Man: Previously on underground...
I'll carry her all the way to freedom if I have to.
You jump first, I'll toss her to you.
Pa, there's a telegram. It's ma!
She's missing from the hospital!
I need to know now who's in and who's out!
I'm in.
Boy's gonna pay for wasting my time.
If anybody gonna be punished, it's gonna be me... (screams)
(choking)
Tell us what happened. (gasping) Rosalee.
We'll both get real horses soon.
James will be out working the fields soon.
He certainly won't need a horse.
(melodic humming)
♪ Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
♪ Jericho, Jericho
♪ Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
♪ and the walls come a-tumblin' down
♪ Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
♪ Jericho, Jericho
♪ Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
♪ and the walls come a-tumblin' down
♪ you may talk about your king of Gideon
♪ you may talk about your men of Saul
♪ but there's none like good ol' Joshua
♪ at the battle of Jericho
♪ Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
♪ and the walls come a-tumblin' down ♪
(music box chiming)
Ernestine: ♪ oh, oh, lord
♪ pray, sinner, come
(tapping in rhythm)
♪ move, move
♪ move, Daniel, move
♪ go the other way, I say
♪ go the other way
♪ rock, Daniel, rock
♪ say rock, Daniel, rock
♪ shout, Daniel, shout
♪ say shout, Daniel, shout
♪ sinner in the way, lord
♪ sinner in the way
♪ move
You see?
It's all about the rhythm.
Sam: New driver don't sing
Like Mr. Cato did.
Then you got to keep a song in your head.
Go through it a couple times over,
You should make weight.
It'll help you pass the time, too.
Sam: James?
Listen to your momma.
What she's saying is important.
You get down on your knees,
You feel like you can't stand no more.
This padding will help.
Okay, now, uh,
Let me see those little hands.
(softly) okay.
You rub this on every couple of hours
Till you get good calluses.
Stand up.
Nice and tall.
Remember what I told you about the two masks we got to wear?
One for ourselves and one for the white folks.
And that's more important than ever now.
You see something that make you mad, you can't show it.
You got to pretend everything okay.
Even when it ain't.
I never had to do that with t.R., and he white.
(sighs)
Things are different now.
Now, listen, keep your eyes on him over here.
He been making weight longer than the sun been shining.
Watch what he does now, and, uh,
And try your best to keep... (horse neighs)
(indistinct chatter)
Don't look at him. Keep your eyes down.
Go ahead, go.
(whispers) come on, got to work.
Come on now, got to move faster.
♪ Summertime
♪ and the livin'
♪ is easy
♪ fish are jumpin'
♪ and the cotton is high
♪ ooh, your daddy's rich
♪ and your mom
♪ is good lookin'
♪ so hush
♪ little baby
(indistinct chatter)
Man: That's right, get 'em all, even the bad ones.
We'll separate 'em later.
Your brother tell you what happens
If you don't make weight?
(metal rattling)
410.
Hey.
310.
300 for the day.
That can't be.
Get on!
Sam: Abe, go on and take him now.
225.
T.R.: Hey, James!
Hey.
Son?
(Sam grunting)
He was on his knees half the day.
Crawling in them fields.
He ain't drink enough water.
Ernestine: Why?
Sam: 'cause he used to drinking that clean water up at the big house.
(chuckles and groans)
(grunts)
And he keep cutting his eyes at them drivers.
He don't know he a slave, and that's my fault.
No, that's massa's fault.
(grunts)
For turnin' us into something we ain't supposed to be.
For the life of me I just can't understand why he doing this now.
Just a few weeks ago, he was talking about
James coming back in the shop with me.
Ernestine: It's the reverend's influence.
Massa need the church vote.
Ain't there something you could do to sway massa?
(sniffles)
James was 75 under easy.
Ain't no way he gonna make that tomorrow.
Ernestine: I could barely see him from the porch. He's so little.
And you out there looking like French.
What happened to pa ain't gonna happen to us.
(chuckles) James, he gonna learn quick enough.
You can't switch bags with him tomorrow.
(stomps foot)
I can take the lashes.
The world ain't gonna get any easier.
And we ain't helping him none by keeping him soft.
♪ Move, Daniel, move, move, Daniel, move ♪ move, move
♪ run, Daniel, run, run, Daniel, run ♪ move, move
♪ run, Daniel, run ♪ move
♪ go the other way, I say
♪ go the other way
♪ rock, Daniel, rock, I say
♪ rock, Daniel, rock
♪ shout, Daniel, shout, I say
♪ shout, Daniel, shout
♪ sinner in the way, lord
♪ sinner in the way
♪ move, Daniel, move, move, Daniel, move ♪ move, move
♪ rock, Daniel, rock rock, Daniel, rock ♪ move, move
♪ go the other way, I say, go the other way
♪ rock, Daniel, rock, I say, rock, Daniel, rock
♪ shout, Daniel, shout, I say, shout, Daniel, shout
♪ sinner in the way, lord, sinner in the way
♪ move, move
(softly) James, go ahead of me now.
360.
Give me that.
315.
That's your new number.
315 or it's stripes.
Go on.
(crickets chirping)
Momma brought me food.
You tell her you made weight?
She said she was proud of me.
But... But what?
She seemed sad when I told her.
I thought she didn't want me being soft.
(chuckles)
Soft.
I want to tell you something that my pa told me.
Just 'cause you got to play dumb,
Don't you ever...
...Ever let them make you think you really is.
Ernestine: ♪ oh, oh, lord
♪ pray, sinner, come
Ben: When was the last time you visited ma?
It's been a while.
Did she ask about me?
Ben.
Your ma... Doctor: She suffers...
...From dual-form insanity, mania and depression.
When examining your wife,
The phrenologist found there to be
A strong growth in the middle-skull organs.
So wonder, imitation, benevolence.
That don't sound bad to me. It wouldn't be...
...Were it not in tandem with the shrinkage
In the frontal, more reason-oriented organs.
Time, locality.
I thought you said the operation was gonna help.
Doctor: This is the area we removed
During the lobotomy procedure.
For a while, she was better.
She's become more violent and erratic over the past year, lashing out.
Until very recently.
Over the past few weeks, she's become withdrawn.
Quiet,
Well-behaved.
August: She was planning her escape.
(woman sobbing loudly)
(screaming)
I want to see her room.
Excuse me, young man. Ben.
You just left her here!
I want to see her room, now!
Well, I don't think that's a good idea.
Why don't you just have some candy and wait out...
(clatters)
"a church in the valley of wildwood."
Doctor: Sadly, the state of her living conditions are...
It's a reflection of her state of mind.
August: I ain't send every penny I made back to you to have her living like this.
Doctor: Sir, please, we did everything we could
To ensure that she was taken care of.
These are words to songs.
Words to every song she ever taught me.
(gasps)
We need to go there, in those woods.
Why? That's where the stage is.
Charlotte: (in distance) ♪ so dear
♪ to my childhood
♪ as the little brown church
♪ in the vale
♪ there's a little brown church
♪ in the wildwood
♪ no lovelier spot
♪ in the Dale
♪ no place
♪ is so dear to my childhood
♪ as the little brown church
♪ in the vale
August: Ben. Hold up.
It might not be safe.
♪ Oh, come to the church in the wildwood
♪ oh, come to the church
♪ in the wildwood
♪ oh, come to the church
Charlotte, it's me. August. ♪ In the wildwood
♪ oh, come to the church
♪ in the wildwood (humming)
Both: ♪ oh, come to the church
♪ in the wildwood
♪ to the trees
♪ where the wildflowers grow
Both: ♪ where the parting hymn
♪ will be chanted
♪ we will wait by the side
♪ of the tomb
August.
(chuckles)
Have you got my letters?
No.
They said they cut into your brain.
Maybe they took your memory of me.
When I look at you, I see so much of your pa.
I'm glad he's there to look after you.
He taught me how to track.
That's how I found you.
But...
I've seen him do some bad things.
Do you remember Jay?
He ever tell you the story of the two wolves?
He did. (Chuckles)
Is pa the good...
...Or the bad wolf?
(panting)
It's okay.
You don't need to be afraid. I'm not gonna hurt you.
I want to help.
My name's Elizabeth. What's yours?
I know you're scared, so I'm just gonna
Sit with you until you're ready to come out, okay?
My house is... Is just up that hill.
It's such a beautiful day, I thought I'd take a walk by the river.
Actually, that's not entirely true.
My husband, he's traveling, and it gets so quiet...
(horse neighs) man: I got something over there!
Man 2: Hyah!
Shh.
(hoofbeats approaching)
(horse whinnies)
Man: You seen a nigger girl round here?
Elizabeth: No. I've been walking around the river,
I haven't seen anyone but you.
Man: If you're lying to me, you'll have the marshal's office to answer to.
Hyah!
(hoofbeats departing)
You can wear my husband's shirt until we get your dress washed.
And then we can have some food.
How does that sound?
Okay, let's just take this off.
Aah! (Shrieks)
It's okay, it's okay. Sweetie, you're safe.
You're safe, sweetie.
Here...
(breathing heavily)
It's okay. You don't have to get in.
No bath.
Here.
(whispers) we'll just...
...Get you cleaned up like this.
Okay?
(sighs)
(softly) here you go.
You don't have to talk.
I know things happen sometimes
That you have no words for.
They're scary and they're confusing and...
...And they make you sad.
I know I can't say anything that's gonna make
What you went through, all right.
All I can do is show you
That I will do whatever it takes
To keep you safe.
Boo.
Boo is my name.
It's nice to meet you, boo.
(chuckles)
Here you go.
Moses: Well, the lord parted that sea,
So Moses could lead the israelites
Out of slavery.
He named after you?
No.
I suspect I'm named after him.
(train whistle blowing)
Elizabeth: You like that one?
Me, too.
Can you tell me where you got the yellow one?
Rosalee gave it to me.
After the scary man got my momma.
What scary man?
Massa made him Chase us.
What was your master's name?
Massa Tom.
Macon?
Is your master's name Tom macon?
More scary men got my Papa, too.
His name's Moses,
But god didn't part the sea like he did
For the one in the Bible.
Why didn't he help my momma and Papa?
(banging on door)
You have to hide now.
Kyle: I heard you ran into a cherry-picker down at the river.
Are you okay? I'm fine.
They were asking if I saw a little girl.
I haven't. You shouldn't be down at the river right now by yourself.
Where's John? He's traveling.
So you're alone? I'm a big girl.
I can handle myself.
I've known you longer than most people, I imagine.
Would you say that? I would.
Kyle: There's no question you can take care of yourself.
Never has been. Only question I really have is,
If you're alone, bitsy, why are there two cups of tea out here on the table?
Sometimes, when I'm lonely, um...
Kyle: Do you think I'm a fool?
(footsteps approaching)
Kyle, wait.
(boo screams)
Don't hurt her. She's just a little girl.
She is a runaway, and you lied to me.
He was hunting her. I won't just turn her over.
I defended you.
They told me they saw you with her,
And I said I knew you and that you would never.
And then you lie to my face.
Do you really think that little of me? I'm scared.
That's why I lied.
I know what you do to slave stealers.
The branding...
Bitsy, I would never hurt you.
But it's your job.
What has John gotten you mixed up in?
If you were mine,
I swear, I would protect you no matter what.
(inhales deeply)
I'd protect your secrets, too.
You know that, don't you?
I want you to stay here.
I will be right back.
Okay? (Grunts)
Sweetie, I will be right back.
You're safe.
♪ Hush
♪ hush
♪ hush-a-bye
♪ don't you cry
♪ go to sleep-y, little baby
♪ when you wake
♪ you shall have
♪ all the pretty little horses
♪ black and bay
♪ dapple and gray (door opens)
♪ coach and six white little horses
♪ hush-a-bye
♪ don't you cry
♪ go to sleep-y, little baby ♪
(howling in distance) (insects chirping)
Ledger: The crosses signal how much cargo
Needs to be transported to the next station.
Lets the undertaker know to build four caskets.
That's the grave in the song?
That's right.
We'll come back in a day or two.
He'll have moved these to angle like the hands on a clock with the sun.
Tells us the days till he's prepared to move cargo to the next station.
How long you think that'll be?
A week, at most.
But don't worry,
You'll be safe in the brush huts hidden deep in Indian territory.
Feel the ground secure beneath you before you take your next step.
Then stay on that straight line.
That's how your footprints stay hidden.
Henry: Who taught you all this?
My father...
...And his father before him.
The tribe has needed to conceal their movements
From the white man long before I walked these lands.
They part of the underground, too?
No. But they've given safe haven to runaways for generations.
My mother was one of 'em.
What about your parents?
What path did they walk?
I never knew 'em. I was born on a breedin' farm.
Means I got a lot of brothers and sisters out there, I suppose.
I ain't never had no kin.
(laughs)
Y'all run into a lot of slave catchers?
That's why you need all this gunpowder?
The underground's best weapon is secrecy.
We're building a tunnel.
Aren't many homes to serve as stations along this stretch,
So we're looking for both shelter and safe transit.
How big it gonna be?
The tunnel. As long as we can make it.
Thank you for your help, Henry.
Henry: You leavin'? I need to see a man about the other side of the tunnel.
Okay. Where we headed?
Ledger: I need to keep a light track on this one.
The Patty Cannon gang is still on the hunt for your group.
Besides, I'm sure your people are concerned with where you been.
Where'd you get that from? What you want, boy?
I thought maybe you could teach me some more fight... (scoffs)
...Like you did on the boa... So, Noah dropped you for that girl...
...Now you want to saddle up next to me?
You can't blame him.
She well made, ain't she?
But you wouldn't know nothin' about that, do you?
Gettin' between a woman's legs.
Nah. That's a man's business.
And you just a boy.
Runnin' around here lookin' all pitiful
'cause you ain't Noah's favorite no more.
(birds chirping)
(hoofbeats in distance) (men speaking indistinctly)
(frogs croaking)
(howling in distance)
(insects chirping)
Been waitin' a while for you to get back.
I checked the crosses. They gonna be ready for us tomorrow.
I would've gone with you.
Thought you were with Rosalee.
What's all this for?
You always talkin' about how you want a tattoo like mine.
So, I had ledger help me make up some ink.
Yeah. Okay.
I've been thinkin' a lot about last names lately.
Why?
You know, on the plantation, I feel like I saw that macon name everywhere.
On work orders.
That iron gate at the bridge.
Heard it everywhere, too.
There's a lot of power in a name.
There's history, kinship.
It ties you to family.
Now we gettin' closer to freedom,
We gonna have a lot of choices to make.
Where we gonna live.
What we gonna do.
Figure we ought to start with a name.
Henry Hampton.
Noah and Henry Hampton.
You ain't got to cook for us.
I mean, it ain't on you if you don't want to.
I don't mind.
It remind me of home.
The big house?
My momma.
Yeah, forgot you left family behind.
She could make a meal out of anything.
They gives us scraps.
We make a feast, she say.
Maybe you teach me.
I'd like that.
What you think about the name... (gunshot)
(screams)
Man: That was a warning shot!
Move! Get inside, come on!
(both grunting) man 2: We got you surrounded!
Come on out!
They behind us, too.
Man 3: I'll give you to the count of 10!
How we gonna get through 'em? Nine...
Eight... (straining) Noah!
Seven, six... The gunpowder in the hut across the way.
Five... We blow our way out.
Four... We need fire.
Three... The hut's too far.
Two... You'll never make it.
(gunshots) (grunting)
(grunting) no! No!
Henry!
(gunshot) (groans)
Henry!
♪ Summertime
♪ and the livin' is easy
♪ fish are jumpin'
♪ and the cotton is high
♪ oh, your daddy's rich
♪ and your mommy's good lookin' ♪
When's lunch ready?
Soon. When's James coming back?
It's hard to tell.
Is he coming back?
Go on now.
These'll hold you over till lunch ready.
(indistinct chatter)
Reverend: It's not about holding the line. It's about pushing in...
Ooh... (horse clatters)
T.R., where's your head at?
What do you say?
Sorry.
Getting too old to play with toys, young man.
Yes, sir.
How about you and I
Head over to the stables,
Get you up on a real horse, huh?
What do you say?
(horse snorts)
There you go. (Chuckles)
How's that feel?
Wobbly.
(chuckles) well, you just hold those reins tight.
Let the horse know who's in control.
Daddy, look.
I see you, son.
(whip cracks)
Ha! Ha! Easy now!
Why is he hitting him?
Tom: They're training the horse.
So it'll be able to be ridden. Just like the one you're on.
But they're hurting him. Reverend: It's a necessary measure.
The horses are useless to us in their wild state.
They will break free unless you snap out their will to resist.
A good trainer knows that you have to take a horse
From its independent state of nature
And create a dependent state,
So they will become more productive to our needs.
(trainer shouting)
(horse snorting) whoa!
He doesn't seem to like it.
She.
You see, efforts are best spent breaking the females.
Then she will pass along those learned traits to her foal.
When you get 'em young enough,
You can get them to do almost anything.
Hey, James!
Son.
Look to the right, okay?
Look as far as you can. Then left.
As far as you can.
Look at everything else in-between.
I don't see anything.
What you see is macon land.
All this is gonna be yours someday.
Every acre.
Hey, why don't you start learning what it is I do,
'cause you gonna be me one day.
And I'll own everything?
Yes, sir.
Even James? James, stine...
All the slaves.
They're gonna be your property just like this horse.
Your grandpa Earl...
...He didn't think that this whole plot was arable.
You know what "arable" means?
Good for growing crops.
But I knew a man from up north... A quarry master.
He pulled out all the shale.
All we had to do was plant more cotton.
Now, I've improved upon this plantation
Out of love for this land,
Which is what I hope you'll do when I'm gone.
I can do that.
You can, can you?
(knocking)
Pardon, massa, uh...
...Can I have a word? Absolutely, Sam. Come on in.
My son is becoming familiar with the day-to-day operations
Of the plantation, so...
...Anything that you have to say, you can say right in front of him.
That desk is...
...That desk looking mighty fine in here.
It sure does.
It's a beauty.
I remember when you made it, Sam.
That's when I realized that you had a gift.
That's the first time you paid me.
That's right, I did.
You have a very good memory.
I told you to save your money, right?
Now that's very important, son.
'Cause a man's only as good as his savings.
And I never spent the one!
Good man.
Now I want to spend them all.
On what?
You also said that, uh,
I work hard enough one day, I might be able to...
I could buy my freedom.
Sam... Now, massa, this, uh...
There's near $100 in that jar.
That's impressive.
That's very impressive.
But, Sam, truth be told, you're worth five of those jars.
And I would be a very bad businessman if I let my most prized nigger go.
I ain't being clear.
That ain't for my freedom.
(clears throat)
It's for James.
James is just a boy.
Where would he go without his family?
He could stay with me.
You could hire me out in the city,
And you know how hard I work.
Just the other day, Mr. Calloway he paid me $10.
Ten dollars for a chair I made for him.
You know they'd pay more if they knew that money going to you.
Now's not really the right time.
But I'll consider your proposal.
Massa, please.
Mr. Bill, he,
His eyes is stuck on James.
He mad as a rattlesnake after what Rosalee done done.
All right, I'll talk to bill.
Now, I promised that I was gonna get you back in that shop,
And that is what I'm gonna do.
You and James.
I need you working on the grandstand for my nomination announcement.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir.
(crickets chirping)
(rustling)
(horse snorts)
My daddy says I can't see you anymore.
But he also said...
I'll be in charge one day.
Which means I can do whatever I want.
I can be however I want.
My daddy? He does whatever he wants.
So when I'm in charge,
I'm gonna make things different.
'Cause I can make things different.
Make 'em better.
You really think so?
Uh-huh.
I do.
I mean...
...Might have to wait a while.
How long?
Ten years.
Maybe longer.
Remember...
...We promised we'd always share everything.
I don't want your candy.
(sniffles)
I saw him, daddy.
You saw who?
Sam.
I saw him run.
♪ Heaven
♪ what's up? What's up?
♪ What's up? What's up? Take off the handcuffs
♪ we gonna be somebody ♪ heaven
♪ we gonna be somebody
♪ we gonna be somebody ♪ heaven
♪ we gonna be somebody
♪ what's up? What's up? Take off the handcuffs
♪ what's up? What's up? ♪ I got wings
♪ got wings ♪ heaven
♪ we gonna be somebody, yeah ♪ we got wings
♪ heaven