The Dropout (2022) s01e02 Episode Script

This is an investigation of Theranos Inc to determine whether there have been violations of federal security laws.
What if you could test your blood in your own home? And what if it's not a whole vial but just a drop? I wanted to ask you if you would consider investing my tuition money into the company.
How would we pay for your tuition? Well, you won't have to because I'm going to drop out.
You're not going to push me away again.
I'm going to protect you.
- I know.
Fix it, Daddy, fix it.
Fix it, Daddy, fix it! Fix it, Daddy, fix it.
Fix it, Daddy, fix it! Just tell her you don't have time to fix it.
But you can fix anything.
I'm gonna fix it, alright? - Alright.
Okay.
- Okay.
What time are you gonna be home? I will, uh, I'll call you later, okay.
Bye.
- It's not a regular day.
- I'm coming.
It's demo day.
Let's go.
Why do you run so weird.
I mean, I guess compared to other electrical engineers, you run totally normal.
Uh, at that time, we were trying to develop a working prototype.
Who is "we"? Edmond Ku, head of engineering, and Rakesh Dewan.
Ian, um, Gibbons, head of chemistry.
I'm going to apply some pressure, Ian.
- Ah! - That hurts? Just a bit, yeah.
He's been in a lot of pain.
Only the foot.
And who needs feet anyway? The pain in your feet is a late effect of the chemo.
It's called hand-foot syndrome.
The bad news is that it might not go away.
God fuckin' hell.
Did you know that chemotherapy was discovered when two sadistic pharmacologists decided to inject mice with mustard gas? That's a fun fact, honey.
But we need to get you back to work.
Yeah.
It's demo day.
They focused on, uh, the prototype, and my focus was I, I needed to bring in the money.
Uh, good morning.
Uh, can I get you some coffee? - Yeah.
- Can I just say I've never had a boss who's, like, a girl my age, and it's so fun.
Okay.
Coffee would be great.
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? What would you attempt to do? What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? They're ready to demo now.
I would like to order a custom paperweight with some words on it.
Okay, what do you want it to say? "What would you attempt to do?" Last night we worked on carriage positioning and cartridge seal, then I replumbed the system.
Yeah, and we got rid of those well-dressed, but-oh-so sharp turns.
Yeah, this one's not as pretty.
But it's a gentler ride for our little blood cell friends.
It's incredible.
It's better than I imagined.
We're still testing the coating.
Edmond, you're so good.
He's the best.
He's not as good as me, - but he's good.
- No, no, no, no, no.
This is your vision, Elizabeth.
And it's inspired everyone here.
Oh no.
Guys, can I be really honest with you right now? Every time look at it, I feel this tingle, but it's just in my left butt cheek.
It's not in both.
So I'm just wondering why it's just the left.
Why are you talking about how your butt feels in front of Elizabeth.
She doesn't care.
Do you care? I think she cares right now.
She was in college, like, yesterday.
Are we ready? Yeah.
Have I missed it? Ian, we are just getting started.
Well, if you can make room for this handsome crippled man.
So Everyone, could you gather briefly.
Quickly.
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? I'd wrestle an alligator.
Today, together, we are taking the first step toward making healthcare accessible to everyone in this country.
That's why we work so hard.
Because this machine and all of us are going to change the world.
Yeah, we are.
Woo! Good job, but uh, it's really just a demo, guys, so.
Uh, you know, we've been testing some blood for sepsis because that seems to be the most reliable test we have so far.
Okay? Didn't you just take the wind? He's so modest, right? Okay.
So I'm just going to add the small blood sample to this cartridge and insert it into the prototype, uh, which will test it for sepsis.
Here we go.
Shit.
You know what? It's fine.
Oh.
Okay, I'll, I'll check the fuse box.
Hello, I'd like to pay a bill.
Could-could I actually put it on a different credit card? Sure, what's your address? You wanna know why you're out of money, because every one of those cartridges costs $200.
Research at this scale is not cheap, and I told you that.
I, I've already raised six million dollars from my parents and my family.
- And everybody that I know.
- I'm sorry, but Wait, are those ants? Yeah.
Miriam! Are they back? - Yep.
- Where are they? You know the patents Ian is applying for, so the next step The next step is to bring in pharmaceutical companies, get them interested to the point where they will fund the research.
What happened with Novartis? Could we, could we open a window or something? The windows don't open.
Novartis won't meet with me until I have a working prototype, and, and I can't have a prototype that works unless we have enough money for research, which I cannot get until we have a contract with Novartis.
So it's completely illogical.
That's running a startup.
Okay, they're all dead.
- I'll get your salad? - Yeah.
Thank you.
Are you sure you don't know anybody who can invest a little bit more? Me? No, no, no, no, no, no.
You need to start asking for money from people you don't know.
You need to go out to Sand Hill Road and start bringing in venture capital firms.
You've got to learn how to sell this.
Here's your salad.
Whoa.
Whoa.
Don't, don't eat that in here.
Why? I can't, I can't go outside.
I have too much work to do.
This is why you have ants.
I'll take those.
So you have a boyfriend? No.
That would be too much of a distraction.
Hi, I just want to say that, uh Hi, Edmond.
Hey.
Um Don't worry about the demo, Elizabeth, because we are going to get there.
We just, um, need more time.
No problem.
I, I'm going to get you more time.
I'm gonna I'm gonna find the money.
Okay, I'm sorry This is the RDX Metabolic Profiler.
Using one drop of blood, we can perform hundreds of tests.
What is your background? Are you a, uh, PhD or medical doctor? I dropped out of Stanford two years ago.
This next slide is, um This next The blood goes into the cartridge and then, uh, it-it flows through different channels, much like this picture, uh Do we have any kiwis? If we don't have any kiwis, I'll take a star fruit.
You want one? A st a star fruit? A kiwi.
Uh, I don't think so.
So, th-the You slide the cartridge into the machine.
Yeah, you do.
And the result is done in real time and then transmitted to our website.
Wait, you don't use needles? There's a microneedle that extracts eight microliters of blood.
I don't understand how you're doing this extremely complex chemical engineering with essentially a high school degree.
Do you have a working prototype? Not yet.
Can you use the microneedle anywhere on your body? Uh, and I'm, I'm Uh, what's your plans to scale this? Currently, we have none.
So you haven't even met with any pharmaceutical companies yet? Fuck! It's not for us.
It's a pass.
It's gonna be a pass for us.
Do it.
Do it right now.
Don Lucas' office.
One moment.
Larry Ellison for you.
Okay.
I'll tell her.
Ms.
Holmes, Don just had something pressing come up.
I'm afraid he's going to have to reschedule.
No.
You don't want to reschedule? No, I you can't just cancel an appointment.
I'm, I'm here already, and our, our company's doing something really important.
Of course.
And Channing Robertson, who's the head of chemical engineering at Stanford, is on our board.
He's he's on our board.
We are a real company.
And I had an appointment.
Are you alright? Can-can I get you a cup of coffee? Would you just tell Don Lucas that he has lost a chance to disrupt a $7 billion blood-testing industry? Could you tell him that? - I'll be sure to tell him that.
- Thank you.
Would it be possible to leave some materials? I don't see anything.
Ah, patience, my friend.
Now.
Chemiluminescence.
- Wow.
- Light which is generated without the creation of heat.
We call it cold light.
- Chemiluminescence.
- Hmm.
It's how fireflies emit light in the dark.
Also those glowsticks that, um, teenagers on drugs like.
And, uh, we're using it for light-based assays.
Uh, for example, liver function.
So, if we are testing for liver function, what would you see? What would happen? Uh, chemiluminescent immunoassays will make liver enzymes from the blood compete with a Luminol-bound Luminol-bound synthetic form, uh, to bind to the chip so if we measure how brightly the sample glows, then we can determine how, how well the liver is functioning.
Exactly.
Fortunately, um, human beings are not transparent, and we absorb light.
So our job, our job is to, is to make the blood glow so that it reveals the body's secrets to us.
Mm.
Listen, don't, um, don't worry, you'll find an investor.
Yeah, of course the succubi at Sand Hill Road didn't like you, but, pssh, they, they want everything done fast, and science is maddeningly slow.
Oh, they don't know the first thing about biochemistry.
I don't either.
I don't know what I'm talking about.
I'm not a chemist so I, I need I don't have ex-experience.
No, no, no.
You're not a chemist, but, but I said yes.
You, you asked me to work here, and I said yes.
Because you're friends with Channing.
No! No.
Because I-I'd been poked with needles every other day when I had cancer.
And-and-and when I was at my lowest, I felt, I felt like a specimen.
Like-like a, like a lab rat, you know? And we can do something to make that better.
I, I knew you were young when I agreed to come and work here, but you had a You had a vision, and you're a bit, you're a bit chemiluminescent, aren't you? You possess that rare gift of of creating light from within.
So you'll light all of us up and show us what we're made of.
Although, uh, just out of curiosity, um, when will we run out of money? Just so I know so when to, you know, run off to find another job for the health insurance, because I do have this tendency to occasionally get cancer, you know.
We're just fine.
Hello.
Uh, who are you? Ian, this is my friend.
Uh, he, he actually is here to, to pick something up.
Uh, uh, thank you.
Have a good night.
Night.
Good night.
I had a bad day.
I know.
Fuck them all.
Fuck everyone.
Did you hear that? I think someone's out there.
There's no one there.
I thought I heard somebody.
I'm a secret.
Just at work.
I told my parents about you.
I like being a secret.
- Really? - Just don't keep secrets from me.
I don't want to have to explain this to anyone.
Can I fit in there? Elizabeth, Don Lucas is here.
What? He's downstairs.
He's just standing there in a cowboy hat.
What do you mean he's just standing there? Stall him.
The box is in pieces.
Tell the engineers.
Got it.
Hello, Don.
Elizabeth Holmes.
- Ah.
- We were not expecting you.
Well, I didn't want to miss my opportunity to disrupt a $7 billion industry.
Oh, you heard that.
Okay.
Look, I got 15 minutes.
- Where's this prototype of yours? - Perfect.
Well, welcome to Theranos.
The name is a mix between "Therapy" and "Diagnosis.
" Just show me the tech.
Right.
Okay.
127, do you think you can get it there? - I don't Okay.
- How is this gonna work? We're gonna remove it altogether.
What are you talking about? How This is our brainstorming room where we let our brains run free.
I've got ten minutes left.
We need more table space.
- Rakesh, can you get the - Yeah.
Okay, get the cartridges.
Whoa! Come on, man.
Oh! Shit, shit.
Sorry.
Oh! Oh fuck.
Oh my god, it's blood.
Oh my god, oh my god.
Hey, hey, hey, do we know did this get tested for hepatitis, HIV? Somebody fucking speak! I need a new shirt.
Don't talk to me! Don't talk to me! Guys, let's clean this up, come on.
Let's go, let's go.
Clean this up.
You want to follow me this way? It's a bit of a maze in here.
- Herschel, give me your shirt.
- Is he here already? And here we are.
This is where the magic happens.
So, if you want to follow me over here, I could show you I could show you the RDX Metabolic Profiler.
The RDX Meta-what? The, the RDX Metabolic Profiler.
Well, you're going to need a new name.
Fire it up.
Let's see what it does.
You know what, Don We're not ready to show it, but I can give you some more information You know, I, I, I go by my gut on these sort of things.
Yeah, well, thanks for the tour.
Don.
The blood-testing industry is run by two companies: Quest and Labcorp.
And they are dinosaurs.
The tech is ancient.
These machines that are currently in use are archaic.
These billion-dollar companies expect us to let them stick us with needles and then pay for their expensive tests.
No.
This is America.
We're cowboys, right? We should be in control of our own healthcare.
You were in the army, and thank you for your service.
Could you imagine a portable blood-testing device on the battlefield? The American lives that could be saved.
Don if all you wanted to do is make money, you'd be on Wall Street, not in Palo Alto.
And when Larry Ellison came to you with his vision for how Oracle could organize data, you didn't tell him he was crazy.
You said, "How much do you need?" If you believe in us, everyone else will.
Hmm.
Whatever you're doing tomorrow, cancel it.
I want you to meet Larry Ellison.
Woo! When are you going to move in? - It depends.
- On what? On how it goes today with my parents.
Yes, I'm every parent's dream.
- Is that your new sword? - Katana! Look at it.
It's fucking ancient.
Ask Larry Ellison about katanas.
He loves Japan.
How are you on the numbers? Uh, most blood tests are priced too high.
We offer a low-cost alternative with the possibility to scale up.
Don't talk about saving the world.
I'm not gonna talk about saving the world.
Don't use your giddy voice.
Don't say awesome.
You're beautiful.
But you don't want to be too beautiful.
They won't take you seriously.
I'll meet you at the restaurant.
Hi.
We just landed.
Here's your father.
He's dying to talk to you.
- Elizabeth.
- How was the flight? Fine.
What time are you meeting with Larry Ellison? And have you worked on your pitch? Now.
And yeah.
Ask her if she's still meeting us at the restaurant.
I don't want to meet this boyfriend without her.
If he gets there first, how do we know it's him.
Uh, he's mid-30s.
Pakistani.
Ow.
Is Dad okay? I asked to reschedule, but his doctor said he was okay to travel.
I had routine outpatient surgery weeks ago.
I'm fine.
- It'll be an hour tops, okay.
Bye.
- Bye.
Elizabeth.
I'm Larry.
Oh, Larry, hi.
I'm Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Theranos.
No one told you we were going on a boat, huh? Come on, I'll help you up.
Watch your step.
Sunny.
Hi, uh, I'm on his boat.
And I-I don't know how long I'm gonna be on the boat.
- That's great! - Can you hear me? - Sunny? - Elizabeth.
So what do you think? It's awesome.
Uh, to be honest with you, I don't know that much about boats.
I didn't know shit about boats.
I just started buying 'em.
Now I race in the America's Cup.
I wanted to be a leader in tech, I became a leader.
Are you a leader? I think so.
Yeah.
You want a husband? Kids? 'Cause that's gonna slow you down.
You have a wife and kids.
Seriously? Come on.
Have you heard of Satori? Watch out.
Larry loves to talk about all this Japanese stuff.
Yeah.
I got the biggest tea garden in North America.
Brought the structures in from Japan and added about 500 trees, but, but Satori is Buddhist enlightenment.
It's that moment where you can look inside yourself and know just who you are.
Have you experienced Satori? I don't think so.
You wanna see something cool? Now this is where you really feel like you're on a boat.
So what I'd really like to talk to you about is the $7 billion blood-testing industry.
Yeah, Don took me through it.
But let me ask you again: Are you a leader? Because if you want this, you really have to dedicate yourself to it.
You have to be aggressive, start firing people.
Have you, have you fired anybody yet? Not yet.
Well, then you gotta fight.
That's what it takes to be a CEO.
That's what it takes to run a billion-dollar company.
- Is that what you really want? - Yes.
Good! Then let's stop fuckin' around! What are you willing to do to get it? We're working on a prototype, and we're hoping to get a meeting with a pharma company, like Novartis.
And what's stopping you? I'm having a hard time getting them to talk to me.
Then you gotta hustle.
Oracle's first contract.
Do you remember? Yeah.
The software was still a mess.
You know what I said? I said nothing.
Nothing.
GTFM.
Get the fuckin' money.
Get the fuckin' money.
Do you get the fuckin' money? I I get the fuckin' money.
Yeah.
The show me.
Show me! I get the fuckin' money.
I I I get the fuckin' money! - Get the fuckin' money.
- I get the fuckin' money! - Get the fuckin' money! - GTFM! - I get the fuckin' money.
- Get the fuckin' money.
- Yeah! - Whoo! - Get the fuckin' money! - GTFM! Get the fuckin' money! Yeah! - Get the money! - Yeah! - Get it.
Get the fuckin' money.
- I get the fuckin' money.
Get the fuckin' money.
I hope you didn't need that.
If I get you a meeting at Novartis and you're able to demo the prototype then I'm in.
Then you're in? Then you got Don Lucas and me.
Hey, you want something to drink? Champagne, beer, green tea? Oh, my mom's called, like, three times.
I can I get this? - You're serious? Elizabeth? We're at the hospital.
Mom? - Hi.
- You're here.
Everything is fine.
He collapsed in the restaurant.
It was just a complication from his surgery.
He went to triage, and no one was helping us.
And then Sunny just took care of all of it.
He called the hospital, and they put us in here, in the VIP room.
He just took care of all of it.
Come on, it was easy.
Oh, I'm gonna see if they have snacks.
I wasn't going to let anything happen to him.
- Thank you.
- Elizabeth? Hi, Dad.
I'm so sorry I wasn't here.
Why did you leave the boat? What do you mean? I, I I wanted to see you.
I wanted to be here.
You shouldn't have left.
You shouldn't be here.
- I - You have work to do.
I-I I just wanted to, to make sure you were okay.
Are you hearing me? It's all of your tuition money.
Go back to work.
Go.
Go.
I've got this.
Alright, alright.
Why is no one working? Edmond, may I speak with you? Yeah.
You can blow them out.
Woo! What's up? Can the prototype do the sepsis test? No.
We're still pretty far away.
Well, why, why is Why isn't everyone working? We're just taking a break.
Uh, you know we routinely put in 12-hour days.
What is that? Oh that That's, that's for my daughter.
She, um It was broken, so I was just tinkering with it at lunchtime.
Your daughter plays with that? What, what does she do with it? She bakes things.
Why doesn't she use a real oven? Because real ovens are dangerous for kids.
Larry Ellison is getting us a meeting at Novartis.
And you need to run your team 24 hours a day in shifts, and work does not stop until we run a successful test.
You want me to ask people to work 24 hours a day? Elizabeth, they have families, they have lives.
They'll-they'll-they'll burn out, they'll quit.
But people are replaceable.
I If you can't do this, I'm-I'm gonna start firing people.
And get that out of here.
Okay.
Okay.
Miriam.
Ugh.
I know, it looks weird.
The paperweight place said it was too many words.
I asked It's Edmond Ku's birthday today.
Let's arrange to get him something, a gift, like something nice.
Okay.
I don't know what people like.
He has a daughter.
Oh okay.
No problem.
That was an original piece.
Dude, you're so pale right now.
I mean, you're gray.
You're, you're ashen.
You look like a powdered donut.
Look in the mirror.
- You can go home, Rakesh.
- You go home.
I'm not going home until we figure out why the blood keeps clotting.
Well, let's try this.
Uh, I put on a new coating.
It won't work, but at least it will tell us where we are.
Okay.
Ah.
Wait a minute.
Brother, I, I got a reading.
The test came back.
- Shut up.
- I don't have sepsis.
Holy shit.
I-I don't have sepsis.
It works.
As long as the room doesn't get below 68 or above 77 degrees.
I gotta fucking hug you.
Okay, okay, okay, okay.
No, no.
Yes! Yes! I am going on a business trip.
Yeah! Seriously, this is huge.
This is Google, this is Yahoo but Wait, no, no, no, this is better.
This is, this is going to help people.
I wish we had time to run more trials.
Can you unclench? Unclench! I love you! - Say it back.
- I love you, Rakesh.
I love you too.
Oh my god! Okay, okay.
- Let's go wake them up.
Okay.
- Okay.
Guess what? - What? - We, we, we have sepsis.
We-we do.
We have, we have sepsis.
We have sepsis? Oh! We have sepsis.
We have sepsis.
We have sepsis.
We have sepsis! We have sepsis! We have sepsis.
Hi.
Sorry, we, we have a problem.
It's been consistent? Every time.
Girls, girls, girls, girls, wait for us, wait for us.
- Just one second.
- Edmond! One second, one second, one-one second, one second, one second.
Girls, girls, don't go too far.
Yep.
We just keep getting error messages.
- Your prototype's not working.
- We need your help, Edmond.
I don't know why, something must have happened I'm sorry.
I'm going to be right behind you.
We only have the sales team here.
- Fuck.
- Okay, um we got to recalibrate it so We need someone's blood.
You.
Are you sure the blood carriage is sealed? Yeah.
Is the main case fan still spinning? Mm-hmm.
It just keeps reading error.
There could be a light leak.
Rakesh, try turning off all the lights.
Come on, come on.
Come on.
- Error.
- Okay, do another, Tommy.
- I can't feel my fingers.
- I don't care! Okay, I'll do it.
Another.
Do another! Another! - Error.
Another.
- Ah shit.
Another! Fuck this shit! Find the light leak.
Put towels over that window.
No, wait.
Just wait, just wait, just wait.
Somebody call room service.
I have an idea.
Why would you call room service? Just trust me.
No light.
I'm putting in the card.
Rakesh, don't get crumbs on the box.
What are you doing? You have to clean your fingers after you eat that because Shit, shit, shit.
Okay.
Alright.
Maybe it's the temperature.
Maybe, like, a thermocouple got damaged in the flight, huh? Guys, guys, no, no, no, it's too cold now.
Remember, it's Switzerland in the winter.
You're practically in the What do you want us to do, Edmond? Huh? Guys, what's going on there? I, I can't see.
Body heat.
Don't worry, I won't take my clothes off.
Card is in.
Where's, where's Rakesh? What's he doing? What Rakesh, what are you doing? Okay, don't hug it too hard, Rakesh.
- There's no error message.
- Okay, it can't handle it.
- There's no error message.
- Guys, am I on mute? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Oh my god! Shit, shit, shit, it's not actually in.
Hold on.
Okay.
Okay, now it's in.
No.
No.
No.
Okay, guys, let's take it apart.
Okay, you just want to soften up the portal I know, bro.
There's no more blood left in my fingers.
Daddy! Woo! Hey, sweetie, hi! Oh my gosh.
Did you guys have fun? Hmm? What's on your face? Are you a giraffe? Alright, let's go get in the tub, come on.
Alright, I'll-I'll-I'll be with you guys - Come on, come on.
- Okay, baby? Okay.
Okay, uh Uh, yeah, sorry, guys, I'm just, uh Fi-fi-fire! Oh! Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit.
What Why Why did this happen? I explained.
It, it wasn't reliable.
I I don't know.
Maybe, um Maybe you should get some sleep, Elizabeth.
You, you look exhausted.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm gonna get some sleep.
Thank you for your help, Edmond.
You're welcome Okay, uh, thanks, guys, I think we're done.
Good work, man.
Thanks.
Try and get some sleep, yeah? - Rakesh.
- Thank you.
Yeah? Hey.
What are we gonna show at the demo? I thought we were going to bed.
Yeah, but what are we gonna show at the demo? I, I don't understand.
I, I we-we're gonna tell them that we don't have a working prototype.
But it worked before.
Everybody saw it.
We still have a reading saved.
From when it worked.
Right? Just one drop of blood gets put into our Theranos-branded cartridges.
And we can change the world.
They started 20 minutes ago.
Have you heard anything? Not yet.
You know, this is supposed to be the brainstorm room.
It was my idea, and I've never been in it.
Um, it's a strange thing.
Um you know, Elizabeth put her name down for our patent applications as one of the inventors.
Did she work on the inventions? Not in any scientific way.
Herschel.
Hey, fellas.
What are you doing here so late? You'll have to excuse us.
It doesn't always take this long to beam test results from a single drop of blood across the world.
I haven't announced this yet, but our series B round closed at $165 million.
So here's to Don Lucas and Larry Ellison.
And let's party.
Ooh, ooh.
Are you okay? I got the money.
I got the fuckin' money.
What are you doing here? Oh god.
Did you call him? I thought you might need a ride home, so I went through your phone and found his number.
I'm really sorry if that Let's go outside for a moment.
You're fired.
What happened? It's a Christmas party.
You're their boss.
They look up to you.
You're better than this.
I don't think I am.
We faked the demo.
In Switzerland.
The device wasn't working.
And we couldn't fix it.
So I had somebody send in fake test results from a test we'd done before.
We need to talk.
Not now, man.
I know what you did at Novartis.
Okay.
Calm down.
Why are you breathing so hard? Just relax.
I mean, it's going to work.
It just didn't that day.
I didn't know what to do.
When we get the box to work, we're not even gonna remember this.
We'll be geniuses, and you'll be able to tell this story at a conference wearing flip-flops.
This is how it works.
Just dance, Edmond.
Don't tell anyone else.
Just you.
Good.
I don't feel things the way other people feel things.
I know.
But I love you.
I know.
We were all working almost 24 hours a day seven days a week.
We were trying to do something good.
I would have graduated this year.
Now you're a fucking millionaire.
Yes, fuck everyone! I'm going to change the world!