The Consultant (2023) s01e02 Episode Script

Sang can be conceited,
vain, narcissistic,
but he's not a bad person.
- Can I help you?
- Regus Patoff.
I am to consult with Mr. Sang
on all matters of business.
You'll find this illustrates
Mr. Sang's wishes.
- Who owns us?
- Sang's only living relative,
his mother, who lives in
Busan and speaks no English.
What do you do here?
I was Sang's creative liaison.
- Creative liaison?
- I gave myself a title bump.
You're saying this guy waltzed
in off the street one day
and got Sang to sign
over complete authority?
I don't buy it.
Do you smell that?
It's like putrid fruit.
Hello?
Elaine, it's Regus Patoff.
Mr. Pa is everything okay?
It's 3:00 in the morning.
I was calling to ask
if you'd be available
to come into the office a
little earlier than normal.
Um, sure.
If it's urgent, I can be there at 8:00.
That is disappointing.
I was hoping for
something more immediate.
Hello?
Elaine, it's Regus Patoff.
Yes, Mr. Patoff. We just spoke.
I was calling to ask if
you would be available
to come into the office a
little earlier than normal.
I can be there in 40 minutes.
My name is Elaine Hayman.
It's 3:23 on Tuesday morning,
and at the time of this recording,
I'm driving to
the offices of CompWare in downtown LA.
If something should happen to
me, and this message is pulled
off my cloud, I hope
it can shed some light
on what may have transpired.
As creative liaison for
one of the most successful
mobile games studios in Los Angeles,
I expect hard work and long hours.
I have always been willing to do
whatever it takes to succeed.
But I don't know where
this man came from.
I don't know how he
rose to this position.
And I don't know what
authority he carries.
In.
What took you so long?
I drove in from the Valley.
Can't you live closer?
I share an apartment with
two struggling actors.
It's pretty much all we can afford.
4866 Magnolia.
You know where I live?
With Elijah and Daisy.
They're not quite actors.
What is that?
Is that about me?
That's your personnel file.
I came by it in the records room.
We have a records room?
Of course.
Every company I ever consulted
at has a records room.
I just assumed everything
was on the server.
Sang promised we were carbon-neutral.
You can learn so much from these files.
For example, did you
know that the average age
of CompWare employees is 27? You're 27.
That the average level
of education is a bachelor's degree?
You have a bachelor's degree.
That the average salary is $62,000?
Sadly, you earn just a hair under.
You called me in at 3:00 a.m.
in my sweatpants to
tell me that I'm average?
Assorted churros.
Two cinnamon. Two matcha crunch.
Two, uh, dark chocolate with pistachio.
Elaine?
What?
Cinnamon, matcha crunch
or dark chocolate with pistachio?
I'm not much of a breakfast person.
You have to drive a long way
to find churros at 3:00 in the morning.
That'll be all, Dana.
Huh.
Sit.
Why am I here, Mr. Patoff?
A flight departed Seoul Airport
an hour and 20 minutes ago,
destined for Los Angeles.
There's a passenger on board
who is detrimental to
Mr. Sang's interests.
They must not complete this journey.
You want me to turn a commercial
aircraft around mid-flight?
You're a natural problem-solver, Elaine.
It says so in your file.
- It does?
- Mmm.
Who is this person on this flight?
Ahn Si-Woo.
Sang's mother? She's coming here?
She intends to dismember and demolish
everything Mr. Sang created.
His dream.
His destiny.
He fucked his what?
His face.
His mouth.
Ugh.
His throat. I mean, not nicely.
Babe, if this is what
I think it is, you need
- to involve the authorities.
- No, no, no. We're going to.
We? Who else saw this?
Um, just me and Elaine.
- You guys hanging out again?
- No, we're not hanging out.
We're just stuck in the
same shitty, sink-y boat.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Hmm.
Okay. Well, I'll swing
by and get you after work,
and then you can help with the shopping.
Good times ahead.
- Mm-hmm.
- Love you.
Have fun.
Oh, and babe, if that bad man tries
to put something in your
mouth, you come and tell Mama.
What happened?
He's thrown the entire
development slate out.
Since when?
Since 5:30 this morning.
Are you He can't just shit-can
everything we've been working on!
I heard Kerfuffle got swallowed up.
Ninety-five more of us looking for work.
Kerfuffle?
Oh, no. Fuck him.
Fuck him!
Where are you going?
I just spent the last ten
weeks mo-capping shitting cats.
Why? Because Sang paid
me $5800 a month to do so.
I made my peace with that.
Now, face-fucker blows into town
and thinks he can throw that
all away like it's meaningless?
- I'm not gonna fucking put
- Craig, take the day.
Think this through before
you do something that
- you might actually regret.
- Patti's earning.
Rent'll get paid. I'm
gonna take my chances.
- Ok, he's in a strange mood.
- He is a strange mood!
- Stand aside.
- Hey.
Sang's mother is on her way from Seoul.
- What?
- Her flight lands any minute.
Well, why didn't you tell me that?
Oh, my God. I almost just quit my job.
I don't know what her intentions are.
But you think she's bringing lawyers?
- Well?
- Change of strategy.
Guys, huddle up.
All right. Here's the
play. Keep our heads down,
make it look like we're
busy, 'cause the new suit,
he's not gonna be around much longer.
Shh.
Excuse me Can you help me?
I'm sorry. I don't speak this.
You will need to select
your chosen language and
Oh! Hold on one moment.
It's just going to show us
some advertisements first.
Sang-Woo I am his mother
Mrs. Ahn?
Sang-Woo. Sang-Woo.
Yes. You're in the right place.
Um, my name is Elaine Hayman.
I worked with your son.
Come and sit.
Rosie, can you get us some water?
Uh-huh.
I'll take your bag.
Comrades! Your attention, please.
Today, we have a very special visitor,
Mama Sang,
whose beautiful son was so
violently, brutally slain
on this very soil.
On behalf of all Mr.
Sang's humble servants
Let us take your pain away.
Speak.
Open your heart.
My son
was a good boy.
Sang was a good boy.
He had love in his heart.
He loved us all.
But
he was taken by the devil.
To honor his memory, work harder.
Dana?
Do we know if Mama Sang has
an arrangement for tonight?
She walked in with her suitcase.
Nobody's told me anything.
Book her a suite at the Penrith.
That's where Sang treated
all of his visiting VIPs.
I think that's what he
would've wanted for his mother.
Okay. I'm confused.
Am I his assistant
now or is it still you?
You are. I'm his creative liaison.
Remind me again, what is that?
How much pressure do
you think it would take
to break that glass?
- Upskirt gallery?
- Yeah.
You could stand an elephant up there.
An elephant? Nah.
A couple of rhinos, maybe.
Two rhinos weigh more than one elephant.
That doesn't sound right.
Hey. Do you want to get lunch?
Sorry. We're busy pretending to be busy.
Ha. What do you know?
Elephants weigh 13,000 pounds.
- Rhinos top out at 7,000.
- Yeah. The glass is so strong,
an elephant could fuck
a rhino right above us.
- Wanna put money on that?
- No.
Actually, we're going to
I'm gonna go to lunch first.
When does the cavalry arrive?
Maybe she hasn't retained anyone yet.
It's only been two weeks.
She's still grieving.
Of course he speaks
fluent fucking Korean.
Why wouldn't he speak Korean?
He could be telling her anything
up there. What if he gets
her to sign something?
Why do you expect me
to have the answers?
- This could take months.
- If it does, we wait it out.
No. You saw what he did to Sang.
We can't work for this
sick son of a bitch, can we?
Apparently some of us can.
Six months with this
job title is all I need.
Sang can't write me a
personal reference. Patoff can.
Huh. Did you think you
were gonna impress the boss
with sweatpants and the hair scrunchie?
- He called me in at 3:00 a.m
- My God.
- to stop a 747 mid-flight.
- This motherfucker is so crazy.
- We have to do the right thing.
- Agreed. I just
I'm too tired. I don't know.
What is the right thing?
- We give Mama Sang the tape.
- She doesn't need to see that.
Course she doesn't, but if it'll
speed up the removal process,
that's what we have to do.
What the fuck is he up to now?
Are you leaving, Mr. Patoff?
Well, Dana was considerate enough
to book Mama Sang a room at the Penrith.
I'm escorting her there now.
Uh, Mr. Patoff, Dana
wanted me to give you this.
It's the address to the hotel.
Would you like me to arrange a car?
Mr. Sang would want me
to attend to his mother personally.
I'll see that she's safely
checked into her hotel.
Okay.
This way, good lady.
Oh, her suitcase.
What would we do without you, Elaine?
What's it called when somebody
fucks the son and the mother?
There's gotta be a name for that.
Hey, Iain.
If I wanted to see my
personnel file, who do I ask?
Fill out a request on the home site.
You'll receive it by secure email.
No. I mean the paper copy.
I wanna see what's in the records room.
The what?
The records room?
You don't know about the records room?
I think we have a storeroom.
Whereabouts?
- What are you doing?
- Shh.
No, no, no. No, no, no! No.
If you don't give it
to Mama Sang, I will,
because I am not coming here
tomorrow if he's still here.
Fine. I'll do it.
Pinky promise?
Thank you.
- Hi.
- Hi. Checking in?
I'm visiting a guest. It
was booked under CompWare.
We have the reservation,
but no one's checked in
under that booking yet.
She's not here?
- Hey.
- I'm at the hotel,
but Mother Sang hasn't checked in yet.
What? Wasn't he driving her?
Maybe he took her to dinner?
Maybe she's in the trunk of
his car, chopped up into filets.
- Oh, fuck. He's here.
- At your apartment?
No, the office. I'm
still here. He walked in.
- Is he alone?
- I don't know.
Yep, he's alone.
- Ask him where she is.
- You fucking ask him.
Fine. I will.
Okay. Bye.
It's rather late for you to
be telephoning me, Elaine.
I know. I'm sorry.
It's just that the
staff had a collection
and thought it would be a nice gesture
to send Mother Sang some flowers
or maybe a platter of fruit.
We all loved Sang so much.
If you think it's appropriate.
What room or suite number
should I put on the delivery,
Mr. Patoff?
It was the Penrith you
checked her into, wasn't it?
No. Mother Sang had other arrangements.
We can go ahead and cancel the hotel.
Oh.
Where is she staying?
She didn't say.
But you dropped her off somewhere?
With her suitcase?
Where were we now?
Yes. Do try and think.
I remember seeing these little
pedal boats that look like swans
and thinking how funny they are.
Dana, I need you to call
around all the hotels
in the MacArthur Park area
and find out if they've
checked in Ahn Si-Woo.
I'm in a bath, Elaine.
Yes, but you're holding a phone.
Excuse me.
Have you seen a Korean lady, fifties,
pulling a big purple suitcase?
Sorry. No.
Excuse me?
I'm looking for a
middle-aged Korean woman
with a purple suitcase.
No.
Craig.
Mr. Patoff.
Still working. That is commendable.
I'm just, uh, waiting on a ride home.
And what is that?
This? This is not really anything yet.
Uh-huh. Explain it to me.
Oh, okay.
Um, well, it's based on the
tensile strength of glass.
So, you see this blue line here?
I've linked this to the URL
of a glass load calculator.
The thicker the glass, the
more you can put on it. So
An elephant, and that's okay.
And then, elephant and a
rhino, that's still okay.
Elephant, rhino, monkey.
Bad monkey.
Where do they go?
- They just fall to the bottom.
- What's at the bottom?
Could be anything.
Could be some metal spikes
or trampolines,
or, um, anything.
What do you want it to be, Craig?
What do you want to find
when you stop falling?
I want to play. When is it ready?
Um, I
Maybe we should talk to Elaine first.
- Elaine?
- She's your creative liaison.
This is sort of what she
does, so that you and I
- don't have to do this.
- Of course. Elaine.
Between the two of us,
I was beginning to wonder
what she does around here.
Good work.
Thanks, boss.
He wants to make it.
What?
In two years, Sang never
took a pitch I gave him.
Patoff shows up and
within a couple of days
He killed Mama Sang!
Wait. What?
I don't know where she is.
Dana can't trace her. I
Should I call the police?
No. And what? And say what?
That we lost a tourist? I mean, come on.
Maybe she just needs a little
time to, you know, to grieve.
Goodnight, Craig.
Wait, wait, wait, wait. What?
What? Are you pissed at me?
I'm too tired to be pissed with you.
I ache. I've had three hours of sleep.
All I've had to eat is
a hot tea and churros.
I can't see straight, and now,
I have to drive 40
minutes out to the Valley!
Did you hear they shut the 101?
Oh, fuck my fucking life!
Yeah. It's crawling over the canyon.
My carriage approaches. Are you okay?
Always.
Okay. Well, try and get some sleep,
'cause we got work tomorrow.
- Okay.
- Bye.