| “ | Why'd you get me Big Red at Bike Week when I was a kid? [...] It was because I lit up like a Christmas tree when I saw it? [...] That's a lie. You'd just had a huge, drunken fight with Ma. Beer. Vodka. Screaming. Bruises. You didn't think I heard you, but we live in a box, Dad. Of course I freakin' heard you. Even though we all denied it, you and I both knew I heard it all. You knew I knew, so you bought the bike as an apology to make up for your shit with Mom. The bike didn't make up for anything, Dad, and your shit-faced apology today doesn't make up for abandoning me or not visiting me in the hospital or any of the other billions of ways you have chosen booze over me. Only a child would think it does. | ” |
Scissors for the Drifter is the seventh episode of the first season of AMC's NOS4A2. It is also the seventh episode of the series overall.
Contents
Synopsis
Vic finds herself stuck in the real world. Manx runs into trouble and calls Bing for help.
Plot
Whilst she lies in bed awake, Vic has visions of a burning house, a tombstone, and Haley with razor sharp teeth. The kitchen phone suddenly rings. When Vic goes down to answer it, she finds her mom, who apparently can’t hear the phone, sitting in the living room. Vic answers. It’s Haley calling from Christmasland. She claims to be happy where she is. However, Manx hasn’t returned, and they’ve grown worried. Millie Manx, Charlie’s daughter, tells Vic that a ride in the Wraith is the best thing to happen to Haley. She then asks about Manx, and Vic tells her that he’s hurt. Millie calls Vic a liar and tells her that he will bring Vic to them to play "Scissors for the Drifter." Linda catches Vic talking on the phone and tells her to go back to bed.
An old and feeble Charlie Manx attempts to fix the the damage done to his Wraith by Jolene. He hitchhikes to the nearest store; given a ride by a man name Travis and his son Bradley.
Linda tells Vic that she sold her dirt bike while she was in the hospital. Vic demands that she retrieve it, and when that fails, she calls Maggie and tells her to ask her Tiles where her bike is or where she can find a new Knife, as Jolene told her Knives can be replaced. Unfortunately for Vic, Maggie threw her Tiles away. Vic informs Maggie how Haley called her from Christmasland. She sounded different though. They don’t have a choice but to stop Manx, however, Maggie is done. She no longer feels like she can protect herself. She wishes Vic the best of luck in finding her bike and hangs up before popping a couple pills.
Vic runs to her Bridge, but it doesn’t appear, though the ringing in her head is constant. Vic calls her dad and informs him that her mom sold her bike. Chris is aware. He tried to talk Linda out of it, but with Vic in the hospital, it was hard to argue with her. Vic questions why he never came to see her while she was in the hospital. He claims he had to work, but offers to make it up to her by taking her to Bike Week, which Tiffany isn’t enthusiastic about, as she was hoping it would only be her and Chris.
Travis drops Manx off at a convenience store. Bradley calls Manx old. When Travis makes him apologize, Manx rewards Bradley’s honesty with a candy cane. However, Travis declines his offer. Inside, Manx purchases 10 bottles of engine coolant and asks to use the landline to call Bing to tell him to fly out to Colorado. Bradley enters the store, where Manx offers him a candy cane and a ride to Christmasland.
Vic comes face-to-face with Bing for the first time since Manx’s ran Maggie over. Vic asks for Manx's whereabouts. She informs Bing of Peter Ives, Manx’s last helper who he killed. The police pinned several kidnappings on him, but he’s dead, same as everyone else who’s ever worked for Manx. Vic knows that Manx has a house in the real world and wants to know where it is. Bing slams Vic against the locker and says "Tell your lies. Mess with my head. But know that you could end up dead."
Maggie emerges from a doctor's appointment as Sheriff Bly awaits her. He asks if she’s taking anything for the pain, and she tells him no. He notes that her stutter stopped, a result of her throwing her Scrabble Tiles away. He knows Maggie’s history and is worried that she might fall back into bad habits, so Joe offers her the spare bed at his place. He's also glad to hear that she’s stopped her pursuit of the Wraith.
Bing arrives in Colorado and loads Manx’s Wraith on the back of a tow truck. By the time they arrive at the scrap yard, Manx will be took weak to communicate with the proprietress. He’ll rely on Bing to request a new water pump and install it immediately. His life depends on it. Still inflicted with the information he learned from Vic, Bing question Manx’s intentions and what happened to Peter Ives. Manx claims that he took Peter Ives and the others to Christmasland. Sadly, they were unable to enter because they proved to be naughty. So long as Bing remains on Manx’s nice list, he has nothing to fear. He wonders where these questions are coming from. Bing tells him Vic.
Vic and Drew walk through town hand-in-hand, discussing her love for art, which she gained through her grandmother, Bob Ross, and comics. Her dad is picking her up shortly to take her to Bike Week. However, Drew doesn’t think she owes him anything and that remark sparks a heated argument between the two over Vic’s family drama. He thinks Vic deserves better. Vic comes to her dad’s defense. Drew only knows of Vic’s father what he’s been told, such as him walking out on her and not showing up while she was in the hospital. Vic continues to defend her father even at the cost of her relationship with Drew. Chris arrives on his bike soon thereafter and the two leave for Bike Week.
Vic and Chris arrive at Bike Week. The same place they found "Big Red", Vic’s dirt bike. He said it was too big for her at first, but he couldn’t ignore how infatuated she had become with it, so he bought it for her. Vic and Chris proceed to look for a new dirt bike.
Judith Miller, the proprietress of the junk yard in Nebraska, is left almost speechless as Bing pulls up to her yard with the Wraith in tow. He asks for a water pump. She looks to Manx, who sits withered in the passenger seat. While Bing lowers the Wraith off the truck, she calls Sheriff Bly.
After getting a call from Judith Miller, Sheriff Bly finds Maggie sitting at a park bench and informs her that a Wraith has surfaced in Nebraska. Local officers are on the way. However, Maggie is high and barely coherent. He finds pill bottles in her jacket and takes her home.
Vic and Chris continue their search for a new bike. However, none of them are able to replace her old one. While grabbing a bite to eat, Chris apologizes to Vic for not stopping Linda from selling her bike. Even she has grown tired of his excuses and storms off. The telephone rings as she passes by, though just like before, at her house, only she seems to be able to hear it. It’s Haley and Millie calling, both with pale, veiny skin and razor sharp teeth. She wants Vic to take her Bridge to visit them at Christmasland. They haven’t seen Manx in a while, and they’re hungry. Millie proceeds to sing a rhyme. "Poor old Vic McQueen — her father a drunk, her mother a mean. Early motherhood awaits her, with no man to wed her. Unless she can find it within to give thanks to her new friend and savior, Millie Manx."
Vic returns to the table to find Craig having joined her and her father for Bike Week. He bought Vic a souvenir. A commemorative pin. Vic chugs a beer in front of her father and ask him why he bought her Big Red at Bike Week when she was a kid. Chris claims it was because she was so obsessed with it, but in actuality, he had just had a huge, drunken fight with Linda. A cocktail of beer, vodka, screaming, and bruises. Vic heard all of it. He brought the bike as an apology to make up for it. The bike didn’t make up for anything, nor does his "shit-faced" apology today make up for abandoning her and not showing up at the hospital. Chris looks to Vic and tells her that he hopes she never has to know what it feels like to disappoint the people that you love. Vic storms out, with Craig following behind. She’s frustrated at her dad for being a deadbeat drunk and her mom for selling her bike. Without it, she can’t access her Bridge and save Haley. She thought she could find another bike or Knife, but she can’t. Craig’s only worried about Vic, asking if she’s alright. She recalls him mentioning that he got her a commemorative pin as a souvenir. She asks to see it, pins it to her boot, and asks Craig to take her home.
Manx grows weaker by the second. Wheezing with every breath and curled up on the sofa while Bing installs the water pump. As the police sirens grow louder, Mrs. Miller reveals that she remembers Manx from all those years ago, when he took her son and grandson. Bing installs the water pump. However, before he fills it with coolant, he makes Manx promise that he won’t murder him like he did Peter Ives and that he’ll get to see Christmasland. Manx doesn’t make that promise, rather reminding Bing that they’ll both be in prison if he doesn’t hurry, as the police will be there at any moment. Bing starts the car. Manx stands to his feet and morphs back into a younger version of himself. While Mrs. Miller may feign concern over her son and grandson, Manx knows the truth. He claims her son Robert was met with sour chewing tobacco and motor grease. Stricken with fear, Mrs. Miller keels over. Manx informs her that while Robert Jr. is happy in Christmasland, Robert Sr., was a terrible parent who Manx disposed of. Manx and Bing then get inside the Wraith as the officers arrive. However, they don’t even notice the Wraith as they’re too preoccupied with Mrs. Miller, allowing Manx and Bing to escape undetected.
Craig brings Vic home with him. His mom passed out on the couch as they head into his room.
Chris finds Tiffany passed out on the couch. He starts cleaning, disposing of all the empty beer cans and alcohol bottles.
Vic finds a picture of herself on Craig’s nightstand that he’s kept since second grade. He takes a seat next to Vic on the bed and asks when was the last time she slept. She replies when they sedated her at the hospital. They smoke some weed and lay together in bed.
Maggie wakes to find a note on the side of her bed. It’s from Joe, who insists that she’ll be staying with him until she’s better. Maggie calls out to Joe to apologize for her actions. She enters the kitchen to find the sink running. She then looks outside, where the lights to his cruiser are flashing and Christmas music plays from his radio. On his windshield sits a candy cane, indicating that he was taken by Manx.
Manx and Bing pull up to the gates of Christmasland with Joe in the trunk. He asks Bing to step out the car as they made a deal that he would only be allowed in after he helped Manx save 10 children. Manx helps Sheriff Bly out the trunk and brings him to the kids of Christmasland. Daniel Moore, Haley Smith, and Millie Manx are amongst them. Time to play "Scissors for the Drifter", Millie remarks. Daniel stabs Joe with a large pair of scissors and the other children follow his lead. Millie stands next to Manx as the children repeatedly stab Joe. She takes his hand as she missed him.
Cast
Starring |
Guest Starring
Co-Starring
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Trivia
- Scissors for the Drifter is a reference to the game played by the children taken to Christmasland by Charlie Manx.
Multimedia
Promotional
Behind the Scenes
Videos
Episode Guide
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