Wonderfalls : Wound-Up Penguin

Season 1, Episode 4

Written by Liz W. Garcia

Directed by Todd Holland

Original Airdate: 26 March 2004

"What do you get off brow-beating a hooker? Jesus was nice to prostitutes."
Jaye

REGULAR CAST

Caroline Dharvernas as Jaye Tyler
Katie Finneran as Sharon Tyler
Tyron Leitso as Eric Gotts
Lee Pace as Aaron Tyler
Diana Scarwid as Karen Tyler
William Sadler as Dr. Darrin Tyler
Tracie Thoms as Mahandra McGinty

GUEST CAST

Carrie Preston as Sister Katrina
Aidan Devine as Joe Scofield

CO-STARRING

Sean Sullivan as Ticket Guy
Boyd Banks as Janitor
Richard Quesnel as Young Police Officer
Michael Cronin as Police Officer #1
Stefanie Samuels as Female Police Officer
Karen Ivany as Marta
Isabella Lobo as Scofield's Little Girl
Bryan Hatt as Night Cleaner

MUSE VOICES

Scotch Ellis Loring
Ted Dykstra
Jeffrey R. Smith

SYNOPSIS

Jaye awakens in her trailer one night to the sound of inanimate objects singing "eighty-nine bottles of beer on the wall." She heads to the Barrel, where Eric is in the process of closing up. After all the patrons leave, Jaye and Eric hear a banging noise somewhere in the bar. It's coming from a wooden novelty barrel in the middle of the room. Eric pulls the top off the barrel, and a woman we'll come to know as Katrina scrambles out and runs off into the night.

Jaye and Eric conclude that Katrina has been living in the bar. Eric remembers her from a few nights ago, when she ordered a turkey sandwich and skipped off without paying the bill. He thinks she must have hidden in the ladies' room until after closing, and hides out in the barrel during the day. Among the items found in the barrel -- all of which are of the tourist variety -- is a wind-up penguin. The penguin tells Jaye to "bring her back." Jaye and Eric decide to play detective. They take a train-ticket stub found in the barrel to a train station, where a custodian remembers seeing Katrina. He also remembers an Irish-looking man, dressed in black, who showed up one day. Katrina ran off when she encountered the mysterious man in black. The next day, the man the custodian described shows up at Wonderfalls. He's interested in posting a flyer featuring a photo of Katrina with the word "missing" printed on it. Eric and Jaye call the phone number on the flyer. It connects them to a room at a local hotel. They decide to rent an adjacent room, where they hold drinking glasses to the wall in an effort to eavesdrop. They hear a struggle, and Eric kicks open the door to the mystery man's room. He finds the man hovering over Katrina. Eric slams the man against a wall... only to learn from Katrina that he's a priest named Father Scofield.

Eric apologizes for assaulting Scofield and explains that he didn't know he was a priest. Eric and Jaye soon learn that Katrina is a former nun who doesn't want to return to the convent. They drive Katrina back to the Barrel. There Katrina explains that she lost her faith in God. Jaye pulls the wind-up penguin from her pocket and gives it back to Katrina. The penguin animates, and tells Jaye to "bring her back to Him." Jaye makes her way back to the hotel, where she asks Father Scofield for 24 hours to give Katrina back her faith. Jaye introduces Katrina to Aaron, and the two discuss theology. Later, inside the trailer, Katrina says she's no longer close to her family. Jaye tells her about the talking inanimate objects, and says she doesn't think the animal's voices are a communication with God. When Katrina suggests they're the work of the devil, Jaye grows intrigued. Katrina asks Father Scofield to perform an exorcism on Jaye, but he refuses. Later Katrina finds out about Jaye's bet with Father Scofield (that she can restore her faith in 24 hours). Suddenly the wax lion on Jaye's dashboard animates. It tells Jaye to "break the taillight." As Jaye gets into her car, it rolls forward and smashes the light of another car. Katrina is stunned that the lion's prophecy turned out to be true. Jaye's parents attempt a "Presbyterian intervention" when they grow convinced that Katrina is a bad influence on Jaye. Meanwhile Aaron explains to Katrina how an exorcism is performed. Inside a men's room, Eric tells Father Scofield that he lost his faith. Scofield tells him he should forgive his wife.

When Jaye returns to her trailer, Katrina forces a formaldehyde-soaked washcloth over her mouth that knocks her unconscious. When Jaye wakes up she discovers she's been tied to her bed. Katrina prepares to begin the exorcism by cutting Jaye with a knife. Ultimately, Katrina loses the will. Meanwhile Father Scofield gets pulled over when a cop notices his broken taillight. When the officer runs Scofield's name through a computer, Scofield is placed under arrest for being a deadbeat dad. Police show up at Jaye's trailer, and Katrina is ordered to put down the knife. At the police station Katrina learns that Father Scofield fathered a child he didn't know about (he had a girlfriend before entering the priesthood). The ex-girlfriend, Marta, shows up at the police station with her little girl, Sadie. Katrina concludes it's a miracle the two were reunited, and credits the miracle to Jaye. Her faith restored, Katrina purchases a one-way ticket back to the convent. Scofield, meanwhile, resigns from the priesthood to help raise Sadie.

TRIVIA

This episode was originally supposed to air fourth, but aired third instead. Regardless, in it's original run, the show only aired four episodes (the fifth, Crime Dog, was advertised, but never aired.