02x04 - Overlord

[bunniefuu]

Previously on "Manhattan"...

Dr. Oppenheimer has asked me to run the new group.

How soon can you deliver? A month? A year?

Helen: Oppenheimer picked you because he knows that he can control you.

You're the director of G group. Direct.

I spent all day wondering why I didn't make your idiotic group and you left me on the bench because you can't control your hard-on?

Oppenheimer: Remind me of her name.

There was a time when I hoped Crosley would take a shine to my daughter.

(laughs)

If you're not a communist, why are you risking your own neck to give them a b*mb?

Darrow: You know, if Dr. Winter were in less than comfortable circumstances,

I would worry they may not improve after today's events.

I can get you as far as the Lamy train depot.

Jean: I had a dream you jumped up and licked my thighs.

Abby: Robert Oppenheimer's having an affair.

Abby, stay out of other people's marriages.

Your husband's not going to Washington tomorrow.

I do not need marital advice from a deviant.

You should have Oppenheimer's job.

"Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you as yet but knock, breathe, shine and seek to mend.

That I may rise and stand, overthrow me and bend your force to break, blow, burn and make me new."

Batter my heart, o' two-person'd boy.

For you as yet but cover your loins and abandon me.

They expected me on the Hill two days ago.

No one's abandoning you.

I'll die if you leave.

(giggling)

I'm gonna miss the 4:10.

Do you believe in reincarnation?

Dr. Inessa says you and I have been traveling together for lifetimes.

You told your psychiatrist about me.

I've been your daughter, your brother, your wife.

You gave birth to me in a European ghetto.

You m*rder*d me... dozens of times. You enjoyed it.

What do you want from me?

Same thing that you want.

Hold me down under the water.

Do it.

Do it.

Do it!

(theme music playing)

What am I looking at?

Request for a Declaration of Taking Property 112, Ms. Maria Capo-Berryman, Tract B-31 quadrant...

English.

We need to buy this lady's farm so we can blow it up.

The judge is a hard-ass.

He wants to know why we're trying to stiff her.

I thought this went away.

She claims the land is worth $750.

The Army appraised it at $744.

And the Army can't pony up six bucks?

There are 43 of these. Today.

Tomorrow there could be...

Jesus.

Dr. Isaacs, I need an ETA on the machine tools.

Just, uh, take a number.

Um, where are the updated X-ray studies?

On your desk. And if I could...

No calls.

(scientists, officers clamoring)

(sighs)

(rings)

Jesus, Nancy, I said no calls!

So... what do we tell the judge?

Right. Tell him that I said that he can wipe his ass with the Declaration of Taking.

Tell him that this eminent domain is imminent, And tell Ms. Caperberry...

Capo-Berryman... to take her $744 or she can take up her grievances with the business end of a Sherman t*nk.

(phone rings)

We don't have time for this.

God damn it! What?

Blasphemy doesn't suit you.

Uh, Dr. Oppenheimer, sir. Sorry.

You're too high up on the chart for "sirs" and "sorries."

Yeah, well, uh, things have been a little hectic here.

I thought you'd be back on Tuesday.

There have been some unexpected delays.

We can't afford any more delays.

We've missed the last three interim delivery dates.

That's why I need your hand on the tiller, Charlie.

Sir, I think we need to...

Split the governing board into administrative and scientific divisions.

Cuts everyone's obligations by half, and it frees me to run the technical staff.

Then do it.

(stammering) I... I don't... I don't think it's my place to reconfigure the board.

Only you have the authority.

I'm granting you the authority, Charlie.

Assert it. Do whatever you must.

If it helps to pretend you're me, pretend.

That's what I do.

(soft music playing)

Helen's voice: First off, I'd like to thank you all for being punctual on our first official morning as the g*n Group.

I'm sure many of you would rather be working on implosion.

You may feel your talents have been overlooked... like the younger sibling living in implosion's shadow.

But Charles Darwin was a younger sibling and so was America.

There's no question implosion is a beautiful solution, but beauty does not win wars.

Wars are won by blunt force, brutality.

g*ns, not beauty, have won every w*r since the Chinese invented black powder.

g*ns liberated this country from the British, they liberated Europe in the last world w*r.

A g*n also liberated Reed Akley's brain.

Thin Man was a g*n-type w*apon based on a thousand years of ballistic science.

You've got a barrel, you've got a projectile.

Now, we all know Thin Man failed...

Is that what we're doing here?

Resurrecting a cadaver?

The problem with Thin Man wasn't the g*n.

It was the b*llet... plutonium.

But if we swap plutonium for uranium, the g*n design can work.

And we are going to make it work together.

Thank you, Helga.

Nothing quickens the pulse at the start of a day's work like the sight of a lady with a p*stol.

Sadly, all the gumption of American industry won't enrich enough uranium to blow up a privy.

Not before 1950 at least.

We few, we unhappy few, have gathered here to wank out numbers until the implosion group gets its ticker-tape parade.

As head of the g*n Group, I can assure you we will not be w*nk*ng anything.

Ah. Head of the g*n Group, yes.

One of those snappy claques that reports to the Chief of the Projectile Division.

Ah, there's his name, Dr. William Hogarth.

Who's for elevenses? Back in two hours?

(knocks)

So... is this a case of the clerical miscarriage or sadistic prank of the gods?

Well, surely you didn't pick me.

I wouldn't have picked you in the full flower of your talents, much less this wilted state.

Well, then, perhaps you'd entertain a request for a favor for old times'.

It's not in my power to transfer you to the test group.

Yeah, but you can sack me.

Mm, off the project. Send me packing for good.

For what cause?

Truancy, insubordination.

Whatever insults your daughter suffered at my hands.

Take your pick.

Man on P.A.: Attention... SED Team three is in Building U, room 106.

When you come across a wounded buck, the sporting thing to do is sh**t it.

(whispers) Please.

You've never been on a sh**t, have you, Paul?

At close range, the muzzle flash ruins the flesh for eating.

No, I think I'll savor this meal.

The closest thing we have to a medical reference at home is the Talmud.

It's sort of like a Hebrew "Farmer's Almanac."

Apparently, there are five different colors of female blood the rabbis consider to be unclean... red, black, bright crocus, earthy water, and diluted wine.

Let's call it "earthy water."

Is that bad?

Well, I'm no rabbi, but I think the AMA would say it's an indication of overly vigorous intercourse.

Maybe just ask Dr. Isaacs to go easy for a few days.

Mm.

(baby cooing)

Woman: Nurse!

Can I get some help in here, please?

Nurse?

k*ll the spider. Please k*ll it.

Don't let it get away. Just do it. Please.

Oh, thank you.

(exhales heavily)

(baby crying)

Joey was born on the fourth floor of Beth Israel.

Her mother would be horrified if she knew how her second grandchild would be born.

If my mother saw this place, she'd find it the least horrifying thing about me.

(quivering)

Oh.

The doctor says they're not real contractions.

(exhales heavily) I told him I'm not leaving until he takes this thing out of my womb.

Does Dr. Oppenheimer know you're here?

I can put a call through to Washington.

We both know that's a fool's errand.

Well, at least let me get the nurse.

I don't need anyone to hold my hand.

I'm royalty.

I've lived on relief checks.

I've lost a husband to w*r and others to lawyers. I've...

I've seen the elephant before.

They say the, uh... the first baby is the hardest.

Was your son difficult?

Robert's leaving me.

(inhales deeply)

Charlie!

Abby, what's wrong?

Is Joey okay?

Yeah.

The Oppenheimers are splitting up.

Abby?

What?

I told you to leave it alone.

Today, of all days, I do not have time for gossip.

It's not gossip, it's intelligence.

Kitty told me herself.

What did she tell you, exactly?

She said he's leaving her for that woman in San Francisco, the Communist.

He's with her right now.

What, he told you he was having lunch with Roosevelt?

Charlie, this is your chance.

For what?

Well, it... it's not just his family he's abandoning.

He's leaving the project.

No, Abby. You must've misunderstood.

Robert wouldn't do that.

Don't do that.

I understand perfectly.

He's dropping the reins in your lap.

The fate of the w*r, Charlie.

You're already doing Oppenheimer's job.

It's time you had the title.

(knocks, door opens)

Nancy?

I've reduced men three pay grades for calling me less.

Colonel.

What can I do for you?

What's that smell?

Did you tell Judge Foster Clements to wipe his ass with the Declaration of Taking forms?

Did he really?

I don't know.

Could be his dog's, could be his wife's.

The taxonomy of feces is outside my purview.

It was a poor choice of words.

All due respect, Colonel, wrangling local judges... it's not my purview.

It's Dr. Oppenheimer's.

Well, until one of you geniuses manages to bend the laws of space-time, he can't be here and in Washington simultaneously.

So you'll have to be his surrogate.

Right. Washington.

And he might be there a while.

Operation Overlord is in motion.

Overlord? It's happening now?

Which is why we can't abide snafus like this.

h*tler's backed into a corner.

He'll accelerate his project.

We have to keep pace.

We might need some reorganization.

What exactly are you proposing?

I think the Tech Area org chart might be outside of your purview also, Colonel.

Do you know why the general chose Robert Oppenheimer?

He dines with Cabinet members, smokes cigars with Cochiti Indians.

Rides stallions with governors, takes target practice with enlisted men.

Oppenheimer keeps the trains running with salesmanship and charm.

I haven't seen much of that lately.

And without jeopardizing the project, by asking a judge to defecate on U.S. Code 40, subsection 3114.

There isn't a physicist on God's earth who could replace him.

(door closes)

Winter.

You have some pretty fancy friends.

Clean yourself up, for Chrissakes.

Martha. How... how did you...?

Is it... is it...

Is the w*r over?

Yours is.

President Roosevelt... ringing up the warden in that tenth circle of hell.

Wish those spooks had recorded that.

It wasn't Franklin.

You said Einstein called the White House.

It was Eleanor.

She handles the lost causes.

Frank, you need to slow down.

I know.

I tried to keep myself sane remembering your hands.

Every line... every pruning scar.

I should've kept you and Callie out of this.

So the Princeton house is rented.

But that Craftsman down the street is back on the market again.

I already talked to the realtor.

Liza...

And then we can visit your father on the way home.

I'm so sorry.

You don't have to apologize.

I have to go back to the Hill.

You just escaped from a prison.

You... you want to break back into one?

We're never going back to that place.

No... no, I...

I don't expect you to come with me.

Newscaster: ...known details.

All figures to follow are best known estimates.

There is a new front in the w*r in Europe.

156,000 Allied soldiers have landed in northern France.

The invasion is still in its earliest hours, But all indications point to a promising start along the approximately 60-mile front.

Casualties have been lighter than expected with no signs of immediate retaliation...

I've got a half brother out there slaughtering Heinies.

I'm sitting here like a woman.

Don't flatter yourself.

Turn it off.

Hogarth: The show must go on.

For how long?

We're... we're taking Europe. Isn't class dismissed?

Not until the last Jap is eating apple pie with his chopsticks.

I've been asked to send a liaison to Site X to oversee the enrichment of their marvelous uranium.

I spent three years at Site X.

I know the staff. I'd be glad to go.

As head of the g*n Group, it should be my responsibility.

Nothing so poignant as idle ambition.

But if you two insist on a duel...

I meant to weigh in on the relative merits of three equally deficient refinement techniques.

Best proposal buys you a ticket on the Chattanooga Choo Choo.

Why would you want to leave the Hill? You just got here.

Did take a bit longer than I'd hoped.

But if the w*r is almost over, I can't pass up a chance for a final promotion now, can I?

Frank: h*tler will dig in, probably for months.

And every day he does, the Army pumps Oppenheimer or Isaacs, the whole senior staff, full of their lies.

"Imminent Threats," V2 over New York, cities of ruins.

They'll say anything to build that thing faster.

Racing an imaginary German project.

Yeah. Trust me, all I want is to come with you to Princeton.

But you're the only man who can fix this.

Have you ever wondered why you're always the only man for the job?

It's just a few days. That's all I need.

There are hundreds and thousands of soldiers hurling themselves up those beaches, but Frank Winter thinks he's the only man who can save the world alone.

You know Glen warned me about this.

In 1939, you thought you were the only man who could set this ball rolling.

Now in 1944, you're the only one who can stand in its way.

This time it's different.

You know, I'm not gonna chauffeur you back up that hill.

You want it so bad, you can hitchhike.

Waitress: I apologize.

Big doin's today.

Y'all finished or you want something more?

That, uh... that Model A you got out there.

It says there's a contest.

Will it get me as far as New Mexico?

Jesus, Frank.

All you gotta do to win it is b*at Red's own record for eating Texas red chili.

But I should warn you... no one's ever done it, and the chili's two bucks if you lose.

Well, since yesterday I was starving to death.

I kinda like my chances.

All right.

Papa, Sonny, bucket of Texas Red.

Comin' right up, Mama.

You had no right to keep a secret that big.

I had no choice.

Because you took an oath?

You broke every rule in the Army handbook except one.

What does that make me? The exception that proves the rule?

(cowbell dinging)

Is Red human?

No, sir. That's him right there... a Berkshire hog.

Newscaster: Here are the latest details as we now grasp them. While landing along the beaches of France continue even now, dodging enemy fire along the shore, Prime Minister Churchill informed the House of Commons...

Lady of Norfolk had a baby this morning.

Called her "Dee Day."

Spelled D-e-e Day.

Ain't that cute?

Naming your daughter after a land w*r?

It's adorable.

You're not as chatty as the last mail girl.

(door opens)

How did you get in here?

Spycraft.

I told the janitor I was your cousin.

I have one aunt.

I'm pretty sure she's a virgin.

You've been listening to the news?

I have bigger news.

For us, anyway.

(music playing)

Charlie Isaacs is gunning for Oppenheimer's job.

What?

Yeah, Frank was just the warm-up act.

Now he's got Oppie in his crosshairs.

You remember what happened to Julius Caesar on the Ides of March?

No, I only read the first 10 pages.

Charlie thinks that he can win the w*r by himself.

He pulled me and Fritz in to make his case for him.

Well... then make it.

What?

This is good for us.

If Charlie Isaacs overthrows Oppenheimer, it sets the schedule back, right?

I guess so.

The longer that it takes anyone to deliver a w*apon, the less chance anyone has of dropping it over a city ful k before the w*r is over.

You wanna save lives, right?

So talk Charlie into it.

(knock on door, door opens)

Uh, you are not Gretchen.

Two doors down.

Sorry.

We have to set some ground rules.

We can't be seen like this.

Well... so, what?

We just pass notes in the hall?

Like grade school?

We have to limit our contact.

If... if anyone asks, we, um... we had a one-night stand.

It was a bad match.

Hmm.

Though since we are... bending the rules.

This could be our last hurrah for a while.

Stop.

Why?

Because we're cousins?

(chuckles)

Don't be an altar boy, Jim.

I am the only one on the Hill that knows what you really are.

And you're the only one who knows what I am.

And if I wasn't?

Does it really matter?

They're not gonna let you back on the Hill.

You think it was hard getting out?

I have to try.

I'll take you to the bottom of the Hill.

But I go no further.

There's no question our efficiency takes a nosedive when Oppenheimer is off campus.

89% of targets met to 81% when he's away.

But if, God forbid, we lost him entirely, we'd hit zero. Zilch.

Oppenheimer is the reason we have Triple A priority.

You think we'd slip to AA-1?

AA-2. We wouldn't have the metals or the machine tools that we'd need to build a prototype until 1946.

If we have any chance of hitting our targets, we need Oppie.

We need him on the Hill full-time.

And never mind what happens if the Germans accelerate.

Yeah, but that's not accounting for Stan Musial.

Do you remember, uh, remember last year when the Cardinals lost Enos Slaughter to the service?

Yeah, of course. I'm from St. Louis.

Right. Everybody thought you guys were cooked.

But you put Musial in right field and you won the pennant by 18 games.

Now, we're all assuming that no one can replace Oppenheimer, but what if we had a Musial, someone equal to Oppenheimer or better?

For all we know, we could be testing by March.

Fritz: But the Cards still lost the series.

By moving Musial to right, they had no one to replace him in left.

I mean, maybe if Frank was still here, you would have a case, but otherwise...

This stays between us.

I need to speak with Dr. Oppenheimer now.

Can you get him on the phone, please?

No. But I can get you a map.

Why didn't you tell me you were back?

Is Kitty asking for me?

Everyone's asking for you.

The two divisions insist on meeting with you before they split, and the Munitions Board won't raise urgency standings without your sign-off.

Also, apparently, I pissed off Judge Clements of Santa Fe County.

Clements. You should invite him to my stable.

He loves gelding horses.

I don't mean horses that have been gelded.

He loves the specific act of gelding a horse.

Jesus. Do you hear yourself?

It's one thing to play the oriental sage, it's another to smoke the opium.

Do we have a problem, Dr. Isaacs?

You were here nine days in all of May.

None in June.

I can't do my job when I'm doing yours.

Don't you want my job?

That's what everyone thinks, including my wife, but they're wrong.

I-I want you to want your job.

This is where it will happen... your test.

Where the caldera opens up and swallows the world.

It's your test, Robert.

So, that's it. You're, uh, really walking away?

I'll be alerting General Groves that you are my successor.

No, I don't accept.

It's D-day.

75,000 American soldiers are throwing themselves into enemy fire, and you're abandoning ship.

You think Overlord wouldn't have happened without Eisenhower?

You're wrong.

"Great men"?

Pasteboard masks.

I know you were in San Francisco.

Take a mistress. What do I care?

Take a whole harem if it gets you through the day.

But you have got to get through the day.

Oh, to finish the gadget?

So that we win the w*r?

Then lord it over our allies in peace.

Wave it under Stalin's nose if he gets rowdy.

That sounds pretty Red.

Careful, Charlie.

This woman, whoever she is, she's a Communist, isn't she?

She's planting ideas in your head.

Her name is Jean.

Look, I haven't been perfect, either.

I was with another woman, I cared about her, but... but I have a family.

So you ended it.

Yes, I ended it.

If that was in your power, then you have no early idea how I feel.

(thunder rumbling)

Newscaster: Already throughout the nation, countless church services are being held.

Many states and cities have issued special proclamations on D-Day.

Britain's King George is scheduled to go on the air this afternoon at 3:00 for the special "Invasion Day" message.

(turns radio off)

(footsteps)

What do you think of Winnifred? "Win" for short.

A triumphant name for a postwar baby.

It was Joey's idea. Like "Winnie the Pooh."

You had a long day.

I was with Robert.

He's back. What did he say?

You were right.

He wants me to take over.

I knew it.

Charlie, I'm so proud of you.

Abby, there's nothing to celebrate.

You are worse than my father.

If it were up to him, he'd be selling hats out of the back of a truck on Route 60.

But, luckily, my mother had a little more faith in his product.

For the millionth time...

I'm not a businessman.

Well, no, but you have the best products on the market... your brain.

For Christ's sake, my brain can't requisition B-29 bombers, Abby.

Or keep Senator Truman and his cronies from shutting off the money tap.

Only Oppenheimer can do that.

Well, if Robert thinks that you can steer the project...

I don't think he cares if I steer the project right into the Rio Grande.

This is bad, Abby.

Okay.

Without Oppenheimer, his connections, the game's over.

Well... well, then we have to change his mind.

We can't do anything.

You think we're some kind of a team just 'cause you know about the gadget?

I just spent the last hour in the middle of nowhere wasting my breath trying to convince the man to stay.

Well...

Maybe you're wasting your breath on the wrong person.

If that's true, someone has to do something.

Man on P.A.: Your attention, please.

Today's Allied casualty list.

(announcement continues indistinctly)

The thought of all those boys cut down in their prime.

You know, Clark Gable enlisted after his wife's plane crashed.

Yes.

Uh, he... he was very good in "Boom Town."

(phone rings)

(rings)

(rings)

Hello?

Hello.

Am I speaking with the lady of the house?

This is, uh, Doris Lombard with "Redbook Magazine."

Well, I'm the only one here.

I suppose that makes me the lady.

Unmarried. Perfect.

We are conducting a survey what the modern girl looks for in a man.

May I have your name and initial?

My name is Jean. Initial "T."

What a sensible name.

Now, do you have a gentleman, or do you prefer to play the field?

There's no field, just 3,000 miles between conjugal visits.

Sounds like a strain.

How do you keep the fireplace stoked with this... gentleman?

We talk on the telephone.

Sometimes we swallow each other whole.

Abby: Don't you ever worry he might be stepping out on you?

Jean: I know he is with his wife.

Abby: Oh, a married man. That's risky.

You're hovering.

Thank you.

I'm so sorry to come by at a time like this.

It's about Robert.

I'm four centimeters dilated and he's packing his steamer trunks.

What else do you want to know?

Please. I need you to reason with him.

He won't listen to me.

He tried to m*rder a man once.

Did you know that?

His physics tutor at Cambridge.

He was upset over a paper, so he dipped an apple in cyanide and left it on the man's desk.

Like Snow White.

That's...

Certifiable?

She makes him look like the model of mental health.

Jean is out of her mind and that's why he can't resist her.

You want me to reason with him?

For five years I have been my husband's straightjacket, and he's finally slipped out of it.

Abby: What about your reputation?

Don't you worry about what might happen if word got out?

I try not to associate with the kind of people who value reputations.

Well, what about your gentleman friend?

Don't you think the affair might affect his career?

This isn't a survey, is it?

I know what you are.

Seducing him with p*rn sonnets and Freudian nonsense.

Who is this?

He's about to have another child, and you want to rip him away from his family.

What do you mean "another child"?

Oh. Of course he didn't tell you.

I mean, he lies to his wife, why shouldn't he lie to you?

Is this Kitty?

He doesn't love you.

You're just a rag.

You are nothing.

And you will never see my husband again.

They just opened the doors and let him walk out.

Well, it's okay. I know where he's going.

(knocks)

I'll call you back.

Dr. Oppenheimer is leaving his wife for a Communist in San Francisco.

Jean Tatlock.

You knew.

Did you know that he's abandoning the project for her?

Tendering his resignation, effective immediately.

Cost to the schedule if he leaves.

Three months lost at least.

Assuming the Magpie intelligence is right, that's the ball game.

By next summer Washington, D.C.'s a crater, and, uh, Heisenberg's on the cover of "Time" magazine.

We have to do something.

We?

Well, you said no one can replace him.

Or conscript him.

He works on the project voluntarily.

His wife says the woman is sick.

The state of California must have ordinances for that sort of thing.

Couldn't you lock her up for her own safety?

Oppenheimer is a master of bureaucracy.

He'd simply wave a magic pen.

Right. I... I'm not telling you how to do your job.

I'm just telling you that there's a job to be done.

Frank Winter was a problem. We made him disappear.

Liquid diffusion can enrich the feedstock for K-25.

As you can see, Dr. Hogarth, it's our best chance at rapid enrichment.

Yeah, that's just a stopgap.

Um, my proposal is to skip Alpha stage and move directly to the Beta track of the calutron.

(exhales deeply)

Still a long way from overcoming the uranium problem.

But it's competent work from the groundlings in the pit.

I think you'll see if you examine my detailed calculations...

Very tedious all this is. I have no doubt.

But I was intrigued by a third proposal that came across my desk.

Yeah. Apologies. I'll, um, happily return those to their proper owner.

I believe her name was Eloise.

You spent a... an evening with young Eloise on top of my desk?

She said that you'd given her the night off.

Wouldn't want a girl to starve.

Hope it's not a f*ring offense.

Oh, God, Crosley.

Congratulations, Paul.

I've decided you will be the Site X liaison.

What?

This is K-6. Outside line to San Francisco.

Douglas 8522.

(ringing)

Male voice: Hello?

Is this Douglas 8522?

Who's calling?

Put Jean on the phone.

Inspector?

This is Inspector Dunn, SFPD.

I'm afraid that won't be possible.

There's been an incident.

(shudders)

Tell Callie I'll call her as soon as I can.

You know... it wasn't because of some Army code.

That's not why I didn't tell you what we were building.

It was because I knew what you would say.

You'd have probably talked me out of it before we crossed the Pennsylvania border.

I'd have tried.

(scoffs)

I am sorry.

I had no right to make a choice that big for the both of us.

So, now it's your choice.

If you think that we should go to Princeton, we'll go.

We'll go right now.

(sighs)

(door opens)

Abby.

(footsteps)

Frank.

They told me...

I thought you were dead.

They lied.