Previously on American Soul
- You sure that's the way you want to play it? -I'm sure
- I'm quit Don.
We have plenty of time to start a family.
I want another shot. I want to dance.
- How old are you? - How old do you need me to be?
Old enough to sing that song at my club. I need an opening act.
This is Private Barker. He served with your dad.
- Your family will be protected. - Goodbye, Private Barker.
I got a producer friend, off Broadway.
You really think I'm that good?
Prove your worth or you ain't got none.
- I got your back, man. - If you walk out that door,
you are choosing Soul Train over this family!
We'll talk about this later.
All right, everybody, gather round.
- Gonna love it. - Come on, slowpoke.
- Come here, JT. - Come over here, man. Let's go.
- Chop, chop. - Open it, open it.
"Dear Mr. Cornelius, it is with great joy
"that we are officially extending
"our programming contract with your company.
"As such, I would like to congratulate you
"on the official pickup of Soul Train
- for an additional two seasons."
I don't normally do this, but...
it's time to celebrate.
Well?
Pack a bag, baby. You're going on tour.
...Oh.
- Wow. - Oh, man!
- Any word from Don? - No.
And he disappeared after the announcement.
So what's the play?
Tape the show. Do what he would do.
- Terry, go wider on camera one. - Paco.
This is a really nice car, baby.
This is just the beginning, baby.
I'm gonna give you the world, Red.
I don't need the world, Don.
I got everything I need right here.
You're gonna love L.A., Red.
And I'm so glad you and the boys are here.
My family means everything to me.
And I'll never let that go.
You need to look out, Don.
I got this, baby.
- Don. Don. - Red, I got this.
...Don. Don, drive! Don!
- Don! Don!
- Don, hurry! Don!
Don. Don!
What are you doing out here?
You're two hours late. I had to shoot the first performance.
Come on. Ike's on a freaking rampage.
What?
Just wondering if you know what you're really in for
with this whole... "wife on tour" situation.
You mean like crazy schedules and long hours
and squeezing in time to see each other?
- Mm-hmm. - That sounds like every day.
You've lost enough time, okay?
Everything else can wait.
Not everything.
Don't just sit there. Open it.
I mean, I thought with the tour and everything...
Work and family isn't easy for anybody,
but it doesn't make me want it any less,
especially when I get to have that with you.
So, what do you think?
So this is where you hiding.
I turn my back for a second and you just go missing.
- There you are. Come on, Earl. We need you. - All right.
All right, give me a minute.
I need to know.
Know you haven't had much time
to think about it, but I can't stay here.
- I need to know if you're... - I'm going with you.
I'm with you,
whatever that means, wherever it takes us.
JT.
We can leave tonight, then. After the show.
- Tonight? - More time changes minds, Monie.
Then tonight it is.
They did the first set, but Ike wants certain things
- before he'll finish. - What things?
- Things you need to approve. - Is my travel set?
Still no word from Delores, but the presidential suite's booked.
Did she get her plane ticket?
It was hand-delivered last night.
And your flight is booked as well.
Oh, and, uh, Gerald's here.
All comfy and cozy in his new office.
You want an office, Brooks?
Gerald pays for himself. Get Coke like you promised.
Until then, shut up and do your job.
Is there anything else?
Yeah. There's a Dr. Howard here to see you.
- Put him in my office. - Already did.
Put the boots on and stop playing games!
...Hurry up! - Like we got all this time.
Put them boots on and stop playing. Ugh! Stop yelling.
Who the hell is it, knocking on the door?! - Ike.
It's Don.
This is how you treat your guests?
I am out of everything that matters.
I will be sure to correct that.
And I want some more of that Colombian cut you sent
by the hotel; that shit is nice.
Is there anything that I can get you, Mrs. Turner?
She got everything she need right here.
We good?
Never better.
Mm.
What the hell is you looking at?
Who told you to stop doing your makeup?
Guess you could say I'm VP of talent coordination.
Hey, uh,
yeah, all right, let me get back to you.
- Okay. Bye. - All right.
My, my, my.
Mm.
Look who done crossed over.
- What can I do for you, Herschel? - I'm just trying to figure out
why you keeping your new side-hustle a secret.
Look, I got a lot of work to do. Why don't you guys
meet me back at the club later? We'll talk.
Look here.
You said this new honey shit was gonna be a big hit.
I didn't believe it.
But I believe all this.
Yeah, no, no. This... this is off-limits, Herschel.
Really? Let me tell you something.
Everything you got is mine.
- And you're only alive because I allow it.
Look out now.
Wow. Mr. Soul Train himself.
Don Cornelius, Herschel Green.
Herschel and I work together.
Don't be so modest.
- I'm his boss. - Hmm.
It's good to meet you, Mr. Green.
Listen, I was just leaving, but I am sure
I'll be seeing a lot more of you.
Love, peace and... soul, baby.
Herschel Green? The mob boss?
- One and the same. - Why is he here?
Old friends, that's all.
This isn't gonna be a problem, is it, Gerald?
You got my word, Don.
Herschel won't be a problem.
Every time, it's the same thing.
I'm sitting in my new car, Delores is there.
She just moved to L.A. Then out of nowhere,
this train plows into us.
It's always the same dream, but I'm never asleep.
When I realize I'm woke, it's later.
Later?
Like I'm losing time... 15, 20 minutes a pop.
- And the headaches? - They come and go.
But it's worse when I'm stressed.
Is there anything that makes you feel normal?
Uh, sleep? Sex?
Only... this.
Wouldn't be my first choice.
Self-medication only lasts so long.
Then fix it. That's why I pay you.
There's nothing to fix, Don.
The tests confirm it, and I agree.
You're just starting to find out what most of us already know:
you're human.
We're adjusting. Yeah.
Record ain't even out and already famous.
I hear you have quite the following down at Dugan's.
Well, now that I have you both here,
I'd like to introduce you to.
Mr. Marshal Jones, producer extraordinaire.
- You're a music producer? - Theater. New York.
Off Broadway mostly, but we still turn a profit.
Marshal's mounting a new show and thinks
Simone is the missing ingredient.
- Have you forgotten my daughter is still in school, Mr. Haygood? - I have not.
The offer comes with full tuition to The Breelin Academy.
Ability without education is nothing, Ms. Clarke.
And what about living expenses?
Well, it's a paying production.
Simone will get a weekly salary.
Not enough to get rich, but more than enough to live off.
Thank you, gentlemen, for stopping by.
I need to speak with my daughter alone.
You ready?
Do I have a choice?
We all have a choice, brother.
So this is where we are.
Lying, sneaking out.
It's like I blinked,
and my baby became someone I don't recognize.
I'm sorry, Mama.
I'll talk to Professor Haygood,
just tell him to forget the whole thing.
Believe it or not, I know what it is
to hold a dream in your heart.
You're the only one who can decide what to do with it.
You don't have a say?
I could, but, baby, sometimes the only person
you can trust with your dream...
is you.
Would you come to our show tonight?
I thought you'd never ask.
That's it for the first season aboard the Soul Train.
Special thanks to Afro Sheen, Johnson Products,
and all of our sponsors, and as always, we wish you love,
peace... and soul.
Soul!
And we're out! Season one done!
A few of us are coming to my pad to celebrate.
You should stop by.
Uh, yeah, yeah, maybe I will stop by. Yeah.
Kendall's a little bit too old to be playing in the dirt.
He doesn't seem to mind taking out the trash.
Tramp, please.
Hey, y'all. Miss Tessa's here!
...Miss Tessa's here! - Tessa!
I missed you!
All right, all right, all right, all right, kids.
Miss Tessa and I have business to discuss.
To the future.
Mine or yours?
Oh, when did those become mutually exclusive?
I hear an ask in there, Don.
Let's call it an opportunity.
Tessa, come back to the show.
Dance is our heartbeat, but you
-are the one who keeps the rhythm. - Really?
I thought you only hired me because I was cheap.
I was wrong.
You are too damn good to lose.
The show needs you.
Does a raise come with that apology?
We'll make the numbers work.
What about creative control? And a producing credit?
The first is open for discussion,
the second one isn't.
Well, Don, I will certainly think about all that.
After I come back from my dance tour.
Thanks for this.
My man.
Just a formality.
- Lot of firepower for just me. - Everybody Brutus,
trying to kill Caesar.
Never know who you can trust.
That the reason for your unannounced visit?
- You don't trust me? - I don't need to trust you.
- I own you. - That's how it used to work.
Soul Train's my way out, Herschel, I'm taking it.
Ain't but two ways out.
By my hand or yours.
Either way, you die.
Unless I can subdue the enemy without ever fighting.
- Still a smart-ass, huh? - Not me.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War.
You should've killed me when you had the chance.
This ain't personal, right?
Never is.
I did my time, Jimmy.
I'm out.
If you say so, Gerald.
Don't look now, but Mr. Fine Thang is headed this way.
- Mama! - What? He's fine.
- So this is Encore. - Yes.
Make the show proud, guys.
- We-we will, thank you. - Thank you.
They paid for a trio, not a duet.
If JT doesn't show up, we're done.
Don't worry. I got it covered.
- What do you mean covered? - Flo will stand in for JT.
- That's crazy. - You're crazy.
Look, she helped me learn the routine,
and she knows every word.
All right, I'll do the opening, she can sing my part.
I don't know, Kendall.
Either we go with Flo, or we wait for your boyfriend.
What's it gonna be?
You ready?
What exactly is this job, Reg?
This house belongs to the man trying to stop our revolution,
Detective Patrick Lorraine.
You want me to kill a cop?
Prove you're down, we all go home.
And if I don't?
Either he dies, or you do.
And your mom and Aiya
and maybe even Ma Mable.
Like I say, we all have a choice.
Let me get that bottle.
What'd I tell you?
Moving off the dance floor, straight to the stage.
Can we just go home?
You kidding me?
Ike Turner was on his feet.
We got to bask in the glow.
You guys stay and bask.
I've had enough glow for one night.
Can we go?
Okay, sweetheart, come on.
Let's go, baby.
That bottle for me?
- My best. - Mm.
To say thank you for the performance of a lifetime.
My man.
I'll drink to that.
B-Baby, slow down.
W-We got all night.
Did I ask you to talk?
Shut up and get your ass ready to sing.
Women... can't live with them,
can't put a bullet in 'em.
You know, I got to say I'm impressed
with the way you do business, Cornelius.
That means I will see you next year on the show?
Oh, you're damn right I'll be back.
As long as the money's right,
I'm down to open the Soul Train Club.
It's a good idea you and Gerald got.
You just need somebody good like Encore to open for it.
Mm. Oh, yeah.
You know I could take a leave for a month or two.
When the tour kicks off.
And if we get a jump on these adoption forms,
we'd be back in time for home checks.
Mm-hmm. Sounds like a plan.
You know, I've...
been choreographing this new routine.
Mind if I try it out on you?
Yeah, sure.
Hmm.
Uh... hello?
- Trying to seduce you. - Thought I heard something.
Patrick.
Shh... stay there.
Damn.
I was hoping it wouldn't end like this.
- Let's go.
Don, grab a glass, drink with me.
I'm straight, Gerald.
Took care of that problem.
Herschel won't be a bother no more.
Starting to wonder if Herschel was ever the problem.
Spoke to Ike. I don't know his price,
but the interest is there for him to open...
at our club.
That's what I've been trying to tell you, Don.
Soul Train Club.
With the talent we got, expanding the brand
into the club scene is money, Don.
It's you overstepping.
It's you trying to take an inch of investment,
- trying to make a mile. - Because only work I'm good for
is the dirty work, right?
This franchise ready. International appeal.
The only thing you don't like about this
is that it didn't come from you.
Soul Train is mine.
I own it.
You so much as think about it, you'd better cut me a check.
You really want to do this, Don?
Come on. Come here.
Soul Train Club.
How much is this shit gonna cost?
You know...
there's always gonna be a Herschel somewhere
- in my past, Don. - Oh.
I know.
I just hope he has a better right hook than you.
So you know...
I didn't want to do this.
You know, I really thought you were down.
Come on, Reg.
I-I'll disappear, man.
You'll never see me again.
On your knees, brother.
Suit yourself.
Man, who the hell are you?
Friend of Simone's.
She was concerned about you.
You're that guy that served with her dad in the war.
The guy that's staying in, in the garage.
I'm the guy who needs help.
Grab his feet.
Hurry up.
How you holding up?
Better than you.
Your lip's bleeding.
Yeah, looks like you...
became pals with Ike.
We used to have so much fun.
I still don't know where everything went wrong.
The warning signs were there, I just...
guess I couldn't see 'em.
Go home, Tina.
Go anywhere.
You don't have to perform, we'll pay for the night.
- Just get the hell out of here. - And where am I gonna go?
Don?
It's Ike and Tina.
Right?
Love your wife, Don?
I do.
Then make sure she remembers why.
Just got off with Dave Bryant.
Coke wants to talk.
- No shit. Set it up. - Oh, we're on a flight
- to Atlanta tomorrow. - No can do, Brooks.
I'm headed to the Falls to meet Delores.
But, Don, this is what we've been working for.
You said get Coke, I got Coke. You can't bail now.
Funding came free this quarter. They have to spend it now,
-they want to spend it on us. - All right, so then you take the meeting.
They don't want me, they want the face of Soul Train.
And if they want me, then they will still want me
- after I get my wife back. - Damn it, Don, you...
You don't even know if she's gonna be there.
It doesn't matter.
I will.
You know, this is coming back on you.
And whoever you're with.
What do I do?
The right thing.
Leave town. Never come back.
Yeah.
You're right.
I got to go.
Don't tell me.
- Hello? - Hey, Monie, it's me.
JT, where are you?
Sorry I missed tonight, but, uh,
I messed up bad, baby.
Did something I don't think I can make right.
Don't beat yourself up, baby.
I need to tell you something, too.
I got an offer to do a stage play in New York.
I'm gonna take it.
That's great, Monie.
You're not mad?
Mad?
I told you, you're what's special about us.
About me.
And New York is gonna figure that out.
What's wrong, baby? You don't sound right.
I'm good.
Come by. I want to see you.
I got to go, Monie.
I'm gonna go pick up Aiya, and, uh, we're leaving.
JT, wait.
Come with me.
New York is big enough for both of us.
I wish I could, baby, but...
One day you're gonna look out from that stage,
and I'll be there...
...cheering you on.
JT, wait, don't go.
I love you, baby.
Always.
I love you, too.
Always.
Thank you.
No need to thank me. I'm just completing my mission.
This way, she'll always love you.
Your family is safe, sir.
Mission accomplished.
Yo.
Me and Flo couldn't take two steps
without signing an autograph.
Encore's about to blast off.
You going somewhere?
I'm doing a musical in New York.
Gonna finish school out there.
Come on, now.
Who you fooling?
Mom would never go for that.
Well, she did, and I'm going.
We spent all this time getting Encore here,
- you're just walking out? - You were right about Flo.
She can sing.
It's a different world out there, Simone.
And what you gonna do when New York eats you up?
Maybe it will.
But sometimes the only person you can trust with your dream
is yourself.
I can't believe you.
I love you, Kendall, but I have to do this for me.
That's the only person you've ever done anything for.
- Thank you. - Mm-hmm.
Oh, I swear, I had words in my head
until I laid eyes on you.
I missed you, Red.
I missed you, too, baby.
It used to be a lot busier than this.
Oh, it still is.
I decided to make it a private party tonight.
Don, you know we can't afford this table,
let alone all the rest.
Like hell we can't.
You sacrificed for us, Red.
And now I want the world to see my wife reap the rewards.
Oh. It... it's beautiful.
Try it on.
I love you.
I want us back.
But...
I never wanted furs
or cars or, or houses.
Only you.
Just you.
Come on, Red, you know that you mean the world to me.
I do?
When's the last time you wore your wedding ring, Don?
What... do you even know where it is?
Uh...
It's a separation agreement.
I had my lawyer draw it up.
- What... you did what? - I'm not filing for divorce,
but those papers just make it clear
how things are from now on.
Hey, I need you.
Red, I need, I need you.
Baby, look at me, you can't quit on us.
What I can't do is be the long-suffering wife
still wearing her wedding ring.
Not anymore.
First date jitters.
You look amazing.
Come in.
Ms. Clarke, two minutes till curtain.
- Oh, okay, thank you. - Mm-hmm.
Mr. Donald, is this a membership-only club?
- Nice job. - Where's Don?
Happy New Year, baby.
- New Year? - Mm-hmm.
And 1973 is gonna be your best year yet.
Call me later.
1973.
Shit.