Writers’ Notes: Episode 6, Marcus and Moses
Quarry — Episode 6, “His Deeds Were Scattered”
Following each episode of Quarry, writers and creators Graham Gordy and Michael D. Fuller detail their experience creating one of the show’s significant moments.
Curfews would often be “instituted” in the wake of racial unrest (and obviously, still are today), but actual enforcement would often only occur in African-American neighborhoods, regardless of who was the victim and who was the alleged perpetrator.
Mustafa Shakir (Moses) and Joshua J. Williams (Marcus) were so terrific in this moment, one of the more tense scenes of the season. Coming of age in Memphis in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Marcus would have been at the epicenter of tremendous racial strife. Creating Marcus’ backstory, we imagined Arthur and Ruth took him to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak. And while the significance may not have fully resonated, Marcus vividly remembers the palpable shock and heartache that swept through Orange Mound when the news broke that Dr. King had been assassinated just down the street. Add to this the death of Arthur; the death of a loved one is never easy to process, but when that death is your father’s and you’re a 13-year-old boy, the grieving process is horribly compounded. Then, Darren’s beating at the hands of Eugene Linwood was a whole new trauma for Marcus to endure.
Marcus is a good kid, but he’s lashing out in his own way. Defiantly going outside to play basketball is as much an affront to his own mother (whom he’s taking much of his anger out on, as teenage boys are wont to do) as it is an attempt to test his boundaries. What happens if I’m outside during a curfew? What are they really going to do? How will I get in trouble for playing basketball if Eugene Linwood nearly beat my friend to death and was released for it? Marcus wants to test the universe and see if there’s fairness still to find therein.
If Marcus is testing his boundaries in this moment, Moses is outright defying them. Moses is a mysterious figure and obviously no stranger to violence via his work for The Broker. To our mind, long before he was in The Broker’s employ, he was all too acquainted with the way African-Americans are treated in the South — in particular by law enforcement. For much of his storyline this season, he exists as an enigma. How much of Moses’ performance as nice guy “Felix” is, in fact, performance and how much of it is sincere? Is he simply going through the motions or are Ruth and her children actually having an emotional effect on him? We were intrigued to dramatize a true “Lone Wolf” character whose humanity is begrudgingly awakened by the very people he’s supposed to be monitoring. We also wanted to explore how he responds to the vulnerability that accompanies that awakening. Mustafa is able to simultaneously convey a sense of mystery and sincerity that is crucial to the character’s journey throughout the season.
In this moment, however, confronted with a white cop threatening a young boy that Moses can’t help but relate to, the “Felix” facade slips away and what’s left is the reality: A man who is frustrated with an obvious miscarriage of authority is sticking up for a young boy who’s been through more at 13 than most endure in a lifetime. It touches a nerve that is clearly very personal to Moses but his handling of the situation is wrought with danger. Because it’s perceived as insolence, Moses and Marcus could both be arrested or worse for their (completely justifiable) anger. But it’s that very injustice and double standard that Moses is confronting. Furthermore, even if the cop has a job to do enforcing a bulls**t curfew, there’s no need for him to threaten a young boy.
This scene marks a sea change in Marcus’ relationship with Moses, who he had previously regarded as merely an unwelcome intruder attempting to replace his father. We knew when we landed on this scene in the writers’ room that we had the makings of a particularly gripping moment. Max Allan Collins’ script, Greg’s direction, and the performances of the actors all delivered tremendously on that potential.
We would be remiss if we didn’t also touch on the tragic resonance this scene and storyline has on the current social and racial climate in this country. Incidents in Dallas, Charlotte, Minneapolis, Baton Rouge, Ferguson, Baltimore, and other places around the country are all too vivid reminders of the fundamental disconnect between African-American communities and law enforcement that has plagued this country since its inception. We’ve come a long way since 1972 but, sadly, still have far to go in so many respects. That this scene and storyline could just as easily have been set four decades later and felt just as real, speaks to that.
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