WARNING: Mild spoilers for the second episode of “Allen v Farrow.”
In the second episode of HBO’s “Allen v Farrow,” a taped phone call from summer 1992 between Woody Allen and Mia Farrow highlights a disturbing conversation about Allen’s relationship with her daughter, Soon-Yi.
Allen starts the conversation, which takes place a year after Allen and Soon-Yi began seeing each other, by telling her “I’m not going to say I had sex with Soon-Yi.”
“Are you going to call it — you had an affair with Soon-Yi?” Farrow asks, trying to confirm what he’s getting at.
When Woody responds “certainly,” Farrow points out that means he’s blaming Soon-Yi for half of it.
“I’m not blaming anyone. There’s no blame to be had here,” Allen argues. When Farrow tries to refute him, he goes to say “there’s — you know, having sex with someone implies something very different.”
“I’m sorry,” Farrow replies in surprise. “You told Soon-Yi before you had sex with her that she must understand this was purely for the sex, not to be taken in any kind of meaningful way, and that she must be sure to have her boyfriends at school and that’s what you expected would happen.”
Farrow admitted that she began taping her own conversations once she realized Allen was doing the same due to Soon-Yi , lying when they talked. “She was saying things that both her and I knew were not true. And then it occurred to me he must be taping this for some reason. And I told one of my other kids that Woody is taping me and he said tape him right back. I’ll set up the phone.”
In another conversation during the same period of time, Allen tries telling Farrow they should do a press conference together to refute the rumors that are starting to fly. That turns out to be, in Farrow’s words, “absolute bulls–t,” after Allen turns his words around and suggests that maybe they shouldn’t comment at all — unless the story is damaging.
“Well of course it will be damaging,” Farrow responds, sounding shocked that Allen might suggest anything otherwise. “The truth will be damage, the story will come out that you had sex with one of my teenaged children.”
“Well, if it comes out like that, I will defend myself,” Allen refuted.
When Farrow asks what he could possibly say, Allen simply answers “you’ll find out,” and Farrow tells him, “you can’t deny it.”
In the four-part docuseries, Farrow talks about how she tried to protect and help her daughter in the early stages of her relationship, saying she didn’t blame her for what happened. “I love her so much and I didn’t ever blame her because she was just a little kid when he came into the family,” said Farrow. “And she was a little girl. We were a family and he was in my home as my partner and as such, he had responsibilities. You don’t get to have sex with my children. That’s not part of the deal.”
Episode 2 of “Allen v. Farrow” airs this Sunday on HBO at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Episodes 3-4 will air the following Sundays at the same time.