Industry (2020) s04e05 Episode Script
Eyes Without a Face
1
- (BELL TOLLING)
- (STUDENTS CHATTING QUIETLY)
(STUDENT GIGGLING)
- STUDENT: Oh my God!
- (BELL TOLLING)
- School fucking failed her.
- CANDACE ALLBRIGHT: Of course.
- I pay all that tuition
- (SIGHS)
and they don't know what the fuck
- she's up to?
- If you tip them enough,
they'll walk her down the aisle
for you as well.
Where was their fucking duty
of care that night?
Maybe if you'd spent less time
with that whore in New York!
Candace, you left me.
(CHUCKLES) Oh! Of course,
that's your cowardly way of figuring it.
You heard that prissy bitch.
One of our kids is fucked in the head.
Why else would they expel her?
This is what happens
when a child is never left wanting.
(SCOFFS) You give her everything
except what she needs.
You think your disinterest
doesn't affect them?
Even subconsciously?
They need your love and guidance.
They crave it.
Why is it so hard for you to give?
- (OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
- (BROODING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
KENNY KILBANE: (ON SPEAKERPHONE)
Guys, I've been pretty pliant,
but risk needs more margin
on the Tender position.
My hands are tied.
We stuck to the risk limit
that we agreed.
Two hundred and fifty gross leverage.
Yeah, stock is up another seven percent
on Morgan Stanley's
turbo bullish preview
of the user uptake data
for their new app.
They've heavily beat their projections.
(SPEAKERPHONE BEEPS)
We can't wear this pain. I can't.
You need to post more collateral,
or we'll continue liquidating
your other positions.
- (SPEAKERPHONE BEEPS)
- What fucking positions?
My positions?
KENNY:
European positions this morning.
Your pair trades in the
energy and utility names.
- (KENNY CONTINUES SPEAKING)
- H? Harper.
Those were my positions.
The only ones in our book
making any fucking money.
We needed some headroom, okay?
And your longs, hedges,
whatever you wanna call them,
are not conviction positions.
And they run counter
to the philosophy of this fund.
What's the philosophy?
Bet big? Lose the house?
KENNY: Only a mother could love them.
Are you fucking
margin calling us or not?
Hey. Spare me the tone, Eric, okay?
I'm nominally a friend,
but the margin clerks here,
they make Reinhard Heydrich
look laissez-faire, okay?
And you've breached your risk limits.
I bought you a stay of execution.
It's more than I owe you, really.
You're gonna have to
post more collateral
in the next 48 hours,
72 at the absolute most,
or I won't be able to stop
your man liquidating Tender too.
That, or their share price
sees a material sell off,
but the world does not see that company
the way you do, unfortunately.
Gotta bounce,
needed back on the desk. Sorry.
- (SPEAKERPHONE BEEPS)
- HARPER STERN: Pierre's emailed.
He's asking me to speak
at the ALPHA conference.
Some bullshit
"Women in Finance" presentation.
More virtue capitalism.
- Seems low priority.
- It's not.
Even if he wants you
to personally sew a bed net
for every malaria kid in Mali, say yes.
We need all the positive press
we can get.
- So, what's the move?
- Uh, only one.
Now Dycker's piece has been nixed,
I'm gonna advocate for this
until I am blue in the face.
You need to let me go to Accra
and speak to Tender's CFO in Africa.
We keep saying that we have conviction
from fucking where exactly?
- Do you have a plan out there?
- A potential itinerary, yes.
All right, I think we owe it
to Sweetpea's work on this
for her and I to travel,
and then we can sleep knowing
that we did everything we could do.
That is literally all I'm asking
And high probability the trip's a blank.
- Our CIO's on a fool's errand
- (BUZZING)
when the fund is melting down around us.
How do we spin that to Pierre and co?
KWABENA BANNERMAN: Well,
Dycker's death is a spooky coincidence.
Like in a straight-to-video kind of way.
- The world is made of them.
- (BROODING MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
I don't understand how Rishi
happened to be acquainted
with the journalist?
Well, he sold drugs to him, apparently.
KWABENA: And he's facing
manslaughter charges.
Mm. I'm glad he found his way home.
KWABENA: The fuck does that mean?
JD STERN: (OVER PHONE)
I'll call when I know more.
JD: Speak soon.
SWEETPEA GOLIGHTLY:
His behavior means he's found
His way to the most
rational place for him.
And I speak from trauma
and experience, alright?
ERIC TAO: He was
a very retrograde human being.
KWABENA:
I know someone who isn't me has,
on occasion,
frequented the onion router,
and it seems off to me
that coke procured off the dark web
would have fentanyl in it.
ERIC: It just seems sloppy.
SWEETPEA: Well,
Rishi was fucking sloppy,
wasn't he? Harper, I'm booking us
on the next BA to Accra.
Um, I (HESITATES)
Maybe I should stay.
As Eric said, it's, um,
responsible for me to stay.
Sure, whatever. Um
You don't have to follow through,
but my plans are unchanged.
ERIC: You good?
It's just my landlord. It's an, um,
unpaid service charge on my apartment.
- (METAL CLANGING)
- (CHAIR SCRAPING)
ERIC: Sweets, you think
it's wise for you to go alone?
KWABENA: Eric,
it's not Live and Let Die
on the ground there, you know?
Fine. Maybe you should go with her.
Yeah, maybe I should.
What fucking use am I here?
Someone has seen it appropriate
to unilaterally liquidate my book.
Do you know, um, Accra well?
KWABENA: Uh (SIGHS)
I used to go four times a year.
Then once every four years.
Now, sort of never.
Big extended family.
I'm not sure what use I'd be.
I think you should both leave.
(SIGHS) Um
If that's what you wanna do.
That's my final decision.
(BREATHES SHAKILY)
(MUSIC FADING) ♪
ERIC: Eat something.
HARPER: I'm not hungry.
The fuck's gotten into you?
You joined this fund to run ops.
That was your experience.
Keeping the music playing
is an operational issue.
This fund put one position up in lights,
staked its reputation on it.
That position
was your choice,
and remains so.
It's not worked.
What are our options?
Pull back our gross exposure.
Get back inside our risk limits.
Liquidating the other names
in Kwabena's book did that.
It is not going to appease them enough.
How'd you think
your head trader took you
expunging his positions without consent?
Those the actions of a good boss?
I'm sorry, you wanna run
that sentence back to me,
or shall I point out
every hypocritical fucking syllable?
An equity infusion?
Emergency cash raise?
We scraped the fucking barrel
getting dollars in the first place.
There's no "why now?" for fresh blood.
Okay, what about a Hail Mary? Or a
a leveraged binary trade?
I'm not letting you play craps, okay?
I've given you enough mileage.
My ten million first loss
is already on the pyre.
You think if you leave
your girls some money,
they're gonna love you?
Harper.
How's that even an appropriate segue?
Give me a fucking break.
You have become too timid.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Fuck (STAMMERS)
Fuck am I even doing here
with you anyway?
- Fucking honestly.
- I dunno.
Could ask myself the same question
considering your experience
has amounted to fucking naught.
You are not useful to me!
Oh, that's what this is, is it?
What else could it be, Eric?
What else do you need from me?
You have no idea how lucky you are
that you have people
that expect your love.
No, no.
Demand your love.
And you don't feel worthy of it,
so you can't give it.
Nothing between us
is gonna fix that for you.
(DOOR OPENS, CLOSES)
(TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
(TRAFFIC WHIZZING)
(HORN HONKING)
(PHONE RINGING, BUZZING)
(RINGING STOPS)
DOLLY: Hey, honey,
I'm in the bar.
- Are you coming down?
- Don't call this number again.
(MELLOW TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Uh, what's the plan for today?
Um, I had a Zoom set up
with Tender's Tony Day last week.
I updated him this morning
and said that we could change
to an in-person meeting
as I have other management meetings
bringing me to Accra.
We tell Day that we're trying
to get under Tender's bull case
and think stock has further to climb.
I also want to visit
Tender's last acquisition
before their biz pivot. SwiftGC.
Hmm. Well, personally, I think
you're digging for gold in a sandbox.
(CHUCKLES)
All right, Erin Brockovich. (CHUCKLES)
Look, I'm very happy
to not see you
for the duration of this trip.
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
(SNIFFS)
- (MUSIC FADING) ♪
- (CLOTHES THUDDING SOFTLY)
(SIGHS)
You'd think these guys
would clean my shirts for free
when I pay a hundred grand
a month to live here.
(SNIFFS) And stop Kwabena
ordering food to the room.
How many chicken wings
can one person eat?
Why are you up so early?
You given yourself the night
to come up with
an appropriate fucking apology?
My mom died.
My brother called me
from New York yesterday
to say there'd been an accident.
(INHALES DEEPLY)
She just went overnight.
Christ.
I'm sorry.
You can talk about it to me.
(SNIFFS)
That's the point.
Like, I don't know what to say.
I don't even know how to feel.
(SOFTLY) She was awful to me.
And she tortured my brother so badly,
she fucked him up to the point
where he was incapable of loving me.
And it was his love when I was young
That's the only love I remember.
Wha what else do you remember?
- Resentment.
- ERIC: Hmm.
Actually (BREATHES SHAKILY)
- I think it's hate, actually.
- ERIC: Hmm.
They can be
good motivational principles,
trust me.
Until they're not. (SOBS)
Until they're not.
(SIGHS)
She fell down the stairs running
for an Amazon delivery.
(SCOFFS)
- You're joking.
- I'm not.
Uh
I know this
this kind of pales in comparison,
but my daughter got herself expelled.
Excluded, whatever.
They, uh,
threw her out of a school
for little monsters
for being a little monster.
What did she do?
Uh
She was the ringleader of a group
that catfished a peer.
Pretended to be a boy.
Made this girl travel for a date,
encouraged her to dress provocatively
took pictures of her when nobody showed.
Meticulous fucking cruelty.
HARPER: That's pretty dark.
So were the pictures.
Child dressed like a hooker
waiting.
My brother and I were very problematic
at her age too.
Imagine swallowing
such cut-and-dry evidence
of your failure as a father.
What I feel for my kids
should be celestial,
metaphysical, but instead it's
"What have you done for me today?"
I know when I'm with them,
it's the only place I should be.
(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
But I I don't
wanna be there. (CHUCKLES)
It's it's a a sick thing
to look at an innocent kid and think,
"Yeah, I'm an animal
that works on attention,
and no, no, no,
you don't hold mine."
It feels like
a betrayal of something very ancient.
It's surely not lost on you
that you picked
a hyper-transactional career
where the transactions
aggregate to zero.
They don't make me feel substantial.
They really should.
I'm very fucking annoyed
at how empty I feel.
ERIC: Hmm.
That this whole fucked-up situation
with the fund is denying me my grief.
Oh, Harp, you are grieving.
Do you know, I ran through
all these (SNIFFLES)
scenarios in my head
of what it would be like
to see her again.
What'd you imagine?
That she would have no choice
but to fall to her knees
and beg for my forgiveness.
Because I had become fucking undeniable.
(MUSIC BUILDING) ♪
You are undeniable.
(SOBS)
(“MOTHER AND CHILD”
BY SONNY OKOSUNS PLAYING) ♪
- (TRAFFIC WHIZZING)
- Mother, you are my soul ♪
You are my soul ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Mother, teach me how to
smile 'Cause I'm still a child ♪
Mama, you are my life ♪
SWEETPEA:
Hi, I'm looking for SwiftGC.
RECEPTIONIST: Over there.
(SONG CONTINUES
PLAYING OVER SPEAKER) ♪
I'm looking for the office.
Over there. (SIGHS)
Google doesn't have, uh,
a number attached.
Do you have one, by any chance?
I can, um (CLEARS THROAT)
(ZIPPER WHOOSHING)
(BANK NOTES RUSTILING)
dash you 20 dollars?
- You are my angel ♪
- You are my love ♪
I love you more Than anything ♪
Oh yes, I am a child ♪
Mother and child ♪
Mother and child ♪
Mother and child ♪
(SINGER VOCALIZING) ♪
- (CLEARS THROAT)
- Mother and child ♪
(ANSWERING MACHINE BEEPS)
AUTOMATED VOICE:
Hello, you've reached Tender.
Your call is important to us.
- Please continue to hold
- ("ORINOCO FLOW" BY ENYA PLAYING) ♪
while we find
the next available operator.
(OMINOUS MUSIC OVERLAPPING) ♪
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (LIVELY AFROBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Hi, we have an 11:00 a.m. with Tony Day.
Um, Mostyn Asset Management.
Okay, if you sit, I'll call up
- and let him know you're here.
- Thank you.
Is the AC not working?
RECEPTIONIST: No, sorry.
- Um (CLEARS THROAT)
- (KWABENA SIGHS)
I went to SwiftGC
and there's no office there.
Their supposed direct line
just redirects you
to Tender's Dublin call center.
KWABENA: Is it that strange
that you call a company
and their parent company answers?
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
EMPLOYEE: Come, come, come,
come and see the price tags.
- (EMPLOYEE SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
- (TELEPHONE RINGING)
How long has he kept us waiting?
It's closing in on two hours now.
Hi, sorry, is his meeting
still overrunning?
RECEPTIONIST: It is, I'm afraid.
May be a power move.
- Um, Mr. Day?
- Hello.
SWEETPEA: Hi, Mostyn Asset Management.
Pleasure. I'm sorry,
I didn't mean to blow you off.
Yeah, not a problem.
Do you have 15 minutes?
TONY DAY: I can give you five.
SWEETPEA: We're just doing
a little field work reconnaissance
to help our investment case in Tender,
among with some other
equity ideas in the region.
We've been buy and hold for some time.
Yeah, you and everyone else.
Although, uh,
being a stock market darling,
thank you,
comes with its own challenges.
I mean, I I guess
they must look after you,
expecting you to put roots down
so far away from home?
Couldn't they have given the job
to a local?
(IN TWI)
fleshing out your plan
to migrate users
from the payment processor
acquisition suite
to the new app?
Actually, I would just love
more granularity
on your local acquisitions,
'cause the, um,
the diversity of them
really piqued my interest.
Uh, payment processors,
text-to-pay, prepaid cards.
What's the unifying principle there?
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
What other equity opportunities
were you looking at in the region?
You said you had other ideas
that you were circling locally
to invest in.
Mm-hmm.
Fan Milk.
Consumer goods.
MTN.
- Wow. That's dull.
- KWABENA: Hmm.
- (CHUCKLES)
- (SWEETPEA CHUCKLES)
Defensive, transparent revenue streams.
We don't like risk.
Great. Well, um,
if you wanna tour
or transport out of the city,
do let me know. There's much to see.
Thank you so much for your time.
Um
you know, you can just
You can call me
if you like.
If you just (CHUCKLES)
feel like talking.
KWABENA: I get the feeling
nobody's asked him many questions.
SWEETPEA: I reverse-image
searched that novelty check pic
and it links to an article
about SwiftGC's acquisition.
It's a curious detail about who did it.
KWABENA: A local boutique
investment bank?
No, SwiftGC instructed a lawyer.
Is that that curious? I assume
that happens a lot here.
Well, how curious it is
depends on the size
of the deal in question
and the size of the legal operation,
does it not?
I've booked an appointment
with the lawyer
and told him
that we work for MergerMarket
and we're meeting anyone involved
in M&A deals in the territory.
Sorry, uh,
- Mr. Samuels, is it?
- Oh, call me Lawyer.
(LAUGHS)
- My name is Lawyer.
- Oh. (LAUGHS)
LAWYER SAMUELS: It's not uncommon here.
Although I'm not sure
how often that kind
of nominative determinism
works out. (LAUGHS)
By example, I was christened
"Dog-Fucker" Bannerman. (LAUGHS)
SWEETPEA: Ooh.
Um, may I ask how you divined
SwiftGC's valuation?
LAWYER: SwiftGC
is a high-growth company.
It's not uncommon for comparables
to be valued at ten,
even 20 times revenue.
The mobile pay sector has boomed
since the Bank of Ghana relaxed
the regulatory environment.
Do you have much other experience
- in 50-million-dollar M&A deals?
- I have an accountant.
And, as I said,
an expert valuation advisor
I've worked with for 30 years.
A regulatory advisor. A tax guy.
I could go on.
And how did the fee structure work?
- Excuse me?
- SWEETPEA: How were you paid?
(LIVELY AFROBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I have been nothing but polite.
That is not a polite question.
And how is it relevant to your database?
KWABENA: You know, you didn't
need to be rude to him
just 'cause he straight-batted
all your questions.
Nothing about that guy and his operation
was commensurate
with the size of the deal
that Tender did with SwiftGC.
You're telling yourself that
to bend the facts
to what you want to be true, all right?
I mean, he said it himself. It's Africa.
Just 'cause it's different
doesn't make it wrong.
Let me put this as delicately
as I fucking can.
How much do you
actually know about Africa?
You can stop with this, like,
prodigal son gimmick.
The answer's probably alcohol.
STREET HAWKER: Original iPhone
with iPhone charger.
KWABENA: What, materially, changes in
the world
if at the bottom of the barrel,
these guys are bent and we prove it?
- I mean, does the world improve?
- (LIVELY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
You know, being as glib as you are
is actually charmless.
You think it is charming,
but it is charmless.
I have given this
my full fucking attention,
and that is a finite resource.
That is why the outcome matters.
BAR PATRON: Who keeps drinking my drink?
This is Guinness, not the blood
of Jesus. Lord have mercy.
I mean, yeah, yeah.
I guess you're probably right.
This is probably just like
a big 'ole fucking distraction
and like a fucking waste of my time.
KWABENA: Oh, come on. Don't say that.
Look, I'm just saying
we should probably tell someone
if we're on the verge of eliminating
all financial fraud in perpetuity
and delivering equitable
economic outcomes for all.
BACKPACKER: Your turn!
SWEETPEA: Well, between us,
I need this short to work.
Before I took Harper's offer,
I interviewed at multiple places.
I couldn't get a job.
You can imagine why.
Yeah, that was a tough thing to happen.
Keep moving forward.
Let the distance grow
between me and the event,
and just let time do the work.
When I think of those
pink-faced, fat-neck losers
laughing at me
(LAUGHS) God,
so much disrespect for your audience.
You should run a movie studio.
Well, the guy who outed me,
he got his in a sort of roundabout way.
"In a roundabout way"?
Rishi? You know it was him?
I think certain things
in life make sense.
And your stomach is probably right,
separating theory and fact.
("TRUE" BY SPANDAU BALLE
PLAYING IN BACKGROUND) ♪
Do your family know?
What did they make of it?
(BACKPACKERS SINGING IN BACKGROUND) ♪
Well, I thought I was close to my mum.
Um I was. I mean, I am. I am.
Like, she's my confidante, you know?
And then this happened,
and she knows about it,
and she just pretends like it didn't.
And, like, I'm waiting and waiting
for her to say something
about it, and she just doesn't.
And, like, yeah, that just,
like, broke my heart.
(KARAOKE VERSION OF "STEAL
AWAY" BY ROBBIE DUPREE PLAYING) ♪
- BACKPACKER 1: Hey!
- Come on!
You said you'd come!
Come pick the next song.
All right, I'm gonna lay
this shit on thick, okay?
Make me a market on how many
of these punters fuck off
- when I start singing.
- (LAUGHS)
BACKPACKER 1: Come and sing with us!
BACKPACKER 2: Come on! Hurry up!
KWABENA: (IN GHANIAN ACCENT)
One second, one second, I'm coming.
Come on and hold me ♪
- Just like you told me ♪
- (BACKPACKERS SINGING ALONG) ♪
- (PHONE VIBRATING)
- (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
TONY: Hello, Miss Golightly.
Hi.
TONY: You're almost
as memorable as your name.
Tell me, are you a compulsive liar,
or was this a one-off?
- Into the night ♪
- Into the night ♪
ALL: I know it ain't right ♪
TONY: Why did you lie?
I looked you up on the FCA register
and then I called your former employer.
A man in your position must know
that there is a vocal minority
who believe Tender's share price
to be an illusion.
I don't know if you're aware
of the growing speculation in the press.
You mean Jim Dycker at FinDigest?
He telegrammed me.
Yeah, he was, uh
Yeah, he was supposed to visit us.
T
to get you on the record?
TONY: Well, how should
I know his intention
if he never followed through?
Were you in contact
with his editor Mr. Burgess?
Dycker mentioned
that he could sketch out,
uh, a couple of
pathways
for me.
- Would you know about those?
- Pathways for what?
Well, how should I know, Miss Golightly?
I never met him.
(WAVES CRASHING)
You know that he passed away?
- (MUSIC BUILDING) ♪
- Wasn't aware.
Where are you now?
SWEETPEA: Auntie Freda's in Osu.
If you don't want to talk on the phone.
TONY: It's not a violent city,
but the beach can get
quite dangerous at night.
(MUSIC SWELLING) ♪
(“EYES WITHOUT A FACE”
BY BILLY IDOL PLAYING) ♪
Now I close my eyes ♪
And I wonder why
I don't despise ♪
Eyes without a face
Got no human grace ♪
Your eyes without a face ♪
- (LAUGHS)
- (CROWD CHEERING)
(KWABENA CONTINUES SINGING
IN DISTANCE) ♪
- (FAUCET STOPS RUNNING)
- (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
KAWABEN: (MUFFLED) Whoo!
Sorry, this is the ladies.
Did you not hear me?
This is the fucking ladies!
- (GASPS)
- (GRUNTS)
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
(WHIMPERS)
(GROANS, YELLS)
- (GROANS)
- (LOUD THUD)
(SWEETPEA SNIFFLES)
(GRUNTS SOFTLY)
(OMINOUS MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
(BREATHES SHAKILY)
(GROANS)
KWABENA: Got no human grace
Your eyes without a face ♪
Face, face, face ♪
- Oh, shit!
- (MICROPHONE THUDS, SCREECHES)
Do you think you were, like, targeted?
SWEETPEA: Tony Day called me before it,
so you fucking tell me!
- Slow down.
- (SOFTLY) Fuck!
I'm so fucking jacked up right now.
I'm I'm gonna
I will go to fucking war.
I will run a fucking train on them.
Are you sure it's not broken?
(SIGHS)
- I love my nose.
- No, no, I know. I know.
I know. It's a good nose.
It's a really good nose.
BAR PATRON: Let's drink beer
and make some bad choices.
KWABENA: Thank you.
(MELLOW MUSIC PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS) ♪
Can you stop fucking around
and just admit that you've seen my tits?
Okay, cool. Fine. Yes.
Fuck it. Yes, I saw it.
- Did you like it?
- Oh, my
Sweetpea, what are we doing?
Well, did you like it?
(LAUGHS) I don't I don't know
what the right answer is.
Honesty. Honesty.
Okay, well, I mean,
I didn't not like it.
(BAR PATRON SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
Is Harper a good fuck?
Oh, why? 'Cause crazy girls
are good in bed?
I think that that is reductive,
and misogynistic,
- and often true.
- Yeah. Oh, no, I agree.
I was just, like,
projecting what you think.
Did you wank to my Siren videos?
Oh, fucking hell, man. What?
Did you jerk off to it?
Are you a porn addict?
A porn add I mean (SIGHS) I guess?
Like most men
who grew up with the internet.
Like, I can see whoever,
do whatever to whoever, whenever.
I want to build a picture
of the men who've seen me.
Sweetpea, you chose to put it online.
I was fucking 19. It's money.
Do you watch porn?
Like a lot of women who grew up
on the internet, yeah.
What'd you make of that bird
who got tag-teamed
by a thousand yoots in shiesties?
Yeah. More power to her.
Oh, come on,
you don't believe that shit.
Oh, fuck pathologizing it,
you know? Fuck Freud.
There doesn't always have to be a why.
Yeah, that shit's bad for the soul.
And good for the body. What do you like?
(LAUGHS) Now, that is a question
nobody gets an honest answer to.
- I said what do you like?
- (LAUGHS)
Okay. You made me say this.
Oh, fuck it, I feel like such a traitor.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Uh, forgive me, Dr. Umar.
I like
premium calcium.
Small, blonde, White women.
Yeah, I know. I know, I'm a cliché.
- Look, sue me.
- (CLEARS THROAT)
Okay, but
But I also like to be held.
You're a fucking corny cunt.
Do you know that?
(KWABENA LAUGHS)
But yeah, I guess, uh
some things are only attractive
because you can't have them.
(LOCK BEEPS)
Do you wanna put the key in the
light?
Actually
don't.
Can you stay for a bit?
I'll be I'll be just next door.
Just shut the fucking door.
- (GRUNTS)
- (MOANS) Pull my fucking hair.
(MOANING) Oh, fuck. Harder.
- KWABENA: Fuck!
- (MOANS)
(BOTH MOANING)
(BOTH PANTING)
(SOFTLY) Oh my God.
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
(DOOR OPENING)
- (DOOR CLOSING)
- (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
ERIC: Oh, shit. I I
I didn't realize you were here already.
Any update from Accra?
HARPER: Kwabena didn't
sound optimistic. (SIGHS)
Then they both went dark.
I feel like we're running out of time.
I have an idea.
Source more margin
from another prime broker.
Can't do that in our precarious state.
Okay, but what if we don't tell them
about our state?
- Our financials. Our exposure.
- (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
We'll just tell them that we fell out
with our prime broker,
that they missed out on a buzzy fund.
Whatever it takes to
get some fast cash.
They'll ask for documents.
And we'll give them documents
that read the way they wish them to.
Bogus financials?
What happens if Tender
continues to defy gravity?
We're double leveraged.
What, we get two margin calls?
And open another ersatz fucking line?
Throw a third in for shits and giggles.
That's not us losing
the house, you know.
It's fraud, conspiracy, racketeering.
Why are we holding ourselves
to any ethical standard
when they have none?
Why would we invite
potential prosecution
when nothing has materially changed
on what we can prove on Tender?
It's brainless.
We're going to lose the war
because they are willing
to fight dirty and we're not.
ERIC: Harper.
The thing's lost.
As your co-partner,
my position is we liquidate
our Tender position
and find the least painful way
of boarding this whole thing up.
(BROODING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(LIVELY CHATTER)
(PILLS RATTLE)
They're for your face.
Let's just forget
that this happened, okay?
What happened?
I was fucked up.
So, you do always need a why.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
KWABENA: Okay, so look,
I'll be the first to admit,
I didn't really come here
with a whole lot of belief
in it solving the trade's problem,
but while you were sleeping,
I did a bit more digging. Okay?
Apparently, Tender acquired
SwiftGC from GoldSalt Media.
It was a tiny subsidiary
in a suite of companies
- owned by a media conglomerate.
- I knew that.
(HESITATES) Okay, well,
GoldSalt Media's chairman died recently,
and his scions are jockeying
to cut up his financial corpse.
- Um, Murdochs in Kente.
- (DYNAMIC TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
God, how long have you been up?
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
- Um, so what's the point?
- KWABENA: Well, the British
sought to civilize the Gold Coast.
They didn't think enslavement was enough
to bring us closer to God.
They also saw fit to import buggery
and emotional retardation.
- Sorry, what?
- Boarding schools.
- Oh.
- Okay, so my auntie,
who's not really
my auntie but, you know,
she went to Achimota
with a certain Mrs. Mensah.
Now, Mrs. Mensah is mourning
her father's death.
And her father just so happens
to be the erstwhile chairman
of GoldSalt Media.
Yeah. Ghana's very small at the top.
Can you flesh out
your connection to SwiftGC for me?
Eight of us squabbling over his legacy.
I say it's not big enough
to warrant a dispute.
SwiftGC was a chunky deal,
right? (CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
Yes. But it's more
of a real estate dispute.
The land the office is on.
But Tender paid 50 million dollars
for SwiftGC, right?
What?
(LAUGHING)
If we had 50 million dollars,
it would be a total bloodbath.
But the check says
50 million dollars, does it not?
You can write whatever nonsense
you want on them.
Doesn't mean it's true.
Fifty?
For a tiny company? Lord have mercy.
Thank you so much for the tea.
Can we see the business?
It's only listed as a PO box online.
(DRAMATIC TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(METAL GATE RATTLING)
(MUSIC RECEDING) ♪
- (WHISPERS) Look.
- (WHISPERS) Fifth floor.
Why are we whispering?
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
Who are you?
Sorry, we're just looking.
Do you know of Tender?
Huh? Tender?
- Do you know Tender?
- (TOILET FLUSHING)
(SECURITY GUARD 1 GRUNTS)
- Ah, Tender?
- SECUIRTY GUARD 2: Mm-hmm.
Who hired you, SwiftGC? Tender?
Why are you here?
- Uh, squatters.
- Uh, squatters.
(SCOFFS)
- (PHONE LINE RINGING)
- (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
AUTOMATED VOICE:
Hello, you’ve reached Tender.
- Your call is important to us
- What are we looking at?
A facade.
Say we prove Tender
isn't what it says it is.
We get the surrogate joy of saying,
"Your identity
is bullshit, you're a fake."
And what?
We temporarily get to live
in the illusion
that we ourselves
are built on firmer ground?
Well, crucially,
we're not lying to the world
to profit off it.
That feels much closer
to the truth of my life
than anything else I've said to myself.
(SPEAKERPHONE RINGING)
(SIGHS)
- (RINGING CONTINUES)
- (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- (SPEAKERPHONE BEEPS)
- Sweetpea?
- SWEETPEA: The thing is nothing!
- What?
- SWEETPEA: Put me on speaker.
- You You are. Go.
SWEETPEA: The thing is nothing.
Okay. All right. Can you explain?
Dycker's payment laundry thesis
suggested
that Tender's high frequency
of acquisitions
was to circumvent local decency
and gambling laws, right?
But what if something else
was motivating
their indiscriminate spending?
Let's say
you claim to be a fast-growing,
highly revenue-generative
company, but it is only a claim.
Fake profits leads to fake cash,
so what do you have to do?
You have to deploy said fake cash.
Why? Because the cash reserves
are the first thing
that an auditor looks at.
But how do you account
for the cash balance not being there?
You say, "Oh, I've already spent it."
But Tender are lying about the value
of what they're buying out here
because juicing it up
fuels the facade of aggressive growth
and then deploys said fake cash.
It’s a Potemkin village
They paid 50 million dollars
for an empty room.
Why? Because they didn't. (CHUCKLES)
SwiftGC has no users,
there is no revenue,
and there is no 50 million dollars.
That's what their book says,
but it's cosmetic.
They probably paid three cents
on the dollar, if that,
and then knocked it back
with bribes at local level
to make it look like
many multiples more.
Photo ops, novelty checks,
it's all surface.
The cash can never sit still.
It doesn't even need to be real
if it's hotfooting
from one acquisition to another.
Always too short a stay to be seen.
They can always point
to its next destination.
Correct. The opaque structures,
the complex web of subsidiaries,
the Africa of it.
They're probably so brazen,
they think people are too lazy
to do the footwork
- to actually knock on the door.
- Well, guess what?
Uh, I knocked on
the fucking door, bitch.
Each stage of Tender's pre-pivot
is all overinflated.
I Each lie relies on the next.
Fake users drives fake revenue,
which drives fake cash,
which then must be deployed
on acquisitions,
which accounts for more fake users
- and more fake revenue.
- It's an Ouroboros.
Sure, whatever the fuck that is.
(CHUCKLES)
It is a feedback loop of fakery.
That is why their profits never suffered
after the U.S. gambling
legislation came in,
and why Whitney could cull Siren
without a second thought
about the bottom line.
Tender started as a payment processor.
Yeah, and it became a bank
to hide the fact
that it was never
a successful payment processor.
It was a phantom.
(SOFTLY) The thing was nothing.
- So, we can corroborate this?
- Did you get photos of SwiftGC?
KWABENA: Yes. Yes, we did.
And Dycker's source is here and I think
that we can make him the motherlode.
He wants to whistleblow?
SWEETPEA: He wants some pathways
to understanding
what that might look like.
Un-fucking-believable work, Sweetpea.
Yeah, I quite agree.
Keep us bang up to date.
- (LAUGHS)
- (JUBILANT TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(BOTH SCREAMING, LAUGHING)
- Whoo!
- (LAUGHS)
Okay. How do we present this?
And how fast and wide
can we disseminate it?
We don't have irrefutable evidence.
We need the informer.
We don't need the world to believe us,
just enough investors
with enough capital.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
What if I go to Pierre's conference
and instead of talking
about women in finance,
I talk about something else
entirely? We don't need proof.
Why?
Because we finally have
a compelling story to tell.
(PHONE LINE RINGING)
EDWARD BURGESS: Burgess.
Mr. Burgess. Hi. I’m Sweetpea Golightly.
You're what?
SWEETPEA: I'm very sorry
for the loss of your colleague.
I work for an investigative
hedge fund. SternTao.
Yeah, I've heard of you, unfortunately.
SWEETPEA:
I've opened a potential line
of communication
with Jim Dycker’s source
here in Accra who he’d planned to meet.
BURGESS:
Yeah, before Tender muzzled us.
Are there any protections
that you can offer him
as a public body?
I mean, there was
a whistleblower directive,
but we're not covered by that anymore
because doombrain mugs
falsely incentivized
other doombrain mugs
to vote us out of Europe.
SWEETPEA:
What else can incentivize him?
Well, I mean, what vectors
can you hit him on?
"Doing the right thing"?
I mean, that's largely bullshit
to human ears.
Relief from the burden
of the lie, relief from threat
from other perpetrators of the lie.
Relief from prosecution?
I I say this with respect,
but these sources tend
to be incredibly sensitive
given what's on the line, yeah?
They require a special bond,
trust established through time.
It's a gentle, protracted process.
It's not best led by a person
who stands to be financially compensated
if the source decides to talk.
- Ms. Golightly?
- I'm here.
You think Jim was right
about these guys?
He was more right than he knew.
Speak soon.
- (CLEARS THROAT)
- So?
How do we play it?
We snooker him.
(MUSIC FADING) ♪
- TONY: Um, I’ll call you back.
- (TELEPHONE RINGING IN DISTANCE)
So under-qualified and so overpaid.
- And that was the lure, right?
- (CHAIR CLANGS)
It was too good to be true
because actually it wasn't fucking true.
(TV VOLUME INCREASING)
(QUIETLY) Shut the fuck up.
SWEETPEA:
And now the hook is in your gut
and you have two outsiders
walking into your office
saying (WHISPERS) we know.
Well, I'm not on the hook for anything.
Because at close yesterday
my Tender equity
- was worth 80 million dollars.
- At what point did this start?
Did this start with juicing
the user numbers
for the funding round,
or was it the IPO?
You know, how many people
are complicit in this?
God, it must have
been exhausting to live
with that compounding growth.
Each fat lie relying on the next.
I mean, I don't think there's a
more tired man on Earth right now.
Yeah, and you’re the second
most tired man at Tender.
Has Halberstram ever threatened you?
No, hmm.
Pay enough people
to follow top-down orders
and then pay them some
more to look the other way.
I bet these people here
don't even think
of themselves as accessories.
In the room,
the Africans exchange the bribes
while the White men talk.
Was every acquisition
as empty as SwiftGC?
Tony, you assume that someone
is listening to you,
and watching you.
If it’s not Halberstram, who?
- (ANCHOR SPEAKING ON TV)
- Assume?
You know?
(WHISPERS) I want to know
exactly how I am able
to minimize my liability
before I make any kind of disclosure.
And I want counsel before any of that.
Okay, we'll fly you to London,
buy you a ticket,
no trail to you.
Introduce you to Edward Burgess,
formalize a path of protection
through FinDigest.
Yeah, but what have you got without me?
The board, the government,
the auditors, the investors,
the research analysts,
they’ve got no incentive to believe you,
so they won’t. They'll all say
more conjecture that you guys,
- you're paid to believe is fact.
- Do you wanna answer to us,
or do you wanna answer
to law enforcement?
Do you ever get the feeling
you’re a little bit above
your fucking station here?
Never in my fucking life, sir.
- You fancy paying for my nose job too?
- (CHUCKLES)
‘Cause we can add actual bodily harm
to your list of charges.
It's not something
that happens overnight.
No, this is your window
to potentially being exculpated.
You're salivating over the speed
of it all, aren't you?
Who actually?
Genuinely, who fucking cares
what incentivizes the truth?
You can be a victim in this,
not a perpetrator.
If you wanna be punished
like a perpetrator,
that is fine with me.
Or, we can engineer your flight
and start telling the story
of your victimization.
This is your choice.
(BROODING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(TV CUTS OFF)
I'll consider.
Thanks for coming in.
(MUSIC FADES) ♪
She's She’s hollowed out.
I'm not sure what lesson
we can teach her
she hasn't learned from it already.
Mind if she stays over?
- She's exhausted.
- Mmm.
Why don’t you stay too?
You must be beat.
Stay.
- You sure?
- ERIC: Of course.
Take the Take the bed with her.
Okay.
(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I just wanted to say
don’t mistake regret for love.
The girls won’t.
(SNIFFS, GRUNTS)
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
(MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
(PHONE LINE RINGING)
Hey, it's me.
(BROODING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(SCOFFS)
You always have a room here?
DOLLY: On standby.
ERIC: Hey.
Make me feel big.
Yes, Daddy.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
(GASPS) Oh my God.
- Sorry.
- (SWEETPEA SIGHS)
Oh, God, it's much worse
than he said it is.
Sorry, I know you said
you didn’t wanna see anyone,
but I just had to check in.
Sorry.
SWEETPEA: I haven't heard
from Tony Day yet.
I’m just amped up, you know?
Like I can’t
take myself off the ceiling.
Didn’t sleep
for the whole plane journey.
HARPER: Don’t worry, I’m gonna present
our findings at Pierre’s conference.
SWEETPEA: Hmm.
Even if we had the actual smoking gun
they would say
that we manufactured the gun
and conjured the fucking smoke.
Yeah, they'll just call bullshit again.
Let them.
I'm gonna lay it out brick by brick.
It will be undeniable.
Mm.
I'm so, so sorry that I let
this happen to you.
- It is my responsibility.
- No, you didn't.
Don't take this away from me.
Look, I work for you, you know,
you don’t have to act out this
like pastoral compassion.
And I wanna be paid.
Do we understand each other?
Y (SNICKERS) Y Yeah.
And look, I'll tell you this now
in case he tells you it himself
but, um
Kwabena and I, we hooked up.
And I don’t know,
I mean I assumed
it was casual between you both.
I don’t know. Um
I just feel like transgressions
are best dealt with head-on,
you know, so they don’t fester.
No, no. It Um
(CLEARS THROAT)
It was casual. (CHUCKLES)
Good.
I really appreciate your honesty.
Okay, well, can I
can I come inside,
just keep you company?
I'm really fucking tired.
(SUITCASE RATTLES)
(DOOR UNLOCKING, OPENING)
(DOOR CLOSING)
(DOOR CLOSING)
- Good flight?
- (SHUSHES)
I just checked in Eric's room.
His wife and kid are asleep in there.
This whole setup needs a rethink.
- Where is Eric?
- Who knows?
How was Sweetpea?
(INHALES DEEPLY)
She was a dog with a bone.
- Really?
- KWABENA: Hmm. Tenacious.
You know, it’s really admirable
how she’s recovered
from all that shit she went through.
You okay?
HARPER: Fine.
More than fine. We are
very close.
KWABENA: Close?
Us?
To floodlighting
the whole fucking underside.
Huh.
Well, I spend so much time
listening to my higher brain
and its love of complexity and
all along your gut’s telling you
what’s truly right.
Yeah.
Trust your gut, I guess.
Don't ever fucking liquidate
my positions again.
Okay? I'm not some boy.
Okay, we fuck each other,
but not like that.
Is that clear?
Crystal.
I need to get together
these materials for this talk.
- Kwabena?
- Yeah?
If anybody calls for me,
tell them I'm busy.
I'm working.
(“EYES WITHOUT A FACE”
BY BILLY IDOL PLAYING) ♪
I'm all out of hope ♪
One more bad dream
Could bring a fall ♪
When I'm far from home ♪
Don't call me on the phone
To tell me you're alone ♪
It's easy to deceive ♪
- It's easy to tease ♪
- (SOBS)
But hard to get release ♪
- (SINGING IN FRENCH) ♪
- Eyes without a face ♪
- (SINGING IN FRENCH) ♪
- (SOBS)
- Eyes without a face ♪
- (SINGING IN FRENCH) ♪
Eyes without a face ♪
Got no human grace
Your eyes without a face ♪
And now it's getting worse ♪
(SONG CONCLUDES) ♪
- (BELL TOLLING)
- (STUDENTS CHATTING QUIETLY)
(STUDENT GIGGLING)
- STUDENT: Oh my God!
- (BELL TOLLING)
- School fucking failed her.
- CANDACE ALLBRIGHT: Of course.
- I pay all that tuition
- (SIGHS)
and they don't know what the fuck
- she's up to?
- If you tip them enough,
they'll walk her down the aisle
for you as well.
Where was their fucking duty
of care that night?
Maybe if you'd spent less time
with that whore in New York!
Candace, you left me.
(CHUCKLES) Oh! Of course,
that's your cowardly way of figuring it.
You heard that prissy bitch.
One of our kids is fucked in the head.
Why else would they expel her?
This is what happens
when a child is never left wanting.
(SCOFFS) You give her everything
except what she needs.
You think your disinterest
doesn't affect them?
Even subconsciously?
They need your love and guidance.
They crave it.
Why is it so hard for you to give?
- (OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
- (BROODING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
KENNY KILBANE: (ON SPEAKERPHONE)
Guys, I've been pretty pliant,
but risk needs more margin
on the Tender position.
My hands are tied.
We stuck to the risk limit
that we agreed.
Two hundred and fifty gross leverage.
Yeah, stock is up another seven percent
on Morgan Stanley's
turbo bullish preview
of the user uptake data
for their new app.
They've heavily beat their projections.
(SPEAKERPHONE BEEPS)
We can't wear this pain. I can't.
You need to post more collateral,
or we'll continue liquidating
your other positions.
- (SPEAKERPHONE BEEPS)
- What fucking positions?
My positions?
KENNY:
European positions this morning.
Your pair trades in the
energy and utility names.
- (KENNY CONTINUES SPEAKING)
- H? Harper.
Those were my positions.
The only ones in our book
making any fucking money.
We needed some headroom, okay?
And your longs, hedges,
whatever you wanna call them,
are not conviction positions.
And they run counter
to the philosophy of this fund.
What's the philosophy?
Bet big? Lose the house?
KENNY: Only a mother could love them.
Are you fucking
margin calling us or not?
Hey. Spare me the tone, Eric, okay?
I'm nominally a friend,
but the margin clerks here,
they make Reinhard Heydrich
look laissez-faire, okay?
And you've breached your risk limits.
I bought you a stay of execution.
It's more than I owe you, really.
You're gonna have to
post more collateral
in the next 48 hours,
72 at the absolute most,
or I won't be able to stop
your man liquidating Tender too.
That, or their share price
sees a material sell off,
but the world does not see that company
the way you do, unfortunately.
Gotta bounce,
needed back on the desk. Sorry.
- (SPEAKERPHONE BEEPS)
- HARPER STERN: Pierre's emailed.
He's asking me to speak
at the ALPHA conference.
Some bullshit
"Women in Finance" presentation.
More virtue capitalism.
- Seems low priority.
- It's not.
Even if he wants you
to personally sew a bed net
for every malaria kid in Mali, say yes.
We need all the positive press
we can get.
- So, what's the move?
- Uh, only one.
Now Dycker's piece has been nixed,
I'm gonna advocate for this
until I am blue in the face.
You need to let me go to Accra
and speak to Tender's CFO in Africa.
We keep saying that we have conviction
from fucking where exactly?
- Do you have a plan out there?
- A potential itinerary, yes.
All right, I think we owe it
to Sweetpea's work on this
for her and I to travel,
and then we can sleep knowing
that we did everything we could do.
That is literally all I'm asking
And high probability the trip's a blank.
- Our CIO's on a fool's errand
- (BUZZING)
when the fund is melting down around us.
How do we spin that to Pierre and co?
KWABENA BANNERMAN: Well,
Dycker's death is a spooky coincidence.
Like in a straight-to-video kind of way.
- The world is made of them.
- (BROODING MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
I don't understand how Rishi
happened to be acquainted
with the journalist?
Well, he sold drugs to him, apparently.
KWABENA: And he's facing
manslaughter charges.
Mm. I'm glad he found his way home.
KWABENA: The fuck does that mean?
JD STERN: (OVER PHONE)
I'll call when I know more.
JD: Speak soon.
SWEETPEA GOLIGHTLY:
His behavior means he's found
His way to the most
rational place for him.
And I speak from trauma
and experience, alright?
ERIC TAO: He was
a very retrograde human being.
KWABENA:
I know someone who isn't me has,
on occasion,
frequented the onion router,
and it seems off to me
that coke procured off the dark web
would have fentanyl in it.
ERIC: It just seems sloppy.
SWEETPEA: Well,
Rishi was fucking sloppy,
wasn't he? Harper, I'm booking us
on the next BA to Accra.
Um, I (HESITATES)
Maybe I should stay.
As Eric said, it's, um,
responsible for me to stay.
Sure, whatever. Um
You don't have to follow through,
but my plans are unchanged.
ERIC: You good?
It's just my landlord. It's an, um,
unpaid service charge on my apartment.
- (METAL CLANGING)
- (CHAIR SCRAPING)
ERIC: Sweets, you think
it's wise for you to go alone?
KWABENA: Eric,
it's not Live and Let Die
on the ground there, you know?
Fine. Maybe you should go with her.
Yeah, maybe I should.
What fucking use am I here?
Someone has seen it appropriate
to unilaterally liquidate my book.
Do you know, um, Accra well?
KWABENA: Uh (SIGHS)
I used to go four times a year.
Then once every four years.
Now, sort of never.
Big extended family.
I'm not sure what use I'd be.
I think you should both leave.
(SIGHS) Um
If that's what you wanna do.
That's my final decision.
(BREATHES SHAKILY)
(MUSIC FADING) ♪
ERIC: Eat something.
HARPER: I'm not hungry.
The fuck's gotten into you?
You joined this fund to run ops.
That was your experience.
Keeping the music playing
is an operational issue.
This fund put one position up in lights,
staked its reputation on it.
That position
was your choice,
and remains so.
It's not worked.
What are our options?
Pull back our gross exposure.
Get back inside our risk limits.
Liquidating the other names
in Kwabena's book did that.
It is not going to appease them enough.
How'd you think
your head trader took you
expunging his positions without consent?
Those the actions of a good boss?
I'm sorry, you wanna run
that sentence back to me,
or shall I point out
every hypocritical fucking syllable?
An equity infusion?
Emergency cash raise?
We scraped the fucking barrel
getting dollars in the first place.
There's no "why now?" for fresh blood.
Okay, what about a Hail Mary? Or a
a leveraged binary trade?
I'm not letting you play craps, okay?
I've given you enough mileage.
My ten million first loss
is already on the pyre.
You think if you leave
your girls some money,
they're gonna love you?
Harper.
How's that even an appropriate segue?
Give me a fucking break.
You have become too timid.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Fuck (STAMMERS)
Fuck am I even doing here
with you anyway?
- Fucking honestly.
- I dunno.
Could ask myself the same question
considering your experience
has amounted to fucking naught.
You are not useful to me!
Oh, that's what this is, is it?
What else could it be, Eric?
What else do you need from me?
You have no idea how lucky you are
that you have people
that expect your love.
No, no.
Demand your love.
And you don't feel worthy of it,
so you can't give it.
Nothing between us
is gonna fix that for you.
(DOOR OPENS, CLOSES)
(TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
(TRAFFIC WHIZZING)
(HORN HONKING)
(PHONE RINGING, BUZZING)
(RINGING STOPS)
DOLLY: Hey, honey,
I'm in the bar.
- Are you coming down?
- Don't call this number again.
(MELLOW TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Uh, what's the plan for today?
Um, I had a Zoom set up
with Tender's Tony Day last week.
I updated him this morning
and said that we could change
to an in-person meeting
as I have other management meetings
bringing me to Accra.
We tell Day that we're trying
to get under Tender's bull case
and think stock has further to climb.
I also want to visit
Tender's last acquisition
before their biz pivot. SwiftGC.
Hmm. Well, personally, I think
you're digging for gold in a sandbox.
(CHUCKLES)
All right, Erin Brockovich. (CHUCKLES)
Look, I'm very happy
to not see you
for the duration of this trip.
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
(SNIFFS)
- (MUSIC FADING) ♪
- (CLOTHES THUDDING SOFTLY)
(SIGHS)
You'd think these guys
would clean my shirts for free
when I pay a hundred grand
a month to live here.
(SNIFFS) And stop Kwabena
ordering food to the room.
How many chicken wings
can one person eat?
Why are you up so early?
You given yourself the night
to come up with
an appropriate fucking apology?
My mom died.
My brother called me
from New York yesterday
to say there'd been an accident.
(INHALES DEEPLY)
She just went overnight.
Christ.
I'm sorry.
You can talk about it to me.
(SNIFFS)
That's the point.
Like, I don't know what to say.
I don't even know how to feel.
(SOFTLY) She was awful to me.
And she tortured my brother so badly,
she fucked him up to the point
where he was incapable of loving me.
And it was his love when I was young
That's the only love I remember.
Wha what else do you remember?
- Resentment.
- ERIC: Hmm.
Actually (BREATHES SHAKILY)
- I think it's hate, actually.
- ERIC: Hmm.
They can be
good motivational principles,
trust me.
Until they're not. (SOBS)
Until they're not.
(SIGHS)
She fell down the stairs running
for an Amazon delivery.
(SCOFFS)
- You're joking.
- I'm not.
Uh
I know this
this kind of pales in comparison,
but my daughter got herself expelled.
Excluded, whatever.
They, uh,
threw her out of a school
for little monsters
for being a little monster.
What did she do?
Uh
She was the ringleader of a group
that catfished a peer.
Pretended to be a boy.
Made this girl travel for a date,
encouraged her to dress provocatively
took pictures of her when nobody showed.
Meticulous fucking cruelty.
HARPER: That's pretty dark.
So were the pictures.
Child dressed like a hooker
waiting.
My brother and I were very problematic
at her age too.
Imagine swallowing
such cut-and-dry evidence
of your failure as a father.
What I feel for my kids
should be celestial,
metaphysical, but instead it's
"What have you done for me today?"
I know when I'm with them,
it's the only place I should be.
(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
But I I don't
wanna be there. (CHUCKLES)
It's it's a a sick thing
to look at an innocent kid and think,
"Yeah, I'm an animal
that works on attention,
and no, no, no,
you don't hold mine."
It feels like
a betrayal of something very ancient.
It's surely not lost on you
that you picked
a hyper-transactional career
where the transactions
aggregate to zero.
They don't make me feel substantial.
They really should.
I'm very fucking annoyed
at how empty I feel.
ERIC: Hmm.
That this whole fucked-up situation
with the fund is denying me my grief.
Oh, Harp, you are grieving.
Do you know, I ran through
all these (SNIFFLES)
scenarios in my head
of what it would be like
to see her again.
What'd you imagine?
That she would have no choice
but to fall to her knees
and beg for my forgiveness.
Because I had become fucking undeniable.
(MUSIC BUILDING) ♪
You are undeniable.
(SOBS)
(“MOTHER AND CHILD”
BY SONNY OKOSUNS PLAYING) ♪
- (TRAFFIC WHIZZING)
- Mother, you are my soul ♪
You are my soul ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Mother, teach me how to
smile 'Cause I'm still a child ♪
Mama, you are my life ♪
SWEETPEA:
Hi, I'm looking for SwiftGC.
RECEPTIONIST: Over there.
(SONG CONTINUES
PLAYING OVER SPEAKER) ♪
I'm looking for the office.
Over there. (SIGHS)
Google doesn't have, uh,
a number attached.
Do you have one, by any chance?
I can, um (CLEARS THROAT)
(ZIPPER WHOOSHING)
(BANK NOTES RUSTILING)
dash you 20 dollars?
- You are my angel ♪
- You are my love ♪
I love you more Than anything ♪
Oh yes, I am a child ♪
Mother and child ♪
Mother and child ♪
Mother and child ♪
(SINGER VOCALIZING) ♪
- (CLEARS THROAT)
- Mother and child ♪
(ANSWERING MACHINE BEEPS)
AUTOMATED VOICE:
Hello, you've reached Tender.
Your call is important to us.
- Please continue to hold
- ("ORINOCO FLOW" BY ENYA PLAYING) ♪
while we find
the next available operator.
(OMINOUS MUSIC OVERLAPPING) ♪
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (LIVELY AFROBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Hi, we have an 11:00 a.m. with Tony Day.
Um, Mostyn Asset Management.
Okay, if you sit, I'll call up
- and let him know you're here.
- Thank you.
Is the AC not working?
RECEPTIONIST: No, sorry.
- Um (CLEARS THROAT)
- (KWABENA SIGHS)
I went to SwiftGC
and there's no office there.
Their supposed direct line
just redirects you
to Tender's Dublin call center.
KWABENA: Is it that strange
that you call a company
and their parent company answers?
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
EMPLOYEE: Come, come, come,
come and see the price tags.
- (EMPLOYEE SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
- (TELEPHONE RINGING)
How long has he kept us waiting?
It's closing in on two hours now.
Hi, sorry, is his meeting
still overrunning?
RECEPTIONIST: It is, I'm afraid.
May be a power move.
- Um, Mr. Day?
- Hello.
SWEETPEA: Hi, Mostyn Asset Management.
Pleasure. I'm sorry,
I didn't mean to blow you off.
Yeah, not a problem.
Do you have 15 minutes?
TONY DAY: I can give you five.
SWEETPEA: We're just doing
a little field work reconnaissance
to help our investment case in Tender,
among with some other
equity ideas in the region.
We've been buy and hold for some time.
Yeah, you and everyone else.
Although, uh,
being a stock market darling,
thank you,
comes with its own challenges.
I mean, I I guess
they must look after you,
expecting you to put roots down
so far away from home?
Couldn't they have given the job
to a local?
(IN TWI)
fleshing out your plan
to migrate users
from the payment processor
acquisition suite
to the new app?
Actually, I would just love
more granularity
on your local acquisitions,
'cause the, um,
the diversity of them
really piqued my interest.
Uh, payment processors,
text-to-pay, prepaid cards.
What's the unifying principle there?
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
What other equity opportunities
were you looking at in the region?
You said you had other ideas
that you were circling locally
to invest in.
Mm-hmm.
Fan Milk.
Consumer goods.
MTN.
- Wow. That's dull.
- KWABENA: Hmm.
- (CHUCKLES)
- (SWEETPEA CHUCKLES)
Defensive, transparent revenue streams.
We don't like risk.
Great. Well, um,
if you wanna tour
or transport out of the city,
do let me know. There's much to see.
Thank you so much for your time.
Um
you know, you can just
You can call me
if you like.
If you just (CHUCKLES)
feel like talking.
KWABENA: I get the feeling
nobody's asked him many questions.
SWEETPEA: I reverse-image
searched that novelty check pic
and it links to an article
about SwiftGC's acquisition.
It's a curious detail about who did it.
KWABENA: A local boutique
investment bank?
No, SwiftGC instructed a lawyer.
Is that that curious? I assume
that happens a lot here.
Well, how curious it is
depends on the size
of the deal in question
and the size of the legal operation,
does it not?
I've booked an appointment
with the lawyer
and told him
that we work for MergerMarket
and we're meeting anyone involved
in M&A deals in the territory.
Sorry, uh,
- Mr. Samuels, is it?
- Oh, call me Lawyer.
(LAUGHS)
- My name is Lawyer.
- Oh. (LAUGHS)
LAWYER SAMUELS: It's not uncommon here.
Although I'm not sure
how often that kind
of nominative determinism
works out. (LAUGHS)
By example, I was christened
"Dog-Fucker" Bannerman. (LAUGHS)
SWEETPEA: Ooh.
Um, may I ask how you divined
SwiftGC's valuation?
LAWYER: SwiftGC
is a high-growth company.
It's not uncommon for comparables
to be valued at ten,
even 20 times revenue.
The mobile pay sector has boomed
since the Bank of Ghana relaxed
the regulatory environment.
Do you have much other experience
- in 50-million-dollar M&A deals?
- I have an accountant.
And, as I said,
an expert valuation advisor
I've worked with for 30 years.
A regulatory advisor. A tax guy.
I could go on.
And how did the fee structure work?
- Excuse me?
- SWEETPEA: How were you paid?
(LIVELY AFROBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I have been nothing but polite.
That is not a polite question.
And how is it relevant to your database?
KWABENA: You know, you didn't
need to be rude to him
just 'cause he straight-batted
all your questions.
Nothing about that guy and his operation
was commensurate
with the size of the deal
that Tender did with SwiftGC.
You're telling yourself that
to bend the facts
to what you want to be true, all right?
I mean, he said it himself. It's Africa.
Just 'cause it's different
doesn't make it wrong.
Let me put this as delicately
as I fucking can.
How much do you
actually know about Africa?
You can stop with this, like,
prodigal son gimmick.
The answer's probably alcohol.
STREET HAWKER: Original iPhone
with iPhone charger.
KWABENA: What, materially, changes in
the world
if at the bottom of the barrel,
these guys are bent and we prove it?
- I mean, does the world improve?
- (LIVELY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
You know, being as glib as you are
is actually charmless.
You think it is charming,
but it is charmless.
I have given this
my full fucking attention,
and that is a finite resource.
That is why the outcome matters.
BAR PATRON: Who keeps drinking my drink?
This is Guinness, not the blood
of Jesus. Lord have mercy.
I mean, yeah, yeah.
I guess you're probably right.
This is probably just like
a big 'ole fucking distraction
and like a fucking waste of my time.
KWABENA: Oh, come on. Don't say that.
Look, I'm just saying
we should probably tell someone
if we're on the verge of eliminating
all financial fraud in perpetuity
and delivering equitable
economic outcomes for all.
BACKPACKER: Your turn!
SWEETPEA: Well, between us,
I need this short to work.
Before I took Harper's offer,
I interviewed at multiple places.
I couldn't get a job.
You can imagine why.
Yeah, that was a tough thing to happen.
Keep moving forward.
Let the distance grow
between me and the event,
and just let time do the work.
When I think of those
pink-faced, fat-neck losers
laughing at me
(LAUGHS) God,
so much disrespect for your audience.
You should run a movie studio.
Well, the guy who outed me,
he got his in a sort of roundabout way.
"In a roundabout way"?
Rishi? You know it was him?
I think certain things
in life make sense.
And your stomach is probably right,
separating theory and fact.
("TRUE" BY SPANDAU BALLE
PLAYING IN BACKGROUND) ♪
Do your family know?
What did they make of it?
(BACKPACKERS SINGING IN BACKGROUND) ♪
Well, I thought I was close to my mum.
Um I was. I mean, I am. I am.
Like, she's my confidante, you know?
And then this happened,
and she knows about it,
and she just pretends like it didn't.
And, like, I'm waiting and waiting
for her to say something
about it, and she just doesn't.
And, like, yeah, that just,
like, broke my heart.
(KARAOKE VERSION OF "STEAL
AWAY" BY ROBBIE DUPREE PLAYING) ♪
- BACKPACKER 1: Hey!
- Come on!
You said you'd come!
Come pick the next song.
All right, I'm gonna lay
this shit on thick, okay?
Make me a market on how many
of these punters fuck off
- when I start singing.
- (LAUGHS)
BACKPACKER 1: Come and sing with us!
BACKPACKER 2: Come on! Hurry up!
KWABENA: (IN GHANIAN ACCENT)
One second, one second, I'm coming.
Come on and hold me ♪
- Just like you told me ♪
- (BACKPACKERS SINGING ALONG) ♪
- (PHONE VIBRATING)
- (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
TONY: Hello, Miss Golightly.
Hi.
TONY: You're almost
as memorable as your name.
Tell me, are you a compulsive liar,
or was this a one-off?
- Into the night ♪
- Into the night ♪
ALL: I know it ain't right ♪
TONY: Why did you lie?
I looked you up on the FCA register
and then I called your former employer.
A man in your position must know
that there is a vocal minority
who believe Tender's share price
to be an illusion.
I don't know if you're aware
of the growing speculation in the press.
You mean Jim Dycker at FinDigest?
He telegrammed me.
Yeah, he was, uh
Yeah, he was supposed to visit us.
T
to get you on the record?
TONY: Well, how should
I know his intention
if he never followed through?
Were you in contact
with his editor Mr. Burgess?
Dycker mentioned
that he could sketch out,
uh, a couple of
pathways
for me.
- Would you know about those?
- Pathways for what?
Well, how should I know, Miss Golightly?
I never met him.
(WAVES CRASHING)
You know that he passed away?
- (MUSIC BUILDING) ♪
- Wasn't aware.
Where are you now?
SWEETPEA: Auntie Freda's in Osu.
If you don't want to talk on the phone.
TONY: It's not a violent city,
but the beach can get
quite dangerous at night.
(MUSIC SWELLING) ♪
(“EYES WITHOUT A FACE”
BY BILLY IDOL PLAYING) ♪
Now I close my eyes ♪
And I wonder why
I don't despise ♪
Eyes without a face
Got no human grace ♪
Your eyes without a face ♪
- (LAUGHS)
- (CROWD CHEERING)
(KWABENA CONTINUES SINGING
IN DISTANCE) ♪
- (FAUCET STOPS RUNNING)
- (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
KAWABEN: (MUFFLED) Whoo!
Sorry, this is the ladies.
Did you not hear me?
This is the fucking ladies!
- (GASPS)
- (GRUNTS)
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
(WHIMPERS)
(GROANS, YELLS)
- (GROANS)
- (LOUD THUD)
(SWEETPEA SNIFFLES)
(GRUNTS SOFTLY)
(OMINOUS MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
(BREATHES SHAKILY)
(GROANS)
KWABENA: Got no human grace
Your eyes without a face ♪
Face, face, face ♪
- Oh, shit!
- (MICROPHONE THUDS, SCREECHES)
Do you think you were, like, targeted?
SWEETPEA: Tony Day called me before it,
so you fucking tell me!
- Slow down.
- (SOFTLY) Fuck!
I'm so fucking jacked up right now.
I'm I'm gonna
I will go to fucking war.
I will run a fucking train on them.
Are you sure it's not broken?
(SIGHS)
- I love my nose.
- No, no, I know. I know.
I know. It's a good nose.
It's a really good nose.
BAR PATRON: Let's drink beer
and make some bad choices.
KWABENA: Thank you.
(MELLOW MUSIC PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS) ♪
Can you stop fucking around
and just admit that you've seen my tits?
Okay, cool. Fine. Yes.
Fuck it. Yes, I saw it.
- Did you like it?
- Oh, my
Sweetpea, what are we doing?
Well, did you like it?
(LAUGHS) I don't I don't know
what the right answer is.
Honesty. Honesty.
Okay, well, I mean,
I didn't not like it.
(BAR PATRON SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
Is Harper a good fuck?
Oh, why? 'Cause crazy girls
are good in bed?
I think that that is reductive,
and misogynistic,
- and often true.
- Yeah. Oh, no, I agree.
I was just, like,
projecting what you think.
Did you wank to my Siren videos?
Oh, fucking hell, man. What?
Did you jerk off to it?
Are you a porn addict?
A porn add I mean (SIGHS) I guess?
Like most men
who grew up with the internet.
Like, I can see whoever,
do whatever to whoever, whenever.
I want to build a picture
of the men who've seen me.
Sweetpea, you chose to put it online.
I was fucking 19. It's money.
Do you watch porn?
Like a lot of women who grew up
on the internet, yeah.
What'd you make of that bird
who got tag-teamed
by a thousand yoots in shiesties?
Yeah. More power to her.
Oh, come on,
you don't believe that shit.
Oh, fuck pathologizing it,
you know? Fuck Freud.
There doesn't always have to be a why.
Yeah, that shit's bad for the soul.
And good for the body. What do you like?
(LAUGHS) Now, that is a question
nobody gets an honest answer to.
- I said what do you like?
- (LAUGHS)
Okay. You made me say this.
Oh, fuck it, I feel like such a traitor.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Uh, forgive me, Dr. Umar.
I like
premium calcium.
Small, blonde, White women.
Yeah, I know. I know, I'm a cliché.
- Look, sue me.
- (CLEARS THROAT)
Okay, but
But I also like to be held.
You're a fucking corny cunt.
Do you know that?
(KWABENA LAUGHS)
But yeah, I guess, uh
some things are only attractive
because you can't have them.
(LOCK BEEPS)
Do you wanna put the key in the
light?
Actually
don't.
Can you stay for a bit?
I'll be I'll be just next door.
Just shut the fucking door.
- (GRUNTS)
- (MOANS) Pull my fucking hair.
(MOANING) Oh, fuck. Harder.
- KWABENA: Fuck!
- (MOANS)
(BOTH MOANING)
(BOTH PANTING)
(SOFTLY) Oh my God.
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
(DOOR OPENING)
- (DOOR CLOSING)
- (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
ERIC: Oh, shit. I I
I didn't realize you were here already.
Any update from Accra?
HARPER: Kwabena didn't
sound optimistic. (SIGHS)
Then they both went dark.
I feel like we're running out of time.
I have an idea.
Source more margin
from another prime broker.
Can't do that in our precarious state.
Okay, but what if we don't tell them
about our state?
- Our financials. Our exposure.
- (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
We'll just tell them that we fell out
with our prime broker,
that they missed out on a buzzy fund.
Whatever it takes to
get some fast cash.
They'll ask for documents.
And we'll give them documents
that read the way they wish them to.
Bogus financials?
What happens if Tender
continues to defy gravity?
We're double leveraged.
What, we get two margin calls?
And open another ersatz fucking line?
Throw a third in for shits and giggles.
That's not us losing
the house, you know.
It's fraud, conspiracy, racketeering.
Why are we holding ourselves
to any ethical standard
when they have none?
Why would we invite
potential prosecution
when nothing has materially changed
on what we can prove on Tender?
It's brainless.
We're going to lose the war
because they are willing
to fight dirty and we're not.
ERIC: Harper.
The thing's lost.
As your co-partner,
my position is we liquidate
our Tender position
and find the least painful way
of boarding this whole thing up.
(BROODING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(LIVELY CHATTER)
(PILLS RATTLE)
They're for your face.
Let's just forget
that this happened, okay?
What happened?
I was fucked up.
So, you do always need a why.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
KWABENA: Okay, so look,
I'll be the first to admit,
I didn't really come here
with a whole lot of belief
in it solving the trade's problem,
but while you were sleeping,
I did a bit more digging. Okay?
Apparently, Tender acquired
SwiftGC from GoldSalt Media.
It was a tiny subsidiary
in a suite of companies
- owned by a media conglomerate.
- I knew that.
(HESITATES) Okay, well,
GoldSalt Media's chairman died recently,
and his scions are jockeying
to cut up his financial corpse.
- Um, Murdochs in Kente.
- (DYNAMIC TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
God, how long have you been up?
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
- Um, so what's the point?
- KWABENA: Well, the British
sought to civilize the Gold Coast.
They didn't think enslavement was enough
to bring us closer to God.
They also saw fit to import buggery
and emotional retardation.
- Sorry, what?
- Boarding schools.
- Oh.
- Okay, so my auntie,
who's not really
my auntie but, you know,
she went to Achimota
with a certain Mrs. Mensah.
Now, Mrs. Mensah is mourning
her father's death.
And her father just so happens
to be the erstwhile chairman
of GoldSalt Media.
Yeah. Ghana's very small at the top.
Can you flesh out
your connection to SwiftGC for me?
Eight of us squabbling over his legacy.
I say it's not big enough
to warrant a dispute.
SwiftGC was a chunky deal,
right? (CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
Yes. But it's more
of a real estate dispute.
The land the office is on.
But Tender paid 50 million dollars
for SwiftGC, right?
What?
(LAUGHING)
If we had 50 million dollars,
it would be a total bloodbath.
But the check says
50 million dollars, does it not?
You can write whatever nonsense
you want on them.
Doesn't mean it's true.
Fifty?
For a tiny company? Lord have mercy.
Thank you so much for the tea.
Can we see the business?
It's only listed as a PO box online.
(DRAMATIC TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(METAL GATE RATTLING)
(MUSIC RECEDING) ♪
- (WHISPERS) Look.
- (WHISPERS) Fifth floor.
Why are we whispering?
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
Who are you?
Sorry, we're just looking.
Do you know of Tender?
Huh? Tender?
- Do you know Tender?
- (TOILET FLUSHING)
(SECURITY GUARD 1 GRUNTS)
- Ah, Tender?
- SECUIRTY GUARD 2: Mm-hmm.
Who hired you, SwiftGC? Tender?
Why are you here?
- Uh, squatters.
- Uh, squatters.
(SCOFFS)
- (PHONE LINE RINGING)
- (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
AUTOMATED VOICE:
Hello, you’ve reached Tender.
- Your call is important to us
- What are we looking at?
A facade.
Say we prove Tender
isn't what it says it is.
We get the surrogate joy of saying,
"Your identity
is bullshit, you're a fake."
And what?
We temporarily get to live
in the illusion
that we ourselves
are built on firmer ground?
Well, crucially,
we're not lying to the world
to profit off it.
That feels much closer
to the truth of my life
than anything else I've said to myself.
(SPEAKERPHONE RINGING)
(SIGHS)
- (RINGING CONTINUES)
- (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- (SPEAKERPHONE BEEPS)
- Sweetpea?
- SWEETPEA: The thing is nothing!
- What?
- SWEETPEA: Put me on speaker.
- You You are. Go.
SWEETPEA: The thing is nothing.
Okay. All right. Can you explain?
Dycker's payment laundry thesis
suggested
that Tender's high frequency
of acquisitions
was to circumvent local decency
and gambling laws, right?
But what if something else
was motivating
their indiscriminate spending?
Let's say
you claim to be a fast-growing,
highly revenue-generative
company, but it is only a claim.
Fake profits leads to fake cash,
so what do you have to do?
You have to deploy said fake cash.
Why? Because the cash reserves
are the first thing
that an auditor looks at.
But how do you account
for the cash balance not being there?
You say, "Oh, I've already spent it."
But Tender are lying about the value
of what they're buying out here
because juicing it up
fuels the facade of aggressive growth
and then deploys said fake cash.
It’s a Potemkin village
They paid 50 million dollars
for an empty room.
Why? Because they didn't. (CHUCKLES)
SwiftGC has no users,
there is no revenue,
and there is no 50 million dollars.
That's what their book says,
but it's cosmetic.
They probably paid three cents
on the dollar, if that,
and then knocked it back
with bribes at local level
to make it look like
many multiples more.
Photo ops, novelty checks,
it's all surface.
The cash can never sit still.
It doesn't even need to be real
if it's hotfooting
from one acquisition to another.
Always too short a stay to be seen.
They can always point
to its next destination.
Correct. The opaque structures,
the complex web of subsidiaries,
the Africa of it.
They're probably so brazen,
they think people are too lazy
to do the footwork
- to actually knock on the door.
- Well, guess what?
Uh, I knocked on
the fucking door, bitch.
Each stage of Tender's pre-pivot
is all overinflated.
I Each lie relies on the next.
Fake users drives fake revenue,
which drives fake cash,
which then must be deployed
on acquisitions,
which accounts for more fake users
- and more fake revenue.
- It's an Ouroboros.
Sure, whatever the fuck that is.
(CHUCKLES)
It is a feedback loop of fakery.
That is why their profits never suffered
after the U.S. gambling
legislation came in,
and why Whitney could cull Siren
without a second thought
about the bottom line.
Tender started as a payment processor.
Yeah, and it became a bank
to hide the fact
that it was never
a successful payment processor.
It was a phantom.
(SOFTLY) The thing was nothing.
- So, we can corroborate this?
- Did you get photos of SwiftGC?
KWABENA: Yes. Yes, we did.
And Dycker's source is here and I think
that we can make him the motherlode.
He wants to whistleblow?
SWEETPEA: He wants some pathways
to understanding
what that might look like.
Un-fucking-believable work, Sweetpea.
Yeah, I quite agree.
Keep us bang up to date.
- (LAUGHS)
- (JUBILANT TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(BOTH SCREAMING, LAUGHING)
- Whoo!
- (LAUGHS)
Okay. How do we present this?
And how fast and wide
can we disseminate it?
We don't have irrefutable evidence.
We need the informer.
We don't need the world to believe us,
just enough investors
with enough capital.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
What if I go to Pierre's conference
and instead of talking
about women in finance,
I talk about something else
entirely? We don't need proof.
Why?
Because we finally have
a compelling story to tell.
(PHONE LINE RINGING)
EDWARD BURGESS: Burgess.
Mr. Burgess. Hi. I’m Sweetpea Golightly.
You're what?
SWEETPEA: I'm very sorry
for the loss of your colleague.
I work for an investigative
hedge fund. SternTao.
Yeah, I've heard of you, unfortunately.
SWEETPEA:
I've opened a potential line
of communication
with Jim Dycker’s source
here in Accra who he’d planned to meet.
BURGESS:
Yeah, before Tender muzzled us.
Are there any protections
that you can offer him
as a public body?
I mean, there was
a whistleblower directive,
but we're not covered by that anymore
because doombrain mugs
falsely incentivized
other doombrain mugs
to vote us out of Europe.
SWEETPEA:
What else can incentivize him?
Well, I mean, what vectors
can you hit him on?
"Doing the right thing"?
I mean, that's largely bullshit
to human ears.
Relief from the burden
of the lie, relief from threat
from other perpetrators of the lie.
Relief from prosecution?
I I say this with respect,
but these sources tend
to be incredibly sensitive
given what's on the line, yeah?
They require a special bond,
trust established through time.
It's a gentle, protracted process.
It's not best led by a person
who stands to be financially compensated
if the source decides to talk.
- Ms. Golightly?
- I'm here.
You think Jim was right
about these guys?
He was more right than he knew.
Speak soon.
- (CLEARS THROAT)
- So?
How do we play it?
We snooker him.
(MUSIC FADING) ♪
- TONY: Um, I’ll call you back.
- (TELEPHONE RINGING IN DISTANCE)
So under-qualified and so overpaid.
- And that was the lure, right?
- (CHAIR CLANGS)
It was too good to be true
because actually it wasn't fucking true.
(TV VOLUME INCREASING)
(QUIETLY) Shut the fuck up.
SWEETPEA:
And now the hook is in your gut
and you have two outsiders
walking into your office
saying (WHISPERS) we know.
Well, I'm not on the hook for anything.
Because at close yesterday
my Tender equity
- was worth 80 million dollars.
- At what point did this start?
Did this start with juicing
the user numbers
for the funding round,
or was it the IPO?
You know, how many people
are complicit in this?
God, it must have
been exhausting to live
with that compounding growth.
Each fat lie relying on the next.
I mean, I don't think there's a
more tired man on Earth right now.
Yeah, and you’re the second
most tired man at Tender.
Has Halberstram ever threatened you?
No, hmm.
Pay enough people
to follow top-down orders
and then pay them some
more to look the other way.
I bet these people here
don't even think
of themselves as accessories.
In the room,
the Africans exchange the bribes
while the White men talk.
Was every acquisition
as empty as SwiftGC?
Tony, you assume that someone
is listening to you,
and watching you.
If it’s not Halberstram, who?
- (ANCHOR SPEAKING ON TV)
- Assume?
You know?
(WHISPERS) I want to know
exactly how I am able
to minimize my liability
before I make any kind of disclosure.
And I want counsel before any of that.
Okay, we'll fly you to London,
buy you a ticket,
no trail to you.
Introduce you to Edward Burgess,
formalize a path of protection
through FinDigest.
Yeah, but what have you got without me?
The board, the government,
the auditors, the investors,
the research analysts,
they’ve got no incentive to believe you,
so they won’t. They'll all say
more conjecture that you guys,
- you're paid to believe is fact.
- Do you wanna answer to us,
or do you wanna answer
to law enforcement?
Do you ever get the feeling
you’re a little bit above
your fucking station here?
Never in my fucking life, sir.
- You fancy paying for my nose job too?
- (CHUCKLES)
‘Cause we can add actual bodily harm
to your list of charges.
It's not something
that happens overnight.
No, this is your window
to potentially being exculpated.
You're salivating over the speed
of it all, aren't you?
Who actually?
Genuinely, who fucking cares
what incentivizes the truth?
You can be a victim in this,
not a perpetrator.
If you wanna be punished
like a perpetrator,
that is fine with me.
Or, we can engineer your flight
and start telling the story
of your victimization.
This is your choice.
(BROODING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(TV CUTS OFF)
I'll consider.
Thanks for coming in.
(MUSIC FADES) ♪
She's She’s hollowed out.
I'm not sure what lesson
we can teach her
she hasn't learned from it already.
Mind if she stays over?
- She's exhausted.
- Mmm.
Why don’t you stay too?
You must be beat.
Stay.
- You sure?
- ERIC: Of course.
Take the Take the bed with her.
Okay.
(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I just wanted to say
don’t mistake regret for love.
The girls won’t.
(SNIFFS, GRUNTS)
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
(MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
(PHONE LINE RINGING)
Hey, it's me.
(BROODING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(SCOFFS)
You always have a room here?
DOLLY: On standby.
ERIC: Hey.
Make me feel big.
Yes, Daddy.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
(GASPS) Oh my God.
- Sorry.
- (SWEETPEA SIGHS)
Oh, God, it's much worse
than he said it is.
Sorry, I know you said
you didn’t wanna see anyone,
but I just had to check in.
Sorry.
SWEETPEA: I haven't heard
from Tony Day yet.
I’m just amped up, you know?
Like I can’t
take myself off the ceiling.
Didn’t sleep
for the whole plane journey.
HARPER: Don’t worry, I’m gonna present
our findings at Pierre’s conference.
SWEETPEA: Hmm.
Even if we had the actual smoking gun
they would say
that we manufactured the gun
and conjured the fucking smoke.
Yeah, they'll just call bullshit again.
Let them.
I'm gonna lay it out brick by brick.
It will be undeniable.
Mm.
I'm so, so sorry that I let
this happen to you.
- It is my responsibility.
- No, you didn't.
Don't take this away from me.
Look, I work for you, you know,
you don’t have to act out this
like pastoral compassion.
And I wanna be paid.
Do we understand each other?
Y (SNICKERS) Y Yeah.
And look, I'll tell you this now
in case he tells you it himself
but, um
Kwabena and I, we hooked up.
And I don’t know,
I mean I assumed
it was casual between you both.
I don’t know. Um
I just feel like transgressions
are best dealt with head-on,
you know, so they don’t fester.
No, no. It Um
(CLEARS THROAT)
It was casual. (CHUCKLES)
Good.
I really appreciate your honesty.
Okay, well, can I
can I come inside,
just keep you company?
I'm really fucking tired.
(SUITCASE RATTLES)
(DOOR UNLOCKING, OPENING)
(DOOR CLOSING)
(DOOR CLOSING)
- Good flight?
- (SHUSHES)
I just checked in Eric's room.
His wife and kid are asleep in there.
This whole setup needs a rethink.
- Where is Eric?
- Who knows?
How was Sweetpea?
(INHALES DEEPLY)
She was a dog with a bone.
- Really?
- KWABENA: Hmm. Tenacious.
You know, it’s really admirable
how she’s recovered
from all that shit she went through.
You okay?
HARPER: Fine.
More than fine. We are
very close.
KWABENA: Close?
Us?
To floodlighting
the whole fucking underside.
Huh.
Well, I spend so much time
listening to my higher brain
and its love of complexity and
all along your gut’s telling you
what’s truly right.
Yeah.
Trust your gut, I guess.
Don't ever fucking liquidate
my positions again.
Okay? I'm not some boy.
Okay, we fuck each other,
but not like that.
Is that clear?
Crystal.
I need to get together
these materials for this talk.
- Kwabena?
- Yeah?
If anybody calls for me,
tell them I'm busy.
I'm working.
(“EYES WITHOUT A FACE”
BY BILLY IDOL PLAYING) ♪
I'm all out of hope ♪
One more bad dream
Could bring a fall ♪
When I'm far from home ♪
Don't call me on the phone
To tell me you're alone ♪
It's easy to deceive ♪
- It's easy to tease ♪
- (SOBS)
But hard to get release ♪
- (SINGING IN FRENCH) ♪
- Eyes without a face ♪
- (SINGING IN FRENCH) ♪
- (SOBS)
- Eyes without a face ♪
- (SINGING IN FRENCH) ♪
Eyes without a face ♪
Got no human grace
Your eyes without a face ♪
And now it's getting worse ♪
(SONG CONCLUDES) ♪