The Day That Was the Day

In the middle of the night, Ben (Nick Stahl) brings Ruthie's (Adrienne Barbeau) body back to the carnival, hides her in her trailer, and tells Gabriel (Brian Turk) to stand guard. Then he goes to Lodz (Patrick Bauchau) for help. Lodz brings him to Management, who seems to know an awful lot about Ben and his gift. He explains that Ben can only bring Ruthie back to life by taking the life of another, and he must choose the life he takes. Rita Sue (Cynthia Ettinger) and Stumpy (Toby Huss) discuss each other's indiscretions, and agree to try to make their marriage work. Sophie (Clea Duvall) argues with Apollonia (Diane Salinger) again, and tells her she's leaving that night. She later makes flirtatious plans to meet both Jonesy (Tim DeKay) and Libby (Carla Gallo) after the show. A state trooper comes looking for Ben. Samson (Michael J. Anderson) protects him, but after hearing about his meeting, he tells him that, to Management, people are "pieces moving around on a board," and warns him not to bring harm to anyone connected to the carnival. Ben goes into town to look for a potential victim, but he can't bring himself to murder anyone. He sits down in a local graveyard and slashes his own throat. Scudder (John Savage) suddenly appears beside him, telling him, "It doesn't work that way. You're meant for greater things." Ben will have to make a choice. Meanwhile, Justin (Clancy Brown) makes a deal with Dolan (Robert Knepper) to get his message out to the world. Norman (Ralph Waite) confronts Justin, and in attempting to reveal Norman's greatest sin, Justin makes a shocking discovery about his own nature.