Irresistible (I) (2020)

Mackenzie Davis: Diana Hastings

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Quotes 

• Diana Hastings : This system, the way we elect people, it's terrifying. And exhausting. And I think it's driving us all insane.

• Jack Hastings : I'm just very impressed with all this. You... you do the polling.

  Kurt : Uh-huh. In fact...

  Gary Zimmer : There it is.

  Diana Hastings : What is that?

  Gary Zimmer : No, who is that? Elton Chambers.

  Diana Hastings : The Rocket Man?

  Gary Zimmer : The billionaire Rocket Man, yes.

  Kurt : Jesus Chr... I thought he was dead.

  Tina : Well, he is dead.

  Gary Zimmer : No, no, no. A series of micro-strokes. It's all good.

• Gary Zimmer : I was just finishing up these pamphlets on immigration.

  Diana Hastings : Ooh. That sounds complicated. I hope the small minds can manage.

  Gary Zimmer : I'm sorry about that. Sometimes, messaging for the base doesn't resonate with the broader electorate.

  Diana Hastings : Oh, okay. So, to flatter them, you have to condescend to us. I get it.

  Gary Zimmer : Uh, no, no, that wasn't... that wasn't what...

  [protracted pause] 

  Gary Zimmer : Sorry.

• Gary Zimmer : So you used me.

  Diana Hastings : We used you? You guys only show up here once every four years, and only then 'cause it's a swing state. And then, when it's over, you're gone. But we're still here with all the same problems we had before, just waiting around for you to come back and make the same empty promises as last time. We used the system. You make millions of dollars funneling tens of millions of dollars into this election economy. All we did is take a cut.

  Gary Zimmer : Hmm. Well... I guess I just... I thought that maybe you and I had a little something.

  Diana Hastings : [scoffs]  I'm 28. I mean...

  [chuckles] 

  Diana Hastings : in what world would this... be okay?

  Gary Zimmer : D.C. and L.A., parts of New York, Miami, maybe Dallas.

  Gary Zimmer : Mm.

  [chuckles] 

  Gary Zimmer : Look... it wasn't personal.

  Gary Zimmer : Mm.

  Diana Hastings : It was math.

  Gary Zimmer : Math.

  Diana Hastings : But this system, the way we elect people, it's terrifying. And exhausting. And I think it's driving us all insane.

• Gary Zimmer : So, um, we can't win. The people in this town are pretty set in their ways. And we lost the eight nuns. That wasn't good. So, we can't win.

  Jack Hastings : Uh... y-you know, we appreciate all you done. I mean, the campaign and, uh... I'm just sorry we let you down, but...

  [relieved] 

  Jack Hastings : well, all I can say is thank you.

  Diana Hastings : Really, Gary, thank you for everything.

  Jack Hastings : It was a hell of a ride.

  [Jack and Diana laugh] 

  Gary Zimmer : Are... you shitting me? All I have to say is we can't win, and you're... you're through, you're out.

  Diana Hastings : You said we can't win.

  Gary Zimmer : Unless. We can't win unless... You didn't let me finish. We can't win unless it turns out that this town isn't the Mayberry everybody thinks it is. I just got a little piece of intel that's kind of intriguing. So, the mayor's brother Ziggy,

  [Jack steps back] 

  Gary Zimmer : he had an Oxy problem.

  Jack Hastings : Well, he was a roofer and got hurt on the job.

  Gary Zimmer : Yes, well, what you might not know is that the mayor pulled some strings, kept him out of jail, got him into rehab. That is abuse of power, nepotism. Probably some clerical shit in there.

  Diana Hastings : [scoffs]  Come on. Gary. But we're the good guys, right?

  Gary Zimmer : [flatly]  Yeah, we're the good guys.

  Diana Hastings : When they go low...

  Gary Zimmer : We go high.

  Diana Hastings : Unless we also need to go low, apparently.

  [chuckles incredulously] 

  Gary Zimmer : Only to keep those who would go lower out of power.

  Diana Hastings : So, when they go low, we go higher, incrementally, in relation to how low they went.

  Gary Zimmer : Regrettably, yes.

  Diana Hastings : When they go low, we go almost as low, but we feel worse doing it.

  Gary Zimmer : You think they thought twice about making your dad look like a PTS nutcase? And I'm going low because I'm gonna tell the truth about the mayor?

  Jack Hastings : His brother's fragile, Gary.

  Gary Zimmer : This town is fragile. The whole area is fragile. Our democracy.

  Diana Hastings : [exasperated]  Stop. We're not doing it. Okay? People are gonna get hurt.

  Gary Zimmer : I'm sorry... I really am... but sometimes good people have to do shitty things in service of the greater good. Isn't that right, Colonel?

  [exits] 

  Diana Hastings : Hey.

  [follows Gary] 

  Diana Hastings : Hey.

  Gary Zimmer : Yeah?

  Diana Hastings : Gary, stop.

  Gary Zimmer : What? Is this politics?

  Gary Zimmer : It's not politics anymore, Diana. It's... it's math. That's what an election is. It's just math. We need what they get plus one. That's all. And if I can't get that by getting more people to vote for your dad, then I have to get fewer people to vote for Braun.

  [sighs and exits] 

• Gary Zimmer : You know Kurt Lehman, polling and modeling.

  Jack Hastings : Yes. Hi.

  Kurt : Hi.

  Gary Zimmer : He gives us a window into the electorate.

  Diana Hastings : Hi.

  Kurt : How are you?

  Gary Zimmer : Best in the business. When everyone was predicting Hillary in a landslide over Trump, Kurt was the one guy who had her just barely beating him.

  Kurt : My models just picked up the trend lines, so...

  Gary Zimmer : If the election had taken place a month or two later...

  Kurt : My numbers would've been 100% on the money.

  Gary Zimmer : Mm-hmm.

  Diana Hastings : Wow. Impressive.

  Kurt : Well...

  Tina : Well, he was the least wrong.

  Gary Zimmer : Tina Kuryev, analytics. She gives us a window into the voters.

  Tina : Good to meet you, sir.

  Diana Hastings : Oh. I thought, uh, polling did that.

  Kurt : It does.

  Tina : Well, he tells you how he thinks they feel. I tell you how they really feel.

  [pause] 

  Tina : People are liars.

  Kurt : Here we go.

  Tina : He can tell you how often people say they go to church.

  Gary Zimmer : She can tell you if they actually go.

  Tina : I can tell you if God is in their hearts.

  Kurt : [under his breath]  Oh, my God.

  Gary Zimmer : Tina's in online analytics.

  Kurt : Hey, can I just say... we take deception into account, too, okay? Yeah, polling is an art form, but, you know, there's plenty of science to back it up.

  Tina : Says the guy still calling landlines. People tell computers the truth, right? Their desires, their prejudices. Every search, every transaction... it's an unguarded private moment. So there's no, uh, margin of error, you know? The digital footprint is your true self.

  Diana Hastings : But, surely, people are more complicated than their online transactions.

  Tina : Well, says the woman with three cats and an intense search history of the herpes virus.

  Diana Hastings : [protracted pause]  One of the cats... Is this legal?

  Tina : Law enforcement or in the eyes of God?

• Diana Hastings : [knocks, door opens, sighs]  Hi.

  Mayor Braun : Come on in.

  Diana Hastings : Thank you. I'm so sorry. I... I'm pulling the plug.

  Mayor Braun : Hey, hey.

  Diana Hastings : I mean, we have the money we need. We have more than we would need. And this would... destroy your brother.

  [inhales deeply] 

  Diana Hastings : And I'm just so sorry.

  Mayor Braun : Hey. You have nothing to be sorry for. You saved us, Diana.

  Diana Hastings : [looks down]  Mm-hmm.

  Mayor Braun : This place was done. Just another town in the middle of nowhere, going nowhere. And everyone agreed... yours was the best idea we had. Unless you want to go back to the two Mikes' idea of... ostrich meat farms. Diana, you moving back here, caring so much... I mean, this whole thing...

  [sighs] 

  Mayor Braun : Well, I just know how proud of you your dad is and how proud your mom would be. And how grateful every single one of us are for what you've done and everything you've given. It's working.

  Diana Hastings : Okay.

  [sighs] 

  Diana Hastings : What do we do about Gary?

  Mayor Braun : Whatever Gary thinks he's got, why don't we just give him something better?