Episode 129

translated by hephylax

edited by sones 

 

 

Previously on Hand aufs Herz

 

Sophie: God! There's no reason for me to talk to you anymore! You've lied to me from the start!

 

Frau Klein: Sweetheart, I've only wanted to protect you, this whole time...

 

Sophie: You call that protecting?! You've only been trying to cover up the murder this whole time. You didn't give a damn about anything else!

 

Frau Klein: It wasn't like that.

 

The door bell rings. Sophie opens the door since she was about to storm out anyway.

 

Sophie: Jens?

 

Jens: You should tone it down a little. You can hear every word out here...or do you want the whole neighborhood to know that your father was a murderer?

 

Intro

 

[Klein home]

 

Jens: Won’t you ask me to come in?

 

They don't but he enters anyway.

 

Frau Klein: What do you want?

 

Jens: I need money.

 

Frau Klein: You’ve already gotten enough of that.

 

Jens: The police are looking for me. I have to disappear.

 

Frau Klein: Well, that’s your problem.

 

Jens: It’s our problem. It’s only because of you that I have to lead the life I’m living.

 

Frau Klein: I don’t have any more money.

 

Jens: Then take care of getting some. I need 80.000…by tomorrow evening.

 

Frau Klein: Where am I sup…no. No. It’s over, Herr Mirbach. I’m not letting myself be blackmailed by you any longer.

 

Jens: And what happens if I testify in the Franziska Lohmann murder case?

 

Frau Klein: You would only incriminate yourself.

 

Jens: Without the money the police will find me sooner or later…and then I won’t be silent any longer, that’s for sure.

 

Frau Klein: Do what you have to do.

 

Jens: You’ve been covering up for years that your husband killed Franziska Lohmann. You’ll go to prison.

 

Frau Klein: You aren’t getting any more money from me!

 

Sophie: Mama…

 

Jens: Suit yourself. I’m just wondering what’s going to happen to your daughter when you’re in jail.

 

Frau Klein: Get out. Right now! Or I’ll call the police myself.

 

Jens: If you should change your mind, call me.

 

He takes out a piece of paper and places it on a table on the way out.

 

Sophie: Do you have any idea what you just did?

 

 

[Pestalozzi, foyer]

 

Luzi: Believe me, it’s over. There’s nothing for us to accomplish here anymore.

 

Ben: Oh really? And you’re the one to decide that now?

 

Luzi: I’m only saying what I’m thinking.

 

Ben: No, Luzi. You’re inciting the folks here. Why?

 

Luzi: Ben, I don’t owe you any explanations. You aren’t the boss here!

 

Ben: (to the others) What’s happened to you?! Did you really think we could change Götting within three days? No! But if we keep going now…

 

Luzi: We won’t achieve anything either.

 

Ben: Maybe. But there's a chance. If you leave now, you haven't changed anything at all.

 

Student: But Götting’s already given in to some of the demands.

 

Ben: Ach, just stupid stuff. He thinks we're idiots and will fall for it, but we won't.

 

Luzi: God, Ben. You don't give a damn about your Abi! But think of the others for a moment. What it means for all of them!

 

Ben: This isn't about me. I am thinking of the others!

 

Luzi: Sorry Ben, but that really sounds silly, especially in your case.

 

Ben: Oh?

 

Luzi: You're from a stinking rich family. You'll be fine, no matter what you do! But I won't continue to risk my future here.

 

Ben: Oh really? Weren't you the one who complained about everyone always just thinking about their own advantage?

 

Luzi: For me the strike is over. Okay? And everyone who sees it the way I do should come with me now.

 

Ben: You know something? Do whatever you want.

 

She walks off and some of the rest follow her out.

 

 

[Klein home]

 

Frau Klein: Come on, honey. Have a seat.

 

Sophie: And what if Mirbach goes to the police?

 

Frau Klein: Sophie...I don't have that kind of money. And even if I had, it has to end sometime or else he'll come back again and again.

 

Sophie: So you want everyone to hear that Papa is a murderer?

 

Frau Klein: Jens Mirbach won't go to the police. He would just send himself to his doom. Extortion under threat of force, cover-up of a crime... He's worse off than me, Sophie.

 

Sophie: God, if he gets caught, he won't have anything left to lose. He said so himself.

 

Frau Klein: Sophie, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

 

Sophie: No! Then it'll be much too late then and everything will have been for nothing! Everything!

 

Frau Klein: Honey, I...

 

Sophie: Be quiet! I only flew to Australia because of you! Because you were lying to me this whole time. If you had just been honest with me one time, we would have worked it out somehow.

 

Frau Klein: How was I supposed to explain to my child that her father is a murderer?

 

Sophie: You think it was nicer to hear it from Jens Mirbach? I've lost everything here. Timo doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore and neither do my friends, and I can even understand that….. Since I got Frau Vogel sent to jail... I don't even know where I'm supposed to sleep tonight!

 

Frau Klein: Honey, just stay here with me and sleep here, please.

 

Sophie: All of this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't lied to me. And now you're letting him leave so he can tell everything to the police?!

 

Frau Klein: Okay. We'll find a solution.

Sophie: Sure. God! The only solution is to give him the money so he'll get lost again. But now he's gone and... you destroyed everything!

 

Sophie runs out and Frau Klein's eyes land on Mirbach's note.

 

 

[Heisig apartment]

 

Michael: (on the phone) MIR-Bach. Sure? Alright. Well, then I'll have to talk to him again. Thanks for your efforts. Bye.

 

Miriam: So? Any trace yet?

 

Michael: No. Neither of James McKenzie, nor of Jens Mirbach. It's as if he's disappeared from the face of the earth.

 

Miriam: And what if the police are right and Jens isn't even in Germany anymore?

 

Michael: Think about the flowers on the grave. The guy has to leave traces and I just have to find them.

 

Miriam: But that might take weeks and Bea's trial starts in three days.

 

Michael: You don't have to tell me. But I can't just give up now. I have to do something. This Jens is my only lead. He knows who killed Franziska, and he wanted to tell Bea. If Sophie hadn't interfered and ... called the police.

 

Miriam: Why did she do it anyway? I mean, she could have testified against Bea a lot earlier...but she does it at the exact moment Mirbach wanted to tell Bea who the killer was.

 

Michael: Because she knows something, that's why.

 

Miriam: She was at Chulos the other day, with Sebastian. Completely beside herself, refusing to tell anyone what was wrong with her.

 

Michael: Yes. That was when he let her sleep over here.

 

Miriam: If she couldn't go home it means that she has troubles with her mother.

 

Michael: Yes. And then she ran off when it came out that she was the one who testified against Bea.

 

Miriam: Yes, as if she had a guilty conscience.

 

Michael: Okay, but why would she give a false statement. Bea and her always got along really well.

 

 

[Pestalozzi, classroom]

 

Emma is sitting on a table in the empty classroom. After carefully checking that she is indeed alone she opens a schoolbook, or more to the point - the brochure hidden inside said book, and starts reading.

 

Emma: (internally) Outing oneself to classmates or colleagues takes courage. Most of the time the reactions are positive. It's a crucial step that can't be taken back.

Hotte comes in with a letter in his hands.

 

Hotte: Oh sorry. (Emma slams the book shut.) I thought that nobody would be in here. What are you doing here?

 

Emma: I...I wanted to have some peace and quiet. All this forced company…. it gets on your nerves after a while.

 

Hotte: Ah, for me too. I hope the strike won't last too long.

 

He takes a seat on the table next to Emma.

 

Emma: Actually, I wanted to read without being disturbed.

 

Hotte: Oh, okay. I'll keep my mouth shut. But is it okay if I sit here too? I've got something I have to read in peace too.

 

It's Emma, so she doesn't tell her best friend to get lost. Hotte opens the envelope and starts quietly reading OUT LOUD to himself.

 

Hotte: Please, please, please, please... Dear Mr. Dennis Horstfeld, congratulations, we welcome yououou...oh fucking-a... God, Emma, you'll never believe this...

 

Emma is not amused.

 

Emma: Then just don't tell me.

 

Hotte: But this is THE message of the day!

 

Emma: You know, I've got a different interpretation of peace and quiet and keeping one's mouth shut.

 

And she takes her stuff and leaves.

 

(Btw, if you're a Harry Potter fan, pay close attention to the coat of arms in the letterhead. Slytherin und Hufflepuff say hello. Those houses seem to have moved to Las Vegas. Who knew?)

 

 

[Pestalozzi, couch corner]

 

Still annoyed Emma comes into the common area and stops dead. Jenny is sitting on the sofa, listening to music and leafing through a magazine (and probably daydreaming about what happened on this couch a couple of nights ago). Emma walks over to her and already seems to be less annoyed. (And who wouldn't be?) Jenny notices her approaching and they smile at each other while Emma takes a seat next to her.

 

Jenny: Hey.

 

Emma: Hey.

 

Jenny: Everything alright?

 

Emma nods.

 

Emma: Well...I've been thinking.

 

Jenny: Mhm. About us?

 

Emma: Did you know that, despite public education campaigns, homosexuals are still discriminated against? And I don't mean direct discrimination but the behavioral pattern of indirect discrimination.

 

Jenny: Say, did you memorize one of those coming-out brochures?

 

Emma: No.

 

They laugh.

 

Emma: I've done a little research.

 

Jenny: Listen. You don't have to do that.

 

Emma: What?

 

Jenny: Nobody expects you to (climb on the Big Books outside and kiss me in front of the entire school) out yourself publicly in front of everybody.

 

Emma: But we'll have to tell the others sometime.

 

Jenny: Why?

 

Emma: Because everyone is going to wonder what's going on between us.

 

Jenny: Well...then let them wonder. That's not our problem, is it?

 

Emma: Oh boy, now I'm completely confused. I...I know that it's written everywhere that this is normal but...what am I now, anyway? Am I a lesbian, bi, or what?

 

Jenny: You're Emma.

 

(A note from your editor – I think that this is one of the most powerful scenes we’ve seen in the entire history of LGBT film media – Jenny telling Emma that she’s nothing other than HERSELF is just amazing. I remember feeling just like Emma is here when I was younger, and oh how I WISH something like this had been in existence back then! As a 30-something year old adult, I still gasped the first time I saw/heard this, and it touched me deeply. AWESOME job HaHe writers!!!)

 

 

[Pestalozzi, foyer]

 

Student: This fucking two-class system has to go!

 

We see Sophie walking in, zombie-like, with streaks of mascara running down her face. She heads up the stairs, but Timo’s noticed her too and stops her.

 

Timo: Sophie? Hey, Sophie, hold on. Did something happen?

 

Sophie: Nothing.

 

Timo: Don’t give me that crap. You’re looking completely done in.

 

Sophie: What do you care?

 

Timo: God, you really got me into hot water with Luzi. I lied to her to help YOU. And then you stab me in the back like that. It’s not fair.

 

Sophie: Fair…

 

She walks off, but Timo chases after her.

 

Timo: Sophie, now wait a minute. Just tell me what’s going on. What happened, and why can’t you go home? Well, shit, I’m only trying to help you!!

 

Sophie: All of a sudden. You told me already that you don’t give a shit about me.

 

She takes off again, and now Luzi is back at the base of the stairs talking to the students still present.  

 

Luzi: Well, guys, this is it. We’ve hung around the school long enough.

 

Student: Right. Let’s go home.

 

Luzi: Okay. For anybody who hasn’t caught on yet: The strike is over. So go home.

 

Another student: So we really did it?

 

A third student: Götting accepted our demands. Cool.

 

Luzi sighs, obviously not pleased with herself, an pulls out her phone.

 

Luzi: (on the phone) Hello Herr Götting. Luzi Beschenko speaking. The people are going home. I’d say the strike is over.

 

[Saal 1]

 

Götting: Thank you, Fräulein Beschenko. Thanks. Well, I’ve already prepared the letter of recommendation for the music school and will still put it in the mail tonight. It was a pleasure working with you.

 

Alexandra: It’s over?

 

Götting: With Beschenko junior I’ve achieved a real coup. She called off the strike. Undermining the enemy from within. Old tactic of war.

 

Alexandra: I never would have thought that it would work with Beschenko junior, of all people.

 

Götting: Well, she doesn’t want to end up like her mother. And I was able to help her. Waiter, the check, please.

 

Alexandra: Are we going to your place…or to my place?

 

Götting: To the school. I have to show them who’s calling the shots again.

 

 

[Pestalozzi, auditorium]

 

Ben: If we give up now, they’ll do anything they want with us in the future.

 

Timo: Well, and how are we supposed to convince all of them to stay? I mean half of them have left already anyway.

 

Jenny: The main thing is that we’re staying.

 

Emma: Does anyone have any idea why Luzi is doing this?

 

Ben: No one really knows. She’s acting strangely.

 

Emma: And why?

 

Ben shrugs.

 

Jenny: (to Timo) Did you have a fight?

 

Timo: Yes. But…that’s no reason to end the strike.

 

Ben: Doesn’t matter now. We have to keep going. We can talk to Luzi afterwards.

 

Emma: We won’t let Götting harass us!

 

Jenny: The strike continues until we’ve won.

 

 

[Music: Milow - "Out of my hands"]

 

[Pestalozzi, school toilet]

 

Sophie is sitting on the bathroom floor crying.

 

 

[Klein home]

 

Michael: I hope I’m not interrupting.

 

Frau Klein: You said this was about Sophie. Have you heard anything from her?

 

Michael: I was about to ask you the same thing.

 

Frau Klein starts or continues to iron if that is what she did before Michael rang the bell. (I don't know about you but I'm always wearing at least a blazer too when I'm ironing my clothes. Unless I'm feeling very festive. Then I'm bringing out the tux.)

 

Frau Klein: She was here this morning for a very short time but left again.

 

Michael: And you aren’t worried at all?

 

Frau Klein: As if that would change anything. Sophie and I…things are a little difficult right now.

 

Michael: You mean because of the kidnapping thing that Caro and Sophie faked together?

 

Frau Klein: Yes, yes.

 

Michael: Frau Klein, you wouldn’t happen to be able to tell me why Sophie made that statement against Frau Vogel?

 

Frau Klein: You really believe that Sophie tells me anything anymore?

 

Michael: I’m sorry, Frau Klein, this is about Frau Vogel, my colleague, who is sitting innocently in jail awaiting trial because of your daughter’s statement.

 

Frau Klein: Yes, I know, and I’m very sorry but…I really can’t help you with that.

 

Michael: I don’t want to accuse your daughter of anything. On the contrary. She always held Frau Vogel in high regard. So it’s all the more surprising that she is now incriminating her, don’t you think?

 

Frau Klein: Herr Heisig, I don’t know if you have children. But there’s nothing worse for a mother than a child who completely turns her back on her.

 

Michael: But why is Sophie turning her back on you?

 

Frau Klein: I don’t know. If I see Sophie, I’ll tell her that you want to see her and talk to her, alright?

 

Michael: Yes, that’s fine. I just thought it would maybe also be in your interest to find out what’s wrong with Sophie.

 

Frau Klein: Herr Heisig, I really still have a lot to do. But maybe you should just try the school, hm?

 

Michael: Yes, maybe I’ll try the school. When I’ve found something out, I’ll let you know.

 

Frau Klein: Yeah, good.

 

Michael: Good bye, Frau Klein.

 

 

[Pestalozzi, auditorium]

 

Everybody is packing up their sleeping bags, including Hotte, when Emma comes in.

 

Emma: Where do you think you’re going?

 

Hotte: Home. Since the strike is over.

 

Emma: So you’re one of the strike-breakers? Hotte!

 

Hotte: Why strike-breaker? Is the strike continuing on after all?

 

Emma: Say, have you been living under a rock? This is about your future too, after all.

 

Hotte: Weeell...maybe I won't be here for much longer.

 

Emma: You going to make your Abi somewhere else, or something?

 

Hotte: Ach Abi. What do I need that for when I can have something much better?

 

He hands Emma the letter from before.

 

Hotte: I wanted to show it to you earlier. My future...is going in a magical new direction.

 

Emma: From the Magicians' Academy...in Las Vegas??

 

Hotte: That is THE school for illusionists.

 

Emma: What?!

 

Hotte: For people who combine the paranormal with the scientific.

 

Emma: And that's what you want?

 

Hotte: Well, do you think I'm going to go to university to study mathematics...and forget about our experiences with the metaphysical realm?

 

Emma: Our?

 

Hotte: Yes. Our.

 

[Flashback]

 

to the Ouija board and "Dr. Mops is red".

 

Hotte: Spirits of the dead. We're calling you. Speak to us!

 

The cup begins to move around on the board, finally landing on a letter....

 

Hotte:O!

 

[/Flashback]

 

Emma: And why didn't you say anything...about your application?

 

Hotte: Well, because I didn't know if it would be successful. And the others would have thought that I had a screw loose.

 

Emma: Hotte, you do have a screw loose! Do you honestly believe you can become an illusionist and drop out of school for that?!

 

Hotte: I've always wanted to do this. Don't you remember?

 

Emma: We were ten! You read an article in Yps. (German cult comic magazine, every issue came with a 'gimmick' ;-)

 

Hotte: Yes, exactly. And then I lost sight of that goal for a while, but now I've found it again.

 

Emma: But that school surely is very expensive!

 

Hotte: This isn't about money. Jeez, the school only accepts five people a year. And who is one of them? Moi.

 

Emma is fighting tears a little bit.

 

Hotte: Now try to be a little bit happy for me.

 

Emma's expression doesn't change. So Hotte takes out a black cloth and asks Emma for the paper cup she has been holding.

 

Hotte: Give me that.

 

He takes it, puts the cloth over it, pulls it away and presents his empty hand.

Emma just looks at him, then notices the cup sticking out of his outer jacket pocket. She snatches the cup back.

 

Hotte: Well, I had to improvise a little...but...

 

Emma just shakes her head and leaves without saying a word.

 

 

[Pestalozzi, outside]

 

Sophie is climbing up the scaffold that's been conveniently put up in front of the school.

 

 

[Pestalozzi, school yard]

 

Götting: There you go. It is slowly starting to look like a school again.

 

Emma, Jenny, Luzi, Timo and Hotte are gathering at the entrance.

 

Alexandra: Yes, looks like Beschenko junior really did it. It looks manageable and the door is open.

 

Götting: As I said, you only have to know where to position the lever.

 

Jenny: We're not giving up. It's only over when we say it's over.

 

Götting: A few don't seem to have realized that this thing is over.

 

Jenny: We're continuing the strike!

 

Alexandra: To me it looks like some aren't ready to give up yet.

 

Götting: What do these few people expect to achieve anyway? It's over! They will understand that soon enough, too. So clear the way. The strike is over.

 

Jenny: Do you agree to our demands?

 

Götting: Now don't be ridiculous. If you don't want to risk any further sanctions...

 

Meanwhile, Luzi has wandered off a bit and when she turns back she sees Sophie.

 

Luzi: Oh god, Sophie?

 

Everyone else walks over to see what's going on.

 

Luzi: God, she can't do that!

 

Timo: It's all my fault.

 

Götting: (on the phone) Yes, at the Pestalozzi School. Apparently a student wants to jump from the roof. I have no idea about her reasons! Please hurry!!

 

Jenny: Someone has to get her down from there.

 

As if on cue, superhero Michael pushes his way right through the small crowd (two steps to the right and he could have gone around which would have been faster) and starts climbing up the scaffold.

 

Götting: Herr Heisig, the police are on their way.

 

Alexandra: ....that he always has to interfere. Come on, at least follow him.

 

Götting: And if she jumps from the roof? I'll be held responsible and that'll be the end of my career. No no. That's a job for the guidance counsellor.

 

Timo: Sophie, don't.

 

Michael: Sophie...

 

Sophie: Go away.

 

Michael: Sophie, come over here and ... we can talk calmly about everything.

 

Sophie: Leave me alone. Go away. Just leave me alone. I'm serious!