Burnt Prairie
Burnt Prairie - Von
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Stephan James .... Von Murphy
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Diana Silvers .... Erin Lamb
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Robert Forster .... Coach Dick Carpenter
Colman Domingo .... Marvin Murphy
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montgomery
Olivia Holt .... Cameron Montgomery
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
Jeremy Allen White .... Keith Whitney
Annabeth Gish .... Mayor Colleen Lamb
Grace Fulton .... Willow Carpenter
Jahi Di'Allo Winston .... Denni Murphy
Ed Oxenbould .... Elliott Montgomery
Joel Murray .... Doug Parker
Richard Pitino .... Rick Pitino
Plot: February, 1996
In the small town of Burnt Prairie, Indiana, sweat trickles down the brow of Burnt Prairie Blazers basketball star Von Murphy (Stephan James) as time stands still and he pulls back to shoot a free throw. The crowd eager in anticipation. The ball leaves his hand and goes into the net, causing time to resume and the crowd to go crazy. He is swarmed by his teammates. Time expires and the celebrations continue.
The score shows 89-23. The cause for celebration was that shot set the all-time scoring record in school history for Von.The team’s second best player, Chris Ford (Jacob Elordi), gives him a big hug, followed by the team’s coach Dick Carpenter (Robert Forster). Dick is a basketball legend in the state, now in his 48th year as Blazers coach. Von heads to the stands, where he is greeted by his father Marvin (Colman Domingo) and his younger brother Denni (Jahi Di’allo Winston), a freshman. Lastly, his girlfriend Cameron (Olivia Holt) makes sure that she gives him a kiss before he heads into the locker room.
In his post-game analysis, radio broadcaster Doug Parker (Joel Murray) sets the scene. Four regular season games left until the postseason. The town of Burnt Prairie - just under 5,000 residents - has a lot riding on this season. Despite his legendary status, Coach Carpenter has never reached the state finals - or even the semi-finals. Everyone knows that is an uphill battle for any school this size to survive a single elimination tournament including every school in the state. But if any year, this could be the one. Never has the town - nay, state - seen a once-in-a-generation the likes of Von Murphy.
As everyone is leaving, Von is approached by Colleen Lamb (Annabeth Gish) - the mayor of Burnt Prairie. She congratulates him and wants to know if she can ask him a favor.
The next day, a well-dressed man (Richard Pitino) stops into a popular local burger joint, Mac’s. His waitress Willow Carpenter (Grace Fulton) treats him as if he is any other customer, which he finds refreshing. The cook, Keith Whintey (Jeremy Allen White), takes a good long stare at the customer but doesn’t say anything. When Sheriff Cal Montgomery (Josh Lucas) enters the restaurant, he immediately recognizes the guest and introduces himself. When Willow comes serve his food, Cal asks if she knows who the man is. She doesn’t. It’s Rick Pitino, head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. Willow feigns a sense of awe and says that she should’ve known that – her dad is Burnt Prairie’s basketball coach, after all. Cal starts talking the coach’s ear off - asking what he thinks the odds are that he will go to Kentucky. Cal says he’s hoping he picks his alma mater, Purdue.
Pitino pays a home visit to Von and his family. They have been through these recruiting visits before so it is nothing new to them. Marvin has an honest conversation with the coach about the benefits of going to college or going straight to the NBA. After the coach makes his pitch, Von takes Denni out to the driveway to play some one-on-one. Denni looks up to his brother but is self-conscious about how smaller he is than his brother. He is hoping that one day he will grow to be as tall and as good as Von. Von playfully teases him but says that he knows he’ll get there eventually. Maybe they’ll even be playing in the NBA together some day.
At school and beyond, Von is a superstar. The town as a whole is practically read to etch “Burnt Prairie – Home of Von Murphy” on their town sign. An outlier is history teacher Thomas Hardy (John Gallagher Jr.), who tries to keep a level head and treat Von as if he is anyone else. He senses that he will get this kind of attention for the rest of his life and trying to give the kid a sense of normalcy. Von appreciates this.
Von gets along well with Chris, who is admittedly a bit jealous of the attention Von gets. He is hoping to get offered a scholarship by a college to play and is a bit annoyed at Von’s nonchalance towards his future decision. Chris is currently getting over a long term break-up while harboring a crush on Von’s on-again-off-again girlfriend Cameron. Cameron tells them that her parents are heading out of town that night and she is holding an impromptu party.
The word of the party spreads and eventually reaches the freshman, including Denni and his best mate Elliott (Ed Oxenbould), Cameron’s younger brother. Denni knows that freshmen aren’t invited but asks Elliott anyway, given that it is at his house. Elliott says there’s no way. Cameron would kill him if he brought anyone over. He’ll just be up in his room playing video games, anyway. Denni won’t take no for an answer.
Erin Lamb (Diana Silvers) drives into Burnt Prairie, her hometown. Erin is a college sophomore majoring in journalism and Mayor Lamb’s daughter. She pitched her college newspaper to do a profile on Von Murphy and they approved.
Von is excused to leave campus during lunch to meet with Erin for her interview. She starts by getting the obvious out of the way first: where does he think he’ll be going after this? He is coy about his answer and says that he is not leaning any which way yet. At this point it is down to Kentucky, Indiana, Purdue, or, of course, the NBA.
They start to get into how he and his family moved here the year before from Chicago because of his dad’s job. She asks what kind of adjustments have taken place. He says that it is far different from where they were before and it has taken some adjusting to being one of the only black families in town.
She asks if he ever thought about attending a prep school instead but he says that he never wanted to feel like he was better than everyone else so he always turned those down. Von breaks from the interview to ask her about her personal life, specifically talking about the mutual friends they have. He says they seem to get along well and it would have been cool had they been at BP High at the same time. She tries to get the interview back on track but Von says that he has to go back at school soon. He tells her the location of a party later and says that he’ll be there if she wants to get more content for the interview. She says she can’t go to a high school party but Von turns up his charm and asks what else is there to do in this town?
Cal and his wife Rose (Kristin Chenoweth), a local pastor, talk over their weekend getaway - which she is hoping will repair their marital woes. Sick of his wife, Cal grabs his cocaine from his closet but decides against it and puts it back. They tell their kids to behave while they’re gone. After Rose heads out to the car, Cal tells Cameron where he is recently-stocked alcohol cabinet is and says that if she has to a party, to just make sure that Elliott doesn’t drink. She thanks him and hugs him goodbye.
At the party, loud music plays as most of the juniors and seniors at the school are at Cameron’s house. Elliott and Denni are in Elliott’s room, plotting how to join the party (which makes Elliott nervous). Downstairs, Von flirts Cameron as Chris looks on from afar. Erin enters the house to everyone’s surprise except for Von, who knew she’d come. He excuses himself from Cameron to go talk to Erin. She is angered but he says it is to continue the interview.
Erin encounters Von in the hallway and they resume their conversation from earlier. He offers to get her a drink but she says she doesn’t, prompting him to ask her how she is getting through college and they both laugh. It is a bit loud where they are so Von says they should go into one of the bedrooms for some peace and quiet. Cameron catches this in the corner of her eye and watches them to go into the room. Erin asks him if playing basketball professionally has always been his dreams and how he feels about being so close to achieving it. It soon becomes clear that that passion is surprisingly absent. He’s a gifted athlete and good at basketball so he plays it because that’s what it is expected of him.
Elsewhere, Cameron gives in to Chris’s flirtations and starts flirting back - Von’s wishes be damned. They start to make out prompting her to ask if he wants to go to the basement. As she walks down the stairs, she discovers Denni and her brother sneaking themselves some drinks. Before she can fully explode, they are already out of there - running out of the house and down the street. Denni asks Elliott why is running from his own home and Elliott doesn’t know but it feels like the right choice.
Von drops his head down and starts talk about how he is scared of the expectations laid upon him. He doesn’t really care about being the best but instead is sticking with it because it is the easiest path for him to help his dad and brother financially. He doesn’t want his dad working in a factory all his life but he knows it’s too late to work his way up any other career path at his age. So basketball it is. But unlike other jobs, this one could fall apart in an instant. What if he can’t cut in the big leagues? What if he has a career-ending injury?
He starts to softly cry as he says this before asking if they are still on the record, because he doesn’t want that to be included in her profile of him. She asks him if there is anything else that he is passionate about but before she can finish the question, his hand is stroking her cheek.
Erin felt an attraction to him the first time they met but she tried to maintain a professional demeanor – one that she is finding hard to locate at the moment. They start to make out and she climbs on top of him as he sits on the bed. He starts to unbutton her top but pulls back and says she can’t do this – not now, at least. She’s sober, he’s drunk, it doesn’t feel right. He promises that he consents but she maintains that she has to go – he is her interview subject after all. Before she leaves, he takes her hand and asks to see her again. She promises that he will, prompting him to smile.
As Erin leaves the party, she runs into Chris and things are immediately awkward between them. Chris is surprised she is here (or even in town) but before he can say anything, she says she has to go. She sits in her car and adjusts her mirror so she can see Von in the upstairs bedroom. She bites her lip smiling. She then sees him fraternizing with Keith – the cook from Mac’s – who was a few years older than her but has stayed in Burnt Prairie after graduation.
Erin is jolted awake by ambulance sirens whizzing past her bedroom window. Coach Carpenter by a ringing phone. Marvin by a loud knock on the door. Upon answering the door, he takes a moment to regain his alertness but can’t believe what he is hearing from the police officer. He can’t seem to get a ringing out of his ears and asks the person on the officer repeat what they just said: Von was found overdosed in the master bedroom of the Montgomery household.
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Stephan James .... Von Murphy
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Diana Silvers .... Erin Lamb
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Robert Forster .... Coach Dick Carpenter
Colman Domingo .... Marvin Murphy
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montgomery
Olivia Holt .... Cameron Montgomery
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
Jeremy Allen White .... Keith Whitney
Annabeth Gish .... Mayor Colleen Lamb
Grace Fulton .... Willow Carpenter
Jahi Di'Allo Winston .... Denni Murphy
Ed Oxenbould .... Elliott Montgomery
Joel Murray .... Doug Parker
Richard Pitino .... Rick Pitino
Plot: February, 1996
In the small town of Burnt Prairie, Indiana, sweat trickles down the brow of Burnt Prairie Blazers basketball star Von Murphy (Stephan James) as time stands still and he pulls back to shoot a free throw. The crowd eager in anticipation. The ball leaves his hand and goes into the net, causing time to resume and the crowd to go crazy. He is swarmed by his teammates. Time expires and the celebrations continue.
The score shows 89-23. The cause for celebration was that shot set the all-time scoring record in school history for Von.The team’s second best player, Chris Ford (Jacob Elordi), gives him a big hug, followed by the team’s coach Dick Carpenter (Robert Forster). Dick is a basketball legend in the state, now in his 48th year as Blazers coach. Von heads to the stands, where he is greeted by his father Marvin (Colman Domingo) and his younger brother Denni (Jahi Di’allo Winston), a freshman. Lastly, his girlfriend Cameron (Olivia Holt) makes sure that she gives him a kiss before he heads into the locker room.
In his post-game analysis, radio broadcaster Doug Parker (Joel Murray) sets the scene. Four regular season games left until the postseason. The town of Burnt Prairie - just under 5,000 residents - has a lot riding on this season. Despite his legendary status, Coach Carpenter has never reached the state finals - or even the semi-finals. Everyone knows that is an uphill battle for any school this size to survive a single elimination tournament including every school in the state. But if any year, this could be the one. Never has the town - nay, state - seen a once-in-a-generation the likes of Von Murphy.
As everyone is leaving, Von is approached by Colleen Lamb (Annabeth Gish) - the mayor of Burnt Prairie. She congratulates him and wants to know if she can ask him a favor.
The next day, a well-dressed man (Richard Pitino) stops into a popular local burger joint, Mac’s. His waitress Willow Carpenter (Grace Fulton) treats him as if he is any other customer, which he finds refreshing. The cook, Keith Whintey (Jeremy Allen White), takes a good long stare at the customer but doesn’t say anything. When Sheriff Cal Montgomery (Josh Lucas) enters the restaurant, he immediately recognizes the guest and introduces himself. When Willow comes serve his food, Cal asks if she knows who the man is. She doesn’t. It’s Rick Pitino, head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. Willow feigns a sense of awe and says that she should’ve known that – her dad is Burnt Prairie’s basketball coach, after all. Cal starts talking the coach’s ear off - asking what he thinks the odds are that he will go to Kentucky. Cal says he’s hoping he picks his alma mater, Purdue.
Pitino pays a home visit to Von and his family. They have been through these recruiting visits before so it is nothing new to them. Marvin has an honest conversation with the coach about the benefits of going to college or going straight to the NBA. After the coach makes his pitch, Von takes Denni out to the driveway to play some one-on-one. Denni looks up to his brother but is self-conscious about how smaller he is than his brother. He is hoping that one day he will grow to be as tall and as good as Von. Von playfully teases him but says that he knows he’ll get there eventually. Maybe they’ll even be playing in the NBA together some day.
At school and beyond, Von is a superstar. The town as a whole is practically read to etch “Burnt Prairie – Home of Von Murphy” on their town sign. An outlier is history teacher Thomas Hardy (John Gallagher Jr.), who tries to keep a level head and treat Von as if he is anyone else. He senses that he will get this kind of attention for the rest of his life and trying to give the kid a sense of normalcy. Von appreciates this.
Von gets along well with Chris, who is admittedly a bit jealous of the attention Von gets. He is hoping to get offered a scholarship by a college to play and is a bit annoyed at Von’s nonchalance towards his future decision. Chris is currently getting over a long term break-up while harboring a crush on Von’s on-again-off-again girlfriend Cameron. Cameron tells them that her parents are heading out of town that night and she is holding an impromptu party.
The word of the party spreads and eventually reaches the freshman, including Denni and his best mate Elliott (Ed Oxenbould), Cameron’s younger brother. Denni knows that freshmen aren’t invited but asks Elliott anyway, given that it is at his house. Elliott says there’s no way. Cameron would kill him if he brought anyone over. He’ll just be up in his room playing video games, anyway. Denni won’t take no for an answer.
Erin Lamb (Diana Silvers) drives into Burnt Prairie, her hometown. Erin is a college sophomore majoring in journalism and Mayor Lamb’s daughter. She pitched her college newspaper to do a profile on Von Murphy and they approved.
Von is excused to leave campus during lunch to meet with Erin for her interview. She starts by getting the obvious out of the way first: where does he think he’ll be going after this? He is coy about his answer and says that he is not leaning any which way yet. At this point it is down to Kentucky, Indiana, Purdue, or, of course, the NBA.
They start to get into how he and his family moved here the year before from Chicago because of his dad’s job. She asks what kind of adjustments have taken place. He says that it is far different from where they were before and it has taken some adjusting to being one of the only black families in town.
She asks if he ever thought about attending a prep school instead but he says that he never wanted to feel like he was better than everyone else so he always turned those down. Von breaks from the interview to ask her about her personal life, specifically talking about the mutual friends they have. He says they seem to get along well and it would have been cool had they been at BP High at the same time. She tries to get the interview back on track but Von says that he has to go back at school soon. He tells her the location of a party later and says that he’ll be there if she wants to get more content for the interview. She says she can’t go to a high school party but Von turns up his charm and asks what else is there to do in this town?
Cal and his wife Rose (Kristin Chenoweth), a local pastor, talk over their weekend getaway - which she is hoping will repair their marital woes. Sick of his wife, Cal grabs his cocaine from his closet but decides against it and puts it back. They tell their kids to behave while they’re gone. After Rose heads out to the car, Cal tells Cameron where he is recently-stocked alcohol cabinet is and says that if she has to a party, to just make sure that Elliott doesn’t drink. She thanks him and hugs him goodbye.
At the party, loud music plays as most of the juniors and seniors at the school are at Cameron’s house. Elliott and Denni are in Elliott’s room, plotting how to join the party (which makes Elliott nervous). Downstairs, Von flirts Cameron as Chris looks on from afar. Erin enters the house to everyone’s surprise except for Von, who knew she’d come. He excuses himself from Cameron to go talk to Erin. She is angered but he says it is to continue the interview.
Erin encounters Von in the hallway and they resume their conversation from earlier. He offers to get her a drink but she says she doesn’t, prompting him to ask her how she is getting through college and they both laugh. It is a bit loud where they are so Von says they should go into one of the bedrooms for some peace and quiet. Cameron catches this in the corner of her eye and watches them to go into the room. Erin asks him if playing basketball professionally has always been his dreams and how he feels about being so close to achieving it. It soon becomes clear that that passion is surprisingly absent. He’s a gifted athlete and good at basketball so he plays it because that’s what it is expected of him.
Elsewhere, Cameron gives in to Chris’s flirtations and starts flirting back - Von’s wishes be damned. They start to make out prompting her to ask if he wants to go to the basement. As she walks down the stairs, she discovers Denni and her brother sneaking themselves some drinks. Before she can fully explode, they are already out of there - running out of the house and down the street. Denni asks Elliott why is running from his own home and Elliott doesn’t know but it feels like the right choice.
Von drops his head down and starts talk about how he is scared of the expectations laid upon him. He doesn’t really care about being the best but instead is sticking with it because it is the easiest path for him to help his dad and brother financially. He doesn’t want his dad working in a factory all his life but he knows it’s too late to work his way up any other career path at his age. So basketball it is. But unlike other jobs, this one could fall apart in an instant. What if he can’t cut in the big leagues? What if he has a career-ending injury?
He starts to softly cry as he says this before asking if they are still on the record, because he doesn’t want that to be included in her profile of him. She asks him if there is anything else that he is passionate about but before she can finish the question, his hand is stroking her cheek.
Erin felt an attraction to him the first time they met but she tried to maintain a professional demeanor – one that she is finding hard to locate at the moment. They start to make out and she climbs on top of him as he sits on the bed. He starts to unbutton her top but pulls back and says she can’t do this – not now, at least. She’s sober, he’s drunk, it doesn’t feel right. He promises that he consents but she maintains that she has to go – he is her interview subject after all. Before she leaves, he takes her hand and asks to see her again. She promises that he will, prompting him to smile.
As Erin leaves the party, she runs into Chris and things are immediately awkward between them. Chris is surprised she is here (or even in town) but before he can say anything, she says she has to go. She sits in her car and adjusts her mirror so she can see Von in the upstairs bedroom. She bites her lip smiling. She then sees him fraternizing with Keith – the cook from Mac’s – who was a few years older than her but has stayed in Burnt Prairie after graduation.
Erin is jolted awake by ambulance sirens whizzing past her bedroom window. Coach Carpenter by a ringing phone. Marvin by a loud knock on the door. Upon answering the door, he takes a moment to regain his alertness but can’t believe what he is hearing from the police officer. He can’t seem to get a ringing out of his ears and asks the person on the officer repeat what they just said: Von was found overdosed in the master bedroom of the Montgomery household.
Burnt Prairie - Erin
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Diana Silvers .... Erin Lamb
Annabeth Gish .... Mayor Colleen Lamb
Jeremy Allen White .... Keith Whitney
Colman Domingo .... Marvin Murphy
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Robert Forster .... Coach Dick Carpenter
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montgomery
Grace Fulton .... Willow Carpenter
Jahi Di'Allo Winston .... Denni Murphy
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
Joel Murray .... Doug Parker
Plot: “It’s not “Friday night lights” here. For one, it is played indoors and there are games played all throughout week, save for the Lord’s Day. Don’t get me wrong, most high schools throughout the state play football. But they all play basketball.”
Eh.
“Nine of the ten largest high school gymnasiums are in the state of Indiana. The largest is bigger than 75% of the 347 Division I colleges. The magnitude of Hoosier Hysteria knows no bound.”
Nope.
“Legend has it that Dr. James Naismith paid a visit to Indiana in 1925 to observe a high school basketball game. When reflecting upon it, he noted that – despite having invented basketball in Massachusetts – “basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport.” There you have it – straight from the horse’s mouth.”
In the morning, Erin (Diana Silvers) eats breakfast with her mother Colleen (Annabeth Gish) and tries out these potential ledes for her article. Colleen agrees that none of them feel right just yet. Their breakfast is interrupted as Colleen answers the ringing phone. She looks shocked at what she hears. After she hangs up, she tells a curious Erin that Von Murphy passed away earlier this morning.
Colleen, as the mayor of the city, says she needs to go to her office. She gives Erin a long hug before leaving. Erin’s head is spinning as she tries to process this news.
To get out of her own head, she heads into town and goes to Mac’s for some coffee. She finds that the mood in town is unique as it seems that the news is slowing spreading - some people know, some don’t, and some are finding out. At Mac’s, her waitress Willow (Grace Fulton) seems shaken up and Erin hugs her - despite them not really knowing each other that well. Erin asks how Willow’s father Dick, Von’s basketball coach, is holding up. She says he never expected to face anything like this. None of them did.
As she is there, she sees Keith (Jeremy Allen White) arrive for work, looking very tired. They make eye contact but he thinks nothing of it. All she can think about is what she saw the night before.
When she leaves, she finds the atmosphere to be even more dour as the news has spread just about everywhere. Erin contacts her boss at her college newspaper and tells him that she is planning to stay in town for a little while longer as it is clearly about to become an even bigger story than before.
School is canceled for the day and an impromptu vigil is hosted that night by Rose (Kristin Chenoweth), who is still trying to process why he was found at her home. Everyone is taking turns comforting Von’s father Marvin (Colman Domingo) and brother Denni (Jahi Di’Allo Winston). There, Erin runs into Chris (Jacob Elordi). They briefly catch up. It becomes clear that they are exes but it is hard to really hash things out under these current circumstances.
As the vigil is ending, Erin spots Keith watching from afar. She tracks him down and says that she saw him with Von last night. He acts like she doesn’t know what he was talking about but she doesn’t back down. He tells her that he hung out with Von last night but he swears he wasn’t with him when he died. He begs with Erin not to tell anyone that him there. He’s a 25-year-old druggie dropout who will be easy to blame for all of this. She knows how this town can be with scapegoats.
Erin says that the truth is what matters most to her and she feels it is her obligation to tell the police what she knows. He asks her if her truth includes her hooking up with Von that night. She doesn’t know what to say. He tells her that they all make decisions in the moment without thinking about how they’ll be judged in the future. She hurriedly leaves without saying anything.
When Colleen arrives home, she fills her daughter in on the current state of the investigation. She says that Von was found overdosed in the home of Cal and Rose Montgomery, who were out of town when it occurred. There was supposedly a party there that night but they’re not sure. They will have a press conference tomorrow morning to brief the media and says her daughter is welcome to come to represent her school.
At the press conference, Erin sits amongst different journalists from outlets big and wide. She is approached by Doug Parker (Joel Murray), radio broadcaster for BPHS and sportswriter for the Burnt Prairie Post. He chooses to sit beside her, knowing she is the only other person from Burnt Prairie in the crowd. He points out how crazy it is that people from papers as big as the Chicago Tribune and USA Today are here.
Colleen starts off the press conference and, since there are a lot of reporters from out of town, welcomes people to Burnt Prairie. She gives way to Cal (Josh Lucas), who gives scant details on what they know so far about the death. He does say that they believe it was a drug overdose but not much more than that. He definitely does not reveal that Von was found at Cal’s home.
As the press conference ends, Doug spots Dick Carpenter (Robert Forster) near the front and goes to ask for a comment, since he obviously knew Von well. Erin follows. When asked, Dick waits a second to think about what he wants to say: “Von Murphy was one of the best players I’ve ever coached. His potential was limitless. And he was a good kid for the most part. But sometimes, when you have these inner-city kids come in to rural communities and there is a cultural difference they have to overcome. They're used to their hip and hop, and their do-rags and, unfortunately, their drugs. And they don't know how to adjust. You can take the urban kid out of the city but not the urban out of the kid, you know?”
Doug looks nervously at Erin, knowing right away the potential implications of what was just said. Erin jots down a new lede in her notebook:
“Burnt Prairie, Indiana. A farm town in the Crossroads of America, once pre-destined for notoriety for its prodigal son, now finds itself in the crosshairs of tragedy.”
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Diana Silvers .... Erin Lamb
Annabeth Gish .... Mayor Colleen Lamb
Jeremy Allen White .... Keith Whitney
Colman Domingo .... Marvin Murphy
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Robert Forster .... Coach Dick Carpenter
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montgomery
Grace Fulton .... Willow Carpenter
Jahi Di'Allo Winston .... Denni Murphy
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
Joel Murray .... Doug Parker
Plot: “It’s not “Friday night lights” here. For one, it is played indoors and there are games played all throughout week, save for the Lord’s Day. Don’t get me wrong, most high schools throughout the state play football. But they all play basketball.”
Eh.
“Nine of the ten largest high school gymnasiums are in the state of Indiana. The largest is bigger than 75% of the 347 Division I colleges. The magnitude of Hoosier Hysteria knows no bound.”
Nope.
“Legend has it that Dr. James Naismith paid a visit to Indiana in 1925 to observe a high school basketball game. When reflecting upon it, he noted that – despite having invented basketball in Massachusetts – “basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport.” There you have it – straight from the horse’s mouth.”
In the morning, Erin (Diana Silvers) eats breakfast with her mother Colleen (Annabeth Gish) and tries out these potential ledes for her article. Colleen agrees that none of them feel right just yet. Their breakfast is interrupted as Colleen answers the ringing phone. She looks shocked at what she hears. After she hangs up, she tells a curious Erin that Von Murphy passed away earlier this morning.
Colleen, as the mayor of the city, says she needs to go to her office. She gives Erin a long hug before leaving. Erin’s head is spinning as she tries to process this news.
To get out of her own head, she heads into town and goes to Mac’s for some coffee. She finds that the mood in town is unique as it seems that the news is slowing spreading - some people know, some don’t, and some are finding out. At Mac’s, her waitress Willow (Grace Fulton) seems shaken up and Erin hugs her - despite them not really knowing each other that well. Erin asks how Willow’s father Dick, Von’s basketball coach, is holding up. She says he never expected to face anything like this. None of them did.
As she is there, she sees Keith (Jeremy Allen White) arrive for work, looking very tired. They make eye contact but he thinks nothing of it. All she can think about is what she saw the night before.
When she leaves, she finds the atmosphere to be even more dour as the news has spread just about everywhere. Erin contacts her boss at her college newspaper and tells him that she is planning to stay in town for a little while longer as it is clearly about to become an even bigger story than before.
School is canceled for the day and an impromptu vigil is hosted that night by Rose (Kristin Chenoweth), who is still trying to process why he was found at her home. Everyone is taking turns comforting Von’s father Marvin (Colman Domingo) and brother Denni (Jahi Di’Allo Winston). There, Erin runs into Chris (Jacob Elordi). They briefly catch up. It becomes clear that they are exes but it is hard to really hash things out under these current circumstances.
As the vigil is ending, Erin spots Keith watching from afar. She tracks him down and says that she saw him with Von last night. He acts like she doesn’t know what he was talking about but she doesn’t back down. He tells her that he hung out with Von last night but he swears he wasn’t with him when he died. He begs with Erin not to tell anyone that him there. He’s a 25-year-old druggie dropout who will be easy to blame for all of this. She knows how this town can be with scapegoats.
Erin says that the truth is what matters most to her and she feels it is her obligation to tell the police what she knows. He asks her if her truth includes her hooking up with Von that night. She doesn’t know what to say. He tells her that they all make decisions in the moment without thinking about how they’ll be judged in the future. She hurriedly leaves without saying anything.
When Colleen arrives home, she fills her daughter in on the current state of the investigation. She says that Von was found overdosed in the home of Cal and Rose Montgomery, who were out of town when it occurred. There was supposedly a party there that night but they’re not sure. They will have a press conference tomorrow morning to brief the media and says her daughter is welcome to come to represent her school.
At the press conference, Erin sits amongst different journalists from outlets big and wide. She is approached by Doug Parker (Joel Murray), radio broadcaster for BPHS and sportswriter for the Burnt Prairie Post. He chooses to sit beside her, knowing she is the only other person from Burnt Prairie in the crowd. He points out how crazy it is that people from papers as big as the Chicago Tribune and USA Today are here.
Colleen starts off the press conference and, since there are a lot of reporters from out of town, welcomes people to Burnt Prairie. She gives way to Cal (Josh Lucas), who gives scant details on what they know so far about the death. He does say that they believe it was a drug overdose but not much more than that. He definitely does not reveal that Von was found at Cal’s home.
As the press conference ends, Doug spots Dick Carpenter (Robert Forster) near the front and goes to ask for a comment, since he obviously knew Von well. Erin follows. When asked, Dick waits a second to think about what he wants to say: “Von Murphy was one of the best players I’ve ever coached. His potential was limitless. And he was a good kid for the most part. But sometimes, when you have these inner-city kids come in to rural communities and there is a cultural difference they have to overcome. They're used to their hip and hop, and their do-rags and, unfortunately, their drugs. And they don't know how to adjust. You can take the urban kid out of the city but not the urban out of the kid, you know?”
Doug looks nervously at Erin, knowing right away the potential implications of what was just said. Erin jots down a new lede in her notebook:
“Burnt Prairie, Indiana. A farm town in the Crossroads of America, once pre-destined for notoriety for its prodigal son, now finds itself in the crosshairs of tragedy.”
Burnt Prairie - Cal
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Olivia Holt .... Cameron Montgomery
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montgomery
Ed Oxenbould .... Elliott Montgomery
Jeremy Allen White .... Keith Whitney
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
Robert Forster .... Coach Dick Carpenter
Joel Murray .... Doug Parker
Plot: After the press conference on Von’s death, Cal Montgomery (Josh Lucas) goes to the police station, immensely stressed. As you can imagine, Burnt Prairie police officers do not encounter this type of investigation, often. But on top of that, he knows that the details of this investigation could reflect poorly on him.
While everything points to an accidental cocaine overdose, Cal is feeling the pressure that the public want concrete answers. And he has a sinking feeling in his stomach. He is achingly worried at how this story is going to reflect on him once the details emerge.
He comes home to find his wife Rose (Kristin Chenoweth) comforting their daughter Cameron (Olivia Holt). She tells her dad that she is still reeling from Von’s death but he tells her he needs the truth and he knows he can trust her. She tells him that her and Von didn’t talk much at the party, which is really weighing on her. She saw him hanging out with Keith Whitney, a notorious drug dealer in high school circles.
Cal brings Keith (Jeremy Allen White) in for questioning. Keith is coy with his answers, angering Cal. He says that he knows that he sold the cocaine to Von. Keith is adamant that he did not. Cal promises him that he won’t punish him for his drug-dealing, he just wants to know the truth. Keith tells him this is the truth. True, he might have a side business doing this and he might’ve sold cocaine to some but not Von. He only ever supplied Von with weed. Cal is frustrated by this answer. As Keith is leaving, he tells Cal that the last thing he saw that night was his daughter with Von in the room that he died.
At home, Cal questions Cameron again and she confirms Keith’s story. Her and Von had been fighting so she found in Cal’s closet to help mend their problems. She didn’t know it would end so horribly. As she is crying, he hugs her and tells her it will be ok.
At a public press conference, Cal announces the arrest of Keith Whitney for distribution of narcotics as a montage shows the police serving a warrant at his apartment. He says that their evidence indicates that he is the one who supplied and used the cocaine with Von Murphy on the night that he died.
In private, Rose confronts Cal and questions his moral compass. He grows angry and says that he will defend his daughter at all costs. She asks if he is really just defending himself. Their marital issues existed before but now they have worsened. Their son Elliott (Ed Oxenbould) walks in on them arguing and Rose chases after him to explain things. Cal screams into his hand from the stress.
With the partial relief of closure from Von’s death, the whole town comes together to shift their focus to the first basketball game since the tragedy. It feels like a true community gathering, with not an empty seat in the house. There are murmurs about the crowd about they aren’t surprised that someone like Keith, a neerdowell, would negatively influence Von like that. A moment of silence is held before the national anthem and a prayer is read out by Rose. While this forbids the law of separation of church and state (since Burnt Prairie is a public school), no one really cares in this instance.
Still distraught, she confirms the story that Keith gave him. Her and Von had been fighting so she used the drugs that Cal left for her to help mend their problems. She didn’t know it would end so horribly. As she is crying, he hugs her and tells her it will be ok.
Their opponent, Grandview Central, is ranked on a similar level when accounting for Von’s absence so this is expected to be a close affair. However, with their emotions running high, Chris (Jacob Elordi) and the team go on an absolute tear and blow their opponent out. The atmosphere is incredible and the crowd stays throughout the whole game, awarding Dick (Robert Forster) and his team a standing ovation afterwards.
After Coach Carpenter is interviewed by Doug Parker (Joel Murray), Cal congratulates him on the win. Cal then talks to Doug and about how great of a story this will be (especially if they carry this momentum going into the playoffs). Speaking of stories, Doug pulls Cal aside and tells him about Dick’s “urban” comments at the press conference the day before. Cal is surprised to hear this and Doug mentions how that could damage the coach’s reputation if published. Cal agrees. As he is walking away, Doug’s words echo in Cal’s mind and he realizes the type of media attention this would get (and thus away from his public lies). He turns around and tells Doug he thinks he should publish it - Coach said it after all.
Cal wakes up the next day and, on his way to work, reads the newspaper with a big headline “Blazers Win First Game Since Tragedy; Victory Marred by Controversial Comments”. He lets out a big sigh of relief.
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Olivia Holt .... Cameron Montgomery
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montgomery
Ed Oxenbould .... Elliott Montgomery
Jeremy Allen White .... Keith Whitney
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
Robert Forster .... Coach Dick Carpenter
Joel Murray .... Doug Parker
Plot: After the press conference on Von’s death, Cal Montgomery (Josh Lucas) goes to the police station, immensely stressed. As you can imagine, Burnt Prairie police officers do not encounter this type of investigation, often. But on top of that, he knows that the details of this investigation could reflect poorly on him.
While everything points to an accidental cocaine overdose, Cal is feeling the pressure that the public want concrete answers. And he has a sinking feeling in his stomach. He is achingly worried at how this story is going to reflect on him once the details emerge.
He comes home to find his wife Rose (Kristin Chenoweth) comforting their daughter Cameron (Olivia Holt). She tells her dad that she is still reeling from Von’s death but he tells her he needs the truth and he knows he can trust her. She tells him that her and Von didn’t talk much at the party, which is really weighing on her. She saw him hanging out with Keith Whitney, a notorious drug dealer in high school circles.
Cal brings Keith (Jeremy Allen White) in for questioning. Keith is coy with his answers, angering Cal. He says that he knows that he sold the cocaine to Von. Keith is adamant that he did not. Cal promises him that he won’t punish him for his drug-dealing, he just wants to know the truth. Keith tells him this is the truth. True, he might have a side business doing this and he might’ve sold cocaine to some but not Von. He only ever supplied Von with weed. Cal is frustrated by this answer. As Keith is leaving, he tells Cal that the last thing he saw that night was his daughter with Von in the room that he died.
At home, Cal questions Cameron again and she confirms Keith’s story. Her and Von had been fighting so she found in Cal’s closet to help mend their problems. She didn’t know it would end so horribly. As she is crying, he hugs her and tells her it will be ok.
At a public press conference, Cal announces the arrest of Keith Whitney for distribution of narcotics as a montage shows the police serving a warrant at his apartment. He says that their evidence indicates that he is the one who supplied and used the cocaine with Von Murphy on the night that he died.
In private, Rose confronts Cal and questions his moral compass. He grows angry and says that he will defend his daughter at all costs. She asks if he is really just defending himself. Their marital issues existed before but now they have worsened. Their son Elliott (Ed Oxenbould) walks in on them arguing and Rose chases after him to explain things. Cal screams into his hand from the stress.
With the partial relief of closure from Von’s death, the whole town comes together to shift their focus to the first basketball game since the tragedy. It feels like a true community gathering, with not an empty seat in the house. There are murmurs about the crowd about they aren’t surprised that someone like Keith, a neerdowell, would negatively influence Von like that. A moment of silence is held before the national anthem and a prayer is read out by Rose. While this forbids the law of separation of church and state (since Burnt Prairie is a public school), no one really cares in this instance.
Still distraught, she confirms the story that Keith gave him. Her and Von had been fighting so she used the drugs that Cal left for her to help mend their problems. She didn’t know it would end so horribly. As she is crying, he hugs her and tells her it will be ok.
Their opponent, Grandview Central, is ranked on a similar level when accounting for Von’s absence so this is expected to be a close affair. However, with their emotions running high, Chris (Jacob Elordi) and the team go on an absolute tear and blow their opponent out. The atmosphere is incredible and the crowd stays throughout the whole game, awarding Dick (Robert Forster) and his team a standing ovation afterwards.
After Coach Carpenter is interviewed by Doug Parker (Joel Murray), Cal congratulates him on the win. Cal then talks to Doug and about how great of a story this will be (especially if they carry this momentum going into the playoffs). Speaking of stories, Doug pulls Cal aside and tells him about Dick’s “urban” comments at the press conference the day before. Cal is surprised to hear this and Doug mentions how that could damage the coach’s reputation if published. Cal agrees. As he is walking away, Doug’s words echo in Cal’s mind and he realizes the type of media attention this would get (and thus away from his public lies). He turns around and tells Doug he thinks he should publish it - Coach said it after all.
Cal wakes up the next day and, on his way to work, reads the newspaper with a big headline “Blazers Win First Game Since Tragedy; Victory Marred by Controversial Comments”. He lets out a big sigh of relief.
Burnt Prairie - Coach
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Robert Forster .... Coach Dick Carpenter
Grace Fulton .... Willow Carpenter
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Ed Oxenbould .... Elliott Montgomery
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Annabeth Gish .... Mayor Colleen Lamb
Colman Domingo .... Marvin Murphy
Aden Young .... Alan Carpenter
Alison Wright .... Laurie Carpenter
Timothy Busfield .... Phil Daldry
Plot:Dick Carpenter (Robert Forster) goes about his day like any other day. He greets his wife Laurie (Alison Wright), who is thirty years his junior. She is making breakfast for their daughter Willow (Grace Fulton). Dick hugs her goodbye as she leaves for school.
Dick is a farmer during the day, something he figure he will do until the day he dies.
When Willow arrives at school, she can tell something feels off. And not in the tragic sense. Moreso, she feels like everyone is laying their eyes of disgust upon her. This carries over into class and she asks Elliott (Ed Oxenbould), who sits next to her, what is wrong. He says that it something that her dad said. Their teacher Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.) sees them talking and shuts it down, leaving Willow flushed with embarrassment.
The talk of the town over the next day becomes about the racial insensitivty of Dick’s comments. This is actually debated, with some thinking it is not as bad as others. At the farm, Dick’s is relatively anonymous so he can go about things as normal. It is when he gets home that he learns from Laurie the controversy that his comments have stirred. When Willow gets home from school, all she says is that she called in from work tonight and goes straight to her room.
The next day, things get worse as Dick’s comments are picked up by the Indianapolis Star - still capitalizing on any coverage they can from Von’s death. This prompts a spike in media requests for Dick, as well as out-of-towners traveling to Burnt Prairie to protest.
In Thomas’s history class, he calls an audible and makes today’s class about “Race in America”. This doesn’t help Willow’s self-esteem as she feels this is targeted towards her so she leaves class prematurely.
After class, Thomas hunts through the halls to find Willow. He apologizes if class today struck a nerve with her but he felt it was the right time to talk about it with the students. He says that Dick’s comments require some perspective and that people in town tend to view things through a very narrow lens. In small communities like this, people only know as much as they are exposed to and that is how they view the world. It’s moreso ignorance than malicious intent. Willow asks if he is calling her dad ignorant. He says everyone is ignorant to a degree until they are open to learning more about what they don’t know. And that is why he thought this would be a good time to teach about minority cultures. This gets through to her and she thanks him.
Laurie is surprised to see an old red Ford pickup truck pull up in their driveway. It is Alan Carpenter (Aden Young), Dick’s older son. He lives in Indianapolis so doesn’t come around very often but says that he wanted to check on how his father was doing. He and Dick do some catching up - Dick doesn’t seem too bothered by the controversy, and doesn’t think his comments were that bad. Alan actually agrees.
The mood around town has grown hostile as most have grown vocally protective of their long-tenured coach and are angered by the calls for his resignation. This includes Cal (Josh Lucas), who secretly instigated this controversy but still believes this team has a shot at making it far in the playoffs. In a joint statement from Mayor Colleen Lamb (Annabeth Gish) and BPHS Principal Phil Daldry (Timothy Busfield), they condemn the comments but saying that Coach Carpenter’s 40+ years of community service and mentoring should be the truest statement of his character, not a few off-hand remarks.
Willow catches up with her brother, who is 25 years older than her. He asks about how school is going and she says not easy. She says that their father’s comments have rubbed off poorly on her. Alan grows defensive and says that is just how Dick’s generation talks. Willow is honest and says that she thinks he should resign - the amount of stress that coaching and farming takes on him can’t be good anyways. Alan is angered to hear this and tells her she is out of line. Dick Carpenter is an Indiana basketball legend and he can retire when he pleases. Laurie overhears Alan raising his voice towards Willow and steps in, telling him he needs to back out. Willow storms off, crying.
Laurie talks to Dick about the argument she overheard and this disheartens him. He still doesn’t see what is wrong with what he says but he is sad that it has negatively affected his daughter. He decides to call Marvin Murphy (Colman Domingo) and apologize for what he said. Afterwards, he calls Phil Daldry and informs him that he is resigning from the post of head basketball coach, effective immediately.
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Robert Forster .... Coach Dick Carpenter
Grace Fulton .... Willow Carpenter
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Ed Oxenbould .... Elliott Montgomery
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Annabeth Gish .... Mayor Colleen Lamb
Colman Domingo .... Marvin Murphy
Aden Young .... Alan Carpenter
Alison Wright .... Laurie Carpenter
Timothy Busfield .... Phil Daldry
Plot:Dick Carpenter (Robert Forster) goes about his day like any other day. He greets his wife Laurie (Alison Wright), who is thirty years his junior. She is making breakfast for their daughter Willow (Grace Fulton). Dick hugs her goodbye as she leaves for school.
Dick is a farmer during the day, something he figure he will do until the day he dies.
When Willow arrives at school, she can tell something feels off. And not in the tragic sense. Moreso, she feels like everyone is laying their eyes of disgust upon her. This carries over into class and she asks Elliott (Ed Oxenbould), who sits next to her, what is wrong. He says that it something that her dad said. Their teacher Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.) sees them talking and shuts it down, leaving Willow flushed with embarrassment.
The talk of the town over the next day becomes about the racial insensitivty of Dick’s comments. This is actually debated, with some thinking it is not as bad as others. At the farm, Dick’s is relatively anonymous so he can go about things as normal. It is when he gets home that he learns from Laurie the controversy that his comments have stirred. When Willow gets home from school, all she says is that she called in from work tonight and goes straight to her room.
The next day, things get worse as Dick’s comments are picked up by the Indianapolis Star - still capitalizing on any coverage they can from Von’s death. This prompts a spike in media requests for Dick, as well as out-of-towners traveling to Burnt Prairie to protest.
In Thomas’s history class, he calls an audible and makes today’s class about “Race in America”. This doesn’t help Willow’s self-esteem as she feels this is targeted towards her so she leaves class prematurely.
After class, Thomas hunts through the halls to find Willow. He apologizes if class today struck a nerve with her but he felt it was the right time to talk about it with the students. He says that Dick’s comments require some perspective and that people in town tend to view things through a very narrow lens. In small communities like this, people only know as much as they are exposed to and that is how they view the world. It’s moreso ignorance than malicious intent. Willow asks if he is calling her dad ignorant. He says everyone is ignorant to a degree until they are open to learning more about what they don’t know. And that is why he thought this would be a good time to teach about minority cultures. This gets through to her and she thanks him.
Laurie is surprised to see an old red Ford pickup truck pull up in their driveway. It is Alan Carpenter (Aden Young), Dick’s older son. He lives in Indianapolis so doesn’t come around very often but says that he wanted to check on how his father was doing. He and Dick do some catching up - Dick doesn’t seem too bothered by the controversy, and doesn’t think his comments were that bad. Alan actually agrees.
The mood around town has grown hostile as most have grown vocally protective of their long-tenured coach and are angered by the calls for his resignation. This includes Cal (Josh Lucas), who secretly instigated this controversy but still believes this team has a shot at making it far in the playoffs. In a joint statement from Mayor Colleen Lamb (Annabeth Gish) and BPHS Principal Phil Daldry (Timothy Busfield), they condemn the comments but saying that Coach Carpenter’s 40+ years of community service and mentoring should be the truest statement of his character, not a few off-hand remarks.
Willow catches up with her brother, who is 25 years older than her. He asks about how school is going and she says not easy. She says that their father’s comments have rubbed off poorly on her. Alan grows defensive and says that is just how Dick’s generation talks. Willow is honest and says that she thinks he should resign - the amount of stress that coaching and farming takes on him can’t be good anyways. Alan is angered to hear this and tells her she is out of line. Dick Carpenter is an Indiana basketball legend and he can retire when he pleases. Laurie overhears Alan raising his voice towards Willow and steps in, telling him he needs to back out. Willow storms off, crying.
Laurie talks to Dick about the argument she overheard and this disheartens him. He still doesn’t see what is wrong with what he says but he is sad that it has negatively affected his daughter. He decides to call Marvin Murphy (Colman Domingo) and apologize for what he said. Afterwards, he calls Phil Daldry and informs him that he is resigning from the post of head basketball coach, effective immediately.
Burnt Prairie - Thomas
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Diana Silvers .... Erin Lamb
Robert Forster .... Coach Dick Carpenter
Aden Young .... Alan Carpenter
Molly Ephraim .... Wendy
Timothy Busfield .... Phil Daldry
Plot: At school, the news of Dick Carpenter’s resignation spreads like wildfire. Principle Daldry (Timothy Busfield) meets with local boosters and influential sports figures, including Cal (Josh Lucas). Cal acts shocked at this news, even though he is the one who instigated it. With only three games remaining in the season, they find themselves in a real conundrum. No coach is going to leave their team this late in the year, especially no good ones.
They approach all three of Dick’s assistant coaches but they refuse the job out of solidarity with Coach. They all think he was unreasonably forced out of the position, despite Daldry’s insistance that he resigned on his own accord. This leaves Daldry and the school’s athletic director in a sticky situation.
To cut costs, they decide it is best to hire from within. They look through their roster and decide that the only logical option is Thomas Hilliard, a former player for Coach Carpenter and someone who obviously knows all of the players well since he has them as students. They do not inform Cal or any of the other boosters about this and approach Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.) directly. He is admittedly hesitant but they tell him that this is only temporary, for the rest of the season. He’s never coached before but is bright and remember Coach’s offense. After some deliberation, he accepts.
After school, Thomas holds his first practice. While the students respect him - at times - as their teacher, he finds it to be a much different ballgame when they are athletes. There is a sense that he is underqualified for the position and that this hinders their shot at making it to the state championship. Chris Ford (Jacob Elordi), team captain since Von’s death, is the one leading the charge. Thomas is not dumb and senses this discontent, making him nervous for his first game tomorrow night.
After practice, we get a glimpse of the life of a young professional in a small town. He goes home and tidies up, before going out on his second date with Wendy (Molly Ephraim), a nurse at Burnt Prairie Hospital he met through a personal ad. They get to talking about their upbringings. Wendy isn’t from around here and just took the job out of nursing school. Thomas is from here but his path is untraditional. He actually did leave town and went to college (on a Division 3 basketball scholarship) and ended up gravitating towards education. It just so happens that the job market as a teacher in Indiana led him back here after a few years at other schools. So no, he hasn’t been here his whole life. They get along great and plan to meet for a third date.
The next day in the hours leading up to the game, he is surprised to be interviewed for the local paper by Erin (Diane Silvers), a former student of his. After the interview, she tells him that she decided to stick around a little longer to cover the fallout of the Von story. He tells her he has high hopes for her and thinks she should get back to school soon. She is not so sure. She feels like this is her calling here, to find truth in reality in Burnt Prairie. He says she should think long and hard about what she wants in life. There are times that he regrets coming back, especially when rumors are flying and the town is on edge. But at the same time, he sees her point, and feels like there is something salvageable in this town. It doesn’t have to be a self-isolated community that is resistant to change. And maybe he can play his part in moving it forward.
Thomas’s first game as head coach is against Muirville, a team well below Burnt Prairie’s talent level. Things go well at first, despite some disjointed playcalls. This mainly due to the performance of Chris Ford, who has a chip on his shoulder. However, after halftime, Chris hits a cold streak and he isn’t able to mask the team’s lack of cohesiveness anymore. Muirville takes the lead and never looks back, winning 68-52.
The home crowd is audibly upset, worried that this a sign of things to come and that their championship dreams are over. Thomas can obviously sense this and feels like he has let them, his team, and himself down. He is approached by Alan Carpenter (Aden Young). Alan makes it clear that he is not pleased with how his father’s resignation went down, he is confident that Thomas can right the ship. He was always one of his dad’s favorite players for how much he listened and learned from the directions given to him.
In his post-game speech to the team, he takes off his nice-guy persona and shows a fiercer side. We get a brief flashback of Dick giving Thomas’s team a similar talk 15 years ago. He emphasizes that this will be a one-time occurence. They will get it together to finish the last 2 games strong and live up to expectations in the playoffs.
On his way home, Thomas stops by a house and knocks on the door. Willow (Grace Fulton) answers and Thomas asks if he can see Coach. She retrieves Dick (Robert Forster), who is surprised to see him there. Thomas gives him a long hug before saying he hopes to make him proud. Dick tells him that he knows he has the basketball IQ and is much smarter than Dick ever was - as evidenced by his public interviews. Thomas says that Von was truly a special kid, on and off the court. Dick says he knows that and wishes he wouldn’t have said what he said. As Thomas leaves, Dick tells him that he was listening to the game and to come to him if he ever needs some tips in the coming weeks. Thomas tells him that he will probably be taking him up on that.
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Diana Silvers .... Erin Lamb
Robert Forster .... Coach Dick Carpenter
Aden Young .... Alan Carpenter
Molly Ephraim .... Wendy
Timothy Busfield .... Phil Daldry
Plot: At school, the news of Dick Carpenter’s resignation spreads like wildfire. Principle Daldry (Timothy Busfield) meets with local boosters and influential sports figures, including Cal (Josh Lucas). Cal acts shocked at this news, even though he is the one who instigated it. With only three games remaining in the season, they find themselves in a real conundrum. No coach is going to leave their team this late in the year, especially no good ones.
They approach all three of Dick’s assistant coaches but they refuse the job out of solidarity with Coach. They all think he was unreasonably forced out of the position, despite Daldry’s insistance that he resigned on his own accord. This leaves Daldry and the school’s athletic director in a sticky situation.
To cut costs, they decide it is best to hire from within. They look through their roster and decide that the only logical option is Thomas Hilliard, a former player for Coach Carpenter and someone who obviously knows all of the players well since he has them as students. They do not inform Cal or any of the other boosters about this and approach Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.) directly. He is admittedly hesitant but they tell him that this is only temporary, for the rest of the season. He’s never coached before but is bright and remember Coach’s offense. After some deliberation, he accepts.
After school, Thomas holds his first practice. While the students respect him - at times - as their teacher, he finds it to be a much different ballgame when they are athletes. There is a sense that he is underqualified for the position and that this hinders their shot at making it to the state championship. Chris Ford (Jacob Elordi), team captain since Von’s death, is the one leading the charge. Thomas is not dumb and senses this discontent, making him nervous for his first game tomorrow night.
After practice, we get a glimpse of the life of a young professional in a small town. He goes home and tidies up, before going out on his second date with Wendy (Molly Ephraim), a nurse at Burnt Prairie Hospital he met through a personal ad. They get to talking about their upbringings. Wendy isn’t from around here and just took the job out of nursing school. Thomas is from here but his path is untraditional. He actually did leave town and went to college (on a Division 3 basketball scholarship) and ended up gravitating towards education. It just so happens that the job market as a teacher in Indiana led him back here after a few years at other schools. So no, he hasn’t been here his whole life. They get along great and plan to meet for a third date.
The next day in the hours leading up to the game, he is surprised to be interviewed for the local paper by Erin (Diane Silvers), a former student of his. After the interview, she tells him that she decided to stick around a little longer to cover the fallout of the Von story. He tells her he has high hopes for her and thinks she should get back to school soon. She is not so sure. She feels like this is her calling here, to find truth in reality in Burnt Prairie. He says she should think long and hard about what she wants in life. There are times that he regrets coming back, especially when rumors are flying and the town is on edge. But at the same time, he sees her point, and feels like there is something salvageable in this town. It doesn’t have to be a self-isolated community that is resistant to change. And maybe he can play his part in moving it forward.
Thomas’s first game as head coach is against Muirville, a team well below Burnt Prairie’s talent level. Things go well at first, despite some disjointed playcalls. This mainly due to the performance of Chris Ford, who has a chip on his shoulder. However, after halftime, Chris hits a cold streak and he isn’t able to mask the team’s lack of cohesiveness anymore. Muirville takes the lead and never looks back, winning 68-52.
The home crowd is audibly upset, worried that this a sign of things to come and that their championship dreams are over. Thomas can obviously sense this and feels like he has let them, his team, and himself down. He is approached by Alan Carpenter (Aden Young). Alan makes it clear that he is not pleased with how his father’s resignation went down, he is confident that Thomas can right the ship. He was always one of his dad’s favorite players for how much he listened and learned from the directions given to him.
In his post-game speech to the team, he takes off his nice-guy persona and shows a fiercer side. We get a brief flashback of Dick giving Thomas’s team a similar talk 15 years ago. He emphasizes that this will be a one-time occurence. They will get it together to finish the last 2 games strong and live up to expectations in the playoffs.
On his way home, Thomas stops by a house and knocks on the door. Willow (Grace Fulton) answers and Thomas asks if he can see Coach. She retrieves Dick (Robert Forster), who is surprised to see him there. Thomas gives him a long hug before saying he hopes to make him proud. Dick tells him that he knows he has the basketball IQ and is much smarter than Dick ever was - as evidenced by his public interviews. Thomas says that Von was truly a special kid, on and off the court. Dick says he knows that and wishes he wouldn’t have said what he said. As Thomas leaves, Dick tells him that he was listening to the game and to come to him if he ever needs some tips in the coming weeks. Thomas tells him that he will probably be taking him up on that.
Burnt Prairie - Rose
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montmogery
Colman Domingo .... Marvin Murphy
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Ed Oxenbould .... Elliott Montgomery
Jahi Di'Allo Winston .... Denni Murphy
Aden Young .... Alan Carpenter
Will Patton .... Morris Whitney
Plot: In Memory of Robert Forster (1941-2019)
In the morning, parts of the community gather at Burnt Prairie United Methodist Church, where Rose (Kristin Chenoweth) is the pastor. Afterwards, she goes from table to table at the fellowship hall, where they serve donuts and coffee. The basketball team’s performance is the talk of the town at the moment. Because of this role, it is clear that she has at least some sort of relationship with everyone in town.
After she is done meeting with the church-goers, she finds that the last one left is Morris Whitney (Will Patton), janitor at Burnt Prairie High School, sitting silently. She calls him into the prayer room. She usually knows the right thing to say to everyone regarding their problems but this one is unique. He tells Rose that he knows that his son Keith is not the villain that the town has painted him to be. She says she agrees but he says that she doesn’t get it. It is her husband who is the painter. He’s scapegoating this poor kid from the other side of the tracks to cover up for his own negligence. Rose doesn’t know what to say. As Morris grows angrier, he says that he never thought it was a good decision for the church to assign a woman as a minister and that he is leaving the church after today. She continues to try to reason with him as he leaves. She sits in defeat.
Later in the day, it is time for Von’s funeral service. Many people from around town attend, as well as relatives from Chicago. Some media are still in town, this being the last event they plan to cover in this story. Rose gives an impassioned sermon. After the burial, she invites Marvin (Colman Domingo) and his son over for dinner that night.
As she makes dinner, she asks Cal (Josh Lucas) where their daughter is. He says she is out with friends. This angers Rose as she knows that Cameron knew they were hosting the Murphy’s for dinner tonight. Elliott (Ed Oxenbould) asks his parents if he and Denni can play video games but Cal says he’ll have to wait until after they eat.
When Marvin and Denni (Jahi Di'Allo Winston) arrive for dinner, Rose tries to keep the conversation on topics other than Von as that is all they’ve thought about for the last week. Denni asks where Cameron is and Rose disappointingly says she couldn’t make it. Cal notices that Elliott is not eating any vegetables on his plate and tells him not to disrespect his mom’s cooking like that. Rose tells him it is okay but Cal forces Elliott to eat cauliflower, with everyone looking at him. Despite his resistance, he takes a bite and then spits it out in disgust. This makes Cal angry and he grabs Elliott by his collar and leads him to his room. The camera stays on the dinner table while you can hear Cal chew out Elliott for acting like that in front of guests. Rose apologizes to her guests while Marvin says he understands. Elliott is having a meltdown and says that Cal is the one embarrassing him in front of his friend. Cal is having none of it and says that his son will show respect at his dinner table.
Later that night, Cal vents to his wife about their son’s behavior. She tells him he needs to be more sensitive because of Elliott’s autism. Cal scoffs at that, believing that Elliott can control his behavior better than he says he can. Rose grows offended, as if her husband doesn’t believe their son’s diagnosis. This grows into a full blown argument, where Rose tells him about her interaction with Keith Whitney’s father earlier that day and how it made her feel - all because of Cal’s actions. This makes him even more angry, again doubling down that he was protecting their daughter. She asks if he was just protecting himself. She grabs her keys and says she needs to get away from him for a little while.
As she is driving, she drives by the local bar and decides to stop in, a place she rarely goes. To her surprise, Alan Carpenter (Aden Young) is there. They had been classmates in high school way back when. He tells her he was in town to visit his father with the whole controversy and this is his last night in town. They catch up on each other’s lives while Rose is not specific about her current problems. She reflects on her life path thus far: 1967 BPHS Prom Queen, got engaged to her high school sweetheart, he gets drafted into Vietnam and that’s all she can think about so she chooses to stay in Burnt Prairie for his return instead of going to college or a bigger city. He eventually does return, although not exactly the same. They have kids and grows discontent with just being a staying at home mom so she followed her passion to the ministry. Alan says his path was much shorter: he just got a job in Indianapolis out of high school and has never looked back.
She laments to him the near irreversible effect that Von’s death will have on her family and he says the same is true for his family. She says things were never perfect but this seems to have shifted them onto a course where she truly feels lost and doesn’t feel like her husband is someone she can go to in this time of need. She begins crying as Alan puts his hand over hers and says that everything will be okay.
As this happens, the bar door slings open and it is Cal. He angrily says he has been driving around for an hour looking for her. It’s almost midnight and still no sign of Cameron. He’s called the homes of the people she was supposed to be hanging out with but they hadn’t seen her since the funeral either. Rose gives Alan a hug, much to Cal’s chagrin and leaves with her husband.
While still angry at each other, they coordinate where they will look for her and both get in their separate cars. The episode ends on a split screen as they both drive aimlessly around town, in silence and in tears, looking for their daughter.
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montmogery
Colman Domingo .... Marvin Murphy
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Ed Oxenbould .... Elliott Montgomery
Jahi Di'Allo Winston .... Denni Murphy
Aden Young .... Alan Carpenter
Will Patton .... Morris Whitney
Plot: In Memory of Robert Forster (1941-2019)
In the morning, parts of the community gather at Burnt Prairie United Methodist Church, where Rose (Kristin Chenoweth) is the pastor. Afterwards, she goes from table to table at the fellowship hall, where they serve donuts and coffee. The basketball team’s performance is the talk of the town at the moment. Because of this role, it is clear that she has at least some sort of relationship with everyone in town.
After she is done meeting with the church-goers, she finds that the last one left is Morris Whitney (Will Patton), janitor at Burnt Prairie High School, sitting silently. She calls him into the prayer room. She usually knows the right thing to say to everyone regarding their problems but this one is unique. He tells Rose that he knows that his son Keith is not the villain that the town has painted him to be. She says she agrees but he says that she doesn’t get it. It is her husband who is the painter. He’s scapegoating this poor kid from the other side of the tracks to cover up for his own negligence. Rose doesn’t know what to say. As Morris grows angrier, he says that he never thought it was a good decision for the church to assign a woman as a minister and that he is leaving the church after today. She continues to try to reason with him as he leaves. She sits in defeat.
Later in the day, it is time for Von’s funeral service. Many people from around town attend, as well as relatives from Chicago. Some media are still in town, this being the last event they plan to cover in this story. Rose gives an impassioned sermon. After the burial, she invites Marvin (Colman Domingo) and his son over for dinner that night.
As she makes dinner, she asks Cal (Josh Lucas) where their daughter is. He says she is out with friends. This angers Rose as she knows that Cameron knew they were hosting the Murphy’s for dinner tonight. Elliott (Ed Oxenbould) asks his parents if he and Denni can play video games but Cal says he’ll have to wait until after they eat.
When Marvin and Denni (Jahi Di'Allo Winston) arrive for dinner, Rose tries to keep the conversation on topics other than Von as that is all they’ve thought about for the last week. Denni asks where Cameron is and Rose disappointingly says she couldn’t make it. Cal notices that Elliott is not eating any vegetables on his plate and tells him not to disrespect his mom’s cooking like that. Rose tells him it is okay but Cal forces Elliott to eat cauliflower, with everyone looking at him. Despite his resistance, he takes a bite and then spits it out in disgust. This makes Cal angry and he grabs Elliott by his collar and leads him to his room. The camera stays on the dinner table while you can hear Cal chew out Elliott for acting like that in front of guests. Rose apologizes to her guests while Marvin says he understands. Elliott is having a meltdown and says that Cal is the one embarrassing him in front of his friend. Cal is having none of it and says that his son will show respect at his dinner table.
Later that night, Cal vents to his wife about their son’s behavior. She tells him he needs to be more sensitive because of Elliott’s autism. Cal scoffs at that, believing that Elliott can control his behavior better than he says he can. Rose grows offended, as if her husband doesn’t believe their son’s diagnosis. This grows into a full blown argument, where Rose tells him about her interaction with Keith Whitney’s father earlier that day and how it made her feel - all because of Cal’s actions. This makes him even more angry, again doubling down that he was protecting their daughter. She asks if he was just protecting himself. She grabs her keys and says she needs to get away from him for a little while.
As she is driving, she drives by the local bar and decides to stop in, a place she rarely goes. To her surprise, Alan Carpenter (Aden Young) is there. They had been classmates in high school way back when. He tells her he was in town to visit his father with the whole controversy and this is his last night in town. They catch up on each other’s lives while Rose is not specific about her current problems. She reflects on her life path thus far: 1967 BPHS Prom Queen, got engaged to her high school sweetheart, he gets drafted into Vietnam and that’s all she can think about so she chooses to stay in Burnt Prairie for his return instead of going to college or a bigger city. He eventually does return, although not exactly the same. They have kids and grows discontent with just being a staying at home mom so she followed her passion to the ministry. Alan says his path was much shorter: he just got a job in Indianapolis out of high school and has never looked back.
She laments to him the near irreversible effect that Von’s death will have on her family and he says the same is true for his family. She says things were never perfect but this seems to have shifted them onto a course where she truly feels lost and doesn’t feel like her husband is someone she can go to in this time of need. She begins crying as Alan puts his hand over hers and says that everything will be okay.
As this happens, the bar door slings open and it is Cal. He angrily says he has been driving around for an hour looking for her. It’s almost midnight and still no sign of Cameron. He’s called the homes of the people she was supposed to be hanging out with but they hadn’t seen her since the funeral either. Rose gives Alan a hug, much to Cal’s chagrin and leaves with her husband.
While still angry at each other, they coordinate where they will look for her and both get in their separate cars. The episode ends on a split screen as they both drive aimlessly around town, in silence and in tears, looking for their daughter.
Burnt Prairie - Cameron
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Olivia Holt .... Cameron Montgomery
Diana Silvers .... Erin Lamb
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montgomery
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Plot: The eastern edge of Burnt Prairie is a small river that also acts as the county line. It’s often quiet and that is no different tonight, with the moon shining its light upon the water. Not a soul in sight except for an idle car sitting near the riverbank.
Nine hours earlier.
Cameron Montgomery (Olivia Holt) is at the funeral of Von Murphy, her boyfriend at the time of his death. She is there with her family as her mother delivers the sermon. Afterwards, a stream of her relatives, classmates, and townsfolk voice their condolences - something she has gotten used to over the past week. One, however, sticks out to her.
Erin (Diana Silvers) asks her to meet her at Mac’s later that day as she wants to talk about Von’s final night. Cameron says she won’t free later and that if Erin has something to say then to say it now. Erin says she doesn’t think here is the right time but Cameron won’t let her drop it. Erin whispers her about how she and Von kissed that night but that was all. While expertly withholding her emotions, Cameron whispers back and asks why Erin thought today of all days was the best time to deliver this news. Erin says that she would have heard it from someone else eventually plus she’s been living with the guilt for the last few days and it’s been eating at her.
Leaving the funeral, Cameron tells her parents that she is going to grab a bite to eat for lunch with friends.
She never does. Like her parents will soon do in the coming hours, she drives around aimlessly. She drives to the poorer side of town, to the home of Chris Ford (Jacob Elordi). He is surprised to see her and says she shouldn’t have come there. She asks if she should feel guilty about their flirtations that night and Chris says no. It’s not like they knew what was going to happen. Plus her and Von were on hard times when it happened. She thanks him for being honest. He tells her she should probably get going as he’s got a big game tomorrow night and needs sleep. As she is leaving, he says the Keith accusation isn’t the full story, is it? She doesn’t respond.
As night falls on Burnt Prairie, she drives around aimlessly - venturing outside of the town and into the country. In February, the cornfields lay barren and so she is the only thing in sight.
We get a flashback scene of when Cameron and Elliott were younger and Cal would take them fishing on the river in an isolated spot. His “secret hiding spot” he would call it. Cal teaches his two young kids how to use the fishing pole.
Back in 1996, Cal (Josh Lucas) pulls his car beside Rose’s and tells her to follow him. He knows where to look. They both arrive to Cameron’s car parked near the river, at the secret hiding spot. Cal goes to look at the river while Rose (Kristin Chenoweth) goes to the car, where she finds Cameron sleeping in the back. They both let out a huge sigh of relief.
A few days later, the town is preparing for the final game of Sectionals. In this phase of the state playoffs, all the schools in the state play a randomized tournament in a group of six based on geographical location. Since there are no big cities near Burnt Prairie, they are the easy favorite for Sectionals.
On the way to the game, Rose drives Cameron and they have a heart-to-heart. Rose tells her that we don’t prepare young people to face catastrophic loss like this. It is not something they ever want to think about. When she was young and the draft was active, it was something they had to think about - at least for their male peers. Cal’s time in Vietnam was the longest period of Rose’s life. She says that she can’t fully understand what Cameron is feeling right now but she prepared for it when she was younger and so she knows how tough that is. Cameron takes her mom’s hand and they say a prayer together.
At the Sectionals Final, Burnt Prairie faces off against East Tyler High School, a consolidation of the rural areas that surround Burnt Prairie in Tyler County. The team has found their groove under Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.), who is more respected by his players. As expected, they win comfortably and move on to the next phase of the playoffs.
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Olivia Holt .... Cameron Montgomery
Diana Silvers .... Erin Lamb
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montgomery
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Plot: The eastern edge of Burnt Prairie is a small river that also acts as the county line. It’s often quiet and that is no different tonight, with the moon shining its light upon the water. Not a soul in sight except for an idle car sitting near the riverbank.
Nine hours earlier.
Cameron Montgomery (Olivia Holt) is at the funeral of Von Murphy, her boyfriend at the time of his death. She is there with her family as her mother delivers the sermon. Afterwards, a stream of her relatives, classmates, and townsfolk voice their condolences - something she has gotten used to over the past week. One, however, sticks out to her.
Erin (Diana Silvers) asks her to meet her at Mac’s later that day as she wants to talk about Von’s final night. Cameron says she won’t free later and that if Erin has something to say then to say it now. Erin says she doesn’t think here is the right time but Cameron won’t let her drop it. Erin whispers her about how she and Von kissed that night but that was all. While expertly withholding her emotions, Cameron whispers back and asks why Erin thought today of all days was the best time to deliver this news. Erin says that she would have heard it from someone else eventually plus she’s been living with the guilt for the last few days and it’s been eating at her.
Leaving the funeral, Cameron tells her parents that she is going to grab a bite to eat for lunch with friends.
She never does. Like her parents will soon do in the coming hours, she drives around aimlessly. She drives to the poorer side of town, to the home of Chris Ford (Jacob Elordi). He is surprised to see her and says she shouldn’t have come there. She asks if she should feel guilty about their flirtations that night and Chris says no. It’s not like they knew what was going to happen. Plus her and Von were on hard times when it happened. She thanks him for being honest. He tells her she should probably get going as he’s got a big game tomorrow night and needs sleep. As she is leaving, he says the Keith accusation isn’t the full story, is it? She doesn’t respond.
As night falls on Burnt Prairie, she drives around aimlessly - venturing outside of the town and into the country. In February, the cornfields lay barren and so she is the only thing in sight.
We get a flashback scene of when Cameron and Elliott were younger and Cal would take them fishing on the river in an isolated spot. His “secret hiding spot” he would call it. Cal teaches his two young kids how to use the fishing pole.
Back in 1996, Cal (Josh Lucas) pulls his car beside Rose’s and tells her to follow him. He knows where to look. They both arrive to Cameron’s car parked near the river, at the secret hiding spot. Cal goes to look at the river while Rose (Kristin Chenoweth) goes to the car, where she finds Cameron sleeping in the back. They both let out a huge sigh of relief.
A few days later, the town is preparing for the final game of Sectionals. In this phase of the state playoffs, all the schools in the state play a randomized tournament in a group of six based on geographical location. Since there are no big cities near Burnt Prairie, they are the easy favorite for Sectionals.
On the way to the game, Rose drives Cameron and they have a heart-to-heart. Rose tells her that we don’t prepare young people to face catastrophic loss like this. It is not something they ever want to think about. When she was young and the draft was active, it was something they had to think about - at least for their male peers. Cal’s time in Vietnam was the longest period of Rose’s life. She says that she can’t fully understand what Cameron is feeling right now but she prepared for it when she was younger and so she knows how tough that is. Cameron takes her mom’s hand and they say a prayer together.
At the Sectionals Final, Burnt Prairie faces off against East Tyler High School, a consolidation of the rural areas that surround Burnt Prairie in Tyler County. The team has found their groove under Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.), who is more respected by his players. As expected, they win comfortably and move on to the next phase of the playoffs.
Burnt Prairie - Chris
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Diana Silvers .... Erin Lamb
Will Patton .... Morris Whitney
Plot: It is the week leading up to Regionals, the next phase for the state tournament. Having won their sectional, they now enter a mini-tournament with 3 other sectionals winners, with the winner advancing to Semi-State.
For the first time in his life, Chris Ford (Jacob Elordi) is now the talk of the town. As they do every year, the citizens of Burnt Prairie invest their hopes of glory into the lives of seventeen and eighteen-year-olds. For Chris, he has been waiting for this moment his entire life.
At practice, Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.) tells the team they will be taking a break from any physical workout today. Instead, they’ll be watching Hoosiers. He tells them that they are one of the smallest schools left in the state tournament and that their opponents are only going to get bigger from here on out. After they watch the movie, most everyone seems bored and Thomas pulls Chris aside and asks him if that was helpful. Chris smiles and says that Thomas is no Gene Hackman.
Chris pays a visit to the local gun range. Like Cameron at the river, he finds this cathartic both to deal with his emotions from the last few weeks and to let off the nerves for this upcoming weekend. While there, he runs into Morris Whitney (Will Patton), Keith’s father. They are both avid hunters and talk a little bit about that. Chris isn’t sure how to talk to him about his son so he just asks how Keith is holding up while in jail. It’s clearly a touchy topic for him but Morris says that he’s been to jail multiple times himself and he’s sure that he’s raised his kid tough enough to survive. Morris asks Chris if he’s still dating the Sheriff’s daughter, which throws Chris off as he and Cameron have never been official. He doesn’t know how to respond before Morris says that he’s at the school everyday - he’s seen how they flirt with each other. This makes Chris outright uncomfortable and says he’s got to get going. Morris wishes him the best of luck this weekend.
At home, Chris hears a knock at the door and answers: it is Erin (Diana Silvers). She explains that she is now doing freelance work for the Burnt Prairie Post and was wondering if she could do a profile of him before the big game this weekend. Having previously dated, Chris is obviously hesitant to answer this but he does agree to it.
He drives her around town as she asks him questions about his basketball career and any future plans. Similar to the Von interview, things start to go off-track as he begins to ask her about college. She tries to get the interview back on-topic but he continues probing. He parks his truck and he starts to talk more honestly than he had before. He says that he is more nervous than he is confident. He always wanted the spotlight when Von was around but now that he’s been forced into the role of team leader, he is constantly plagued with the fear of letting his team down. After a prolonged silence, he asks Erin if she missed him. He’s missed her. After more silence, she shakes her head yes. He leans into kiss her and they briefly do but she pulls away and says she can’t do this. She has to stay professional. She tries to quickly exit the truck but the door is locked. This causes her to panic while Chris also panics as he tries to unlock it, so as not to make her feel like she’s being held captive. Once she exits, he sits by himself in silence.
At Regionals, Burnt Prairie are the favorites for their first game and keep a 10-point lead throughout most of the game, leading to a win. Their second opponent, Jeffersonville, is much tougher. Jeffersonville is an Indiana suburb of Louisville and their team is stacked this year. Before the game, Thomas is about to give a pep talk but Chris offers to do it for this game. He fires up his teammates, talking about their underdog status. He even uses a quote from Hoosiers, which makes Thomas smile. The team is pumped up and they all huddle together in anticipation of their biggest game yet. When the team does their run-out, Chris scans the crowd for his family and his dad points to a few people sitting in front of him. Chris quickly realizes that these are college coaches from smaller universities who have come to scout the game for potential recruits (likely Jeffersonville players and Chris).
The game is hard-fought and a real defensive battle. They go into halftime tied 24-24. When they start the third quarter, Chris goes on a shooting drought and they fall behind 38-26 heading into the fourth. Chris finally makes a three, breaking his cold streak. However, when he comes down from his shot, he twists his ankle and crumples to the ground. He balls his hand into a fist and slams it onto the hardcourt, yelling “Fuck!” - leaving the entire arena in silence. Sensing this, he tries to get up to show that he is OK but he is limping and unable to walk under his own power. His teammates help him off the court while Thomas puts in a substitute in his place. Surprisingly, the team responds very well in his absence and erase the 7-point deficit, despite not having anything close to a college-level talent. Chris, swallowing his pride, cheers on his team and even helps Thomas coach a little bit. The Burnt Prairie Blazers win 45-43 and are headed to Semi-State.
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Jacob Elordi .... Chris Ford
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Diana Silvers .... Erin Lamb
Will Patton .... Morris Whitney
Plot: It is the week leading up to Regionals, the next phase for the state tournament. Having won their sectional, they now enter a mini-tournament with 3 other sectionals winners, with the winner advancing to Semi-State.
For the first time in his life, Chris Ford (Jacob Elordi) is now the talk of the town. As they do every year, the citizens of Burnt Prairie invest their hopes of glory into the lives of seventeen and eighteen-year-olds. For Chris, he has been waiting for this moment his entire life.
At practice, Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.) tells the team they will be taking a break from any physical workout today. Instead, they’ll be watching Hoosiers. He tells them that they are one of the smallest schools left in the state tournament and that their opponents are only going to get bigger from here on out. After they watch the movie, most everyone seems bored and Thomas pulls Chris aside and asks him if that was helpful. Chris smiles and says that Thomas is no Gene Hackman.
Chris pays a visit to the local gun range. Like Cameron at the river, he finds this cathartic both to deal with his emotions from the last few weeks and to let off the nerves for this upcoming weekend. While there, he runs into Morris Whitney (Will Patton), Keith’s father. They are both avid hunters and talk a little bit about that. Chris isn’t sure how to talk to him about his son so he just asks how Keith is holding up while in jail. It’s clearly a touchy topic for him but Morris says that he’s been to jail multiple times himself and he’s sure that he’s raised his kid tough enough to survive. Morris asks Chris if he’s still dating the Sheriff’s daughter, which throws Chris off as he and Cameron have never been official. He doesn’t know how to respond before Morris says that he’s at the school everyday - he’s seen how they flirt with each other. This makes Chris outright uncomfortable and says he’s got to get going. Morris wishes him the best of luck this weekend.
At home, Chris hears a knock at the door and answers: it is Erin (Diana Silvers). She explains that she is now doing freelance work for the Burnt Prairie Post and was wondering if she could do a profile of him before the big game this weekend. Having previously dated, Chris is obviously hesitant to answer this but he does agree to it.
He drives her around town as she asks him questions about his basketball career and any future plans. Similar to the Von interview, things start to go off-track as he begins to ask her about college. She tries to get the interview back on-topic but he continues probing. He parks his truck and he starts to talk more honestly than he had before. He says that he is more nervous than he is confident. He always wanted the spotlight when Von was around but now that he’s been forced into the role of team leader, he is constantly plagued with the fear of letting his team down. After a prolonged silence, he asks Erin if she missed him. He’s missed her. After more silence, she shakes her head yes. He leans into kiss her and they briefly do but she pulls away and says she can’t do this. She has to stay professional. She tries to quickly exit the truck but the door is locked. This causes her to panic while Chris also panics as he tries to unlock it, so as not to make her feel like she’s being held captive. Once she exits, he sits by himself in silence.
At Regionals, Burnt Prairie are the favorites for their first game and keep a 10-point lead throughout most of the game, leading to a win. Their second opponent, Jeffersonville, is much tougher. Jeffersonville is an Indiana suburb of Louisville and their team is stacked this year. Before the game, Thomas is about to give a pep talk but Chris offers to do it for this game. He fires up his teammates, talking about their underdog status. He even uses a quote from Hoosiers, which makes Thomas smile. The team is pumped up and they all huddle together in anticipation of their biggest game yet. When the team does their run-out, Chris scans the crowd for his family and his dad points to a few people sitting in front of him. Chris quickly realizes that these are college coaches from smaller universities who have come to scout the game for potential recruits (likely Jeffersonville players and Chris).
The game is hard-fought and a real defensive battle. They go into halftime tied 24-24. When they start the third quarter, Chris goes on a shooting drought and they fall behind 38-26 heading into the fourth. Chris finally makes a three, breaking his cold streak. However, when he comes down from his shot, he twists his ankle and crumples to the ground. He balls his hand into a fist and slams it onto the hardcourt, yelling “Fuck!” - leaving the entire arena in silence. Sensing this, he tries to get up to show that he is OK but he is limping and unable to walk under his own power. His teammates help him off the court while Thomas puts in a substitute in his place. Surprisingly, the team responds very well in his absence and erase the 7-point deficit, despite not having anything close to a college-level talent. Chris, swallowing his pride, cheers on his team and even helps Thomas coach a little bit. The Burnt Prairie Blazers win 45-43 and are headed to Semi-State.
Burnt Prairie - Marvin
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Colman Domingo .... Marvin Murphy
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montgomery
Jahi Di'Allo Winston .... Denni Murphy
Rebecca Naomi Jones .... Sheela Murphy
Will Patton .... Morris Whitney
Stephan James .... Von Murphy
Plot: A rowdy crowd of parents cheer on a tee-ball game for kids ages 4-6. The African-American kid at bat is clear competitor, showing a natural tendency to sports. His speed and drive results in an inside-the-park home run. Afterwards, the coach tells his pregnant mom (Rebecca Naomi Jones) that he can already tell that this kid is going to be special. She says “he’s already special to me”. When the coach asks where his father is, the woman hesitates and declines to answer. In fact, she seems a little upset by it. Her and her kid get in the car and drive away. The title card reads “Chicago 1982”.
In 1996, it is a week since we last left off. Burnt Prairie won their Semi-State game and are all set for the state championship against Indianapolis Central, one of the largest schools in the state, at the RCA Dome. The big game is tomorrow and there is a pep rally today to send the team off (as well as families who plan on staying in Indianapolis the night before).
Marvin Murphy (Colman Domingo) sits in silence at the dinner table with son Denni (Jahi Diallo Winston). Denni is quickly eating his food so that he can meet up with Elliott and go to the pep rally. He asks his father if he is going to the rally or the game but Marvin says it is all still too close to home. Just before Denni finishes eating, Marvin tells him that he loves him and that he hopes he has fun with Elliott’s family this weekend.
After Denni leaves for the day, Marvin sits in a state of exile. He flips through the channels but can never reach any satisfaction. He suddenly hears a loud knock on the door - reminding him of the one he heard the night Von died. When he answers it, he finds Sheela (Rebecca Naomi Jones), looking older and much thinner than last time we saw her. Marvin seems upset at the sight of her. Before she can say anything, he says that he spent days trying to get ahold of her. She couldn’t even attend her own son’s funeral. She apologizes profusely but this doesn’t seem to phase Marvin. He does invite her in, however.
She asks if Dennis is here but he says he just left. She asks if he can see him and Marvin turns this request down. She tells Marvin to get off his high horse, it is not like he’d never left his family before. Marvin says that she made a conscious choice, while his was more involuntary. She says that it was his decision to move to podunk Indiana and she didn’t want to leave the rest of her family and her home. Marvin is too angry to respond. She apologizes for never responding because she was off-the-grid at the time and it has killed her every day since that she wasn’t aware that her baby had died.
Noticing the bags under her eyes and acne, he tells he thinks he knows why she was off-the-grid. She laughs at this in frustration and says he really can’t talk down to someone for drug use. He says he’s proudly been clean for five years and counting and that allowed him to be there for his sons. Now she grows angry, saying that she came to apologize and to try to reconcile with her own mistakes. She doesn’t need to be lectured. Marvin says she does need to be lectured on how to take responsibility in her life. She says just because he has moved on from his past doesn’t erase it. She tells him to think about all the years that Von and Dennis had no father to look up to. The tension grows to the point that it looks like it may grow physical but they both let things simmer. After some silence, she asks if he can at least show her the burial site. He nods his head.
On their drive there, they pass a makeshift sign under the town “Burnt Prairie” sign that reads “R.I.P. Von Murphy”. At the cemetery, they get to Von’s grave and the dirt is still fresh, which wrecks Sheela. She asks Marvin what the last thing Von said to him was and this chokes Marvin up as he doesn’t remember. They share a hug, laden with sadness, anger, and confusion. She says thank you. As they are leaving, they run into Rose (Kristin Chenoweth), who has just wrapped up a different funeral. Marvin introduces her to Von’s mother and then says that he could really use a one-on-one spiritual session soon as he is afraid of himself. She says that they were planning on leaving tonight but she may arrange her schedule to meet tomorrow morning so she can still make it to the game. She asks him if he plans on going and he says the same thing he told Denni.
After Sheela leaves, Marvin decides to go to a local bar. He is seated next to Morris Whitney (Will Patton). This is the first time they met. Over drinks, they actually bond over the different, intertwining circumstances of their sons. They both find some melancholic delight in finding out that they each keep a picture of their son in their respective wallet. Morris vents his frustration again about Cal Montgomery and the how the corrupt enforcement framed his son. He then asks Marvin an honest question: does he blame Keith for Von’s death? Marvin is honest: he blames himself. He was on his own drug benders when Von was growing up and he feels that he was never able to be the good role model that his son needed. Morris puts his arm around Marvin and tells him not to feel that way.
Later on, more drinks in, Marvin goes to the bathroom and finds Morris in their with crystal meth. Unsure what to do, he offers Marvin some and he does not seem offended. He actually contemplates it. He gets near the drug and can feel his senses tingling. After a long beat, he says that he can’t. Morris shrugs his shoulders, takes his and goes back out to the bar. Marvin breaks down to his knees and is in tears. He pulls out his picture of Von and can’t decide whether to smile or frown. He lays his head on the tiled floor before looking to the sky and saying never again. On the sink, he notices that Morris had accidentally left behind his picture of Keith. He picks up the picture and leaves the bathroom.
When he gets back to the bar, he can’t Morris. The bartender says that he left. Marvin asks if he knows what Morris drives and is told a dark blue 1986 Ford pick-up. Marvin gets in the car, still drunk, and drives to look for Morris’s truck. There are some close-calls with mailboxes and parked cars but he seems to be on a mission. Finally he spots it, but not in a place he would expect. It is in the nicer part of town and, as he gets closer, he notices it is parked at a place he had dinner not long ago: the Montgomery household.
As he gets closer still, he notices that Morris has a gun in hand - the same one he was practicing with at the shooting range when Chris ran into him.
Chicago, 1993
Marvin checks his hair and outfit in his rearview mirror before leaving his car. He exits the car and heads to the front door of a house. After some knocks, the door opens and Von (Stephan James) is standing there. “Dad?” he asks, somewhat happy and somewhat upset. Marvin tries to muster a smile and offers his son a hug. Von accepts.
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Colman Domingo .... Marvin Murphy
Kristin Chenoweth .... Rose Montgomery
Jahi Di'Allo Winston .... Denni Murphy
Rebecca Naomi Jones .... Sheela Murphy
Will Patton .... Morris Whitney
Stephan James .... Von Murphy
Plot: A rowdy crowd of parents cheer on a tee-ball game for kids ages 4-6. The African-American kid at bat is clear competitor, showing a natural tendency to sports. His speed and drive results in an inside-the-park home run. Afterwards, the coach tells his pregnant mom (Rebecca Naomi Jones) that he can already tell that this kid is going to be special. She says “he’s already special to me”. When the coach asks where his father is, the woman hesitates and declines to answer. In fact, she seems a little upset by it. Her and her kid get in the car and drive away. The title card reads “Chicago 1982”.
In 1996, it is a week since we last left off. Burnt Prairie won their Semi-State game and are all set for the state championship against Indianapolis Central, one of the largest schools in the state, at the RCA Dome. The big game is tomorrow and there is a pep rally today to send the team off (as well as families who plan on staying in Indianapolis the night before).
Marvin Murphy (Colman Domingo) sits in silence at the dinner table with son Denni (Jahi Diallo Winston). Denni is quickly eating his food so that he can meet up with Elliott and go to the pep rally. He asks his father if he is going to the rally or the game but Marvin says it is all still too close to home. Just before Denni finishes eating, Marvin tells him that he loves him and that he hopes he has fun with Elliott’s family this weekend.
After Denni leaves for the day, Marvin sits in a state of exile. He flips through the channels but can never reach any satisfaction. He suddenly hears a loud knock on the door - reminding him of the one he heard the night Von died. When he answers it, he finds Sheela (Rebecca Naomi Jones), looking older and much thinner than last time we saw her. Marvin seems upset at the sight of her. Before she can say anything, he says that he spent days trying to get ahold of her. She couldn’t even attend her own son’s funeral. She apologizes profusely but this doesn’t seem to phase Marvin. He does invite her in, however.
She asks if Dennis is here but he says he just left. She asks if he can see him and Marvin turns this request down. She tells Marvin to get off his high horse, it is not like he’d never left his family before. Marvin says that she made a conscious choice, while his was more involuntary. She says that it was his decision to move to podunk Indiana and she didn’t want to leave the rest of her family and her home. Marvin is too angry to respond. She apologizes for never responding because she was off-the-grid at the time and it has killed her every day since that she wasn’t aware that her baby had died.
Noticing the bags under her eyes and acne, he tells he thinks he knows why she was off-the-grid. She laughs at this in frustration and says he really can’t talk down to someone for drug use. He says he’s proudly been clean for five years and counting and that allowed him to be there for his sons. Now she grows angry, saying that she came to apologize and to try to reconcile with her own mistakes. She doesn’t need to be lectured. Marvin says she does need to be lectured on how to take responsibility in her life. She says just because he has moved on from his past doesn’t erase it. She tells him to think about all the years that Von and Dennis had no father to look up to. The tension grows to the point that it looks like it may grow physical but they both let things simmer. After some silence, she asks if he can at least show her the burial site. He nods his head.
On their drive there, they pass a makeshift sign under the town “Burnt Prairie” sign that reads “R.I.P. Von Murphy”. At the cemetery, they get to Von’s grave and the dirt is still fresh, which wrecks Sheela. She asks Marvin what the last thing Von said to him was and this chokes Marvin up as he doesn’t remember. They share a hug, laden with sadness, anger, and confusion. She says thank you. As they are leaving, they run into Rose (Kristin Chenoweth), who has just wrapped up a different funeral. Marvin introduces her to Von’s mother and then says that he could really use a one-on-one spiritual session soon as he is afraid of himself. She says that they were planning on leaving tonight but she may arrange her schedule to meet tomorrow morning so she can still make it to the game. She asks him if he plans on going and he says the same thing he told Denni.
After Sheela leaves, Marvin decides to go to a local bar. He is seated next to Morris Whitney (Will Patton). This is the first time they met. Over drinks, they actually bond over the different, intertwining circumstances of their sons. They both find some melancholic delight in finding out that they each keep a picture of their son in their respective wallet. Morris vents his frustration again about Cal Montgomery and the how the corrupt enforcement framed his son. He then asks Marvin an honest question: does he blame Keith for Von’s death? Marvin is honest: he blames himself. He was on his own drug benders when Von was growing up and he feels that he was never able to be the good role model that his son needed. Morris puts his arm around Marvin and tells him not to feel that way.
Later on, more drinks in, Marvin goes to the bathroom and finds Morris in their with crystal meth. Unsure what to do, he offers Marvin some and he does not seem offended. He actually contemplates it. He gets near the drug and can feel his senses tingling. After a long beat, he says that he can’t. Morris shrugs his shoulders, takes his and goes back out to the bar. Marvin breaks down to his knees and is in tears. He pulls out his picture of Von and can’t decide whether to smile or frown. He lays his head on the tiled floor before looking to the sky and saying never again. On the sink, he notices that Morris had accidentally left behind his picture of Keith. He picks up the picture and leaves the bathroom.
When he gets back to the bar, he can’t Morris. The bartender says that he left. Marvin asks if he knows what Morris drives and is told a dark blue 1986 Ford pick-up. Marvin gets in the car, still drunk, and drives to look for Morris’s truck. There are some close-calls with mailboxes and parked cars but he seems to be on a mission. Finally he spots it, but not in a place he would expect. It is in the nicer part of town and, as he gets closer, he notices it is parked at a place he had dinner not long ago: the Montgomery household.
As he gets closer still, he notices that Morris has a gun in hand - the same one he was practicing with at the shooting range when Chris ran into him.
Chicago, 1993
Marvin checks his hair and outfit in his rearview mirror before leaving his car. He exits the car and heads to the front door of a house. After some knocks, the door opens and Von (Stephan James) is standing there. “Dad?” he asks, somewhat happy and somewhat upset. Marvin tries to muster a smile and offers his son a hug. Von accepts.
Burnt Prairie - Homecoming
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Liv Tyler .... Erin Lamb
Merritt Wever .... Cameron Montgomery
Lee Pace .... Chris Ford
Yayha Abdul-Maheen II .... Denni Murphy
Eric Edelstein .... Keith Whitney
Spencer Treat Clark .... Elliott Montgomery
Amanda Crew .... Willow Carpenter
Asher Angel .... Jake Ford
Will Patton .... Morris Whitney
Alison Wright .... Laurie Carpenter
Joel Murray .... Doug Parker
Molly Ephraim .... Wendy
Plot: The day gets colder as the sun retreats behind the clouds, leaving Burnt Prairie Cemetery covered with frost. We hear a radio broadcast with the voice of Doug Parker (Joel Murray), saying how this is a big day in Burnt Prairie. Homecoming! He says welcome back to the BPHS classes of years past but especially the class of ‘96, who has something more to celebrate.
A 2013 Toyota Camry pulls up and a woman (Merritt Wever) steps out of it. She navigates through the various tombstones, stopping to check out and eulogize the names she recognizes. Finally, they reach the one they were looking for. Shooting from a low angle behind the tombstone, we see her looking down on it and can read the last name on the back: Montgomery.
A man (Yayha Abdul-Mateen II) drives into town with signs all over the place reading “Happy BPHS Homecoming Weekend”. He pulls up to Mac’s, still going strong, to get some coffee. Inside, he encounters Willow Carpenter (Amanda Crew), whose eyes light up and tells Denni that it has been so long since she has seen him. She presumes that he is back in town for the 20th Anniversary of the 1996 basketball team, since it isn’t his reunion year. He confirms. He asks her what time she gets off and she says here soon. He asks if she wants to go out to the cemetery, a morbid question he knows. She says that sounds like a plan. She then says that this 20-year-celebration of the team is also a celebration of Von, you know? Denni smiles and agrees.
We get a peek into the offices of the Burnt Prairie Post, in a space significantly smaller than the last time we saw it. In the Editor’s officer, Erin (Liv Tyler) sits at her desk rubbing her fingers on her temples. She goes out and rallies her staff together, finding it hard to speak. She tells them that Gannett, their parent company, has finally made the decision: they’re shutting down the physical paper for good and switching to digital, which means even more layoffs. There is a sombre mood in the air, but the staff is supportive of each other - knowing Erin did everything she could to keep it afloat.
Denni and Willow arrive to the cemetery and first go to her father’s grave. Willow says she misses him but also that she is still embarrassed by his comments about Von. Denni says there are no ill feelings - it was a different time. And he knows that Von respected his coach as a role model. They then make their way over to Von’s grave, where Marvin Murphy is also buried (died in 2009). Denni smiles and says “if he could see me now”. He has flowers and mini basketball with him that he leaves at the tombstone.
As they are about to leave, they hear a car pull up and park near the Camry from earlier. A man (Spencer Treat Clark) gets out of it and joins the woman from earlier. Looking from afar, Denni cracks a big smile. They make their way over to the other pairing. “Cameron and Elliott Montgomery”, Denni says. When the Elliott’s eyes meet with Denni’s, he also cracks a smile and they share a big hug. Cameron smiles and comments “Just like old times”. Denni looks down to the Montgomery tombstone and comments “Hard to believe it’s been twenty years.”
At home, Erin gets ready for the class reunion later that night. But it is not her reunion, that was a few years ago. She gets a call from her husband saying he’s running a little late but he should be able to make it on time. He asks her if the deal went through and she confirms. He tells her he’s sorry. After hanging up, she looks wistfully at one of her first stories, which she has framed. Her profile on Von.
At the regional prison about 20 or so miles from BP, a man (Eric Edelstein) goes through security checkpoints. They ask for his name and he tells them Keith Whitney, there to see Morris Whitney. When Keith sees his 80-year-old father (Will Patton), they keep things short with small talk - this clearly being a weekly occurrence.
At the cemetery, an older-model truck pulls up and parks next to the other cars. The four of them all look over to it, with Cameron cracking a smile. Out steps an older, white-haired Cal Montgomery (Josh Lucas). He gives his kids a hug and tells Denni and Willow that it is nice to see them. Cal comments on how it is weird to still weird to see his name on tombstone. He tries to hold back his tears when he looks down at the other name, which we finally see the front of. Rose Montgomery: Beloved Daughter, Sister, Wife, Pastor, Mother; 1949-1996.
Later that night is the big Homecoming basketball game at BPHS, where the 20-year celebration is to be held at halftime. The team is nowhere near its quality from 20 years ago but they still have a solid squad, led by Sophomore guard Jake Ford (Asher Angel). Before the game, he asks Erin where his dad is and she says he’ll be here. As the game goes on, everyone we’ve previously seen starts arriving. Finally, Chris Ford (Lee Pace), in a suit, arrives in time to catch the end of the half. He asks Erin how Jake is doing and she tells him he’s already at 14 points. Chris cracks a smile.
At the celebration, the principal gives a long-winded introduction of Mr. Hardy (John Gallagher Jr.), beloved BPHS history teacher in his 24th year. He talks about how he looks back fondly on that year, not only for that run but that’s also the year he met his wife, Wendy (Molly Ephraim) - who he waves at in the crowd. We find out that Thomas resigned from the coaching position after the State Championship game to focus back on his teaching duties. He points to the State Runner-Up banner and says that he would be remiss if he didn’t thank his mentor and someone who also coached this team. He says “We are in the Dick Carpenter Gymnasium, are we not?”. The crowd cheers. “I miss you everyday, Coach.” Willow and her mother Laurie (Alison Wright) smile in the crowd. He then hands off the microphone to his team.
It finally gets to team captain Chris Ford. He talks about it still stings that they came up short but it was incredible how far they made it. He reminds the younger people in the crowd that it wasn’t a tiered class-system like it is now. Every team in the state played in one tournament, which made it even harder for schools like us. He’d like to think that miracle run was due to the spirit of Von, which ran through every single member of this team. Jake watches from the team tunnel and smiles as he sees his dad speak. He finds himself choking up on his words after this point and then asks for a moment of silence for Von and for Rose Montgomery, as well.
We see shots of everyone - Cameron, Elliott, Denni, Willow, Erin, Thomas, Cal - during this silence. We get a brief flashback seconds of Von in that very gymnasium, with Von hitting a free throw to become the highest scoring player in BPHS history - a record which still stands. Back in 2016, the crowd starts to get on their feet and cheer to end the moment of silence. Chris gets goosebumps. He is finally able to speak again: “Now let’s look forward and cheer on our Blazers, who are looking like they might have a miracle run of their own this year!”
The crowd cheers.
Genre: Drama
Executive Producer: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast:
Josh Lucas .... Cal Montgomery
John Gallagher Jr. .... Thomas Hardy
Liv Tyler .... Erin Lamb
Merritt Wever .... Cameron Montgomery
Lee Pace .... Chris Ford
Yayha Abdul-Maheen II .... Denni Murphy
Eric Edelstein .... Keith Whitney
Spencer Treat Clark .... Elliott Montgomery
Amanda Crew .... Willow Carpenter
Asher Angel .... Jake Ford
Will Patton .... Morris Whitney
Alison Wright .... Laurie Carpenter
Joel Murray .... Doug Parker
Molly Ephraim .... Wendy
Plot: The day gets colder as the sun retreats behind the clouds, leaving Burnt Prairie Cemetery covered with frost. We hear a radio broadcast with the voice of Doug Parker (Joel Murray), saying how this is a big day in Burnt Prairie. Homecoming! He says welcome back to the BPHS classes of years past but especially the class of ‘96, who has something more to celebrate.
A 2013 Toyota Camry pulls up and a woman (Merritt Wever) steps out of it. She navigates through the various tombstones, stopping to check out and eulogize the names she recognizes. Finally, they reach the one they were looking for. Shooting from a low angle behind the tombstone, we see her looking down on it and can read the last name on the back: Montgomery.
A man (Yayha Abdul-Mateen II) drives into town with signs all over the place reading “Happy BPHS Homecoming Weekend”. He pulls up to Mac’s, still going strong, to get some coffee. Inside, he encounters Willow Carpenter (Amanda Crew), whose eyes light up and tells Denni that it has been so long since she has seen him. She presumes that he is back in town for the 20th Anniversary of the 1996 basketball team, since it isn’t his reunion year. He confirms. He asks her what time she gets off and she says here soon. He asks if she wants to go out to the cemetery, a morbid question he knows. She says that sounds like a plan. She then says that this 20-year-celebration of the team is also a celebration of Von, you know? Denni smiles and agrees.
We get a peek into the offices of the Burnt Prairie Post, in a space significantly smaller than the last time we saw it. In the Editor’s officer, Erin (Liv Tyler) sits at her desk rubbing her fingers on her temples. She goes out and rallies her staff together, finding it hard to speak. She tells them that Gannett, their parent company, has finally made the decision: they’re shutting down the physical paper for good and switching to digital, which means even more layoffs. There is a sombre mood in the air, but the staff is supportive of each other - knowing Erin did everything she could to keep it afloat.
Denni and Willow arrive to the cemetery and first go to her father’s grave. Willow says she misses him but also that she is still embarrassed by his comments about Von. Denni says there are no ill feelings - it was a different time. And he knows that Von respected his coach as a role model. They then make their way over to Von’s grave, where Marvin Murphy is also buried (died in 2009). Denni smiles and says “if he could see me now”. He has flowers and mini basketball with him that he leaves at the tombstone.
As they are about to leave, they hear a car pull up and park near the Camry from earlier. A man (Spencer Treat Clark) gets out of it and joins the woman from earlier. Looking from afar, Denni cracks a big smile. They make their way over to the other pairing. “Cameron and Elliott Montgomery”, Denni says. When the Elliott’s eyes meet with Denni’s, he also cracks a smile and they share a big hug. Cameron smiles and comments “Just like old times”. Denni looks down to the Montgomery tombstone and comments “Hard to believe it’s been twenty years.”
At home, Erin gets ready for the class reunion later that night. But it is not her reunion, that was a few years ago. She gets a call from her husband saying he’s running a little late but he should be able to make it on time. He asks her if the deal went through and she confirms. He tells her he’s sorry. After hanging up, she looks wistfully at one of her first stories, which she has framed. Her profile on Von.
At the regional prison about 20 or so miles from BP, a man (Eric Edelstein) goes through security checkpoints. They ask for his name and he tells them Keith Whitney, there to see Morris Whitney. When Keith sees his 80-year-old father (Will Patton), they keep things short with small talk - this clearly being a weekly occurrence.
At the cemetery, an older-model truck pulls up and parks next to the other cars. The four of them all look over to it, with Cameron cracking a smile. Out steps an older, white-haired Cal Montgomery (Josh Lucas). He gives his kids a hug and tells Denni and Willow that it is nice to see them. Cal comments on how it is weird to still weird to see his name on tombstone. He tries to hold back his tears when he looks down at the other name, which we finally see the front of. Rose Montgomery: Beloved Daughter, Sister, Wife, Pastor, Mother; 1949-1996.
Later that night is the big Homecoming basketball game at BPHS, where the 20-year celebration is to be held at halftime. The team is nowhere near its quality from 20 years ago but they still have a solid squad, led by Sophomore guard Jake Ford (Asher Angel). Before the game, he asks Erin where his dad is and she says he’ll be here. As the game goes on, everyone we’ve previously seen starts arriving. Finally, Chris Ford (Lee Pace), in a suit, arrives in time to catch the end of the half. He asks Erin how Jake is doing and she tells him he’s already at 14 points. Chris cracks a smile.
At the celebration, the principal gives a long-winded introduction of Mr. Hardy (John Gallagher Jr.), beloved BPHS history teacher in his 24th year. He talks about how he looks back fondly on that year, not only for that run but that’s also the year he met his wife, Wendy (Molly Ephraim) - who he waves at in the crowd. We find out that Thomas resigned from the coaching position after the State Championship game to focus back on his teaching duties. He points to the State Runner-Up banner and says that he would be remiss if he didn’t thank his mentor and someone who also coached this team. He says “We are in the Dick Carpenter Gymnasium, are we not?”. The crowd cheers. “I miss you everyday, Coach.” Willow and her mother Laurie (Alison Wright) smile in the crowd. He then hands off the microphone to his team.
It finally gets to team captain Chris Ford. He talks about it still stings that they came up short but it was incredible how far they made it. He reminds the younger people in the crowd that it wasn’t a tiered class-system like it is now. Every team in the state played in one tournament, which made it even harder for schools like us. He’d like to think that miracle run was due to the spirit of Von, which ran through every single member of this team. Jake watches from the team tunnel and smiles as he sees his dad speak. He finds himself choking up on his words after this point and then asks for a moment of silence for Von and for Rose Montgomery, as well.
We see shots of everyone - Cameron, Elliott, Denni, Willow, Erin, Thomas, Cal - during this silence. We get a brief flashback seconds of Von in that very gymnasium, with Von hitting a free throw to become the highest scoring player in BPHS history - a record which still stands. Back in 2016, the crowd starts to get on their feet and cheer to end the moment of silence. Chris gets goosebumps. He is finally able to speak again: “Now let’s look forward and cheer on our Blazers, who are looking like they might have a miracle run of their own this year!”
The crowd cheers.