Dallas Buyers Club Scene by Scene Breakdown By Devin Dingler GoIntoTheStory.com 1 – 3: Open with Ron Woodruff simultaneously having sex with two women in a rodeo stall while watching a bull rider and snorting coke. He works the crowd taking bets on the next bull rider. A shot of a newspaper establishes the setting as Dallas in July of 1985 with a headline about AIDS and Rock Hudson. Ron’s derisive comments about Hudson reveal he has a negative opinion of homosexuality. Ron is coughing and taking cough syrup but otherwise presenting himself as healthy and energetic. He coaches the young rider he’s clearly counting on to make his bookmaking pay off and is disappointed when the young man has a bad ride. He immediately slips out a side entrance when he sees his “customers” headed toward him to collect their money. 4 – 8: Ron is running through the rodeo parking lot with a mob of gamblers chasing him when he sees tucker, a cop that he knows. He asks Tucker to arrest him but the cop won’t do it so Ron punches him in the nose. Instead of booking him, Tucker drops Ron off at his trailer and it is obvious they are friends and that the day’s events are par for the course for Ron. Tucker tells Ron to get his act together but Ron laughs it off as he gets out of the car. Stepping into his dirty, cluttered trailer Ron is suddenly struck by a loud ringing in his ears after which he falls to the floor and loses consciousness. The next morning he wakes up exactly where he fell and manages to pull himself up into a chair, completely at a loss as to what happened to him. 9 – 10: We see Ron at work where he is an electrician on an oil rig. He is drinking on the job and selling cocaine to one of his co-­‐workers. Ron’s friend T.J. asks Ron if he is going to join him in taking one of the lucrative oil field jobs the company is offering in Saudi Arabia but Ron says it’s out of the question when he learns that he wouldn’t be allowed to have sex with the local women because it’s a Muslim country. Ron is called over to a rig by the foreman who explains that a Mexican worker has had his leg severed in an accident and they need Ron’s help to free him. Ron makes a racist comment but takes charge and yells for the foreman to call an ambulance, rips his own shirt off to make a makeshift tourniquet, and then tells the man he’s going to get him out of there. Unfortunately when he goes to cut the wire at the electrical 2 box, still a little drunk, something goes wrong and he is knocked unconscious when the electrical box sparks and then explodes. 11 – 12: Dr. Eve Saks is introduced as a Dallas Mercy Hospital board member listening to a presentation by a pharmaceutical company rep about AZT and how it has just been approved for human trials for treatment of HIV and Dallas Mercy has been selected as a proposed site. Eve is skeptical of AZT and pharmaceutical companies/reps in general and is surprised that human trials were fast-­‐tracked but both the rep and her colleague explain that AZT is the only hope against a rapidly growing HIV epidemic. 13: Dr. Saks and her colleague enter Ron’s hospital room at Mercy wearing surgical masks and latex gloves and explain that Ron’s lab results came back positive for HIV. Ron becomes extremely defensive about not being gay and keeps insisting they’ve made a mistake. Dr. Saks’ tries to give Ron some literature on HIV while her colleague tells him he has about 30 days to live. Ron says there’s nothing that can kill him in 30 days, throws the pamphlets in the air and storms out of the room. 14 – 16: Ron and T.J. are partying with two young women in Ron’s trailer, drinking Jack Daniels and doing lines of coke and Ron ends up having sex with both women because Ron is distracted when he has a hallucination that the only number on his wall calendar is a blood red 30. Ron tells T.J. about the HIV diagnosis and they both agree that doctors and hospitals are stupid and prone to make mistakes but then T.J. asks (albeit in a drunken/high state) how Ron could have gotten HIV if he hasn’t had a homosexual encounter. Ron gets T.J. to agree that he of all people could not possibly be gay and therefore this all has to be a mistake. T.J. and Ron seem to part as friends as T.J. and the two women leave to go to a club and Ron says he’ll catch up later. 18 – 19: Ron is researching HIV, AIDS, and AZT at the library and learns that HIV can be transmitted by intravenous drug use and unprotected sex, at which point he has a flashback to having (presumably unprotected) sex with a woman who had track marks on her arm. He seems to accept his diagnosis at last when he slams the book closed and screams out in the middle of the library. 20 – 21: Ron goes back to Dallas Mercy to ask for AZT and demands to see Dr. Sevard, the male doctor who gave him the HIV diagnosis and while he’s waiting makes some kind of meaningful eye contact with a Hispanic orderly who is mopping the floor. Ron is told by the receptionist that Dr. Sevard is not on duty but while he is ranting about his many symptoms Dr. Saks walks up and asks if she can help. Ron clearly doesn’t remember her and makes a sexist assumption that she couldn’t be a doctor because she’s a woman. Dr. Saks sets him straight and earns a little of his respect when he asks, “Are you f***in’ deaf, lady” And she answers, “No. I’m a f***ing doctor!” 3 In Dr. Sak’s office she explains that she can’t get him into the clinical trial and she can’t just give him AZT. Ron reads off a list of other drugs he’s researched and Saks explains that those drugs haven’t been approved either. Saks suggests he go to a support group to which Ron responds with another homophobic comment and storms out. 22: Ron tries to go back to his neighborhood bar but they won’t serve him and his friends accuse him of being gay. Ron starts to spout his usual combative rhetoric but realizes they are afraid of him because they think if they come into contact with his blood, they’ll get AIDS. Ron gets threateningly close just to mess with them and then, once again, storms out. 23 – 24: Ron goes to a town hall style meeting (attended mostly by gay men) about AZT and learns that it isn’t going to be available any time soon but hears someone ask if it’s available in Mexico. A gay man tries to hug Ron for support and Ron threatens him, still clearly homophobic but he does take some of the pamphlets on offer. Ron then goes to a strip club where, not even looking at the dancers, he tells God he’s not ready to die and asks God for a sign. When he looks up he sees the Hispanic orderly from Dallas Mercy at the end of the bar, thanks God, and buys the orderly a dance. 25 – 26: Ron exchanges a bag of money for a bag of AZT (intended for the clinical trial) with the Hispanic orderly by the dumpsters at the back of Dallas Mercy. Ron washes two AZT down with a beer in his trailer and then does a line of coke. 27 – 29: Ron tries to go back to work but his (former?) friends just stare menacingly at him as the foreman shakes his head indicating he is no longer welcome there before Ron can even get out of his car. Ron gives the foreman the finger and pops a few more AZT pills as he drives away. Ron sits alone in the stands of the empty rodeo stadium looking sick and haggard as he drinks tequila and pops AZTs. Arriving back at his trailer park, Ron is so drunk and disoriented he goes to the wrong trailer and asks his neighbors what they’re doing in his house. 30: Rayon, a cross-­‐dresser, is introduced as a patient of Dr. Saks. They talk in an examining room about why Rayon has missed one his appointments in the clinical trial and Rayon says he is beyond help but Dr. Saks says she isn’t going to stop trying and then they hug indicating that “[t]hese two seem to have a history.” 31: Ron is hanging out by the Dallas Mercy dumpsters again hoping to buy more AZT but the orderly tells him they’ve locked it up now. Ron offers him more money 4 and the orderly takes it and gives Ron an address of a clinic in Mexico that has AZT. Ron takes a swing at the orderly but the ringing in his ears starts again and he loses consciousness and collapses on the loading dock. 32 – 33: Ron wakes up in the hospital again, attended to by Dr. Saks (wearing a surgical mask) with whom he tries to flirt until Dr. Sevard walks in and asks Ron where he got the AZT. Ron plays dumb and both the doctors leave, after which Rayon pulls back the curtain separating their beds and tells Ron he doesn’t have a chance with Dr. Saks. Ron is put off by Rayon and initially tries to shoo him away but then Rayon proposes a game of poker and Ron can’t resist. Rayon cleans Ron out and even though he is still making homophobic remarks, it is clear they are now somewhat friends. Getting back into his own bed, Ron has a sudden and excruciatingly painful cramp in his calf which Rayon is able to relieve with a deep massage. He then gives Ron water and explains that he has to stay hydrated to avoid cramps. 34: Dr. Saks encounters Ron back in his street clothes in the hospital hallway and tells him he’s too sick to leave, that they can at least keep him comfortable. Ron asks if she can get him more AZT and when she doesn’t answer, he leaves. 35 – 38: Ron returns to his trailer to find it padlocked with an eviction notice and homophobic graffiti spray painted on the door. He shoots the lock off, grabs a few things from inside and leaves, telling two of the neighbor kids, “It’s all yours” as he pulls away. 39: On the road the next day, Ron, “feeling as good as he looks,” pulls the car over, surveys his few meager possessions, looks at his gun on the seat beside him, grips the steering wheel, and begins to cry. 40 – 41: Ron, now with pneumonia, is driving through the streets of Mexico City looking for the clinic to which he was referred by the orderly. Ron enters the clinic and we are introduced to Dr. Vass who, at that moment, is selling drugs to a wealthy Japanese client. Ron asks for AZT and Dr. Vass tells him it’s poison and he doesn’t sell it. Ron reacts by having a violent coughing fit. 42: Ron is being treated in Dr. Vass’ clinic, along with other patients of various nationalities, and learns that Dr. Vass lost his license to practice medicine three years ago because, according to Dr. Vass, he didn’t “play ball.” Vass explains to Ron that the drugs he’s been taking, especially AZT, have been weakening his immune system and that the first course of treatment will be a regimen of vitamins, zinc, Aloe, and fatty acids. 5 43: Dr. Saks oversees Rayon’s blood being drawn and his medication administered along with other patients in the clinical trial. Rayon winces as he swallows his pill and Saks squeezes his shoulder for support as she exits. 44 – 45: Six months later, Ron is looking a little healthier as he talks to Dr. Vass. Vass explains that Ron’s T-­‐cell count is up but that he now has AIDS and chronic pneumonia due to destroying his immune system. Vass explains that he’s keeping him on the non-­‐toxic protein that he’s been taking since arriving at the clinic and adding a less toxic (than AZT) anti viral, neither of which are approved for use in the U.S. Ron sees the business opportunity and tells Vass he could be making a fortune. Outside the clinic, Ron stuffs his trunk with Vass’ drugs and Vass gives him a priest’s outfit to get him over the border. Vass explains that if Ron gets caught, he can’t tell the authorities he has AIDS or he won’t be allowed back in the country and that if he isn’t back in 30 days with the other half of the money for the drugs Vass will “send Miguel.” 46 – 48: Ron is driving through the Chihuahuan desert and pulls over to observe vehicles crossing the border through a pair of binoculars while taking note of crossing patterns in a notebook. He then unhooks the portable IV hanging from the passenger-­‐side shirt hook, gets out of the car, and holds the IV bag above his shoulder while he urinates. 49 – 50: Ron is detained at the border but tells the border patrol officer that all of the pills are for him because he has cancer and has to take 22 a day, thus meeting the 90 day maximum with which he is allowed to cross the border. The officer lets him go with a warning that if he sells any of the drugs he will be thrown in jail. 50A – 51: Ron goes to Dallas Mercy to see Dr. Saks but when she’s not there he surreptitiously obtains her home address. Ron shows up at Dr. Saks’ house and barges in to celebrate his much-­‐improved health. Saks is impressed by how good Ron looks but as they are arguing over whether it’s appropriate to celebrate at her house they are interrupted by Rayon who appears at her door looking worse than ever. Ron explains that it is the AZT that is killing Rayon and tries to give him an injection of what he’s been taking (after extracting the appropriate amount of cash from Rayon’s wallet). Saks insists that Rayon go back to the hospital and says he can’t take any other drug because it will interfere with the clinical trial. Ron tries to talk Saks into supporting his treatment method (“We’ll both get rich”) but she throws him out of the house so Ron leaves, telling Rayon to send his friends that want to get better to him and to bring cash. 52 – 54: Fast cut of Ron in a gay neighborhood, an AIDS support group, and a gay night club trying to (unsuccessfully hustle his new product). 6 55 – 56: Dr. Saks is reviewing charts of patients in the clinical trial and is informed by a nurse that they can tell which subjects are getting the drug because they need a blood transfusion. Saks observes that one of those patients is actually getting worse which prompts the nurse to ask why the drug company is stopping the trial claiming positive results. Saks is walking down the Mercy hallway with Dr. Sevard asking why the trial is being stopped, arguing that patients who receive blood transfusions always feel better. Dr. Sevard says it’s out of his hands, that the results from the trial are “overwhelmingly positive.” Saks argues it’s irresponsible to stop the study before they know the long-­‐term effects to which Dr. Sevard replies, “These people die, Eve. There are no long term effects. Saks asks Sevard for a copy of the study and he shows her a drug company press release that states, “HIV-­‐positive patients are twice as likely to get AIDS if they don’t take AZT.” 57 – 58: Ron is in his car counting the cash from his sales when suddenly Rayon drops into the car in full drag prompting Ron to pull his pistol on what he thinks is a woman about to rob him. Rayon thanks Ron for the drugs that made him feel better and asks for more. Rayon makes yet another homophobic comment and says to produce cash or get out. Rayon produces a huge wad of cash and asks if he has enough drugs for 20 people but then says Ron doesn’t deserve the business and gets out. Ron backs up the car to where Rayon is standing, hands him enough drugs for 20 people and offers him 5% if he brings more business. Rayon starts to walk away, saying 5% is more insulting than his homophobic comments. Ron offers 10%, Rayon demands 25 and Ron agrees. 59 – 60: Rayon drags Ron into a gay night club and tries to get him on the dance floor but Ron refuses. 60B – 60C: Ron is busted selling drugs out of the trunk of his car outside of the auditorium where the support groups meet. At the police station, Ron is represented by attorney David Wayne as he is interrogated by the same cop that let him go at the border crossing. The cop seems sympathetic but says that this isn’t the answer, that Ron is breaking the law and the drugs have already been destroyed. A60: Ron is back at the library reading newspapers from New York, London, and San Francisco when he sees something that gives him a “Light bulb moment.” A61 – 61: Ron introduces Rayon to the motel where he’s setting up the Dallas Buyers Club. Rayon is disgusted because it’s “a cheap sex motel” but Ron says it’s perfect because they need to lay low. Wayne arrives and Ron introduces Rayon as his business partner and tells Wayne his office is in the next room. Wayne hands Ron LLC documents and says he doesn’t want to know what he’s up to after commenting on the large amount of boxes stacked around the room. Ron explains 7 he’s not selling drugs anymore, he’s selling memberships for $400 a month and giving the product away for free based on an article he read about a club operating out of New York City. Wayne seems impressed. 62: Dr. Saks at home having a glass of wine surrounded by stacks of paperwork, sees a TV news story announcing that AZT has been approved as the first drug to treat AIDS and that, at a price tag of $10,000 per patient per year, it is the most expensive drug ever marketed. The anchor notes the pharmaceutical company’s stock jumped 12% on the news. 63: The Dallas Buyers Club (DBC) office is in full swing with Rayon in a nurse’s outfit and Ron behind a desk with a gun and a bottle of tequila sitting on it. Rayon ushers in two new members, a middle-­‐aged gay couple, and Ron explains the rules and has them fill out the forms so he knows what drugs they need admonishing that he can’t help them if they’re not honest on the questionnaire. 64: Dr. Saks frets at Mercy Hospital because someone (presumably Rayon) hasn’t called but the nurse notes that he did recently file a change of address. A65 – 65: Dr. Saks, still in her lab coat, bursts into the DBC looking for Rayon and finds out Ron’s customers are her former patients. Ron arguers he’s giving them far better drugs than they were getting from her but flirts with her throughout the conversation. Saks tells Ron to let Rayon know she was looking for him, that she’s telling her patients to stay away from DBC and storms out. 66: Ron and Rayon are in the grocery store playfully arguing about whether Rayon can buy unhealthy food. When Rayon leaves to put back the processed bologna Ron threw at him, Ron turns the corner and runs into T.J. buying beer. An already awkward encounter becomes even more so when Rayon returns and Ron tries to introduces him to T.J. T.J. refuses to return Rayon’s “hi” or shake his extended hand. When Ron asks what his problem is, T.J. flips off Ron at which point Ron grabs his hand and twists his arm up behind his back until T.J. finally shakes Rayon’s hand. Ron then tells T.J. to get lost and he sulks off. Ron smiles and Rayon starts to tear up because Ron stuck up for him and then Ron breaks the awkwardness by throwing the bag of (unhealthy) chips that Rayon had put in the cart at him. 67 – 70: Ron returns from the grocery store to find a line of prospective club members outside DBC. Ron walks up to a young man with multiple lesions on his neck and face in line with cash, takes it and counts out $50. He announces to the crowd that this is not a charity. He gives the cash back to the young man and tells him he needs $35 more. A woman delivers a stack of boxes of one of the drugs Ron needs and says, “These are for your animal research.” Ron pays her with a bag of drugs for her daughter and she becomes too emotional to thank him so Ron just says, “it’s ok” and she hugs him. 8 Later that night Rayon is at DBC high, “wasted,” as he finishes packing Ron’s suitcase. 71: Ron is getting money out of the DBC safe to give to Rayon when he starts to feel funny. Rayon walks in wasted and gives Ron his suitcase and plane ticket but Ron realizes he his high and calls for Denise, a volunteer, and tells her she’s in charge. Rayon snatches the money out of Ron’s hand and tells him he can trust him. Ron tells Rayon to make sure his new Caddy is at the airport when he gets back and then tells Denise to keep an eye on him as he exits. 72 – 74: Ron arrives in Japan at a chemical laboratory but is told by the manager that they are no longer allowed to export interferon to the US. Ron insists he has enough cash to make it worth the manager’s while but is told only a Japanese doctor can make the purchase. Ron is in a Japanese doctor’s office sliding ten $100 bills across the desk as the doctor orders interferon from the chemical lab to be delivered to his office. 75 – 77: Ron puts on an expensive ring and Rolex in his Japanese hotel room. Ron walks through customs at DFW airport wearing a white lab coat talking on a 1st generation cell phone as if giving medical orders to staff at a hospital. Ron slips into a stall in the airport bathroom and injects himself with one of the vials from his briefcase but immediately experiences the ringing in his ears again along with chest pain and loses consciousness. 78 – 81: The cop, Tucker, just happens to be standing in the receiving area of Dallas Mercy when Ron is wheeled in after collapsing at the airport. Dr. Sevard is telling Tucker and an FDA agent that he doesn’t know where Ron got the drugs as they stand outside his hospital room. He also tells them Ron has HIV which Tucker clearly didn’t know. Ron hears them talking and calls them into his room. Sevard asks Ron where he got the drugs and Ron asks Sevard what they’re pumping into him via his IV. When Sevard tells him AZT, Ron pulls the IV out and says he’s going to sue Sevard for attempted murder. Sevard tells Ron the drugs he used gave him a heart attach and Ron retorts that it’s his decision what he puts in his body. Tucker interjects that DBC is the only one of the “clubs” the police are tolerating that isn’t playing by the rules but has to stifle a laugh when Ron makes a crack to Sevard about still being alive a year after Sevard told him he only had 30 days to live. Ron announces he is leaving and tells the group that they can talk to his real doctor, Dr. Saks as Rayon rushes in with Ron’s leather jacket saying he was “so worried.” Ron throws on his jacket and exits whereupon we can see Ron is naked under his gown. 9 82: Sevard confronts Dr. Saks in her office but she says she doesn’t know what Ron does outside of the hospital. Sevard tells him the FDA confiscated over 2,000 vials of interferon that Ron was going to sell to their AIDS patients. Saks points out that some of the buyer’s clubs have been reporting positive results but Sevard says without clinical trials they’ll never be able to find a cure and instructs Saks to tell her patients to stay away from Ron. 83 – 84: The DBC office is bustling with activity and Ron is on the phone with Wayne being told that the FDA won’t let Ron have the interferon back because it was ordered by a Japanese doctor “with no legal standing.” Ron tells him to check China, Amsterdam, and Israel then cause that’s where he’s going. 85: Montage of planes taking off and landing and Ron walking through various international airports. 86 – 87: Ron is arguing with Saks in DBC, telling her in detail about how he has every drug tested by his lab in Seattle and then tests them on himself. He tells her what each drug does and how many of his club members are taking it. Eve continues to argue that some of those members need to be in the hospital and that AZT was so toxic to Ron because he abused it. Ron says nevertheless he feels good now and then yells at Rayon and his friend who have been more concerned about redecorating the office than Ron’s rant. Ron throws Rayon and her friend out, tears down the picture they just hung, and challenges Saks to look at a folder, presumably with statistics about AIDS treatment. After a beat, Saks looks at the folder. 88 – 89A: Ron is in the DBC bathroom taking multiple medications and trying to find a flattering angle of himself in the mirror. Dr. Sevard is dumbfounded to discover he has no patients remaining in his clinical study. 90 – 91: DBC is slammed with new buyers and employees but upstairs Rayon is sick again, trying to muster the courage to give himself an injection in his thigh. Ron says he must be doing “poppers and coke” to look so bad and is going to have to learn to give himself injections but administers the shot for him anyway and asks “why don’t you be a better friend to yourself?” Rayon says if he really thought Ron cared, he tells him. Just then, Wayne walks in holding up a document and announces they’re being audited by the IRS. 92 – 93: IRS agents are carting boxes away and Ron starts to get combative, offering to write a check right there and then but Wayne calms him down. 94 – 96: Rayon is prepping shipping boxes when Ron comes out in a suit. Rayon asks if he has flowers and he takes the wildflower painting off the wall, which was one of the few things he’d taken with him from his old trailer. 10 Ron and Dr. Saks meet at a steakhouse and he gives her the painting. Saks is suspicious that Ron has an agenda but he insists he is just there to celebrate life and that they should enjoy the evening. They each share a little of their personal history including the fact that Ron’s mother was “kind of a gypsy” and the one who painted the wildflowers. 97: We hear Ron masturbating OC while panning the posters of bikini clad women on the DBC wall but it stops when we get to the posters of Marc Bolan that Rayon has hung. Ron says, “I’m gonna kill him!” 98 – 99: Ron is taking inventory at DBC when Rayon makes him stop and watch a news report that AZT has been proven to be safe and effective against the progression of AIDS. Dr. Saks in her living room watching the same broadcast while on the phone with Ron ranting OC that the report isn’t true and AZT is not safe. 100: Dr. Saks tells her nurse to put all of her asymptomatic AZT clinical study patients on the minimum dose. 101: Ron is talking to a buyer in a busy DBC office when Tucker barges in, over Rayon’s objections, with FDA agent Barkley and other officers and agents. Barkley announces he has a warrant to confiscate all non-­‐FDA approved drugs or supplements. Ron argues some are just vitamins to which Barkley responds they’re improperly labeled. Barkly seems smug and satisfied to finally be shutting down DBC but Tucker appears to feel sorry for Ron. After they leave Rayon hands Ron the phone with Wayne on the line and a box of drugs he’d kept hidden under his robe. Ron tells Wayne to get a restraining order against the FDA and then hangs up and tells Rayon they have to relocate. 102: Dr. Sevard confronts Dr. Saks on lowering the dosages on her study but she refuses saying she won’t give asymptomatic patients high doses of a toxic drug and that it was the patients’ decision. She also suggests that it’s the drug company calling the shots, not Sevard. Sevard storms out. 103: Ron and Rayon watch a press conference by the FDA Commissioner announcing that individuals with life-­‐threatening illnesses will now be allowed to import small quantities of unapproved drugs for their own use if prescribed by a physician. Rayon asks what it means and Ron says, “It means we were unapproved. Now we’re illegal!” 104 – 105: Ron is in the bathroom of his old bar swapping out drugs for cash in the paper towel dispenser. When he comes out, Rayon is at a table with a ledger looking even worse than before and Ron spots Tucker and some other cops at the bar. He tells the waitress to send over a round but Rayon tells him not to bother because they’re broke and all the credit cards are maxed out. Ron says they’re going to pick 11 up more business at the support groups and recruit doctors to write the prescriptions so they can operate legally. Rayon suggests they go to a bank but Ron shuts down that idea comparing them to Bonnie and Clyde. 106: Tucker at home opening the box Ron placed in the paper towel dispenser with a note that says he’s sorry to hear about Tucker’s dad’s Alzheimer and that these pills should help. 107: Ron is being shown around an old house by the middle-­‐aged gay couple he previously helped and starts to negotiate lease terms until they explain that they are giving him use of the house just because they want to help. 108: Ron is back at the auditorium where he started when he was first diagnosed but as the speaker this time. He announces that he just wants to to get safe, alternative drugs to anyone with HIV and that membership in the DBC is now free for those that want to sign up. Ron looks at Rayon and we see he has tears in his eyes. People begin to applaud and approach Ron. 109 – 110: Rayon, with no makeup or jewelry and wearing Ron’s suit, visits his estranged father at his bank where he is clearly in charge. The two exchange barbs until Rayon tells his father he has AIDS and wants to help a friend who has helped him. At the end of the exchange, Rayon’s father appears to feel some sympathy for his son. A110: Rayon is back at the DBC, in the bathroom taking off Ron’s suit and looking at the lesions on his body while he puts on makeup and talks to God about wanting to look pretty for Him. 111 – 111A: Ron is at the DBC surrounded by moving boxes, on the phone being turned down by a doctor. He hangs up and explains the physicians are back pedaling because the FDA is threatening them with license revocation if they write any scripts for DBC drugs. Rayon drops an envelope of cash (approximately $10,000) on Ron’s desk and, when pressed by Ron, says he sold his life insurance policy. They hug and Ron says a heartfelt thank you. 112: Ron walks into Dr. Sak’s office wearing a sombrero and invites her to Mexico as he places it on her head. She declines, as he says he knew she would, and then asks if she’ll write some prescriptions just in case he needs them in Mexico because no other doctor will write one. Saks explains she can’t either because of the potential liability and Ron says, “Okay! Never hurts to ask.” He leaves her with the sombrero and exits saying, “Keep it, nurse Ratched!” 113: Rayon and his friend Sunny are at DBC where Rayon is taking poppers and Sunny is dancing around to music until Rayon starts coughing up blood at which point Sunny insists Rayon let him take him to the hospital. 12 114 – 115: Ron is back in Dr. Vass’ clinic where Vass is conducting experiments with butterflies and they discuss research about the toxicity of AZT and a promising new anti-­‐fungal drug. Vass asks if Ron wants to take some of the new drug back with him and Ron says, “As much as I can carry” to which Vass responds, “We need a thousand more like you” which Ron shrugs off by saying, “Hell Vass, I’m just tryin’ to run a business.” 116: Dr. Saks is attending to a clearly dying Rayon wearing an oxygen mask and confirms with the nurse that he is only on morphine now. 117 – 118: Ron has a surreal experience when he wanders into a room of Dr. Vass’ clinic at night, attracted by a green glow, and is gradually covered by luminous green butterflies. 119: In the ICU, Rayon takes off his oxygen mask, applies some lipstick with shaking hands, then leans back and peacefully passes away. 120: Ron is on an airplane scribbling prescriptions on the pad we now see, via flashback, that he stole from Dr. Saks when he put the sombrero on her in such a manner that it covered her eyes for an instant. 121: Ron is in the DFW airport holding area as an FDA agent compares the names on the prescriptions to the names on the drugs Ron is trying to import and notes that they are all names of Dallas Cowboy players. When asked if Ron can prove they are patients, Ron responds, “Can you prove they’re not?” 122 – 125: Ron returns to DBC and learns that Rayon is in the hospital. Ron arrives to find Sunny putting Rayon’s things into a bag with tears in his eyes and knows he’s too late. Ron then charges off looking for Sevard. Ron finds Sevard and calls him a murderer in front of his patients, says he’s getting rich off of poisoning people. Sevard says he’ll have Ron arrested and Ron tries to fend off the security guards by telling them he has AIDS and spitting at them but is eventually dragged away. 125A – 125B: Ron returns to DBC and a line of prospective buyers. He throws his Cadillac keys to Denise and tells her to sell it and make sure everybody gets what they need. 125C: Ron is drinking tequila and dancing with a hooker but when she tries to get sexual with him, he throws the money on the floor and leaves. 126: Dr. Saks comes to DBC and she argues with Ron about what killed Rayon, AZT or the disease as a whole. She tells Ron she knows he stole her prescription pad so not to talk to her about acting irresponsibly. Finally, holding back tears, she says 13 that Rayon was her friend too. Ron then hands Saks the medical journal that Vass gave him with a negative study concerning AZT that the drug company chose not to disclose and asks her to, “Read that and you tell me how wrong is too wrong?” 127: Dr. Saks enters her living room and puts several holes in the wall trying to hang the wildflower painting, then sits down to read the medical journal Ron gave her. 128: Wayne and Ron at DBC, Wayne trying to explain that Ron is out of legal options and Ron refusing to give up. He then appears to have an epiphany when he sees a flyer that reads: “Dallas Buyers Club Newsletter.” 129 – 130: Dr. Sevard and Dr. Saks in the pediatric ward, Sevard telling Saks that the pediatric AZT trials have been approved at lower doses. Saks is incensed and asks if he would give that dose of AZT to his own children. Sevard leaves, after which Saks discreetly places DBC flyers on a table in the waiting room. 131 – 132: Ron interrupts a presentation by Barkley of the FDA by entering the auditorium with his squeaky rolling IV rack and handing out DBC flyers. Barkley accuses Ron of being nothing but a common drug dealer and Ron accuses Barkley, the FDA, and the pharmaceutical companies of being the drug dealers, only caring about whether they get paid for drugs and not whether they’re actually safe. Ron drives away singing, “Oh I’m bad, I’m nationwide!” 133: Sevard has brought Saks before the Mercy medical board and, after placing the DBC flyers in front of her, says the board believes it would be in everyone’s best interest for her to resign. She refuses and says they’ll have to fire her and then, turning around as she was about to leave, says, “Y’all go f*** yourselves!” 134: Ron and Saks split a beer to celebrate at DBC and hug one another. Ron talks about wanting time to have a normal life, that he wants his life to mean something. Saks assures him that it does. 135: Eve in her living room becomes emotional and straightens the wildflower picture she left hanging crooked the other night. 136 – 138: Ron wakes up and finds he has very little medicine left. Then, while looking at an empty bottle of Peptide T the ringing in his ears starts again. We hear only the ringing as we see Ron drive into an intersection and then get out in his bare feet and begin to direct traffic. A cop starts to approach Ron but Tucker appears and intervenes, grabbing Ron, telling him he’s in the middle of an intersection and asking if he can understand 14 what he’s saying. Ron is nonresponsive. Tucker puts his arm around Ron and leads him to his squad car. 139 – 140: Tucker takes Ron to his house and gives him some of the Peptide T Ron had given him for his father. While he’s there, Ron and Tucker’s father have an exchange that shows the old man has improved and then Tucker pulls Ron aside and tells him that the FDA is going to bust him tomorrow but that he will be there. 141 – 143: Tucker, Barkley and several other officers and agents arrive at DBC for the bust but unbeknownst to Barkley Ron has arranged for a news crew to be there filming Dr. Saks taking care of the patients/members as the officers and agents burst in, arrest Ron, and shut down DBC. Barkley is furious but the cameras keep rolling as Ron is taken out and put in Tucker’s squad car and the members are led away by healthcare workers wearing surgical masks. 144: Wayne enters the police station where Ron is being held and shows him a negative news story about Ron selling “deadly drugs” but then tells him they have succeeded in getting a change of venue to San Francisco for the Peptide T trial and that “they” (not sure exactly who they are) are not pressing charges. Ron asks then why is he in the police station and Wayne says, “They’re trying to break you,” to which Ron responds, “They’ll never break me” as he and Wayne leave. 145 – 147: At the courthouse in San Francisco, the judge criticizes the FDA and sympathizes with Ron but says he has no authority under the law to support the case and so dismisses it. Wayne and Ron, leaving the courthouse defeated, are greeted by cheers and supporters including Dr. Saks who shows Ron an FDA document stating that he will be allowed to purchase Peptide T for his personal use. 148: A heavier, healthier Ron is at a rodeo as a bull rider and as he is in the arena riding his heart out, the image freezes with the sound of the crowd, including Dr. Saks, cheering him on as background to the familiar ringing “that only Ron could hear.” FADE TO BLACK