LONDON SPY Page #5

Episode #5

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DANNY:

But?

ALEX:

It’s a little fast.

We can see Danny thinking it’s not fast at all. And

actually Alex doesn’t either. He panicked.

DANNY:

Next time, maybe.

He goes to give Alex a hug. A kiss maybe. At the same

time Alex goes to shake his hand.

Suddenly Danny loses his patience.

DANNY:

You’ve got to stop shaking my

hand.

ALEX:

I’m sorry.

(a more nuanced

variation)

I am sorry.

Alex heads off.

Danny watches him go, kicking himself. He considers

running after Alex. Stops himself. Goes inside.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. KITCHEN. NIGHT

Sara’s cooking and smoking at the same time. Danny

enters in a fury. Notices she’s smoking and angrily

plucks the cigarette from her lips. And stubs it out.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

She looks at him. Placid.

DANNY:

F***.

He runs out.

EXT. VAUXHALL. DANNY’S APARTMENT. NIGHT

Danny exits. And bumps into Alex. Both of them had the

same thought at same time.

Both relieved.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT

Alex examines the tiny bedroom. The jumble of clothes.

Danny’s self-conscious. He hastily tidies.

DANNY:

It’s normally tidier than this.

(beat)

It’s never tidier than this.

The room’s so small they’re close together. Danny takes

Alex’s hand. He’s trembling. It surprises Danny.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BATHROOM. NIGHT

Alex is in the bath. A seated position. Chin resting on

his knees. Thoughtful & sad. The atmosphere is subdued.

Danny’s seated on the side of the tub. Not wearing the

same clothes as previously - tracksuit bottoms and a T-

shirt. No socks. Thoughtful but not sad.

Two electric kettles come to the boil beside him. Danny

stands, lifting a kettle.

DANNY:

Careful.

He gently nudges Alex forward as he pours the hot water

into the far end.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BATHROOM. NIGHT

Danny filling the kettles at the sink. He puts them on

the boil. When he looks at the tub Alex can’t be seen.

Danny walks over, perching on the side of the bath,

looking down to see --

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

Alex sunk under the water, head submerged, but his eyes

wide open, looking up through the water at Danny.

Danny’s hand breaks the water’s surface touching Alex’s

face, as if calling him back from his hiding place.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BATHROOM. NIGHT

Alex still in the bath. Danny perched on the edge.

ALEX:

Had you guessed?

DANNY:

I’d guessed you hadn’t slept

with guys. I’d thought maybe

you’d slept with a few women.

Alex shakes his head.

DANNY:

Can I ask a question? I don’t want

you to feel under pressure. I’m

trying to understand. Can you

trust me on that?

Alex nods.

DANNY:

What’s stopped you?

Alex entering completely new territory.

DANNY:

You don’t have to answer --

ALEX:

I want to.

Alex considers. In the end, he settles for:

ALEX:

When people tried to kiss me I

said things like: “For a gift to

truly be a gift”.

But Danny doesn’t smile. Or laugh. He waits, patiently,

his fingers in the water. He wants to know. For real.

No more hiding. Alex goes deeper.

ALEX:

At school I was old. At university

I was young. I’ve always been out

of step with the people around me.

In the end, I left it so late, I

gave up.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

ALEX (CONT'D)

(with sadness)

I gave up.

DANNY:

Did you imagine you’d spend the

rest of your life alone?

ALEX:

I did.

DANNY:

I can’t begin to understand what

that must feel like.

ALEX:

You were always sure you’d find

someone?

DANNY:

Always.

Alex can’t imagine what that feels like.

ALEX:

Being alone has a rhythm, like

running. It’s when you stop that

you realize how tired you are.

Alex not just saying this for the first time, he

understands this for the first time, in this moment.

ALEX:

How do you admit you’ve never had

a relationship? Who wants to hear?

When they do, who wants to stay?

DANNY:

I do.

A rare and precious flash of emotion from Alex.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BATHROOM. NIGHT

Danny by the door. Alex wrapped in towels. They’re close.

ALEX:

I’d like to try again.

DANNY:

We don’t have to.

ALEX:

You don’t want to?

DANNY:

We can wait.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

ALEX:

I’ve waited long enough.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. KITCHEN. NIGHT

Danny rummages through the alcohol stash. He finds a

brightly colored spirit in a preposterous glass bottle.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT

Alex, wrapped in towels, on the bed. Condoms and lube on

the side. Danny enters with the bottle. And glasses.

They each have a shot. Evidently revolting.

DANNY:

Again?

Alex nods. They take a second shot.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT

Danny and Alex are both tipsy. The bottle half empty.

Alex is no longer protectively wrapped up in towels. The

mood is mellowing, intimacy intensifying.

ALEX:

Drugs?

DANNY:

I’ve been using them to make me

believe that the sex was

special. That the person I was

with was special. But I’d love

to know what that feels like for

real. Because I bet it’s the

best feeling in the world.

They’re nudging closer.

Alex’s peculiar sense of humour is also returning.

ALEX:

Can we pretend that alcohol

isn’t a drug?

Danny pours them both another shot.

DANNY:

Absolutely.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT

They’re standing. Close. Not touching. Apart.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

DANNY:

(gentle)

Will you stop worrying about me?

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT

Danny & Alex. A sex scene.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT

Playing with chronology, before the scene sex, Alex and

Danny standing, not touching, apart. Alex echoes --

ALEX:

(gentle)

Will you stop worrying about me?

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT

Danny & Alex - the sex scene continued.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BEDROM. NIGHT

Back before the sex scene, Alex & Danny standing apart.

Their hands tentatively break the gap between them.

As if this was their first touch. And, in a way, it is.

TO BLACK:

EXT. LONDON. VAUXHALL. EMBANKMENT RIVERSIDE. DAY

Close on Danny. Seated on a bench. Looking at camera.

Handsome and happy. With tenderness he addresses ‘us’.

DANNY (TO CAMERA)

You saw me.

(beat)

What I mean is... You... saw...

Danny struggles to express himself, trying to say ‘we saw

him the real him, not the facade’.

Unable to put that idea into words Danny touches his

chest.

DANNY (TO CAMERA) (CONT’D)

You saw me.

And Danny can see that the person he’s talking to - who

we have not seen, this unseen person - ‘we’ understand.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

DANNY (TO CAMERA) (CONT’D)

And you asked if I was okay. Not

like most people ask it, like

they’ve asked it a hundred times

that day already. You asked it

like nothing else mattered to you.

And I thought:
“How does this...

stranger... this person I’ve never

seen before... how are they the

only person in the whole world who

knows...

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