01x07 - Giant

[bunniefuu]

Previously on AMC's Halt and Catch Fire...

Is this true? You're lying to me.

Why do you care about the answer?

A business trip, would you be up for that?

Of course.

Our computer is going to have a personality!

No.

What do you mean, no?

You have to stop changing it.

You asked me to do something and it was impossible and I did it.

You're going to do what ever I tell you to do because that's the way this relationship works.

This is really good.

Cardiff Electric will be able to maintain operation for a little less than 2 months.

(rain pattering)

(thunder crashing)

(faint buzzing)

Haley: Daddy?

Gordon, are you okay? You're screaming.

What?

You're screaming at the top of your lungs.

Joanie: Mommy!

What time is it? Why aren't you in bed?

This analysis report... I have to leave for Lubbock Tuesday and it has to be perfect.

Did I wake up the kids?

You probably woke the neighborhood.

Are you sure you're okay?

Yeah.

Monkeys, it's okay. I'm coming.

(girls crying)

Can I get you some dinner before I take off?

Can you still call it dinner at 2:30 in the morning?

I'm good, Debbie. Thanks.

"Can I get you some dinner before I take off?"

Oh, be nice.

She's right. You gotta eat.

Look who's talking.

All work and no play makes Joe a dull boy.

Hmm?

There's got to be another way.

We've tried everything.

Well, get more creative.

I can't.

I move more things around, it's going to start to look bad.

It'll be a problem.

Personal Computer Division is already operating at a massive deficit.

By close of business next week, the hole will be so deep, it will take the entire company with it.

You keep this between us.

Do you understand?

(Cameron chuckling)

(chuckling, chattering)

We shouldn't be eating in here.

(computer keys clicking)

I know.

I just like looking at it.

It kinda turns me on.

Oh, is that weird?

Joe, that's a live current.

(pops)

It's only a few volts.

(gasps, pants)

What are you doing?

(clicking)

(shudders) I'm turning you on.

(current humming)

(grunts)

(gasps)

(laughs)

(phone ringing)

No, someone's calling.

It's 3:00 in the morning.

(ringing continues)

No, no, I'm thrilled you'll do it, I'm just surprised you called back.

I left you a few messages, but that was several weeks ago.

Oh, next week? I had no idea he was showing his photos here.

I'd love to see that. I would love to see you, work with you on this.

Oh, the sixth. I look forward to that.

(chuckles) How have you been?

(theme music playing)

Can't say I'm exactly happy about the extra memory or Cameron's expanded O/S...

The lasagna is in the freezer.

Don't forget to take it out and let it thaw before you reheat it in the oven.

You know, that's the past. We have to move on.

...in case you need it the number for the hotel is on the fridge.

Gordon, did you hear me?

I know what people are saying.

They're saying that I roll over for software.

But the truth is...

Gordon, look at me.

Lasagna, freezer, thaw, oven, number on the fridge. Got it.

Look, the QA tests, they're gonna go fine.

There's gonna be disappointment, but we need to focus on the net gain here.

They need to realize that...

Okay, so you're taking the kids to school, Rose will be here by the time you get back, and I'll be home by noon tomorrow.

What they need to realize is that I'm in there every day.

I'm pushing Joe to get what we need.

I'll miss you, too.

Sometimes our thoughts are often...

Ed: Boot time's 48.24 seconds.

Larry: 48? We were at 39 last month.

Ed: OS memory requirements. I mean, the thing's basically doing a 600-pound standing squat every time it turns on.

System response time?

403 milliseconds.

There goes the Doherty Threshold.

Weight?

Ed: Only added a few ounces, but it puts us over 15 pounds.

Stan: It's the extra RAM chips and the daughter board.

I know what it is. Loss in compatibility?

Tried to load Lotus this morning and it tanked.

I'd call that a big yes.

All right, let's talk names.

Oh, you mean software's not naming it?

I'm gonna take a list of suggestions to the product manager and there's gonna be a discussion.

So you mean we don't have a chance in hell.

(all chuckle)

Do you guys have name suggestions or not?

(taps)

Okay.

Thank you.

Well, if you knew this guy was locked for a week, why am I just canceling Kenny today?

It's awful abrupt and he's not gonna be thrilled.

My guy's temperamental. He's an artist.

Despite our back and forth over the phone, I wasn't even sure he would show up.

But now that he's here, I know he's a yes.

There's something...

He say that?

Cameron: A bunch of teenagers broke into Los Alamos National Lab's computers.

Also into some cancer center and a big bank.

Most were DECs running VMS OS.

God, cover story and everything. Pretty cool.

You stole my car.

I stole your keys.

The car just turns on when I put them in.

Oh, Simon Church. It's fantastic to see you.

Thank you for making the trip all this way.

I can't tell you how exciting this is for us and the project.

Right.

Hello to you, too.

I'm sorry I'm late. I know I've kept you waiting.

I just have a few things to get in order.

Would you mind waiting for us in the conference room?

I can't wait to see what you've put together.

Debbie?

Mm-hmm.

You think today maybe we could be adults? Just for a few hours?

Uh, yes, sir, Mr. MacMillan, sir.

He is one of the top industrial designers in the world.

If he makes our case, it puts us on a whole new level.

It was a joke, okay? I'm sorry. Jesus.

You knew I had this meeting today.

I'll go first.

The contour, the design, the angles, it... wow.

All I can say is wow. It's exactly what we wanted.

So glad that I could accommodate.

I think this is something very special.

(stammers) Yeah, it's a pretty girl. C-can I say something?

What happened to the specs that you've had for a week?

I saw them, but they were too limiting.

Moving past the specs gives us an opportunity to make something, something that isn't just a beige rectangle.

Okay, those rectangles took months and months of... do you think you can just waltz in here and demand that we change everything

'cause you don't like the way that it looks?

Yes.

Okay.

Okay, well, we'll redesign the whole thing to fit the suit.

I saw that you worked on the Countach and the DeLorean.

Let me tell you what I know. Both are in the shop every hundred miles.

Nobody gives a damn about what the computer looks like as long as they work.

Let me tell you what I know.

Your consumers will soon have more than a dozen choices that look identical to what you'd build, so what will capture their attention?

A design that they will be magnetically drawn to every single time they move to touch your machine.

Joe, this design will require another hardware overhaul.

I'm talking hundreds of hours. The one place that I'm ahead is heat.

If I ditch the sink for this, I run...

Joe: Ahem.

When we unveil the Contrail and it looks like this, people will be falling over themselves.

Wait, the what?

The Contrail. We're calling it the Contrail.

I'm announcing it this week, so don't tell anyone.

The Contrail? You're naming it after the exhaust that comes out of the back of a plane?

It's about soaring, leaving the competition in the dust, which is exactly what this design can accomplish.

No, Joe, contrail is the dust.

Look, if we continue to put form ahead of function, we're gonna be the ones left behind with everyone laughing at us.

I mean, why don't you just call it... call it the "Cardiff Giant"?

You assured me that everything was in line

and that my time wouldn't be wasted.

I don't have time to waste.

What is this? I thought this was a done deal.

You fly out all this way and now you're leaving?

I let another designer go just to take this meeting.

Simon: What's with the girl?

Is that what this is about?

(elevator bell pings)

I never should've come.

He's gone. Are you happy?

All because you didn't like the name?

What did you want to call it?

The Giant? Fine. It's the Giant.

I'll have marketing toss the art and start from scratch.

Hey, regardless of the resizing, half the design was metal.

You want your Armani pants to catch on fire every time you put it in your lap?

I think you act like you can't see it because the truth is you can't do it.

(paper thumps)

I read a whole magazine... thank you.

Someone made me breakfast. Someone made my kids breakfast.

It's a revolution.

(chuckles)

You must think I am just the greenest...

No, no, no one I know gets excited about business trips anymore.

Especially this trip.

Why? We're bringing them fixes for the 99/4A.

We're part of the solution.

(elevator bell pings)

Well, not sure corporate sees it that way.

These are Band-Aids on a sucking chest wound.

Well, then why don't we tell them the truth?

I would, but I'd also like to keep my job.

Execs at this level...

Four, please.

...they want to hear what they want to hear. Eight, please.

They asked us to present the report, so that's what we're gonna do.

Joanie: We can play dress-up and then play Cabbage Patch.

(Haley gasps) A dance party.

Mommy left lasagna in the freezer.

We could put it in the oven and then play Cabbage Patch.

Haley: Or blocks. We could play blocks.

No one's gonna tell us what to eat.

We are gonna make our own dinner all by ourselves.

Joanie: Mommy's gonna be mad.

What are we gonna eat?

Mommy's not here.

_

We need to get Ken back.

Are you sh1tting me?

We have six weeks till COMDEX and we need a case.

Unless you want me to wrap the machine in a garbage bag, we need a designer.

With only 256 bytes of RAM in the register, we have a bottleneck that sets off a four-cycle wait to clear every time we load it.

Hunt...

Plus a power regulator that gets so hot, users refer to it as the "coffee cup warmer."

Hunt, you're listing off a lot of problems, and a lot of problems means a lot of money for fixes.

We need assurances that correcting these will solve the computer's flaws once and for all.

Well, they won't.

I'm sorry, but there are no once-and-for-all fixes for the 99.

If you want to do the right thing, you drop it from our product list for good.

(chuckles) She's right.

I mean, what are we gonna do, slash prices again?

Hand out another rebate? We're practically giving it away already.

If you ask me, we get out of the PC market altogether.

(elevator bell pings)

I am so sorry. I didn't mean to jump in...

Donna, they've been toying with dropping the 99 for months.

People are just too scared to say it out loud.

Except for you.

Wait, really?

If you hadn't said that, they never would've heard the truth.

That took guts.

I thought it took stupidity.

Will you please just take the credit?

Now, I say we meet downstairs for dinner, on the company's credit card, of course, and we celebrate a job well done.

7:00?

Yeah, okay.

She had to build her own fire...

(phone ringing)

...and gather her own wood.

Hello?

Debbie on phone: Hi, Gordon. I've got Joe for ya.

But in 1898, Great-Grandma Iris picked up some stakes and ran off to the Klondike during the last great gold rush.

Food was scarce. You had to hunt and cook...

...from scratch all on your own.

But Grandma Iris, she was tough.

She was real tough.

And this was her original recipe.

Are you tough?

No.

Let her speak for herself.

Come here.

Show your big sister what you're made of.

It's good, Daddy.

It is good.

I want some. I'm tough.

It's good.

'Cause you're tough.

And you're tough.

We're all tough.

Can we make cookies, Daddy?

Mommy has the cut-and-put-in-the-oven kind.

Can we play with you, Daddy?

We really want to play with you.

Yes to cookies, yes to games, yes to Daddy's wonderful stew.

You guys go wash up.

("Heart of the Night" playing in background)

(slow dripping)

("Friendly Communication" playing on headphones)

(door closes)

♪ I'm talking 'bout you... ♪

I take it you're not going to the photography thing tonight?

No, actually.

I came to change because instead I'm joining John Bosworth and Ken Burke at "Strokers."

That's a strip club with an incredible name.

Beige box it is.

Look, it's not what I want, either.

Blame Gordon. He blew it up.

(music continues)

Did you sleep with Simon?

Is that something that would be a problem for you?

I don't give a sh*t that he's a man.

Honestly.

10 years ago, I was at a conference in Europe.

Simon spoke, I was in the audience.

He was...

I wanted to be him.

We stayed through the end of the event, traveled around the continent for the next month and then... he left.

That's it.

And yet he was in the office today.

He's a brilliant designer.

I was willing to put up with him if it meant something great for the work we've done.

But I guess he was just stringing me along.

I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier.

That guy just messes me up.

(door closes)

- ("The Stroke" playing)

Darlin'.

♪ Stroke me, stroke me ♪
♪ Stroke... ♪

That one, she'll dance for a dollar, do anything you like.

I don't dance for a dollar.

Oh, your quote is perfectly reasonable and we'd like to move forward.

My quote? It's gone up. Way up.

Oh, come on, Kenny, man. We're not made of money here.

We're talking about a basic injection mold now.

You and I have been in the same circles for years.

I've always had the utmost respect...

(chuckles)

We was window-shopping and decided you were the man to marry.

Yeah, you're settling.

See, I like to get asked to the prom first.

If I don't, my feelings get hurt.

Hey, speaking of marriage, how's Ginnie?

Ginnie's doing just fine.

Yeah? You line anything up on the side yet?

Uh, we're not settling. We're betting on utility.

Your design is simple, it's welcoming, it doesn't intimidate, and we want our machine to be... friendly.

sh*t, I don't need to give you a dollar.

You'll dance for free.

(laughs)

(music playing softly)

Do you have an invite?

Huh? Yeah.

What the hell is this?

You skank.

You used me for a ride, didn't you?

Huh? Relax, there's free champagne.

30 minutes and I'm leaving your skinny ass.

Can I get one of those, please?

Bleak.

Mm. I think the photographer understood very well how empty this place really is.

Tell me about it. I'm from here.

Mm, my apologies, then.

So, what can I do for "Miss Rainbow Brite" this evening?

Agree to build our case.

(chuckles)

How old are you?

Old enough to see the difference between a $100,000 car that only a fraction of the population can afford and a utility that every single human being will be interfacing with inside of five years.

I can certainly see why Joe likes you.

Please tell him I said bravo for the very clever second push.

Joe didn't send me.

But I know this is important to him.

Important, hmm?

What did Joe tell you about me?

Look, I know you guys humped all over Europe or whatever.

And I don't care.

Oh, is that how he put it?

Because I seem to remember it fairly differently.

Did he tell you I left him?

Yeah, he did.

Did he tell you why?

Because I told him I loved him, and the moment I said it, I knew it was over so I left the next morning.

I tried to spare myself the embarrassment.

We did have quite a bit of fun for a while.

Late nights. (chuckles)

Did a lot of stupid things, but in the end, I believe Joe just got bored.

Listen...

I know that you think what you have with him is different, but please don't make the mistake of thinking that he won't do the same thing to you eventually.

Come on, let's go.

Wait, I just got this one. Come here, come on.

Hey, let's have some champagne.

Who's that, an old boyfriend?

Hmm? Yeah.

He looks like a real assh*le. What did he say to you?

Nothing.

All right, hold the light steady. Come on, focus, girls.

Can we play another game? Something we can win?

If you play me, you won't win.

But Mommy never wins.

That's because Mommy loses on purpose, which is not a good life lesson.

(phone ringing)

In fact, look. Look what time it is.

It's PJ time. You guys go get your PJs on.

All right, as soon as you brush your teeth, I'll come in there.

Can we have our story in your bed?

Yeah, fine. Fine, just go.

Hello.

Hey, it's me.

Oh, hi.

I... I called.

Uh, is everything okay?

No, everything's not okay.

We went over the case design again today and once again Joe wants me to shift everything around inside to accommodate.

It's style over substance and I'm tired of it.

Guy comes in and presents something with metal paneling, and because of the dimensions, the heat sink won't fit.

I mean, the thing's gonna end up being a waffle iron.

I'll fax you over the dimensions so you can see how ridiculous it is.

Wait, but that could work, couldn't it?

Let the exterior paneling pull heat off the board?

It's actually an interesting idea.

(snaps)

(grunts)

(clatters)

(Gordon grunts) Ooh!

Gordon?

Gordon?

Gordon?

I have to go.

Joanie: Daddy, we have our PJs on!

Come on.

(handset clicks)

At the end of the day, we're happy to be doing business with y'all.

We'll get you a case.

Well, I appreciate that, Kenny.

The pleasure's ours.

Get that plastic mold fired up ASAP, huh?

We figure with the amount of money you're spending, I can bump you to the top of the list.

I appreciate that.

Hey, you all right there, partner?

Long week.

Hurts, don't it?

Well, at least we got to have a good time on Cardiff's dime, though, right?

Yeah, sure.

Have a good one, Kenny.

Hey, you know, we must'a seen 20 pretty titties.

Not so much as a smile from you.

What, are you q*eer?

(grunts)

That is as*ault, John! I will press charges.

I am gonna sue your ass, John!

You hear me?

Kenny: All right. I'm good, I'm good. Get your hands off me.

Can you still make it work with your guy?

I can try.

Daddy?

Um... a long time ago, way back in the 1800s, there was a farmer in Cardiff, New York.

Cardiff, like your job.

Exactly. And this farmer, he wanted to feel special, so he built a 10-foot-tall giant

and buried it out in his field.

And he waited, and a year went by.

And then he and some of his workers dug it up.

And the men who worked for him were convinced that the giant was real.

And the people told him to show it to the world, and he did.

And people came from all around.

And he felt very, very special.

He was so special that somebody offered to partner with him.

P.T. Barnum, an expert salesman.

And they fought and they argued day and night because the salesman wanted the giant all to himself.

What happened?

P.T. Barnum built his own giant.

And he made it part of his circus

and he claimed that it was real.

And he was such an expert salesman that everyone forgot about the farmer... and he was left in the dust, in the contrail.

And I swear I was headed for the f*ring squad.

Great surprise, huh?

You've been far away.

I'm sorry, I'm...

Ever since Gordon called?

("Music Box Dancer" playing in background)

My husband is... well, he is an amazing man.

What he created for Cardiff, it's a miracle.

No matter how they derailed him along the way, he made it work at every step.

Chips on both sides of the board, an entire megabyte of RAM for an expanded OS...

Donna, why are you telling me this?

Because we made a deal.

We agreed that if he did this that it wouldn't turn out like last time, and I just don't think that he's strong enough and I'm...

I'm not sure that I'm strong enough.

You?

You are incredible.

(music continues)

Gosh, you think this piano player knows any other songs?

They should hire you to play.

They should.

(music stops)

Uh-oh, looks like he's taking a break.

Good.

No.

Go on.

I can't.

Quit your stalling.

Fine.

Go on, get up there.

(applauding)

(playing "New Orleans Boogie")

That's a lot better than that last guy.

What's your name?

Susan Fairchild.

You call me all the way out here just to sh**t the breeze?

The PC program's out of money.

I'm sorry to land it on you like that.

Wait, why am I just hearing about this?

What the hell happened?

Innovation is a risk.

I don't understand even what that means.

You sound like Joe, for Christ's sake.

The good news is we're weeks away from a payday.

The moment we debut at COMDEX, Nathan...

Did you strike Ken Burke tonight in the face?

He insulted Ginnie...

He called me up madder'n hell.

I need you to personally offer us a bridge loan to get us to COMDEX.

Are you out of your mind?

We're gonna pay you back by the end of the year.

You have no idea what these kids are making, Nathan.

This could change the... this could change everything.

In five years, every one of us could have one of these damn things in the house.

It's not a small market we're talking about.

We gotta get in the door now.

I'm thinking about putting up my home.

I need you to match that.

Match?

Yeah.

What the hell is wrong with you?

Rule number one, you don't risk your own money.

You've been brainwashed, gone native.

Ain't nothing worse than a businessman who's lost his compass.

Hell, Nathan, you trusted me before, damn it.

I was the one that got us to mainframes, didn't I...

Yeah, that's when you were still levelheaded, before you started burning the bridges of every business relationship that I have ever forged and now you're dragging me out here in the middle of the night... asking me to cash in my family's land?

Jesus, boy.

Nathan!

If that program is out of money, that is God saying, "Good night and God bless."

Once the last dime goes, you shut it down.

Pull yourself together, John.

Go home to your wife.

The moment I met you, you know what I longed for?

The day when we would get to work together, when we finally had something that would be worthy of you.

And that thing is a portable IBM clone?

Joe, I appreciate the blanket flattery, but it's a little too late, isn't it?

I don't get it. Why call me?

Why come back into my life at all?

I remember when Jeremy said he was leaving New York to come spend a year here.

"Tour the Great Plains," he said...

Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas.

"Photograph the landscape." What landscape?

I mean, we all thought he'd gone mad.

But here I am trying to see what he was talking about, looking at his pictures, and trying to figure out why you moved here.

I'll tell you why. Equal opportunity, a level playing field...

Joe, please. I already got the hard sell

from your wunderkind over there.

Truly the future generation, Joe.

She actually reminds me of you at that age.

She's light-years ahead of where I was then.

She is tomorrow, and we're all better off because of it.

In the end, it doesn't matter what design we choose because it's what's inside the machine that's brilliant.

She did that. Not you, not me.

Do the case, don't do the case. I don't care.

Get off me, "Kojak." Ow!

(goblet crashes)

- (laughing)

(Judie laughing)

All right. Come here, come on. Get a hold of yourself.

Sorry.

"That guy just messes me up."

(laughing)

Oh, wait a minute. There we go.

You know, you probably made that piano player more in tips than he makes in a whole year...

"Susan Fairchild."

Wait a minute, I think I know that name.

Oh, that's my mother's maiden name.

You probably heard it around.

No, actually, I think I read it somewhere.

Ahem.

You should be "Susan Fairchild" more often.

She's fun.

Can I tell you something personal?

Doing that extra report got you here.

Saying no to those execs changed our whole presentation.

Showing people who you really are, you should do that more often.

Be bolder.

(elevator bell pings)

Ahem. I'll see you downstairs at 6:00 for our flight.

Haley: Will we find the giant?

Joanie: I'm sure we're close.

Haley: We have to dig deeper, come on.

Joanie: We're very deep.

Haley: Oh, my gosh. I think I found a worm.

Joanie: You did? What should we name it?

Haley: Smiley?

(Haley laughs)

Girls, what are you doing?

Joanie: Digging for the giant.

No, honey, it's not a real giant.

It was real to him. You said so.

Sweetheart, you gotta get inside or your mother...

Don't worry, Daddy. We'll find the giant.

Sweetie, it's just a story.

Okay, look, I'll show you.

See? No giant.

Daddy, what happened to your hand?

Daddy, are you okay?

You guys stay here. All right?

I'll be right back. I'm gonna show you.

(knock on door)

I just had to come down. I was...

Whoa, whoa, what... what are you doing?

You said "bold."

You said... wasn't...

I came to bring you a fax.

Um, the hotel delivered it to my room by mistake.

I think it's from your husband.

(gasps)

Oh, my God.

I am so sorry.

I... you must think that...

No, no, no. No, look, these things happen, okay?

Look, people... people work together and they develop, uh, you know... they just... they don't usually act on them.

Look... have a good night.

Oh.

(phone beeps)

Hello?

Um, are there any rental car places still open?

Yes, now. I need to go home.

(rattles)

(line rings)

(line beeps)

I need you to swing by my office first thing in the morning.

Thank you.

I'll be a minute.

This didn't turn out the way either one of us had hoped.

I just wanted to see you again, Joe.

Spend some time with you really working on something.

Then I come to find you're with her.

Yes, I'm with her.

What we had was 10 years ago, Simon.

Stop living in the past.

Why bother with any of that now?

I'm sick.

(gasps)

I just came to say goodbye.

Simon: Aren't you gonna ask?

What?

If I'm still gonna do the case?

I know you, Joe. I know you're thinking it.

I set it up before I even got on the plane.

I need you to know that the way you felt about me, I wanted to...

Take care of yourself.

(sniffles) Go.

(bangs)

(door opens, closes)

Are you gonna get bored of me?

I don't know.

(gasps)

Oh, my God.

Baby?

Baby, is everything okay? Where's Daddy?

We were in the back yard digging.

Okay. Okay, go back to sleep.

Haley: Hi, Mommy. We were helping Daddy.

Gordon?

(faint scraping)

Gordon?

Gordon: Here! Down here!

(scraping continues)

Gordon, what are you doing?

I'm looking for the giant.