SCENE #8:

“They Won’t All Love It”

[TOUR BUS – EARLY MORNING]

[The bus is quiet in a way it never is. Gray dawn seeps through the windshield. The casino lot is gone. The road has resumed. LORENZO sits alone near the front. Hoodie pulled tight. Morgan’s crate is still there.

Empty.

Lorenzo hasn’t moved it yet. His phone vibrates.]

CASEY (On phone):
Hey.

[Lorenzo closes his eyes at the sound of a voice that knows him.]

LORENZO:
Hey.

CASEY (V-O):
I heard.

[Lorenzo nods, even though Casey can’t see it.]

LORENZO:
Yeah.

[Silence. The right kind.]

CASEY (V-O):
I’m so sorry, Lorenzo.

[Lorenzo swallows. Stares at the floor.]

LORENZO:
She…
(pauses)
She fell asleep on me.
I woke up and she was…
(beat)
Still.

[Another silence. Longer.]

CASEY (V-O):
You did right by her.
All the way through.

[Lorenzo presses his thumb into the edge of the phone like it might ground him.]

LORENZO:
I don’t know what to do with my hands.

CASEY (V-O):
You don’t have to know yet.

[A breath passes.]

CASEY (gentler):
Joyous Sadsack dropped right on schedule.

[Lorenzo exhales — half laugh, half panic. He leans back. Stares at the ceiling.]

LORENZO:
What if they hate it?

CASEY (V-O):
They won’t all love it.

LORENZO:
That’s not comforting.

CASEY (V-O):
It’s accurate.

[A faint smile flickers across LC’s face. Then fades.]

LORENZO:
What if the ones who matter hate it?

CASEY (V-O):
Reviews are… careful so far.
Respectful.
Classic Rock Weekly called it:
“a record that doesn’t apologize for being both tired and hopeful.”

[Lorenzo lets that land.]

LORENZO:
That’s…
actually fair.

CASEY (V-O):
Radio’s sniffing.
Not chasing.
But listening.

LORENZO:
Umm, I decided that I’m not coming home, brother.

CASEY (V-O):
I didn’t think you were.

LORENZO:
I just needed someone to know that.

CASEY (V-O):
I do.

[Another quiet stretch. The bus shifts lanes.]

CASEY (V-O):
You don’t have to be strong today.
You just have to keep moving.

[Lorenzo glances forward, out at the road.]

LORENZO:
That I can do.

CASEY (V-O):
Call me after soundcheck.

[They hang up. Lorenzo sits there a moment longer. Then, gently, he folds Morgan’s blanket. The bus keeps rolling.]

SCENE #9:

“Falsetto, or No Falsetto?”

[CASINO BACKSTAGE DRESSING ROOM – NIGHT]
[Muted slot-machine noise bleeds through the walls. A cheap mirror. A folding chair. A half-empty water bottle. LORENZO paces, rolling a throat lozenge between his fingers like a worry stone.

LORENZO (into phone):
Brother, I’m serious here.
Do I go for the falsetto parts live?

[He stops pacing. Looks at his reflection.]

LORENZO:
In the studio, I can retry ’til it shines.
Onstage? When I miss… it’ll miss bad.
At my age, it’s impressive if I hit it—
but brutal if I don’t.

CASEY (V-O):
Depends what the crowd wants to feel.

[Lorenzo listens, nodding.]

CASEY (V-O):
They don’t come for perfect pitch.
They come to see if you’ll try.
Hit it once early — prove you still can.
Then drop to chest voice the rest of the way.
Earn the cheer.
Not the cringe.

LORENZO:
“Earn the cheer, not the cringe.”
That’s a damn good bumper sticker.

[He exhales, tension easing just a notch.]

LORENZO:
You know me, brother…
If I go for that falsetto tonight, I could either sound like Robert Plant…
or a seagull getting mugged.

CASEY (V-O):
Statistically?
Sixty percent Plant.
Forty percent seagull.

LORENZO:
Those odds feel… honest.

[A faint laugh slips out.]

LORENZO:
Alright. I’ll let the buzz decide.

CASEY (V-O)
Fine. But tell the sound guy to ride the fader—
just in case the gull takes over.

[Lorenzo chuckles, then hums a tentative high note. It wobbles… then lands.
He’s surprised.]

LORENZO (softly, more to himself):
When I was young, that note felt like freedom.
Now it feels like risk.
Same note. Different lungs.

A pause.

CASEY (V-O):
Then sing it with what still works.
The part that never aged.

[Lorenzo looks down. Swallows.]

CASEY (V-O) (gentler):
Your heart voice.

[Lorenzo nods. Breathes out. Grounded now.]

LORENZO:
Heart voice it is.
But if it cracks— you’re buying the next round.

CASEY (V-O):
Deal.

[Lorenzo pockets the lozenge. Heads for the door. The slot machines keep ringing.

[CUT TO STAGE LIGHTS COMING UP]

SCENE #10:
Make That Your Thing

[Where ??? REHEARSAL – AFTERNOON]

[MARV DeBOS and CASEY are in video chat with LORENZO and CLEM. A lyric sheet hangs off the stand like a security blanket.]

MARV deBOS (mocking tone):
So, Lorenzo, you gonna play guitar on tour or just look soulful with it?

LORENZO (shrugs):
Naaaah. Not nearly good enough for the stage.
I just use it for “Ramble First” nights of songwriting — 
helps me find the pocket.

CLEM (quietly):
Translation: prop, not instrument.

deBOS:
Then what’s the plan?
We can’t hide a six-foot hippie behind a mic forever.

CLEM:
Actually… maybe we can.
He’s got something when he leans into the mic stand.

deBOS:
Play that up, Cheap Whiskey.
Go ahead and ditch the cowboy hat, skip the guitar.

CLEM:
That’s the show, champ.
You, the mic, and that weird gravitational field you’ve got.
Let the band be tight.
You be human.

[Lorenzo looks down at the lyric sheet; Clem gently pulls it away.]

CLEM:
You already know the words.
Stop staring at ’em like they’re gonna change.

LORENZO:
Yeah, but they do change. That’s the problem.

[Everyone laughs. Even deBos.]

CLEM:
The crowd doesn’t need perfect, Cheap Whiskey
 — just proof you’re alive up there.

[Lorenzo grins, grips the stand, tests a slow pivot — half awkward, half electric.]

deBOS:
There it is.
The mic-stand dance. Make that your thing.

JESUS (V-O, amused whisper):
Told ya — humility’s got rhythm.

[Cut to -- Lorenzo practicing alone later, the ring light catching the chrome stand as the tambourine glints on the shelf.]

SCENE #10:
“Make That Your Thing”

Muted livestream on a wall monitor.

LC onstage. Second single kicking in — swagger, groove, unmistakably Aerosmith-adjacent.

CASEY and KAT watch.

LC prowls the stage, half in character, half lost in the music.

He grabs the mic stand.

Spins it once.

CASEY
(off-mic, low)
Here it comes.
Steven Tyler meets awkward camp counselor.

KAT
And somehow… it works.

On-screen, LC slides toward the LEAD GUITARIST, belting the chorus inches from his face.

The guitarist startles — then cracks up — and sings back.

The stream glitches for a beat as the crowd noise spikes.

CUT TO:

INT. CASINO SHOWROOM – NIGHT (LIVE)

Not packed — but alive.

Mostly techs, roadies, early-arrivers.

They go nuts.

LC leans in closer.
High note coming.

Their mouths nearly touch.

The room howls.

From the pit:

CLEM
(hands on head)
Oh for the love of—

LC spins back with the mic stand, trips slightly, recovers with a ridiculous flourish.

The crowd erupts.

CLEM (CONT’D)
He looks like he’s flirting with the guitarist!

A ROADIE nearby laughs.

ROADIE
Maybe he is.

CLEM
Maybe that’s the new brand.
Unapologetic energy.

Backstage, deBOS watches, horrified and impressed in equal measure.

deBOS
Call it lawsuit bait!

Near him, Kat’s voice carries faintly from the stream delay:

KAT (V.O., soft, smiling)
Call it freedom.

The song slams to an end.

Applause — real, loud, sustained.

LC breathes hard, grinning. Alive.

deBos storms toward the stage edge.

BACKSTAGE / STAGE EDGE – CONTINUOUS

deBOS
What the hell was that?

LC
Stage chemistry.

A beat.

LC (CONT’D)
Besides — that’s what the Aerosmith songs are about.
Passion.
Danger.
Connection.

deBOS
They’re about sex appeal —
not ambiguous interpretive duets!

CLEM
(grinning)
Actually, boss…
ambiguity is sex appeal now.

The crew laughs.

LC shrugs, eyes twinkling.

LC
Hey.
I’m just dancing with the music.
If it wants to waltz over to Rickles,
who am I to say no?

A quiet beat.

SCENE #11:

*****MUSICAL NUMBER: “Pandora”

JESUS (V.O., deadpan):

He asked for the mic-stand dance.
I just sent him a partner.

Even deBos cracks a reluctant smile.

deBOS
Fine.
Just keep your tongue to yourself, Cheap Whiskey.

LC
No promises.

Laughter breaks out.

BACK ON STAGE

LC steps back to the mic.

No lyric sheet.

No falsetto reach.

Just presence.

LC
Alright.
Let’s keep going.

The band counts in.

LC grips the mic stand — steady now.

CUT TO BLACK

END OF EPISODE 2