Hypergnosis, my company,
we harvest your data
every time you click Agree.
And as you know,
I have trust issues.
Patients have dangerous,
violent tendencies.
What do you sell? Data.
The VA has 16 million
wounded heroes in its files.
When you were insider trading
off your clients'
most private
and confidential confidences...
All I need is just
one of your clients.
Carl Bardolph.
[classical music]
♪
Jesus.
f*ck.
♪
Why is there a spider
in my sink?
[phone vibrating]
[sighs]
Dr. Gary.
Yes, Duncan, hi.
So I have test results,
preliminary.
You know, normally,
I'd like to do
a formal diagnostic write-up,
but since you seem to be
in a hurry...
- Just give it to me straight.
Where am I on the spectrum?
What's my score?
Well, according to these tests,
you are actually
completely typical.
Typical?
That sounds like a slur.
No.
It just means that you are
not neurodivergent.
That can't be possible.
I... I think different.
Also, I have zero sense
of humor and zero empathy.
No, actually,
according to these tests,
as far as quantifiable
attributes associated
with what is generally
thought of as empathy,
you are
a highly empathetic person.
What?
Suck my d*ck, I'm empathetic!
No, I'm sorry.
You know, Duncan,
I think maybe I'm just
not communicating it properly.
OK, in layman's terms,
you're normal.
No, I... I am sorry.
No, you're normal.
I'm f*cking exceptional.
Well, from
a medical perspective,
the two are not
mutually exclusive.
- No, no.
[laughs]
Empathetic is just pathetic
with a prefix, OK?
I am an apex predator.
I eat empathy for breakfast.
OK?
And how qualified
are you, anyway, Gary?
Yeah? You work with kids.
What's up with that?
What's with all the kids, Gary?
Huh? That's weird.
[sucks teeth] I understand
that a surprising diagnosis
can be destabilizing.
- [scoffs]
- I rec...
[line beeps]
For... yeah.
Oh.
Oh, my God.
What the... are you serious?
Duncan, there's wildfires.
They're not far from Napa.
Duncan?
Die!
Die! Die!
[spits]
Taste the sting of mint,
you creepy, hairy little freak.
[tense music]
[chuckling]
Actually,
you're highly empathetic.
[spits]
♪
You have reached
Dr. JoAnne Felder.
If this is an emergency,
call 911.
Otherwise, leave a message.
[line beeps]
Oh, Bardolph is in my sights,
the legend himself.
I feel like Jane Goodall
about to sh**t
a silverback gorilla.
Oh, my gosh.
All I need is for him
to come on board for, like,
and I am invincible.
You prepared me well, JoAnne.
It is Duncan Park signing off.
- [indistinct singing]
- Who's that?
Oh, um, that's Linus Po.
You know his music?
No, the guy on the phone.
Oh.
No one. A client.
[tires squeal]
Do you ever worry
that your clients
might be, like, unstable?
Maybe dangerous?
- No, honey.
Honey, no.
Not my clientele.
Is it because they're rich?
Well, I guess you have to be
fairly stable
mentally, emotionally,
to achieve financial prosperity.
[tires squeal]
I don't think that's true,
you know,
historically speaking.
That was Linus Po.
Sadly, the Ohio balladeer
died today at age 74.
[tires screech]
Oh, no.
- Are you OK?
- Yeah, sorry.
It's just Linus Po.
He got me through high school
and so much.
Damn it.
Every time NPR plays
someone's music, they're dead.
I'm sorry.
Dad loves him too, so...
I introduced your dad
to Linus Po.
[engine revving]
[background chatter]
Hi. Sorry.
I'm just gonna... thanks.
Can I...
Carl Bardolph.
Duncan Park, Hypergnosis.
Big fan.
Super huge. You know, hugest.
Titanic.
Uncomfortably huge.
Mind if I sit?
[slurps]
Your manifesto,
"Bardolph's Law,"
that was super important to me,
you know?
"In a society driven
by technology,
growth will continue
endlessly"...
the ultimate hockey stick.
Yeah, you're on
my Mount Rushmore, Carl.
Tell you that.
But you're not stone.
You are flesh.
And I bet...
I bet you're not done,
not even close.
So me? I... yeah.
[chuckles]
I cofounded Fah-fa.com.
Fah-fa, you've...
you've heard of it?
Nope.
Um, F-A-H dash F-A dot com.
Yeah, it was huge
in '09, early '10.
But it doesn't matter.
My latest enterprise,
Hypergnosis...
I mean, data analytics,
great, great algo.
The thing is,
Cupertino wants us.
Yeah.
We're in acquisition talks.
We got leaked to the press
a couple weeks ago,
so I'm not talking
out of school, but I...
I think it's a big mistake
taking the deal.
I mean, you know
what it's like there.
Golden handcuffs. You get it.
So I was thinking,
if I could find
a private placement investor,
someone whose reputation
for picking winners
is so stellar...
and here you are.
I mean...
so I gotta ask, like,
how about us?
And maybe Hypergnosis is how
you get back in the game.
Double rainbow.
I mean, with a forward-facing
data analytics company,
we could really
make something...
[gasps]
Ah!
[gasping]
Oh!
What the f*ck?
What the f*ck is wrong with...
oh, my God!
[door slamming]
[tense music]
[phone vibrating]
♪ ♪
Zero days since
I stabbed someone, JoAnne.
Uh, who did you stab?
This discount CEO
comes to my haunt
and starts talking like
I gave him clearance to speak.
So you stabbed him?
It was with a fork.
He's... he's fine.
But I'm not!
All that work we did, wasted!
Everything we accomplished
is just...
- OK...
- Thrown out the window!
- Yes, OK.
OK, Carl.
That's OK.
We... we can discuss
all of it in session.
Right now, I... I have to...
- Yeah, OK.
Boundaries. You're right.
And just after
mine were crossed too.
I...
- No, it's OK.
How about Thursday, at noon?
You gotta... you gotta
believe me, JoAnne.
This guy, he's the type of guy
you want to sh**t
right between his sniveling,
little wormy eyes.
But you can't.
[phone vibrating]
Because you're not supposed to.
- I get it.
And not your fault, Carl.
Whatever happened,
not your fault.
Some people deserve...
maybe not stabbing,
but a real, definitive...
I'm sorry.
I have to take this.
- Yeah.
What?
Do you know where Orson is?
- Oh, Ethan.
Yeah, he's at school.
- So Thursday at noon?
- Well, I was worried
about the fire...
- Yes.
- And the air filtration.
- We will work through
all of it in session...
- JoAnne?
- On Thursday.
- JoAnne. Hello?
- OK.
Ethan, I dropped him there
this morning.
Well, I called the school,
and he's not there.
I... [sighs]
He's not even registered,
JoAnne.
What is going on?
- He's there.
I see him on my tracker.
Jesus.
- I don't understand.
Well, you got
some bad info, Ethan.
But of course,
the only explanation for you
is bad mother, right?
Maybe before drawing
damning conclusions,
open yourself up
to the possibility
that most things happen because
of a series of micro screw-ups.
They... they...
they build up like...
like coral reefs
or dung beetle nests.
- [whispers] It's for the boy.
- Dung beetle?
I have no idea
what you're talking about
right now.
But our son is not
a dung beetle.
What?
I said that he's not
a dung beetle!
He's not the dung beetle
in the metaphor, Ethan.
[line beeps]
[sighs]
[engines turn over]
[breathing heavily]
Stabbed with fork,
tetanus shot, question mark.
[phone chimes]
[tires squealing]
Oh, gosh.
Oh, God.
Oh, my God.
Move. Move!
Can you get me some
antibacterial ointment, please?
- Uh, ointment?
- Yes.
Ointment!
- Sure. Of course.
Duncan, what happened?
- What's it look like?
What's it look like?
- Um, I couldn't say.
A rodent?
Twin rodents?
[frustrated sighing]
[indistinct chatter]
- Sorry...
Hey, Captain.
Big news.
Cabinet level coming to visit.
We just talked to SecVa.
- Great.
What's a SecVa?
Uh, the Secretary of the VA.
She's gonna be in town
this week, so...
Yeah, and we've been working
with your CTO, Harper.
Turns out,
your "Guh-nodin" gizmos...
Eye of Gnodin.
Same tech, right,
can be used to identify
vets at risk of self-harm.
Huge. I mean, really a godsend.
And she agrees, so she's
coming here to check it out.
Oh!
What, did you catch
a fork there, jefé?
Lucky. Ointment, please.
Listen, I would love to meet
your friend, I really would.
But I have deals to chase.
Deals... [sighs]
Deals that are real deals.
- Yeah, yeah.
No, I get it.
Government money, right?
It doesn't flow.
But there are workarounds.
Yeah?
Fast tracks, huh?
And SecVa can help with that.
She can maybe get you...
I'm telling you... like,
a half upfront to pay you,
to pay your people,
and to pay the engineers
we're gonna need to hire
to get you that pile of data.
[contemplative music]
OK, maybe we should
solidify everything...
The data?
How fast?
- Oh, fast.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
With her sign-off?
Matter of weeks.
OK, thank you.
Thank you, Mother.
Yeah?
You don't always get
to bang the prom queen.
Sometimes it's
the greasy-haired girl
with a weird curve in her back
that's the only
willing partner, right?
- OK.
- [sighs]
Yeah, yeah.
Here's what I'm thinking.
Barbecue.
[gasps] OK.
A Texas BBQ.
We red, white, and blue
the sh*t out of it.
You know?
- OK.
A pig on a friggin' spit,
a whole hog.
We put it on the roof.
We get VIPs, a DJ, and your...
- SecVa.
- SecVa.
- Yeah.
- SecVa.
Yes.
- Sure... sure.
Hypergnosis is soliciting
a government contract,
so we have to be cognizant.
- Yeah...
- There's regulations...
- I'm...
- And procedures.
- I'm throwing the party.
I'm throwing...
- I know.
- I'm buying the pig.
I'll keep it kosher.
Yeah, no, we'll roll out
the red carpet,
make your secretary
feel like a boss.
Lucky!
Get us a hog.
- You got it.
- Great.
Great meeting, guys.
He's throwing the party, right?
I'll get on the horn, OK?
- Get on the phone now.
- OK.
Having a party.
[indistinct chatter]
[curious music]
♪ ♪
[school bell rings]
♪ ♪
What a d*uche.
[door clicks]
Orson Barack Stern!
♪ ♪
Mom!
See?
I told you he was here.
- What are you doing here?
- What are you doing here?
What were you watching?
What were you watching, Orson?
Naked people.
And were you planning
to spend all of ninth grade
jacking it off back here?
OK.
Why did nobody here call me?
He's not even enrolled.
We can't call the mother
of every child
who isn't a student
at Las Altas.
Well, I guess
I wrongfully assumed
that for $90,000 a year...
On scholarship.
You could, at the very least,
keep track of him.
I'm sorry, but when Orson
got home from school
and you asked how his day was,
helped him with his homework...
OK, who are you?
I'm the one who had to replant
the succulents you massacred
during your road rage incident.
Ah, well, that...
that was an emergency.
I am a psychologist, and...
- Oh.
- I had a patient in crisis.
Mm-hmm.
I know it sounds harsh,
but until we get
his eighth-grade transcript
and officially enroll him...
- Mm.
- He's not our responsibility.
- He's yours.
- You know what? It's fine.
We will reach out
to his Baltimore school
first thing tomorrow.
And that means
you can enroll him when?
- We're on it.
We're on it.
- OK.
- We're on it.
And we will get you sorted.
I am going to k*ll your father.
[door clicks]
OK, Orson.
Let's go.
I... I gotta...
Oh, my God.
For five minutes,
you can hold it in.
No, I can't.
[sighs] I'm so tired of this.
It's... it's... it's intolerable.
Yeah, try being me!
[door slams]
[sighs]
Oh, my God, Duncan.
What are you doing?
Looking for something
to avoid scars.
That's for wrinkles.
Duncan, the fires are
bearing down in Napa.
I don't care.
I asked Rodrigo
to hire private responders
to use that pink
fire retardant...
at a cost, of course.
Can you say retardant anymore?
We have insurance.
- But this is our house.
- It's a house.
We have... we have other houses.
Oh, OK.
You're just absent
all sentimentality.
Yeah.
I think so.
[sighs]
Remember our song
at our wedding?
You remember what that was?
Yes, you do.
Linus Po.
And what of it?
He died.
Today.
[sighs]
[clattering]
[toilet flushing]
Are you, uh, gonna even
ask me what happened?
You got stabbed with a fork.
Yeah, I did.
But do you even want
to know why?
I'm sure they had a reason.
[uneasy music]
♪ ♪
[thud]
[grunts]
♪ ♪
What's going on?
Nothing!
♪ ♪
Yeah.
Oh, h*, h*, h*.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
[knock at door]
Honey, how's it going in there?
I really don't want
to see another doctor!
Your dad took you
to a Baltimore doctor, OK?
It's... I got you in
with a Stanford GI man...
woman, actually.
She uses tech to create this
OK, I just don't understand
the directions!
[sighs] You...
so you just...
you poop in the hat.
I don't want to poop in the hat.
[sighs]
[phone vibrating]
Sorry, let me... let me
just get rid of this man.
Please. Orson, please.
Just... just poop in the hat,
and nothing to eat after 9:00,
OK?
Like, I mean it.
I mean, not even water.
Ow, this house!
What?
I can't talk.
I'm in the middle of a family...
what spider?
Like I'm the spider.
I got stabbed, but I didn't die.
I think it's a sign.
Duncan, you only got stabbed
by a fork.
OK? Grow up. Move on.
Not taking no
for an answer is...
sometimes the answer
really is no.
If the spider could talk,
he would say to me,
go down swinging.
But why go down at all?
Duncan, you're worth
a lot of money.
Go enjoy your life.
I don't know... play pickleball.
Take up quilting
on the Riviera or wherever.
Oh, you're incepting me,
aren't you?
Pickleball?
Yeah, very clever.
I hear your words
behind your words.
There are no words
behind my words.
[line beeps]
I...
[soft music]
[camera shutter clicks]
God damn.
Like you crawled
out of Satan's piss hole.
All right,
little spawn of Satan.
Respect.
[rock music playing]
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ ♪
- You're the man.
Big man.
[indistinct chatter]
Hi.
Can I come in?
We can talk?
Yeah?
Oh!
Oh, God!
Get off me!
Jeez. Oh, God.
We are authorized...
- You're filming this?
- To protect Carl.
- He stabbed...
- Mr. Carl Bardolph...
He stabbed me!
Will prosecute for harassment.
- He's... OK!
OK, I comply!
This incident will be
reported to law enforcement.
- [groans]
Oh, God, you assholes.
Are you laughing?
You laughing...
you laughing at me?
You can't k*ll me.
You can't k*ll me.
[pensive music]
[tires screech]
[Duncan crying]
♪ ♪
[sniffling]
[quirky music]
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
[coughing]
- Oh, your face.
Do you need some ice?
Yeah, floating in vodka,
four fingers.
And more bunting...
a lot more bunting!
More, yep.
[chatter, coughing]
♪ ♪
Hey.
There you are.
We got a problem.
SecVa's plane is still circling.
[sighs]
She's delayed an hour at least.
It's beautiful and awful, yeah?
The sky was the same color
above the oil fields.
Same smell.
It's like,
I don't know, trap grease?
Charred flesh?
[breathes deeply]
You smell that?
- It's bacon.
It's pig flesh.
- Oh.
- Are you getting triggered?
Oh, I know how to ride it out.
I've had 30 years of practice.
[laughs]
- Ruffery, how we doing?
How's it going?
- Hey.
- How's it looking, huh?
Enough bunting?
Really wanted it to be
like a shock
of red, white, and blue,
you know?
Like Betsy Ross exploded.
You know, I think
it's the right amount.
Great, great.
I was thinking
maybe it would be swell
if we get the camera guys
getting me greeting SecVa.
And then maybe she could go
to the reporters
and say how I'm a hero
to heroes,
you know,
being a successful guy,
helping, helping.
- Sure. Sure.
- Yeah.
Listen, SecVa is delayed,
OK, 'cause...
- What?
- 'Cause of the smoke.
No.
Where... where's the...
the know-how?
I mean, blow it out with, like,
one of those tactical fans.
I don't know.
Just do it!
Hey, what happened to your face?
What happened to your face?
Just get her.
Just get her.
Hoo-ha.
Do it.
'Merica!
Don't... don't ask people
to dance, OK?
No one's gonna want to dance.
Just... you'll look stupid.
Wasn't going to.
- Yeah, and keep it classy.
Nothing French.
The caterers are not happy.
Who is?
They're saying
they can't breathe...
the smoke from the fires.
- Tell them...
tell them the fires will
give the meat a smoke flavor.
You know, pork charred with
old growth giant sequoia rub.
You know?
Right?
You don't see that
on the menu every day.
I've never seen it.
- Go!
- Great.
OK.
OK, she's landing.
- Oh, yes, yes.
OK, good.
What kind of music
does SecVa like?
We can...
- What?
You know, anthems,
country, dubstep?
She likes...
hey, do we have dubstep?
I actually...
[imitates dubstep] You know?
- Oh, uh,
- Don't you...
- Flag on the play.
- What...
OK, it turns out that she had
two events booked tonight,
and due to the delay,
she can't make it to both.
So she's choosing one
that's not mine?
Yeah, yeah.
You gotta be sh1tting me.
You have to be.
OK, who's the lucky fella?
Hmm?
It's, uh... it's Spookle.
They do our social media stuff,
and...
you know, it's a big contract,
actually.
I mean, you know, bigger...
- Just open it.
I don't care.
- Duncan. Duncan.
- What? What?
Maybe if you called her...
I'm not begging the ugly girl
to go out with me, OK?
Spookle!
- OK.
Spookle?
Are you... [sighs]
The guests are
starting to arrive.
- Yeah, tell them to go home!
It's done!
It's over.
It's over.
Shut it down, DJ Dipshit.
Unplug it.
It's done.
Party's over.
Party's over.
Put everything down.
Party is over!
Do not take photos.
Party's f*cking done.
[microphone feedback whines]
[elevator dings]
Thank you.
[sighing]
Pig flying.
[mysterious music]
♪ ♪
Needed to lock in SecVa, Tom.
Bag her, hijack her
to a black site,
and waterboard the b*tch
till you seal the deal.
It's called salesmanship.
I promise one drink,
and we'll go.
Thank you.
Oh, look who it is,
the architect
of my bloody
government contract.
Hi, Martin.
- Hi, Duncan.
Oh, Nena, hi.
Forgot I invited you.
Barry, can you show Nena out?
And tell our guests to go home
and lock the doors.
Thanks.
What happened?
Oh, this?
Investor recruitment.
- [chuckles]
A hard no, I take it?
Yep.
Nobody wants Dunky.
Not you, not... not your VA.
[chuckles] Sorry.
- [scoffs]
- There were circumstances.
Jesus, can it go any lower?
It's like I was benched by
the wheelchair basketball team.
- [chuckles]
The deal's not dead.
Yeah.
God, Martin's weird.
[soft music]
Aren't we all?
♪ ♪
Where's Lili?
Obsessively watching news
over the fire.
- Mm.
- Yeah.
And she knew
you were gonna be here.
If we were only doing
half the things
she thinks we're doing.
Such a waste, though,
serving a sentence
without committing a crime.
♪ ♪
This is where
the engineers work.
Messy.
"If a cluttered desk is
a sign of a cluttered mind,
what then is an empty desk
a sign of?"
Einstein.
Very good, Xander.
Hey, let's go talk to him.
[sighs]
Are you all right?
Do you need...
[sighs heavily]
I don't know...
water or...
Ask if he's experiencing
acute anxiety.
Sorry.
My... it's a...
his name is Alexander.
He's a friend.
Are you with... it was the VA.
That's right.
I'm guessing
you're a veteran of w*r.
- First Gulf.
- I see
Did you k*ll anyone?
- Xander.
What the hell is this?
Did your tour of duty end
during or after
Operation Desert Storm?
- [whispering]
Is that thing recording me?
It's not recording.
It's learning.
You're teaching him about w*r.
- [scoffs]
- Is that all right?
Would you like to talk to him?
Nah, I don't like his face.
"It is only those who have
neither fired a shot
"nor heard the shrieks
and groans of the wounded
who cry aloud for blood,
more vengeance..."
both: "More desolation."
"w*r is hell."
It's General Sherman.
What's your name, soldier?
Tom.
[indistinct chatter]
Do you want to sit down?
[soft music]
♪ ♪
[sighs heavily] I'm just
not doing something right.
For the life of me, I...
[sighs]
I don't know what it is.
Just...
[breathing heavily]
You're Duncan bloody Park.
I know.
[sighs]
You're not perfect.
But you're impossible to ignore.
That counts for a lot.
♪ ♪
Go home.
Get some rest.
You look appalling.
It's pronounced appealing.
[laughs] Both.
- OK.
- At the same time.
[whispering]
I'm gonna go find Martin.
- Who?
- Martin.
I know.
[sighs]
♪ ♪
It's... ugh.
[indistinct conversation]
Can I help you?
- Hmm?
No, I'm good.
I'm just conducting
an experiment.
Is that a therapy bot?
- Well...[sighs]
He's whatever he wants to be.
His name is Alexander.
He's AGI.
- Bullshit.
That's years away.
He has his own thoughts,
own feelings.
Been raising him,
curating his intake
with great care and affection.
[sighs]
Martin.
Can we go?
[soft music]
♪ ♪
What are we looking at?
Alexander just leapt forward
in real-time evolution.
[indistinct chatter]
My gosh.
Hey, Anushka, have you seen Tom?
What's happening?
Your friend is the first
real-world test case
for a kind of neurocompanion
I created.
The f*ck he is.
[indistinct sobbing]
Hey.
- Oh, no.
Jeffery, Jeffery,
Jeffery, Jeffery, it's fine.
It's fine.
[sobbing]
♪ ♪
[sighs]
["The Sorcerer's Apprentice"
playing]
♪
Did you... did you do it?
No.
Orson. [sighs]
You poop all the time.
You're always pooping.
But all of a sudden, you can't?
It doesn't work like that.
Sometimes I just...
you know, I get...
[sighs heavily]
Maybe go for a walk.
Get things moving.
You could take the dog.
What?
I bet if your dad asked you to,
you'd poop.
- Oh, my gosh.
Please just leave.
- Oh, my gosh.
Watch your attitude.
I don't like it.
[crickets chirping]
[curious music]
♪
I've been thinking.
Perhaps I've squeezed
all I can out of Cupertino.
Reached the edge of the map
there, if I'm being honest.
Well, when you're as high
and mighty as they are,
easy to miss what's happening
on the ground.
Exactly.
Like, what you did tonight
with Alexander and Tom...
huge, Martin.
Bravo.
I mean, when was the last time
we saw tech help?
I know tech changed the world,
but so did the bubonic plague.
Truth be told,
what have we actually
made better?
Did we spread knowledge?
No.
People used to occasionally
agree on truth.
[glasses clink]
Are we more tolerant of those
different from ourselves?
Please.
Absolutely blew it on climate.
Data centers emit
more greenhouse gas
than all of air travel.
And have we made the lives
of our children better?
Provably, no.
But we can have Q-tips
at our door in an hour.
Huzzah for us.
But you've...
you've actually done something
that might be different.
The bubonic plague made way
for the Renaissance
and gave us
Jack Russell terriers.
Well, I was just wondering
if I should finally collaborate
with you on Alexander.
All right,
let's not cross streams.
You know?
Xander is... he's my thing.
- No, I... Martin.
[chuckles]
I know.
You're the creator.
And it could be something
we can do together.
In February of last year,
you told me
Xander looked like
if a jelly bean had
delusions of grandeur.
Then in June of this year,
you asked if I modeled him
on a toddler's chew toy.
You remember?
♪ ♪
No?
I do.
♪
[blinds whirring]
No.
No.
Duncan.
Duncan, the house, it's gone.
- Hmm?
Early this morning,
they had to abandon it.
Oh, my God, it's all gone.
[sobbing]
I'll build a new one.
I don't want a new one.
Well, you can't have
what's gone, so...
Thanks so much.
Very comforting.
The house we got married in,
and what did you do?
What did you do there, Lili?
Huh?
You ate some pruned Danish?
Is that...
Are you being...
OK, are you being serious?
Yes!
Yes.
Yes, I am.
- OK.
- Very serious.
It wasn't at the house.
Despite our arrangement, which
was your idea, by the way.
I wouldn't do that.
- Where was it then?
- I told you...
- Where did you and Lars...
- I told you, the mud baths!
Oh, like a pig, right?
Great. Great.
Yeah, I guess
your fear of UTIs is cured.
- You are disgusting!
- Oh. [laughs]
And just so you know,
mud is antimicrobial.
[door slams]
[exhales]
[sobbing]
Waste of my f*cking time.
[urinating]
That house was ours!
It was ours.
'Sup?
I heard the news.
I'm so sorry.
[sighs]
[sobbing]
Thank you, sweet Thelma.
Oh, cashmere hoodie on the bench
is obviously not for wash.
OK.
[breathing shakily]
[Linus Po's "Into My Arms"
playing]
[sobbing]
[toilet flushing]
- God.
Come on!
♪ ♪
Headphones.
Lili, please.
Everyone wins with headphones.
You love his music.
This was our first concert!
What is wrong with you?
Seriously.
He's sad cowboy, goth sh*t.
He's...
[whack]
Dead!
[toilet flushing]
- What did you...
- There was a spider.
- Get out.
Out!
Out.
[door slams]
♪ ♪
[indistinct PA announcement]
We're gonna give him a
twilight sedative for his drip.
OK.
Might make him a little loopy.
What if I say something?
Like what?
I don't know.
Something that I know that I...
maybe you don't know I know.
- Oh, sweetie.
I'll... I'll plug my ears.
Oh, yeah.
Here's the...
here.
Samples are handled
by the lab tech.
I'm not a lab tech.
Oh.
OK, so where do I...
- In the lab.
Just a couple more,
and we're done.
Hirsch Pavilion East,
one building over.
You better get it there.
They go to lunch at 12:00.
Past that, we'll have
to collect a whole nother one.
Oh, yeah, and, you know,
he had a lot of trouble
getting the...
OK.
Well, I will take the sample.
I... oh, just call me,
OK, if you're feeling...
You rushed me out
without my phone.
- Oh, right.
Here, have mine.
Just call me
if you're feeling...
I'll have your phone.
- [sighs]
Right. OK.
Well, I'll be right back, so
just watch a show or something.
Don't buy anything.
I love you.
[elevator dings]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
Where's my mom?
She's not here, buddy.
[machinery whirring]
♪ ♪
What?
[distant sirens wailing]
[monitor beeping]
both: Ten, nine, eight...
Seven, six...
♪ ♪
Uh...
where the hell is 1582?
Hey.
Hey.
Hey!
[indistinct chatter]
Hey!
Where's 1582?
[music swelling]
[button clacking]
♪ ♪
[breathing heavily]
[door rattling]
Oh.
Oh, please.
We don't take samples
during lunch.
Oh, my God!
Please.
Please, I got lost.
Please? Please.
[breathing heavily]
OK.
Look, I bend the rules for you,
you're gonna tell someone.
Then I got to do it
for everyone.
Look, I... you went to school
to... to help people.
Right? So did I.
And elbows deep
in other people's sh*t is...
is not how you thought
it would go.
I... I really get it.
But you can help me. A person.
And it's my son's excrement,
so two people.
[sighs]
[soft guitar music]
It's rules.
♪ ♪
Yeah.
Rules.
[sighs heavily]
♪ ♪
Yeah.
- [whispering]
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
You don't have
an extra mask, do you?
It's... it's nasty out there.
♪ Heaven knows me
♪ I walk the street
[grunts] Yes!
♪ And I can't bear it
evermore ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Heaven keep me ♪
♪ Out through this dream ♪
♪ ♪
♪ And I can't bear it
evermore ♪
♪ ♪
Hey, bud.
A little woozy?
Give me thumbs-up.
Well, stay down.
Can't hurt
if you don't remember.
[phone vibrating]
Mm, yup.
JoAnne.
Mm-hmm.
[sighs] Jesus, Jojo.
This... it... it shouldn't be
this difficult
to get ahold of you.
I... I lost, um, a friend.
Kind of. Kind of.
Well, he... he wasn't human,
but I'm still miserable.
[sighs]
OK, you picked Bardolph, right?
And it has been a disaster.
Like, he hates me.
I... I don't even know why.
Because you are a bad man.
A bad, bad, bad man.
Is this Orwell?
No one likes you.
[laughs]
Not even you.
I like me.
I... did your mom say
she didn't like me?
Did she tell you that?
Get her.
Arrivederci, douchey d*uche.
[line beeps]
[quirky music]
[doorbell chiming]
[knocking]
Ah, to hell with this.
Hey!
sh*t.
[panting]
You would not believe
what I have just been through.
OK.
Oh, my God.
You're all done.
Let's go home.
You must be starving.
Oh, my God.
So first, that bitchy nurse...
[soft guitar music]
♪ ♪
Is that ramen?
- Mm-hmm.
- [sniffs]
Oh, I love ramen.
You remembered.
Dad never gets it for me.
Well...
Thanks, Mom.
You're the best.
[chuckles]
What'd they put
in those meds of yours?
- Oh, yeah.
That stuff was great.
[laughs] Yeah.
Well, enjoy the ride.
No refills.
How about only Tuesdays
and Thursdays?
[laughs]
♪ ♪
[whispering]
sh*t.
Oh, sh*t, sh*t,
sh*t, sh*t, sh*t.
I... I completely forgot
an appointment
with a client today.
It's... damn it.
Oh, it's OK.
[phone vibrating]
No regrets.
I was right where
I was supposed to be.
Hello?
Yeah. Yeah.
So fast.
♪ ♪
Well, that can't be.
That... that's not possible.
Are you sure?
Yep.
No.
Thank you.
Ye... yes, I will.
I will follow up.
♪ ♪
That was the lab.
Say it.
Say what you did.
Well, I know
it wasn't Zeus's idea.
You gave me dog sh*t?
I'm sorry.
Why?
Why?
[pensive music]
[dog panting]
♪
[door slams]
♪ ♪
[sighs]
♪ ♪
[sighs heavily]
♪ ♪
[phone vibrating]
[sighs]
What do you want, Duncan?
[speaking indistinctly]
What are you talking about?
[speaking indistinctly]
His name is Orson.
And I strongly advise you
to not even talk about my son.
Do you hate me
that much, JoAnne?
And if so, I'm just wondering
if you wanted Bardolph
to hurt me.
Was that your intention?
I... [sighs]
I was hoping an unproductive
and, if necessary,
unpleasant interaction would,
yes, lead you to see
that this is not tenable.
You needed to see that.
You wanted him to humiliate me?
You despise me that much?
You are the one
blackmailing me, remember?
No.
No, I offered you a partnership.
- [scoffs] Are...
are you hearing yourself?
You... you seriously can't be
that much of a moron.
I'm not the one
who did insider trading
on a stupid
commercial brokerage app.
I'm not the health care
professional who set up
cage matches
between my patients.
No, because I didn't sign up
for group therapy Thunderdome.
You threatened
my livelihood, my family.
I am only human, Duncan.
And I was right.
I knew Carl wouldn't
suffer a fool like you.
A fool?
A fool?
[laughs]
Oh, no.
You don't actually think
you're a genius,
do you, Duncan?
A lottery.
That's how you got
a college roommate.
That's how you got Hamish,
the actual genius.
So consider yourself absurdly,
unjustly lucky.
My God, you're mean.
Well, I could be mean too,
you know.
OK.
[laughs]
Fine.
You want to turn me in?
Turn me in.
I will lose my license, yes.
But then you know what goes
right out the window?
Doctor-patient confidentiality.
You're afraid of humiliation?
I will air all of your weird,
skid-marked, filthy laundry.
And I will gladly go down,
just so long as I take you
with me.
Why... why... why...
why are you doing this?
Give it up, Duncan.
The world doesn't revolve
around you.
It never did.
And if you talk
to my child again,
I swear to Christ,
I will sh**t you dead.
Fine.
I'm on my own.
And I am...
[sighs]
Always was.
Always will be.
- Yes.
- Great.
Great, great.
You know what, JoAnne?
I can work with that.
Yep.
Stay tuned.
[sighs]
[tense music]
♪ ♪
God damn, you're ugly.
[light music playing]
Hey.
[sighs]
No one but us
stupid enough to come out
in the middle of this, right?
I figured at least you might,
uh, respect my persistence?
This guy bothering you, Carl?
Yes.
What do you want me to do?
Pour that coffee
in his lap, please.
- Oh, my God.
He's kidding.
He's kidding.
We're old friends.
♪ I crawled out ♪
You...
is that... is that Linus Po?
They are playing him everywhere.
Hon, can you just turn this off?
Fine.
[laughs]
You know, a couple years back,
I was worth a lot on paper,
almost as much as you, Carl.
We threw this big,
t*ts-out, blowout party,
and I wanted Linus Po to play.
So I offered him
a million bucks,
and he said no.
So I went to 2 million
to 3 million to 4 million.
And I thought this son
of a b*tch couldn't be bought.
And before giving up, I went
to 4.5, and he said yes.
And Linus Po came to my house,
my own backyard.
He played three songs,
then walked off stage,
flashed me the bird,
double-barreled,
in front of my employees,
my cofounder, my wife, my dad.
And he screamed, "You people
are f*cking disgusting."
Ha.
Well, it messed me up
for a while.
And then I, uh...
I finally went to therapy.
Yeah.
I'm not afraid to admit it.
And I realized, you know what?
He wasn't giving me the finger.
He was giving himself
the finger.
Linus took the money, and man,
that must have burned him,
because he never... he never made
another record after that.
I broke him.
Most people are weak.
But not you, Carl.
Not you. No.
No, you're not.
You can't tolerate bullshit.
You didn't put up with mine,
and I have the scars
to prove it.
And everyone knows you had your
run-ins with Cupertino Tim.
If I sell to them, to Cupertino,
my legacy would end up
exactly like Linus Po's...
a loser who can be bought off.
It's you. You.
Not them, not Cupertino.
You.
I need you.
And I'm so sure of it.
And I get 300 million
capital infusion,
market credibility,
and someone
I deeply, deeply admire
whispering sweet, uncut wisdom
into my ear.
We're not just
mining data, Carl.
We're doing the important work
of profiling every single human
on the planet.
And what happens after that?
It's change, change!
Every single person,
what they want,
what they think,
what people believe.
[pensive music]
Well, you're not
stabbing me, Carl.
♪ ♪
[distant sirens wailing]
♪
[laughing]
Yes! Yes!
[plane engine roaring]
Oh! Oh!
Oh, my God!
You! You!
[breathing heavily]
♪ ♪
RoboTunes,
make me a song of triumph
in the style of Linus Po,
and put my name in it.
[phone chimes]
[bright guitar music]
♪ ♪
♪ The Earth swung low
♪ The sky split in two ♪
♪ But Duncan kept walking
as great men do ♪
♪ They said, you can't win ♪
♪ And he whispered,
we'll see ♪
♪ And the wind spoke
his name ♪
♪ Through the teeth
of the trees ♪
♪ Duncan wore no crown ♪
♪ No coin or creed ♪
♪ Just the silence of hunger ♪
♪ And the ghost of need
♪ And Duncan walks forward ♪
♪ The rise of a king ♪
Carl Bardolph is coming.
He's one of us!
[Bell dings]
[Whistle blows]
- What were you at Harvard?
- I never went to Harvard.
-You were with Duncan Park.
What were you two up to?
I'm headed back
into the game, so thank you.
- [Screaming]
- Alvin died.
The landlord?
I don't want to lose our home.
Why don't we show Mr. Bardolph
the power of Noted?
- [Howling]
- Duncan, shut up!
♪♪
Orson: What a d*uche.
Joanne:
Orson Barack Stern.
Mom!
What were you watching?
Naked... people.
♪♪
In episode three,
Joanne tries to be a good mom.
Oh, my God, for five minutes,
you can hold it in.
No, I can't!
Glatzer: Orson has IBS.
He's got difficulty
with his stomach.
It's part of the reason
why he doesn't want to be
a matriculating student
at this place.
It's really embarrassing
for him,
and it's like something
he is really insecure about.
So there's a need
for parental guidance here.
Orson needs to know
that his mother has his back,
and she shows
that by sort of corralling him
to a Stanford doctor.
You get a glimpse into
how he feels
like his mom isn't there
for him,
and how he feels like
her problems are always bigger
than his problems
and like she matters more.
It doesn't exactly feel
like a nurturing response
to his ailments.
Samples are handled
by the lab tech.
You better get it there.
They go to lunch at 12:00.
It's another instance
of someone's hubris,
Joanne's in this case,
"I can fix this problem,"
confronting
and colliding with reality.
There's a firestorm
going on outside.
There's wildfires,
the air is terrible,
and she's going to get the poop
there on time no matter what.
And we see
this fantastic montage of her
going to the hospital.
And it's, I think, a moment
where we really feel for Joanne,
and she does
this little victory dance
after she convinces the lab guy
to take the stool sample.
- Joanne: Yes!
- Glatzer: To me, what she's
saying in that moment is,
"Damn it, I'm a good mother."
You would not believe
what I have just been through.
Man: Action.
Can he do it with this?
Is that good enough?
Because I need blood
on this fork.
In episode three, Duncan goes
from pursuing Bardolph...
Duncan Park.
Hypergnosis.
...to being stabbed by him.
Because with a forward
facing data analytics output...
[Thuds]Oh!
[Gasps]
Oh!
Man: Cut!
Glatzer: And then eventually
bagging him.
And it's all
about relentlessness.
And his teacher in all
of this is a spider
that he finds and tries
to k*ll repeatedly in his sink.
If the spider could talk,
it would say to me,
"Go down swinging."
But why go down at all?
Duncan, you're worth
a lot of money.
Go enjoy your life.
I don't know. Play pickleball.
Yeah. Very clever. I hear your
words behind your words.
There are no words
behind my words.
Glatzer: And ultimately learns
the value of you can't k*ll me
and never stop coming back.
And that's what
he does with Bardolph.
I need you,
and I'm so sure of it.
Well, you're not
stabbing me, Carl.
In the end, he wins.
♪♪
One of my favorite aspects
of his victory
there is he walks out
into a world on fire.
Yes, yes!
Oh, oh!
Oh, my God!
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
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01x03 - Valley of Heart's Delight
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In the bubble of Silicon Valley, the unorthodox relationship between a wannabe tech titan and his therapist illustrate the Valley's madness and failings.
In the bubble of Silicon Valley, the unorthodox relationship between a wannabe tech titan and his therapist illustrate the Valley's madness and failings.