the episode at the same time Thursday’s left off.

Zachary and George are in the living room enjoying an after-dinner drink. Zachary reaches for the bottle of scotch, surprising his father.

GEORGE
Son, I didn’t know you were into scotch.

Zachary raises his glass and smiles.

ZACHARY
There's a lot you don't know about me. I enjoy a fine scotch... a cigar now and then...

GEORGE
There’s my boy, the spitting image! (Downs his scotch) Bottoms up, as they say. Thanks for sticking around and keeping your dad company through these last months. You didn't have to do that.

ZACHARY
No problem, Dad. There were times, however, when I almost felt like I took sides.

GEORGE
No one took sides.

George rises from his seat to refill his drink. He’s looking away, soap-style, and he shakes his head.

GEORGE
Wendy and I just wanted to take a break from each other.

ZACHARY
You refer to Mom like she's just someone you tossed aside at the curb.

George is slightly miffed at this remark and he whirls around to face Zachary.

GEORGE
Now how can you say that, son? I did no such thing. Your mom was the one who left. And she took Emily with her.

ZACHARY
Dad, Emily didn’t leave because of what was going on. She got that PR job in New York and wanted to experience life in the big city.

GEORGE
Mmm, yes. New York, New York. The biggest city in this country. Compared to New York, Somerset is a little stepchild.

ZACHARY
And how big is Somerset right about now? It’s grown a lot, hasn’t it? We’re up to 150,000 and climbing every day. Besides, Emily could have gone to Chicago. It's only about an hour and a half east.

GEORGE
I guess you’re right. If you’d seen this town 30 years ago, you’d have run screaming back to New York.

ZACHARY
I understand. Dad… if things are meant to work out in the end, they will. Both with Mom and with Emily.

GEORGE
One can only hope.

Zachary checks his watch and realizes he’s lost track of time.

ZACHARY
Geez, I promised a few friends I’d meet them in town. Better haul out the motorcycle.

GEORGE
Any idea when you’ll be back?

At that point, George catches himself.

GEORGE
Sorry, I realize you’re a grown man.

ZACHARY
I’ll let it slip. This time.

Zachary laughs as he walks out of the room. George chuckles to himself too, as light music carries us to the fadeout.

We see an overhead shot of downtown as the camera is pulling away. The Somerset logo pops into position and goes toward the center of the screen as the familiar theme plays.

[i]BILL WOLFF
This… is Somerset.

This portion is brought to you today by Jif. The only peanut butter with that fresh, roasted, peanutty taste. Choosy moms choose Jif.[/i]

COMMERCIAL BREAK

SCENE TWO

FADE IN -- Giovanni’s

We see Giovanni’s exterior once again, as the camera advances toward the restaurant and we fade inside the building. There, Jack, Sam, Lahoma and Susannah are going over the latest in Somerset and his master plan.

JACK
Now, understand something. I don’t want to reveal too much now. But if I have my way, Somerset's going to have a big urban renewal coming. No building will be safe... well, except a lot of the old construction.

LAHOMA
You want to revive downtown Somerset?

SAM
Jack, this sounds like a big thing to do on your own. Do you have the financing for it?

JACK
Hopefully I can get it once economic conditions start to improve.

LAHOMA
So you admit you’re not quite ready to get this started.

Jack sips from his wine glass and shakes his head.

JACK
No, not quite. I do have plenty of money I can throw behind the project. Now mind you, I’m not a billionaire by any means…

SAM
But you are worth about what… $200 million right now?

JACK
Well, try again. When NutraSource approached me to buy Delaney Brands all those years ago, they wanted to pay me $425 million for the company. But I wanted to preserve the land under the plant.

SUSANNAH
Preserve. I get it. Is this how Grant’s Preserve came into being?

JACK
They lowered the offering price to $350 million because I wanted to keep the land. I sold it, and then I paid the price for it many months later.

SAM
Was that when Delaney Brands left town?

JACK
NutraSource essentially folded Delaney’s products into their own product line, closed the plant here and took all the jobs with it. They imploded the factory and the executive offices a couple years later. It was one of the darkest days of my life.

LAHOMA
But how could you have known they would do that?

JACK
Robert told me not to sweat it. He said the economy was going to the point where any company would have done the same thing NutraSource did.

LAHOMA
It’s nice that you had someone watching your back to help out.

JACK
Most everyone in Somerset was sympathetic to me. This town used to have a lot more manufacturing than it did. Then plants closed. Jobs were lost. Most of those jobs came back in other sectors, but for a few years Somerset was not a pleasant place to be.

SAM
So you came through it all right.

JACK
The last I checked my net worth, it was over $500 million.

Susannah nearly spits out her wine that she’s drinking.

SUSANNAH
I’ve never known someone with that much money in my lifetime. Now Dad’s doing pretty well, but…

SAM
Susie, honey, I’d have to work a thousand lifetimes to approach Jack.

JACK
But the thing Susannah will see… and I hope you have… is I don’t treat my money as if it’s my own. The project in question is going to transform Somerset.

LAHOMA
More than it’s already been transformed? We nearly died when we saw the skyline. It looks so much different than it did back when we lived here.

SAM
So hopefully you’ve got a plan in place to transform it even further, Jack.

Jack takes a drink of wine and then looks toward Susannah.

JACK
Yes. And I want Susannah to help me.

Susannah appears momentarily stunned at Jack’s proposal. A bit of stinger music plays on piano as the picture fades to black.

[i]We’ll return to Somerset in just a moment.[/i]

COMMERCIAL BREAK

(We see “At End of Day” title card)

Four families in Glenview, Illinois experiences the trials and tribulations of everyday life in Daytime Royalty’s drama At End of Day. Part of the DRtv lineup, weekdays.

(We see “Somerset” title card and hear a soft version of the theme)

[i]BILL WOLFF
And now, following station identification, we’ll return with the second half of Somerset. This portion of today’s program is brought to you by White Cloud, the toilet tissue that gives you more sheets for less money.[/i]

COMMERCIAL BREAK

SCENE THREE

FADE IN -- Giovanni’s

The scene is a direct pickup from the second scene, as Susannah is momentarily taken aback by Jack's proposal. She points to herself.

SUSANNAH
Me? What did I do to deserve this?

JACK
Susannah, Sam said you wanted to go into private practice. You're going to need something to keep you occupied while you hang your shingle. Do you have office space yet downtown?

SUSANNAH
Well, I do have an option to lease an office in the Wentworth Building.

JACK
Okay. You're going to need something to keep the money coming in for the short term. I'm looking for people to join my legal staff at Martin Enterprises. You help me, I help you. I will set you up with an office inside my office space, and you can eventually seek clients or accept new cases when you’re not dealing with Martin business.

LAHOMA
But Jack, Susannah wants to make it on her...

Susannah quickly hushes Lahoma, as she realizes Jack wants to put her on a sort of retainer while she works for Martin.

SUSANNAH
Mom, hush. Yes, I do want to make it on my own, but Jack's right. People here don't know me yet. Only one person remotely knows who I am, and I haven't had a chance to drop by the hospital yet to say hi.

SAM
(Smiles)
Oh, that’s right. Patrick Kurtz doesn’t know you’re in town.

JACK
You know Patrick, Susannah?

LAHOMA
Yes. They’ve kept in touch over the years and enjoyed a few dates here and there when we’ve been in the same town, but it’s been more off than on.

SAM
And there goes the social butterfly, hoping to have our daughter married by the age of 40.

All the while Susannah is looking a little embarrassed, but Jack understands.

JACK
Well, it’s a big city. But it’s small enough so that you’ll run into each other soon. Listen, you don't have to give me an answer right away. Sleep on it, talk it over. Sam, Lahoma, when do you leave?

SAM
We leave tomorrow to go back across the country. I'm due back in Oklahoma City middle of next week.

JACK
Okay. I'm sorry I have to be secretive about parts of the plan, but I haven't told too many people yet. There will be something in tomorrow's Register, but it's just sketchy details.

LAHOMA
All right then! I guess we'll have to be kept in the dark until you're ready to unveil the truth.

JACK
It won’t be long, I promise. Now then, shall we enjoy ourselves even further?

SAM
Hear, hear. Let’s eat.

The scene transitions as light music plays while the foursome discuss further things that are happening in Somerset.

DISSOLVE TO -- Cleypool Mansion

At the Cleypool mansion, George is smoking his pipe and studying some folders when Fenwick walks in.

George looks up and is surprised to see Fenwick standing there with an envelope in hand.

GEORGE
I thought you'd retired to the east wing for the night, Fenwick.

FENWICK
Well, Master Cleypool, I did.

He produces the envelope for George to take.

FENWICK
But I wanted to wait until Master Zachary was out of earshot to give this to you.

GEORGE
You didn’t have to leave this out, Fenwick. I could have had this with the other mail.

FENWICK
It was special-delivered earlier this afternoon, sir. And if it’s what I think it is, discretion is the better part of valor.

GEORGE
I see. Thank you, Fenwick.

FENWICK
You bet, sir. Good evening. (Turns to leave and looks back) And if you need them sir, the libations are still in the refrigerator.

As George opens the envelope, he sees the label and realizes it is from Wendy. Suffice to say she didn’t send a birthday or a holiday card -- these are legal documents.

GEORGE
I should have known.

George slaps the papers to the floor. He’ll pick them up shortly, but for now he can’t believe it.

As the camera pans down, we can see the documents are divorce papers from Wendy. The picture fades to black.

[i]We'll return to Somerset in just a moment.[/i]

COMMERCIAL BREAK

SCENE FOUR

FADE IN -- City street in downtown Somerset, at night

We see what is assumed to be an exterior shot of Somerset, as Jack is walking along on a downtown street to head back to his condo. As he walks, he stops to look off in the distance. He is looking at the same area that he saw from his office in Monday’s premiere episode.

JACK
Look at you, my old friend. Look… at what you've become.

We can see he is not talking about himself. Instead he is staring at a building, which appears to have survived the test of time but is still a bit worn with age.

We can hear “Moonlight Serenade” one more time. Jack closes his eyes and smiles, as if he’s being taken off to an old familiar place, but he returns to the present just as quickly.

JACK
Just wait, old friend. It’s you. You’re at the center of this.

We continue to hear “Moonlight Serenade” as the scene changes and Jack walks away.

CUT TO -- Susannah’s car

Susannah, Sam and Lahoma are in Susannah’s car going back to Grant’s Preserve.

SUSANNAH
I have never been so stuffed in my life.

LAHOMA
Well, Jack certainly knows fine food. You'll have to go there every so often to keep us updated on Giovanni’s recipes.

SUSANNAH
That shouldn’t be a problem. Giovanni told me he lives a few streets away.

LAHOMA
Well, what do you know? Maybe you’ve already made some friends here in Somerset!

SAM
Susie, were you a bit shocked by his job offer?

SUSANNAH
Not so much shocked as I was flattered, Dad. Jack’s right. I need to…

Susannah’s thought is interrupted as we see a brief flash of headlights.

SAM
Susie, look out!

Susannah swerves the car just in time to avoid a head-on crash. She pulls over and stops the car.

Lahoma recovers in her seat, a little worse for the wear but otherwise all right.

LAHOMA
How much wine did you have with dinner, dear?

SUSANNAH
Mom? You’re not implying I’m drunk, are you?

SAM
Ladies, ladies! Wait a minute. Susie, you’re OK?

SUSANNAH
I certainly didn’t have enough liquor to impair my driving. I'll get out and see what happened, if anything.

Susannah gets out of the car. She looks around and then she looks back several yards. What she sees horrifies her.

SUSANNAH
My God…

There is a body lying in the street face down, next to a motorcycle that is still running and intact.

She turns the body over... and we see it is Zachary.

Shocked, Susannah bends down to feel for a pulse, with Sam and Lahoma running up behind her. Dramatic music is playing as the picture immediately cuts to black.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

The Somerset theme is playing over the closing credits.

[i]BILL WOLFF
Women’s dresses by Betsy Johnson. Men’s suit jackets by Alfani.

Stay tuned for Harpers Falls, which follows immediately on most of these same stations.

And join us each weekday afternoon at this time for the continuing story of Somerset. This program was pre-recorded.
[/i]

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