["The Oogum Boogum Song" by Brenton Wood playing]
[neon sign buzzing]
[ticking]
♪ Oogum oogum boogum boogum
♪ Boogum now, baby... MAN: Order up!
NINA: I thought we did your class registration online.
DORIAN: I-I know. We did.
We got to be there tomorrow morning
for freshman orientation.
Who took you on your first day?
Mm. Let me think.
There was me.
Mm-hmm.
And then I drove.
And then there was another person named--
Oh, what was she called? Oh, yeah, me, Nina.
Mm-hmm. Strength in numbers, huh?
It was just me, myself
and I.
♪ And you wear that cute miniskirt ♪WAITRESS: Oh.
♪ With your brother's sloppy shirt ♪
♪ I admit it, girl, that I can dig it... ♪
Damn.
Can't you just use your phone
like everybody else in this century?
NINA: Come on, Dorian.
You're supposed to be a filmmaker now.
Respect a classic.
Besides, this recorded your first little baby steps.
Of course it's gonna record your...
BOTH: ...first steps into college.
Yeah, heard that before.Mm-hmm.
Come. Let me have a look.
[Nina and Dorian chuckle]
DORIAN: Oh, my God, this is old.
WAITRESS: Here's more cream from the back.
MABEL: Officer.
Good afternoon, Miss Mabel.
Egg sandwich or burger today?
Know what?
Today's feeling like a chicken-fried steak day.
Coming right up. Thank you.
NINA: I have some questions
for the bonus features of "Dorian Goes to College."
How does it feel
to be going off into the world
and leaving your poor old mama all alone?
Is that what Grandpa asked you
when you went to college?
No.
We both know that answer.
Well, Uncle Neil says Grandpa was proud of you.
What do you know about what Uncle Neil says?
Facebook.
Your Uncle Neil doesn't know shit.
My daddy didn't help me get out, and I didn't care to stay, so...
neither of us cared about what each other wanted.
But I care about you.
One day, you will have a child of your own,
and you can play this video
to my future granddaughter, Trinity.
Trinity?
Yep, Trinity.
[laughs]
Tell us about how your gorgeous mama took you to school
so you could become the next Ryan Coogler.
What you know about Ryan Coogler, anyway?
What you think, I live under a rock?
I saw Black Panther.
[both chuckle]
[grunts]
DORIAN: Damn!
NINA: Ah, Dorian.
Whoa, whoa, wait a second.
Was-was that on?
Did you just record that, just now?
Yeah, so my future granddaughter can see
what a slob I had to live with.
Could you rewind and record over it, please?[laughs]
Know it's gonna be on Facebook.
[audio rewinding]
[laughs]
What you know about Ryan Coogler, anyway?
Stop.
Didn't you just squirt the ketchup on yourself?
Why would I do that?No, no.
I mean an accident. Didn't you just
squeeze the bottle and then it got on you?
[sighs]
I-I don't...
I don't know what...
That was...
Ooh, that was the most intense déjà vu.
I know I'm not trippin'.
♪
NARRATOR: Presenting Nina Harrison.
A woman who left her past behind
to provide a better future for her son.
Today, however, she will have no choice
but to revisit history again and again,
on a fateful drive through the perilous highways...
of The Twilight Zone.
[The Twilight Zonetheme playing]
NARRATOR: You're traveling through another dimension,
a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind.
It is the middle ground between light and shadow,
between science and superstition.
And it lies between the pit of one's fears
and the summit of one's knowledge.
You are now traveling through a dimension of imagination.
You've just crossed over into The Twilight Zone.
[train horn blowing in distance, insects chirping]
[radio stations changing]
[rock music playing]
[stations changing]
MAN: They were saying they were not getting the support...
That's good.
News? Boring.
Experts arguing?
[station changes, soul music playing]
Mm. Keep it there.
♪ In a world on my own... [laughs]
No, no, not today.
[station changes, rap song playing]
Ay!
♪ Look in the mirror ♪ Ay♪
[singing along]: ♪ I see a great man...
What happened to shotgun gets to choose the station?
Come on, Mom, you know I like the old school, too.
But we gotta turn up right now.
♪ I see a great man
[laughs]♪ I see a great man
How come I win all my cases
in court, but lose them all to you?
Mm, because you love me so much.
[mock chuckles] Slow down.
Okay.
GPS VOICE: Up ahead, exit right
on Emmett Avenue.
♪ Lemme me breathe for a minute... ♪
[radio shuts off]
Programmed it before we left.
GPS VOICE: Turn right on Emmett Avenue.
No. Uh-uh.
We're not gonna stop at your uncle's house.
Do not get off on that exit.
And slow down. Damn, Mama.
Aren't you interested in me knowing my family?
I haven't seen Uncle Neil
since Kaepernick took the Niners to the Super Bowl.
You need to keep your head on the future, Dorian.
It took a lot for me to get out.
Don't be looking back now.
Put it down, Dorian.
Dorian, you're driving.
This old-ass camera, there we go.Put it down!
I've got some questions for the bonus features
of "Dorian Goes to College:
HBCU Edition."
This is not safe.
Tell me, Mrs. Harrison, you ever wonder
if not seeing the rest of our family might have affected
how I grew up as a black man in America?
[siren whoops]
Shit.
[siren whoops]
[groans]
[sighs]
[police car engine stops]
Just like we always talk about. No attitude. Just be respectful.
[indistinct police radio chatter]
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Officer.
We're just taking my son Dorian here
up to his first week of college.
Up at the black school here?
Tennyson. Yes, sir.
Okay.
Any weapons in the vehicle?
We're just going to college.
Your mother conveyed that.
I'm asking if there are any weapons
presently in this vehicle.
No, sir.
You know why I pulled you over?
I was going too fast.
Since you admitted it, I'll let that go.
However, you were operating
a handheld device while driving a motor vehicle.
I-I told him, sir. I'm sorry. My fault.
Is that device recording?
Um...
OFFICER: Turn off that camera now.
Why? She has the right to film.
Turn it off! NINA: Hold on!
Turn it off!Hold on!
[audio rewinding]
[takes shuddering breath]
DORIAN: I've got some questions for the bonus features of
"Dorian Goes to College: HBCU Edition."
[exhales]
Tell me-- You okay?
Mom, are you okay?
What?
Where'd the cop go?
What cop?
The cop who just pulled us over.
Oh, my God.
[scoffs] What are you talking about?
There's no cop.
Pull over. Why?
Just pull over.
[whispers]: Okay.
Mom, you good?
You good? Where you going?
Mom, where you going?
[indistinct police radio chatter]
DORIAN: Thank God. Officer!
You okay?
What's wrong? You got a, you got a headache?
Did we, did we go... did we go backwards?
In time again?Backwards?
Finding you a hospital.
Come on. Come on.No, no, no, no. No, no.
You folks have an emergency?
Yes, please, Officer.Dorian.
My mom, she needs help.
She needs to get to the hospital.Dorian.
Okay. Your vehicle is in violation of state code.
You see how this portion of the vehicle is out on the highway?
It needs to be moved, right now.
Dorian.I'm sorry.
Did you hear what I said?
I did, and I will address your situation
once you've complied with my demand
to reposition your vehicle.
Did you just say that? Dorian.
Huh?
My mom needs to find a hospital.
Fuck the car.No, no, no.
Dorian. Dorian!
No!
[audio rewinding]
[gasps]♪ Oogum oogum boogum boogum...
DORIAN: Trinity?
[bell dings]MAN: Order up!
Mom, you all right?
♪ I say oogum oogum boogum boogum ♪
♪ Boogum now, baby, you're castin' your spell on me... ♪
You all right?[sighs]
♪ You got me doing funny things like a clown ♪
♪ Just look at me...
We got to go.
Well, I haven't finished eating yet.
Now.
♪
[train horn blowing in distance]
Shit. Damn it.
Hold on, baby.
[tires screeching]
DORIAN: Where you going?
NINA: Another way to school.
But it's-it's back that way, the way we came.
This is another way. This is a back way.
Then around. It's a little longer, but hopefully safer.
Safer?
[sighs]
I'm sorry, baby.
You must think your mother's crazy.
Hey, it's okay. [chuckles]
I'm crazy, too.
You're right. I'm taking a risky path.
But I want to do something good in this world,
like you've done for me.
I want to inspire this generation with my films.
As crazy as that sounds,
you've always made me feel like I could do anything.
You're the strongest person I know.
[sighs]
♪ I had a heart and my heart changed ♪
♪ Look in the mirror ♪ Ay♪
♪ And I see a great man...
[laughter]
♪ I see a great man, just look in the mirror ♪
♪ Look in the mirror, Lord♪♪ I see a great man
♪ I see a great man, I see a great man... ♪
You know what?[music stops]
Can we just find a motel,
get off this shitty road and just put an end to this day?
DORIAN: We're so close
to the school, though.I know, I know. I...
I could use a good night's sleep. [sighs]
I don't want to drive back alone.
I'm not feeling too great.
Why don't we just watch some bad reality TV,
eat some junk food and just hang out?
It's our last night together.
Okay.
TV ANNOUNCER: It's time for the lottery.
Good luck to everyone playing for our $20 million drawing.
Remember, all Pick 4 lottery dollars
help fund our schools and pave our roads
to a golden future.
Our first number up is... six.
We used to call the lottery the idiot tax.
Guessing at numbers is some foolishness.
Eight.Could be anything.
It's not all random, though.
How's that?
Well, since the big bang set everything in motion,
everything that happens in this universe
has to be the way it is.
Twenty.
What? It's true.
It's all just particles unfolding
the way they're destined to.
That's pretty depressing.
[snickers] I think it's kind of cool.
Things happen, but they happen the way they should.
You think you know everything, don't you?
I know a lot.
Mm-hmm.
[both laugh]
♪
[audio rewinding]
TV ANNOUNCER: Good luck to everyone playing for our $20 million drawing.
If I can guess the numbers of this lottery drawing right now,
you have to promise to visit your mama whenever you can.
[scoffs] You got a deal.
Six.
Eight.
Twenty.
Sixteen.
Congratulations to all our winners.
[both laugh]How did...?
How did you do that? What?There you go.
How did you do that?
How did you do that?That's your mama, baby.
How did you do that?
[laughs]: There you go.
Oh, yeah. I love you, Mama.
I love you, too, Dorian.
Oh, my God.
Now go get some snacks that are bad for us.
I will get us some snacks. We gonna be rich!
We gonna be rich![laughs, door opens]
Mom. There's someone out here.
♪
[heart beating]
Yes, sir?
Good evening, folks.
Nina Harrison?
Yes.
And you are?
Dorian Harrison.
And what relation are you to Ms. Harrison?
She's my mom. He's my son.Ma'am.
I asked this boy.
I need to see pieces of identification
from the both of you.
Mine is in my purse.
Why do we need to show our I.D.?
Because I asked you.
That's not sufficient grounds. Uh, I know my rights.
NINA: Dorian.
His is in his wallet, in his back pocket.
Mom, why do we need to show him when we haven't done anything?
We got a 911 call about a noise complaint at this motel.
[laughs] I should be calling 911 on you,
for coming in here with your bullshit.
What is that in your hand?
It-it's just an old camcorder.
Put it down, on the table now.
You scared of being on camera?Put it down!
[screams]
No!
[grunting]
[audio rewinding]
DORIAN: Is that what grandpa asked you when you went to college?
Fuck.
What?[groans]
♪ Boogum now, baby, you're castin' your spell on me ♪
[bell dings]MAN: Order up!
♪ I say oogum oogum boogum boogum... ♪
How do I make him go away?
♪ You're castin' your spell on me ♪
♪ You got me doing funny things like a clown ♪
♪ Just look at me
♪ When you wear your high-heeled boots ♪
♪ With your hip-hugger suit, it's all right... ♪
Good afternoon,
Officer Lasky.
Do I know you, ma'am?
I don't believe so, uh...
but I'd like to introduce myself.
Nina Harrison.
And that's my son Dorian.
Sorry, ma'am.
I cannot shake hands while I have a holstered weapon.
Oh, I-I didn't realize.
May I buy you a piece of apple pie?
What for?
For your service.
Oh.
Mabel does make the best apple pie this side of anywhere.
[laughs]Can't turn down that.
[sighs]
Two pieces, thanks.
MABEL: You got it, honey.
Must be quite a thing to carry that gun on you all day,
every day.
Yes, ma'am. Quite a thing.
[chuckles]: Oh, even better close up.
[chuckles]
Bottoms up.
Have we met before, ma'am?
You knew my name,
but I don't recall having ever seen you.
And I know everyone like you.
I'm just passing through. [chuckles]
Dropping my son off at Tennyson. He's a film major.
Starts this week.
Big day, then.
He's all I have, so...
Well,
nothing more important than family.
Mine's not too far from here, where I grew up.
You get back much?
Not really.
Ask my brother, he might tell you I got too fancy.
But sometimes the...
the road just takes you elsewhere.
It's why my son is so important to me.
Why he matters.
It's just me and him.
Good-looking boy.
[sighs]
And you? Family?
Oh, you know,
aunts...
cousins, what have you.
And your wife?
Your wedding ring.
Uh...
...you know.
Life sometimes goes...
...like you don't expect it to.
Yes, it does.
I'm so sorry.
Appreciate that, Ms. Harrison.
And thank you for the pie.
You're welcome.
Ma'am.
Hmm.
[exhales]
By the way, does that Volvo outside belong to you?
That's a nice car.
How'd you get that car?
I worked hard for that car, Officer Lasky.
And to get my son into college,
so he could have opportunities that I didn't.
We all want that for our kids, don't we?
Yes, ma'am.
Drive safe.
I'll let you listen to some old school if you let me drive.
This time, you got it.
Yes. [laughs]
LASKY: Ms. Harrison?
I need to see your driver's license, registration,
and proof of ownership of that vehicle.
[chuckles]: Ownership? You mean the pink slip?
Yes, ma'am.
Who keeps their pink slip in their car?
Well, hopefully you do,
or you are not driving this vehicle out of this parking lot.
I know what you're saying.
This is my car.
Mama.Why wouldn't it be my car?
Huh? Tell me, why wouldn't it be my car?
Put down what's in your hand.It's a camera.
Ma'am.NINA: This is my car,
and I am driving my car
out of this parking lot.Mom, wait, stop!
I've got a picture of the pink slip on my phone! You made me...
Why wouldn't this be my car, huh?
This is my car...
Ma'am....and I am gonna drive
my car out of this fucking parking lot!
Found it, found it! Here!
♪
[birds chirping]
[child laughing, chattering faintly]
Over here, though.
Over here.
[child laughing]
♪
[child chattering playfully]
[bubbles thumping, echoing]
[laughs]
[playful chatter continues]
[sighs]
[footsteps approaching]
Ms. Harrison? Ms. Harrison?
If you're ready, we need you to make
a positive identification of your son.
Before I go...
I... I had...
I need...
There was a-a camera.
An old camcorder.
Who has it? Where is it?
I need it.
♪
Please.
Please, please, please.
Take me back.
[audio rewinding]
[gasps]
♪ Oogum oogum boogum boogum boogum now, baby... ♪
[crying, laughing]
[bell dings]MAN: Order up!
My baby.
You okay?
Yes.
We got to get back on the road.
[panting]
Come on.
♪ Just look at me...
[gasps, pants]
♪
Thank you.
[train horn blowing in distance]
[crying]
What's wrong?
Come on, Mama.
I'm gonna be back for Thanksgiving.
That's just ten weeks.[sighs]
[sighs] Dorian...
[sniffles, sighs]
I need you to know something.
And I need your help.
You never ask for help.
[birds chirping]
♪
NINA: I don't expect you to believe me, Dorian.
I don't need you to answer any questions or figure it all out.
I... [sighs]
I don't know if it's a problem with my mind,
or... some kind of parallel universe,
a-a-a glitch in the matrix, some cosmic strings.
I don't know. I just need you to help me
figure out how to end it.
♪
There's nothing magical about knowing
the only way we haven't taken can get us to the school.
Programmed it
before we left.
Home.
♪
[birds chirping]
Why'd you never come back?
My older brothers lost their lives here.
Your uncle was shot a block over there.
To me, there were only two ways
out of here: walking out and never looking back, or dead.
[door opens]NEIL: Does it look any different?
It should, since they started building that new stadium,
pushing us all out of here, one way or the other.
Nephew!
[both laugh]Unc.
[Neil sighs]
Look here.
I got a box in the garage.
In it is a Black Pantherissue #1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
It is mint. Don't fuck it up.
[laughs]: All right.
I wish Dad were alive to see you back in the front yard.
You could've come back for his funeral.
♪
Thank you.
Where are your girls?
In D.C. with their mother.
How's that?
They live with me. I'm used to people leaving.
Hell, I never expected you to come back, yet here you are.
Now, is it because the boy's school is so close
and you wanted me to see Dorian?
Yes and no.
[sighs]
It's hard for me to ask for help, Neil.
I think this camcorder is magic.
Dad's camcorder?
Yes.
And it... rewinds time or something.
And there's this cop. I've tried everything,
but he keeps just pulling us over again
and again and again, no matter what route we take,
no matter how nice or how mean we are.
He's always there.
There's nothing I can do.
We can't get past him.
He always shows up.
He's always on the verge of killing Dorian.
The last time, he even...
I get it.
I believe you.
[exhales]
♪
[sighs]
They always come.
Question is: what are we gonna do?
At least this time,
there is a we, and not just you and your boy.
I don't know how to thank you, Neil.
And I'm sorry for not being here.
Well, after you left, Dad believed that he knew
exactly where you were at any time.
You two had that connection, much like you and Dorian.
And I'm starting to believe more and more
in all that stuff the old folks tell you,
all those quiet whispers about those things
that our ancestors brought over from the motherland.
Guess I'm a believer now, too.
Well, we are family, all of us.
Ain't nothing good ever come about in this country
without us getting together.
Let's take Dorian to school.
I've been doing a remembrance project.
Everything around here is being gentrified.
Before it's gone, before they're all gone,
I've been trying to document it.
So, photos, videos.
Doing interviews with the black folks
who have lived here since way back when.
Now, here we have the side streets and the back alleyways.
You remember, Nina. [dogs barking in distance]
We used to play back there when we were kids.
Hiding from the truant officer, or whoever else.
They're putting in condos next year,
but they haven't started construction quite yet.
Still, it's a great place to hide.
♪
But behind the library, there's something else.
There's an old draining system that leads into the college
that was built in the 1700s.
Now, it was closed up before they drew up this map
in, like, '55 or so.
[doors creak]
Dad used to work down there in the summers.
He used to take me down there sometimes to scare me.
[doors clank shut]
Worked, too.
♪
[indistinct chatter nearby]
♪
[siren whoops]
LASKY [over speaker]: You three! Stop where you are.
Hey. What are you doing coming out of there?
I'm talking to you.
Stop! Hey!
Stop right now!
No, Officer.
[indistinct police radio chatter]
LASKY: Since you are incapable of grasping the situation,
I am going to explain to you how this is supposed to go.
NINA: No.
[sirens approaching]
My son's done nothing but be a good young man.
[sirens wailing]
[crowd murmuring]
Rewind it, Mom.
Let's try again.
Not this time, Dorian.
[button clicks]
We're all witnesses.
[crowd murmuring]
[chuckles]
You think you can intimidate me with a camcorder?
Don't you watch the news?
You've crossed the line.
Harassing us,
abusing authority.
You've been profiling us, targeting us,
following us,
shooting us, killing us.
Mm-mm. Not anymore.
Now wecross the line.
My son will cross that gate.
Right now, right here.
My son will go to college.
So back the fuck up!
[crowd murmuring]
OFFICER: Come on, Lasky. Let's get out of here.
I see it now, Officer Lasky.
You're the one who's really afraid.
♪
Go on, Dorian.
Walk through that gate.
♪
Damn, sis.
[whispering]
[laughs]
[girl chattering quietly]
[chuckles softly]
DORIAN: Don't you think you can put that down now, Mom?
Sure don't.
[sighs]
Dorian, you know why I do this.
It's been ten years. It's enough.
[giggles]
♪
[girl gasps, Nina gasps]
Oh...Mama.
Come on, Mama.
Mama.
Come on.
Just let it go.
[laughs softly]
I love you, Mama.
I love you, Dorian.
You want some ice cream? Huh?
Yeah. [laughs]
You want some ice cream?
GIRL: I want some ice cream.
Go get some ice cream for Trinity. You want anything?
[Dorian laughs]
NARRATOR: Nina Harrison found that only by embracing her past
could she protect her son's future.
And it was love, not magic, that kept evil at bay.
But for some evils,
there are no magical, permanent solutions,
and the future remains uncertain...
even here... in The Twilight Zone.
[siren whoops]