Industry (2020) s03e02 Episode Script

Smoke and Mirrors

1
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (TELEPHONES RINGING)
TRADER 1: Whoa.
- (OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
- (DRAMATIC MUSICAL STING) ♪
- TRADER 2: Fucking Tories.
- RISHI RAMDANI: Stop talking.
- TRADER 3: Fuck!
- The fuck is going on?
TRADER 4: Have the phones gone, too?
RISHI: Can some cunt
put 50p in the meter?
(TELEPHONES RINGING)
Yeah, Ramdani.
- Sorry, I I don't
- RISHI: How's Lumi doing?
Check your phone, mine's dead.
What just happened?
ANRAJ CHABRA: It's already trading down
from the offering price.
It's getting torched.
TRADER 5: No, no, no, no, no.
Nothing to worry about.
YASMIN KARA-HANANI: Hi. Um
TRADER 6: How'd you
know about the power cut?
We're not exactly sure
Let me just call you back, okay?
You're gonna be my first call.
(CONFETTI CANNON POPS)
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
EXCHANGE HEAD: Um
EXCHANGE EMPLOYEE: Caedi,
do you know what’s going on?
Excuse me. Excuse me, sorry.
What's going on?
(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
I I think we have a slight
technical problem.
What pri
What price are we trading at?
- Is it open?
- Uh
(CELL PHONE CHIMING REPEATEDLY)
HENRY MUCK: Why didn't
the fucking bell ring?
Is it live?
It's 8:01, so we must be trading, right?
ROBERT SPEARING: Yeah.
Yeah, I don’t know.
Did someone get a photo of me?
ATTENDEE: Everything east
of Liverpool Street, totally dark.
- Has the fucking thing opened?
- ATTENDEE: Man!
- (MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
- Whatever this confusion is,
do not let people sell into it
and hammer the price.
Don't worry. We think that all
existing Lumi orders are filled.
I think it's a National Grid issue.
The party line to clients
is any softness in the stock now
is a buying opportunity.
It It must have just been
a power cut.
No, no, no, no.
Your order, it has been filled.
You are an owner of Lumi. I think.
Rishi, I've got two clients wanting
your bid in Lumi. Where is it?
ERIC TAO: Do not
let people sell the stock!
Our traders are only buyers of this.
We're not providing liquidity
for the other side. Only buyers!
Tell them they can have my taxi bid.
They can have
his "do one, dickhead" price.
Guys, I'm a buyer of Lumi only!
- (PHONE CLATTERS)
- VENETIA BERENS: Eric.
Nobody knows if they own Lumi or not.
Are the orders getting filled?
Okay. All my IBs are talking
about Lumi's debt profile.
What do you want me to say to them?
Calm everyone down.
The market's spooked from the power cut.
Orders are filled.
The story today is not the debt profile.
It's the growth trajectory.
There is a second-year analyst
having to pick up Kenny's line, Eric.
Does that seem like joined-up thinking?
The market is deciding in real time
that this thing is a dog with fleas.
What do you want me to say
to Kenny's clients?
Lumi is a buy on any weakness.
End of conversation.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
TRADER
1: All the mainframe trading systems
were unaffected by the power cut.
- OTTO MOSTYN: Ms. Hanani?
- Yeah, uh
It's Yasmin. Speaking.
OTTO: Hi, Otto Mostyn.
It's, um
Good to connect last night.
- Invitation still stands.
- Excuse me?
OTTO: A drink a little later?
After my lunch at the club.
How can I help you?
OTTO: Well, bad days
tend to be good days for me.
I just wanted
to get a sell-side sense
of how Lumi is feeling.
ERIC: Who is that?
It's Otto Mostyn.
Yeah, but which portfolio manager?
Otto Mostyn.
- Hang up.
- YASMIN: I
- She'll get back to you.
- (PHONE CLATTERS)
He's only ever calling
a junior salesperson
to take a turn out of them.
You don't wanna get involved
with Mostyn.
You good?
I'll be fine. Are you good?
Me? Oh, any better, it'd be a sin.
What's wrong with your back?
Listen, Eric, I'm about
to breach my risk limit.
I can't buy any more Lumi stock
to support it.
I'll see what I can do.
ANRAJ: You're getting absolutely hosed.
You still running
that sterling position?
RISHI: What's that got
to do with this IPO, cunt?
Nothing. It's just what happens
when the Bank of England
hikes rates this morning?
Why would you say that?
Why would you say
Why would you incept that
fucking stress into my head?
- Huh? What? What?
- I'm trying to
If you speak again,
I'm FedEx-ing you back to Watford.
Now get the fuck out of my face.
SWEETPEA GOLIGHTLY:
These posh guys are literally
defined by their, like,
sexual derangement.
This Guardian article is
spilling the tea on Henry Muck.
So, my best mate,
Treacle, she's with Select.
Her body? Too dangerous
for social media.
- Like the most insane butt fold.
- (TELEPHONE RINGING)
SWEETPEA: And these, like, tiny,
perfect little angel tits.
Anyway. So, she matched with Henry Muck,
and he took her
on this incredible date
Why? Why are you telling me this?
TRADER 2: Can someone in tech support
- give me a straight fucking answer on
- (TELEPHONE RINGING)
ERIC: You gonna get that?
- I'm
- Yasmin
- Just
- pick up the phone.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (TELEPHONE CONTINUES RINGING)
I’m gonna be si
ERIC: No drama here!
There's drama on the end of the line.
Get back to work.
RISHI: I told you,
her heels are too high.
(SOFTLY) I'm sorry.
ERIC: Listen, this constant
state of emergency,
this is it, this is as good as it gets.
You wanna know what's worse
than a ringing phone? Silence.
Are we gonna get this stock
to close above 480?
If you can't handle it,
show yourself out the door.
Anna Gearing's on the line.
You know, it seems like
I'm doing two people's jobs
on what feels like
quite a significant day.
Your tone with me is inappropriate.
RISHI: Eric, fuck her tone.
Your Coach Carter camaraderie
is bullshit
when making management decisions like,
I don't know, losing
a fucking executive director
the morning of an IPO.
You're fucking nuts!
- (TELEPHONE BUZZING)
- (COMPUTER CHIMES)
Anna, hi, I'm so sorry.
It's been a crazy morning.
ANNA GEARING: Did you guys
oversell the fundamental story?
Do people know something
that I don't?
My reputation in front of
my board is on the line here.
Did Pierpoint overvalue Lumi?
(TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
YASMIN: Anna, you have
to trust me, okay?
This is just panic.
You don't want to be trigger-happy
and look daft when the market
turns in our favor.
- ANNA: Oh, it better turn.
- RISHI: I'm bid only, Lumi.
Bid only. It's just finding a level.
If anyone asks for an offer,
they'll end up like Mussolini
and his Mrs.
- 'cause of the disruption
- HENRY: Is this price live?
We started at 430,
and we're already trading down at 400.
What percentage decrease is that?
Do it in your head, fuckface.
What did you read at Oxford?
Geography.
Why?
(SIGHS) Harry, good to see you, mate.
- Yeah, yeah. Have a good day.
- And you as well, Sir Henry.
Well, try not to monitor it
like a day trader then, sir.
Are you kidding? Every tick
down is potentially tens of millions
- What, off your net worth?
- Tobias, yeah.
- Congratulations.
- Thanks for supporting.
Thank you for being here. Thank you.
Off the valuation of the company,
to its public perception,
and therefore its health,
and consequently,
its ability to do good.
- (CELL PHONE RINGS)
- How did these hacks
get my fucking number?
I've got Ed Cumming
from The Telegraph.
Tell him to fuck off for a minute, yeah?
- (CELL PHONE CHIMES)
- Wait a minute. The, uh
The Telegraph. Uh
Uh, moderate that
to piss off then, yeah?
Uh, Caedi
Are you okay?
Am I okay? Yeah, fine.
Yeah. Uh, you're not, um
You're not panicking.
Not yet, I mean.
Caedi
Uh, tell me it'll all be fine.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Yeah, okay. Uh, don't let me
derail you from whatever task
- you were undertaking.
- Look. I know it's not actually my job
to tell you this, but you should
not speak to the press right now.
Anything you say
this close to the launch
might be considered offering language,
and we might get
in shit with the regulator.
Plus, the market might misread you.
What's her fucking name?
You know her fucking name.
You just used it.
It's Caedi.
Caedi, Caedi.
LUMI EMPLOYEE:
We'll be taking more photos
- for our socials in the other room.
- Uh (SUCKS TEETH)
LUMI EMPLOYEE: If you could make
your way through the corridor.
HENRY: Patch The Tele through.
And get MarketWatch
and City A.M.
and all our other pals.
Uh, ask Jannette for their details.
None of the Norton papers.
We don't want it to look
like a conflict of interest.
Uh, thank you, Caedi.
Yeah, um, time for some
some smart triage, yeah? Uh
can you set us up with a war room
back at the office? Can we do that?
- Like a meeting room?
- Yeah.
Meeting room, good.
- (CELL PHONE CHIMES)
- Okay.
PETRA KOENIG: Well, I've been wrestling
with my expectations of you
and the lived reality
of this peculiar hungover
new hire sitting in front of me.
- Thank you.
- There's a dissonance.
How so?
Well, your former boss
called us nine times.
I never did take his call.
His email follow-ups were always
these brusque imperatives like,
"Re. H. Stern. Not a smart hire."
Nine times.
Telling us not to hire you.
If it was incompetence, I'd expect once,
or not at all. If you were problematic,
maybe three, but the fact
that he called nine
gave me pause.
So
either he really can't stand you
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
or he doesn't want
anyone else to have you.
Which is it?
He doesn't like people
who go against the grain.
- ANNA: Fuck!
- (LOUD THUD)
Fuck!
Well, Anna seemed to want you.
And, you know, as the calls compounded,
I began to think to myself,
"This Harper Stern must be
a pretty unique individual."
Look, I want to hedge
our exposure on the Lumi IPO.
Does Anna know about this?
No. But I'm sick of losing money.
So, you've been behind enemy lines.
Who do I call at Pierpoint?
Um, what kind of qualities
do you like in a salesperson?
Naive and amenable.
Yasmin Kara-Hanani.
CAEDI MCFARLANE: Next up, we've got
Jonno Brinto from the FT.
Look, if you want to brief the press,
do it through prepared,
printed comments.
And get your PR people on it.
You don't want to leave room
for interpretation.
Why hide behind the inhumanity
of a press release?
There was way less scope
to be misconstrued.
- HENRY: Yeah.
- (MICROPHONE SWITCHES ON)
HENRY: Jonno! I was, uh
I was surprised not to see you
at the old Wykehamist thing.
Is that really a surprise?
- (DOG BARKING)
- (SIGHS)
Sorry, mate.
Dog's going mad. One sec.
Let me tell you,
from my experience of working with you,
you are not thinking straight.
All right, take a moment,
clear your head.
If you don't want counsel from me, fine.
- Talk to your board.
- HENRY: Yeah, they're a committee.
- Leave me alone.
- (BUTTON CLICKS)
(SIGHS) Sorry about that.
So, what do you make
of the growing rumors
that the smart money's
leaving Lumi?
Why all this negativity
straight out the gate?
JONNO BRINTO: Oh, I got a tip
that Ashford Asset Management
pulled out.
Whispers that some other
bigger guys might.
Fidelity, Millennium.
What's causing this avalanche?
Uh, you know, we don't
lose sleep over the whims
of institutional investors.
You know, this is a democratic company.
I care about our customers
and affordable energy.
You know, Jonno,
I respect the man in the street,
not the man in the office.
JONNO: Oh,
I like that line. Nice.
Uh, in fact,
you know, we might offer some stock
to our customers via the Lumi app.
JONNO: Like that disastrous
Deliveroo policy?
HENRY: Yeah, well, we'd never
execute it that badly.
(HESITATES) Anyway, I was joking.
The point is, I can't see
how more shares
for retail investors is a bad thing.
JONNO: Great.
I think I've got everything.
Cheers.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
You know (SIGHS) you're in danger
of becoming overfamiliar.
I think it's best
you take a walk, buddy.
- (OBJECTS CLATTERING)
- (CHAIR WHEELS SQUEAKING)
I can't keep supporting Lumi.
I can't buy any more
without breaching my risk limit.
The only people calling want your bid.
I've got Piers wanting a price.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (TELEPHONES RINGING)
(CHUCKLES) Stop answering the phone
- (PHONE CLATTERS)
- to fucking sellers!
That's Piers from Pluto.
He's a big name.
I've had to eat shit
to get him to speak to me.
I don't give a fuck
if it's Bluto from Popeye.
Listen, if anyone tries
to sell Lumi through me again,
I'm cracking heads.
I'm not getting tested by some
Cheltenham Lady’s College cu
Yeah? Go on, finish
your fucking thought.
You can't threaten
violence on the floor.
RISHI: Okay. What, only allude
to it then, yeah?
I am violence! I am violence!
ERIC: Rish, what the fuck?
What's going on?
(ALI EL MANSOUR SPEAKING ARABIC)
- Who the fuck is this?
- (ALI CONTINUES SPEAKING ARABIC)
BILL ADLER: Ramdani.
(UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Eric called about your risk limit.
Consider it raised.
Executive decision on my part.
- (TELEPHONE RINGING)
- ADLER: Pierpoint.
No, it's William Adler.
What am I seeing this morning?
Nothing more than early jitters.
The name's best in class
and any early weakness
is a buying opportunity.
(CHUCKLES)
Why are you surprised I'm on the phone?
I never miss the floor
for the IPO of names I believe in.
No, no, no.
No, you're good, you're good.
You can have it.
Yeah, yeah, let me get a trader for you.
Ramdani, I have an order for you.
- Buyer of Lumi.
- Great.
- (PHONE CLATTERS)
- (HOOT BEEPS)
ADLER: (OVER HOOT)
Good morning, everyone.
Can I please suggest a bit of poise?
- (TELEPHONE RINGING)
- Thank you.
RISHI: Yeah, Ramdani, Pierpoint.
Yeah, I can do that. Great.
Let’s move to IB
TRADER: Down two-point-eight.
- (TELEPHONES RINGING)
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (HOOT BEEPS)
- Okay, on the tape now.
Bank of England
leave rates where they are
after expectations to hike.
This is positive
for UK equities and for Lumi.
Oh, thank fuck.
We're actually rallying.
Kiss anything you believe in.
Oh, my fucking God.
Have you seen these tweets?
ERIC: What tweets?
Jonno Brinto at the FT.
"Lumi CEO confirms smart money
exits energy firm."
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
RISHI: No. No. No. No.
Come on, stay steady.
Fuck!
Fuck. It's fucking whiplash
this morning.
It's fucking whiplash
this morning! Shit!
(DRAMATIC MUSIC FADES) ♪
Just turn your phone off
for a bit, yeah?
(CELL PHONE CHIMES CONTINUOUSLY)
ROBERT: We've been trading
for less than half a day.
And the U.S. is going to come in soon.
That'll mean more flow, more appetite.
HENRY: You don't understand.
It's fucked.
The price is the confidence.
The confidence in me,
the confidence in the company.
ROBERT: Look, if you just stopped and
listened to the people around you
Look. What have you got
to offer me? Hmm?
I don't think you realize
this is much larger
than me or you.
It's all above board, though.
Of course, it's all above board.
I'm not a crook.
It's just
We're at the mercy of
external factors.
We're at the mercy of the market.
To make this last ten years a success,
to catalyze it into something real,
I've had to enter this crapshoot,
this fucking casino.
It's not my fault this is the way
our clueless society decided
we raise capital!
(SOFTLY) Oh, fuck.
- (CELL PHONE CHIMES)
- (SIGHS)
Six hundred and forty-two
people work for me.
Six hundred and forty-two people
rely on this business
for their livelihoods.
Two million households.
That's homes going cold, right?
As long as Lumi
gets the installation contract
on the prepayment meters.
I mean, do you care?
What the hell are you talking about?
No, 'cause you forget
that I've sat through
all your evangelism,
your your fucking soapboxing.
I've I've heard you parrot
all the literature.
It opens people's wallets, doesn't it?
Mmm! That's called selling
the vision, you moron.
That's bringing people with you.
Yeah, but it's built on nothing.
Yeah, everything's built on nothing.
That's how you build something.
You talk it into becoming.
Yeah, too fucking right. It's messianic.
Yeah, it's, uh
It's "fake it till you make it."
Well Well, let me ask you
a more direct question, then.
If you
If you believe in this so much,
then why is the lock-up period
on your shares so short?
- It's 60 days!
- Yeah, it's fuck all!
It's almost unheard of.
It's the lowest it could be.
So you can start selling your shares
ASAP after the listing.
So I'm not allowed to be motivated
by personal remuneration
and by reforming an industry
for the better?
You see, this is the fucking problem
with how so many people see the world.
Two things can be true at once!
Maybe you'll realize
that when you grow up.
I've never met anyone
with a bigger blind spot.
(CHUCKLES) Spare me.
What, the preacher from Pierpoint?
You work for an investment bank.
You are the parasite's parasite.
You're paid to follow me around
and service me.
Who's the fucking loser here?
You are!
LUMI EMPLOYEE 1: Should we intervene?
'Cause you're just like every other
overqualified, underdeveloped,
parentally backstopped child.
Your wins are yours.
And your losses? Well,
they're someone else's problem.
Your life's one long
fucking MBA course, isn't it?
Why don't you call me
a posh cunt and be done with it?
Now, two words instead of 30,
easier for you.
Go on, say it.
I bet it gives someone
like you a genuine thrill.
Nah.
I'll just let people call you
a posh cunt behind your back.
Pussy.
Fuck off!
(GRUNTS)
- (GRUNTS)
- (LUMI EMPLOYEES EXCLAIM)
(BOTH GRUNTING)
(INDISTINCT MURMURS)
- (ROBERT GRUNTS)
- (HENRY GROANS)
(ROBERT GROANS)
(GRUNTS)
- ROBERT: Fuck you!
- (HENRY YELLS)
- (YELLING) Posh cunt!
- (GROANS)
- (ROBERT YELLING)
- LUMI EMPLOYEE 2: What are they doing?
- (TOY SQUEAKING)
- (HENRY STRAINS)
- (GRUNTS)
- (HENRY GROANS)
(GASPS, EXHALES HEAVILY)
- CHILD: Yay for Lumi!
- (BREATHING HEAVILY)
Hello!
(LUMI EMPLOYEES CHATTING INDISTINCTLY)
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(BLABBERS INDISTINCTLY)
So glad we built one of these. (SIGHS)
(PENSIVE MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
(RINGING STOPS)
- ROBERT: Hey.
- Robert, where the fuck are you?
ROBERT: Yeah, I don't think
I'm going to make it back.
You okay? You sound stressed.
- What's going on with you?
- RISHI: Lumi continues to trade
like my mother-in-law's sex appeal.
Where were you last night?
I shouldn't have
given you that stupid necklace.
It was a dumb,
expensive,
extension finishing gift.
Okay?
Please don't overthink it.
Hey, no, don't be stupid.
I I love it.
VENETIA: Please come back.
You make it bearable here.
Give me your best three ideas
to hedge our Lumi exposure.
Um
I thought you were a brain.
- HARPER STERN: Yeah, um
- (KETTLE THUDS)
Uh, one, buy natural gas futures.
Biggest risk to Lumi as they're
exposed to rising gas prices.
Two, buy credit default swaps
on a basket of oil
and natgas companies
ANNA: What the fuck are they doing?
The government will have
to cap consumer prices,
leaving the majors on the hook.
The market is already starting
to sniff this shift.
I don't do sugar.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(ANNA CLEARS THROAT)
I'll have one if you're making one.
Yeah, for sure.
FUTUREDAWN EMPLOYEE 1:
Did you see those bruises
on Taylor's legs?
Damn! (CHUCKLES)
Travis is really putting
the girl to work.
Good for her.
Three, long-term, short the pound.
Government bailout risk.
Taxpayers may have
to subsidize Lumi if it fails.
Plus, the U.K. is a faded power
scrambling for relevance.
- Hmm.
- Uh, longer, longer-term?
PETRA: I don't wanna trade
for the next decade.
I want to trade for today.
HARPER: Price any of those up now.
I'm sure they're all making money.
Today.
Okay.
Let's go put Anna's money
where your mouth is.
Follow me.
FUTUREDAWN EMPLOYEE 2: She
thinks she’s Meghan fucking Markle,
because she swans into
the Broadstone Place entrance
in Chiltern, when actually,
she’s very second-day at Frieze.
PETRA: You're right,
they're all in the green.
Probably missed the move, though.
No, you haven't.
Call Yasmin and ask for price
on the CDS trade.
(PHONE CLATTERS)
- (TELEPHONE RINGING)
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Pierpoint, Yasmin speaking.
- Hi, Anna.
- PETRA: It's Petra.
I want your price on the CDS
to the listed oil and natgas basket.
Five million.
Oh, Petra, I assumed it would be Anna.
Can you do this for me or not?
Rishi will be too busy.
She'll use Anraj.
He's more junior.
Rish, can you price some CDS?
Five million.
Does it look like I can price some CDS?
Use Palm Angels.
Oi! Nobel Laureate in noncing,
you're up.
YASMIN: Anraj, FutureDawn want
your price in the listed
oil and natgas CDS.
They can have it at 1.75.
Petra, we can make it for you at 1.75.
What?
I'm seeing 200 on my screen.
How are you doing this?
Say, "Mine there, Yas."
Mine there, Yas.
Please send the confirm.
- FutureDawn buys at 1.75.
- ANRAJ: Sending confirm.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
- ERIC: Who was that?
- YASMIN: FutureDawn.
Wanted to trade some CDS protection
on oil and natgas names.
Strange.
PETRA: Nice little upswing
in that already.
Very interesting.
Don't pick up the phone
to Pierpoint for the next hour.
Noted.
LUMI EMPLOYEE 1: We're offering
all our customers
- a one-time only offer
- They're waiting for you.
Who is?
All of them, the board.
LUMI EMPLOYEE 2: Good afternoon.
Lumi energy
Shit.
Do we have a jacket in the office?
No, you implemented a no-jacket policy.
(SOFTLY) Fuck.
LUMI EMPLOYEE 3: I'm so sorry.
Right, let me check with someone
in our support team,
they'll be able to resolve the issue.
HARPER: It's green, yeah.
- If you like the outdoors.
- PETRA: Yeah.
What the fuck are you doing?
Why did I get a new trade confirm?
You don't have authority
over what I trade.
- (ANNA GRUNTS)
- You're embarrassing yourself.
This is such a betrayal
of our friendship.
And your overemotional behavior
is a betrayal
of our status as colleagues.
I work for you, Anna.
- I'm just gonna excuse
- Sit down!
You drove me to the fucking hospital
when I was having my fucking kid.
You are the godmother
to fucking Boadicea.
You asked me to be godmother.
What was I gonna do?
Say no?
You employ me, Anna.
What would no have done to that?
I mean, how many other
godparents were there?
Four. But that is not the point,
I always thought of us as equals.
No. You've made it very clear
that this is not my fund.
You're the one who pushed
for a friendship.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(SHOUTING) Just be a fucking person!
- PETRA: What?
- EMPLOYEE: Is this about the IPO?
Do you mean be like this?
(SCOFFS)
Oh, and you, I don't even have
the words for what you are.
You are everything
everyone said you were.
Your board are here to see you.
ANNA: We're not fucking finished here.
(PETRA SIGHS)
I need some air.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
Pierpoint, Eric Tao.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Hello?
ERIC: Hello?
- (BREATHING SHAKILY)
- (PHONE CLATTERS)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC FADES) ♪
HENRY: Well, this wasn't in the diary.
You ever want to confuse a room
full of hyper-educated corporates
just utter the words
"business casual." (CHUCKLES)
BOARD MEMBER 1: We've been hearing a lot
of concerning things about your conduct
and the way
you've been comporting yourself
in the last 24 hours.
BOARD MEMBER 2: I don't know
why we're burying the lede.
Why the hell did you massage
the numbers so late in the day?
Well, we needed a better
EV/EBITDA multiple. Um
A more palatable valuation
pre-IPO, a higher share price.
Massaging your short-term
and long-term liabilities is
totally in line with
normal banking practice.
Then why has your CFO
just tendered his resignation?
HENRY: Oh, Kwaku’s resigned, has he?
(SIGHS) How noble.
He is going to wait
to announce publicly.
Henry, you were a great marketer
and money raiser,
but you are not a manager.
The company's at a different stage
and has outgrown your skill set.
Perhaps, it would be prudent
for you to consider
your own position post-IPO?
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Guys, nothing's happened.
Yeah.
It literally, uh
Nothing's changed.
- Uh
- Oh!
By the end of the day
(HENRY SIGHS)
none of this is real.
BOARD MEMBER 3:
Henry has just walked out.
(BOARD MEMBERS MURMURING)
BOARD MEMBER 1:
Oh, for fuck's sake, Muck.
BOARD MEMBER 2: Where's he going?
(SOMBER MUSIC FADES) ♪
(GROANING) Oh, you bastard.
PIP CRAIG: Who are you?
ROBERT: Sorry. I'm Robert.
I rang the bell,
but there was no answer.
I didn't hear the bell ring.
Yeah.
Look, I I know this is
very inappropriate, so soon.
Um Well,
it's a little gross, actually.
But I really need to retrieve
some time-sensitive documents.
- Where do you work?
- ROBERT: Pierpoint.
Mallon Mercer are a client.
Her study's upstairs.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
More tweets have landed,
reports the board were seen
going into Lumi. Crisis talks?
I mean, that has to be bearish, right?
The price certainly thinks so.
These rumors are killing us.
The CEO needs to be kept out
of the story here.
ANRAJ: We’re still only buyers.
Only buyers of Lumi
You know, he's quite dark, right, Henry?
You know what I said about Treacle?
No more about Treacle.
Honestly, we've covered Treacle.
You don't want Treacle? Fine.
I just thought you might wanna know that
Henry asked her to piss on him
on the second date.
Yeah.
Look, I don't wanna kink-shame him,
but he's, like, into urine.
All right, okay. Thanks, Sweetpea.
NEWSREADER: little reason
to fear importing inflation overseas.
You don't look well.
NEWSREADER:
The European Central Bank
Sorry, I'm fine.
ERIC: This is just
people pushing buttons.
Either we push the ones that benefit us,
or we coax people into pushing
the ones that benefit us.
And you know what?
People are buttons, too.
That's sales.
Hey, Bill, what did Newman
used to say about markets?
Smoke and mirrors.
This is all smoke and mirrors,
but it's indivisible
from reality. So, we make reality.
What are you thinking about?
Urine.
- Sorry, what?
- YASMIN: Oh, sorry, um
We make reality.
RISHI: Look, man.
What are you hearing about Lumi?
Thank you.
RISHI: I'm long.
Yeah, long. Up to my nuts.
Why do we feel so understaffed?
RISHI: I feel like I'm
long more of it than exists.
I let go of an expensive ED,
Kenny Kilbane.
On the eve of an IPO?
I meant over the next quarter.
Hey, what kind of fucking decision
making is that? Was that planned?
I made an executive decision.
You made an irrational decision.
Why does the CEO
keep making himself a story?
We need to keep him out of the
limelight. These rumors are killing us.
Bill, you already said that.
Of course, it's important
you fucking hear me.
YASMIN: Rob, it's Yasmin. Where's Henry?
I think I know something we can do.
Call me back urgently.
(TENSE MUSIC PEAKS, FADES) ♪
You didn't find what you were
looking for, then?
Uh, no.
PIP: You didn't have sex
on this, did you?
Were you fucking Mummy?
(SCOFFS) I don't know
what you're talking about.
PIP: Oh, come on.
- You're a textbook target of hers.
- (COFFEE POURING)
Did she shower you with
gifts and fly you to Formentera?
She did that with her favorites.
I'm joking.
You can't fly to Formentera.
She wouldn't have done that for anyone.
I had no idea she had a family.
Neither did she.
(SIGHS) She was fucking selfish.
Still, I guess that's how
she made so much fucking money.
She was so fucking
Hello! magazine.
- ROBERT: What does that mean?
- A bit flash.
You know, a bit common.
It was her money.
She can behave how she wants with it.
You fucking freak.
You actually liked her.
(CHUCKLES)
How?
(MUG THUDS)
ROBERT: I'm really sorry for your loss.
Is there anything I can do to help?
Were you, um, unlucky enough
to have a mother?
She was very
present.
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Too present.
Poor you.
Wait. (HESITATES)
No, what are you doing?
I didn't I didn't
PIP: Shut up a second.
I need to be touched, please.
No, no, no. No.
No. No.
No.
I I need to get back.
- Where do you work?
- PIP: I have an exam on Monday.
- What, CFA?
- PIP: No.
GCSE.
No. What, you’re 16?
No, 15.
I have to get back for chapel.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(DOOR OPENING, CLOSING)
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
- HENRY: Hello.
- Hey, hi.
I just wanted to say
I was totally out of line.
HENRY: Yeah,
it's cool. It's cool.
- Yeah, it's cool.
- You okay?
HENRY: Yeah, yeah.
I forgot my Xanax at home.
My mate Pierre runs this company
connected to this doctor out
of Mexico City who prescribes
medical psilocybin.
I've just taken a three-day dose.
What, now?
HENRY: It's it's nicely
on top of proceedings.
It's fully integrated
into my daily life.
It's non-visual.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I feel a tremendous sense of peace.
- Where are you?
- HENRY: (SIGHS) Lumi.
I've locked myself in the disabled loos.
Has he lost his mind?
What's he doing in there?
So, I think he's Do you know,
I think he's hiding.
You know, like Like hiding out?
Well, the market's chattering
about where the fuck he is.
People think he's been replaced.
We need to make him visible.
Well, what can I say? I think
his, you know, mechanism's gone.
YASMIN: I have an idea
how to turn this around.
We need to get him across
London before the close.
Yas, I don't know
what you want me to do.
The guy's locked himself
in a fucking khazi.
YASMIN: Just meet me at Lumi
in 30 minutes.
You good, you okay?
Yeah, yeah, I'm good.
Why wouldn't I be? You?
I am hanging out my ass.
Right, well, I recommend
a cheese sandwich
and a really grubby wank.
I'm pretty sure this thing's
closing down.
Do they have any pubs
at the bottom of the Thames?
Anraj, call this number.
It's a gentlemen's club.
Ask for Gregory Clark.
When they ask you
what the message is, hang up.
Say less.
- (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- TRADER: fucking agony.
Does anyone know what happens
if you crush and snort ibuprofen?
I'm looking for any relief I can get.
Uh, yeah, hi.
I'd like to leave a message
for Mr. Gregory Clark.
Yeah, thanks.
TRADER: I deserve a Victoria Cross
for doing this shit on a hangover.
Hi, um, I'm calling
from Otto Mostyn's office.
I have an urgent message for Mr. Mostyn.
Could you perhaps pass it on?
What did they say?
They asked for the message.
YASMIN: (SOFTLY) Okay.
RISHI: Any idea
what the fuck is happening?
Um, they're both there.
I need to get off the desk.
- You're joking?
- YASMIN: I, um
I need to, um
I'm going to manage the CEO.
NEWSREADER: (ON TV)
inflation at 4.5 percent.
Look, nobody knows, okay?
Just us, just us three.
So, please, open the door.
Of course, they know.
They think I'm a fucking coward.
We're the only people that know
that you're here, okay?
But you need to open the door
so that we can change the narrative.
HENRY: I'm not coming out.
Henry, if you don't open this door,
it's all over.
Do you understand that? It's done.
It's finished, it's all gone.
Respect the years of work
that you've done.
- HENRY: It’s a sunk cost.
- No, it's not, okay? It's
Henry.
Henry, open the door for me, please.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Be polite.
Look me in the eye.
(DOOR UNLOCKS)
- YASMIN: Let me go in on my own.
- Are you sure?
You said he makes you uncomfortable.
I'm a big girl.
But thank you.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- Uh, gentlemen only, madam.
- Fine.
- Sir Henry, nice to see you.
- HENRY: Paul, hi.
Just make sure
you all come out together, okay?
(HENRY AND PAUL CHATTING)
Are you sure this is gonna work?
This whole thing
almost fell apart in a moment.
There's no reason
it can't come together on one.
HENRY: Sure.
Hi.
Yeah, um, I have a tip.
I just saw Charles Hanani's daughter,
Yasmin, on St. James Street.
- (CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- GUEST 1: Braverman really is
HENRY: Otto!
ghastly, isn't she?
Thought I could hear some
proto-fascist warblings!
Oh, my boy.
Um, we were just toasting
your tectonic failure.
You've met Gregory Clark
from British Electric?
HENRY: Yeah, yeah.
He's bid more times for my company
- than is becoming, really.
- (OTTO CHUCKLES)
I'm a huge admirer, Sir Henry,
of what you've built,
but but I wonder if history
will vindicate our decision
to step away from negotiations.
Gregory, with respect,
we were never at the negotiation table.
OTTO: (CHUCKLES)
Well, at 4:30, we shall see
if Hal's folly has made any money,
or whether I have to relegate him
from the premiership of my godchildren.
Or claim his success simply
as wisdom inherited from you.
I suggest that you reacquaint yourself
with the club rules and bylaws.
"All bitches must wear a muzzle."
GUEST 2: The whole Conservative
Party is a geriatric suicide cult,
eating its own tail. They make
it very hard to vote for them
Otto Mostyn.
- Robert Spearing.
- although I suppose I will.
Sit down, sit down.
Uh, Gregory’s desperate
to become a member.
HENRY: Well, I'd be happy
to propose you.
Although, I think membership here
might be a bit of a slur
on your character.
I think there might still be
a couple of legacy Blackshirts
on the committee.
Joking.
His father was chairman.
I said that I would blackball Gregory
if he didn't give me the skinny
on their Q3 earnings.
(CHUCKLES)
I need a trip
to the boys' room, excuse me.
OTTO: Well, I'm not hanging around.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
What the hell are you doing?
Uh, trust me.
I've just been in the traps,
and let's just say some old codger
has had a lot of grouse for lunch.
- It's unsanitary.
- What?
OTTO: The lobster vol-au-vent
has a real habit of repeating on me.
YASMIN: Gentlemen.
I trust the club provided a sanctuary
for you to do your best big-brained,
men's-only thinking. Hi, I'm Yasmin.
Uh, hello, mate.
Could you do me a favor
and just fuck off back that way?
Cheers.
Gregory, this is the Hanani girl.
Yeah, that's me.
- The Hanani girl.
- (CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING)
Good to see you, Gregory.
Good to see you.
(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING)
(CHUCKLES) Where are my statins?
Another day we can chalk up
as being the right side of the market.
What was the final P&L?
- Do you want me to say it, Rish?
- (NEWSREADER SPEAKING ON TV)
(SCOFFS) What do you mean,
want you to say it?
You're the fucking junior trader.
You you do the P&Ls,
so if he asked you a question,
answer it.
Rishi's book
RISHI: We, uh
My book was flat on the day.
How is that possible?
You still long Sterling?
We finished flat-ish.
No profit, no loss, so
- Is there
- RISHI: Flat's the new up.
something we need to discuss?
It's got nothing to do with Lumi.
We were entrusted
with the company's safe launch,
and we delivered a safe launch,
brand enhancing.
At least cosmetically, right?
Perception is reality.
How did nepo baby get on?
She she connected the right people.
(NEWSREADER CONTINUES SPEAKING ON TV)
ADLER: Good work, team.
Bien joué, as the French say.
ANRAJ: Merci beaucoup, sir.
Glad to see you’re settling in.
("YOU COULD BE" BY ANZ PLAYING) ♪
(CHAMPAGNE CORK POPPING)
- Well done! Help yourselves.
- (EXCITED CHATTER)
Congrats.
Or did I catch you
Singing my song? ♪
I think you're into me
No fun, no fun ♪
Tell me I'm the only one
You want ♪
- ANNA: To Lumi closing up!
- (EMPLOYEES CHEERING)
ERIC: Otto Mostyn called for you.
- (NEWSREADER SPEAKING ON TV)
- I took a message.
Some bullshit in Italian
I didn't understand,
or write down.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
(SIGHS, CHUCKLES) Yeah.
I think he made a lot of money today.
Do you know what was behind
the rally into the close?
Early trading kinks ironed out,
U.S. appetite,
and some acquisition gossip
that seems to have caused
a re-evaluation of Lumi's fundamentals
at the eleventh hour.
(CHUCKLES) I, um
I brokered that meeting.
Why did you do that?
Well, I wanted to give Lumi
any help I could into the close.
You're not solipsistic enough
to think it was just you, are you?
It was me.
ERIC: I'm guessing
a random power cut was you, too?
I I was giving you an opportunity
to diminish your responsibility.
I saw the gossip piece
of you cozying up
to those titans of industry
who also happen to be
our clients.
- It's market manipulation.
- (CHUCKLES)
Is it? I mean, you're the one
that said this business
is people and perception.
All I did was use my skill set
to connect people and,
yeah, let people perceive.
I have a laundry list of blind spots.
Forgive me, I'm a human being,
but ethics in this business?
- (SIGHS)
- ERIC: I'm 20-20.
Harper led me to believe
that you value ingenuity.
It was a naive thing to do.
I don't care about the outcome.
You don't have to compromise
or degrade yourself
to prove your value to me.
I don't have to tell you what
happens to the people on this desk
who don't understand
the concept of a red line.
Why don't you just talk to me
how you talked to me last night?
You know, like I'm a human being.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Okay.
(SNIFFLES)
Okay. (CHUCKLES)
(SOFT UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(CHUCKLES)
There he is.
There she is.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
Hello.
This is she.
I'm I'm pretty tired.
I don't know if I have the energy
to come and meet you now.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
(CHUCKLES)
That's very inappropriate.
I shouldn't laugh at that.
PENNY SCOTT: Like, she knows
that I can't say no, you know?
Like, we're office friends,
but we don't have to have
a relationship at 6:00 p.m.
on a weekday, do you know what I mean?
(SNIFFLES)
- Hi!
- HARPER: Hello.
We thought everyone had gone.
No.
Is that sustainable?
Uh Yeah, actually, it is.
Uh, this is woke coke.
So, the vials are perishable,
and the supply chain leads
to a family-owned boutique
cocoa farm just outside Lima.
Wow, really?
No, not really. (CHUCKLES)
This is just your gribbly
three-for-a-hundred stuff.
Oh, get an Addi Lee on FutureDawn.
Guy Gerber's playing
at jungle bar at 'Bels.
Anna has a plus-four.
(SIGHS)
PETRA: Harper!
- Walk me to my car?
- Yes.
What do you think of the Eagles?
HARPER: Are they a football team?
(PETRA SCOFFS)
I wanted you to know that I'm starting
to consider other offers.
What's your next move?
Well, there's a few interested
parties sniffing around.
Lumi working is really
only a temporary reprieve.
Anna's misjudgments
haven't sullied me yet.
I can still point to my own book.
- Anna hates that I drive this.
- (HARPER CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
PETRA: Obviously, she wants one herself.
But her personal brand won't allow it.
Maybe you should
consider working for yourself.
(CHUCKLES) Yeah, well,
marketing's never
really been my strong suit.
You know
I want to work with someone
whose thinking isn't confined
to the orthodoxy of our times.
Someone who doesn't wanna be
cosseted by an institution,
but who wants to build their own.
Anna stymies debate.
But I'm a fan of the dialectic.
I don't think there's
one true way of doing anything.
I think there are people
circumstances, and opportunity.
That's it.
How did you get
such a favorable CDS price
out of that Pierpoint trader?
HARPER: He was junior, a bit green.
But the kicker is
I did have inside edge.
Pierpoint don't provide live prices
for their oil and natgas graphs
for juniors, so
he was always pricing
15 minutes behind us.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
We don't need to cheat.
We just need
to be better than everyone else.
Look, there's nothing cruel or inhuman
about rational selfishness,
but I don't like how much
pleasure you just gleaned
from telling me that.
You need to leave whatever
personal animus you have
against your former employer
at the door.
- Set fire to it, okay?
- (KEYS CLINKING)
(CAR DOOR OPENING)
(CAR DOOR CLOSING)
(CAR ENGINE REVVING)
Oh, and by the way,
I know you didn't graduate.
You know, I'm starting to think
that higher education is a bubble.
("IL CIELO IN UNA STANZA"
BY MINA PLAYING) ♪
Night.
(SINGING IN ITALIAN) ♪
Welcome. Can I take your coat?
- Yes, please. I'm just, um, over there.
- Sure.
Thank you.
DINER: Him and Brett and Fred, I'd say.
So I'm guessing the board
didn't replace you then.
Saved by the price.
(SONG CONTINUES PLAYING
IN THE BACKGROUND) ♪
Did you invite me here to watch you eat?
No.
I invited you here to seduce you.
How did you get my number?
I don't know if you know, but my, uh
my uncle owns a few newspapers.
DINER: I've had the turbot here before.
- It's genuinely excellent
- Mm-hmm.
HENRY: My dad would have enjoyed this.
He used to say to me
"You're born with a silver spoon
in your mouth.
People are gonna assume
you're an idiot."
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
"Pathetic, attention-seeking whore."
- Excuse me?
- HENRY: "I don't blame her
for the sins of her father."
"She's unbelievable."
That last one's the only one
I agree with, naturally.
I assume you've been, uh,
refreshing the comments
on your article like a lunatic.
They may have crossed my mind.
Have another look.
(CLEARS THROAT)
I had a word with my uncle.
Nobody is ever gonna see
that image again.
(SONG CONTINUES PLAYING) ♪
(SINGING IN ITALIAN) ♪
Now look at you.
YASMIN: That's why this
is never gonna happen.
- (DOOR OPENING, CLOSING)
- (DOOR LOCK CLICKING)
(URINATING)
(DOOR SLAMMING SHUT)
(SONG FADES) ♪
The gentleman has paid the bill.
Uh, he left you a bottle of wine
he brought himself.
Um (SPEAKS FRENCH)
but I didn't know
there was a bottle
of this particular vintage
in the U.K.
Do you have a bottle opener?
(CHUCKLES) No, madame.
You don't drink this.
(SONG CONCLUDES) ♪
(UPBEAT TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
(DOOR OPENING)
(DOOR CLOSING)
I’m sorry you saw me like that.
It’s appalling.
How am I supposed
to sleep in that bed now?
Is that your new kink?
It's not enough
for you to fuck people up
when they're outside of the womb.
You've got to fuck them up
when they're in there as well.
(SIGHS)
Why did you make me come here?
You're just trying
to fucking torture me.
I have needed to tell you something.
I’ve run out of rope, okay?
What do you mean?
- Oh, Mina.
- No, no.
Don't do that fucking
self-loathing shtick with me.
It's nauseating. What?
CHARLES HANANI: If I go back
to London
I'll have to face
criminal proceedings, all right?
Potentially with ruinous
financial implications.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Don't tell me this.
Why are you telling me this?
What, you want to implicate me?
The kindest thing you can do
for me right now
is to turn this fucking boat around.
Shut up, let me go home.
You came here.
You love me.
- (SIGHS) Shut up!
- You can't help but love me.
You fucking (GASPS)
- Fucking dare
- (SPITS)
(GRUNTS, CHUCKLES) Fuck!
No, you know what?
Everyone thinks you are
a useless, pathetic, thick cunt.
You've done nothing with your life.
Everyone knows it, everyone
(GASPS)
Yeah, and you'll still come home to me.
Again, and again, and again.
(CHARLES SIGHS)
("HIGH TIME HE WENT"
BY RENEE PLAYING) ♪
(BOAT GUESTS SPEAKING SPANISH)
And takes a shower ♪
You need to stop crying.
ALONDRA GALPERIN-DIAZ: Hi, sorry.
Uh, I've been looking for you.
HARPER: Yeah, we were having, uh,
what you would say,
a session in our room.
YASMIN: Yeah, a sesh.
Like, um, a session, yeah.
ALONDRA: Vale.
I just wanted to apologize
for what you may have seen.
Your father and I have a very
YASMIN: It's okay. It's okay. (SNIFFLES)
I know exactly what my dad is like.
Bueno.
High time he went ♪
(SNIFFLES)
High time he went ♪
- (SONG ENDS ABRUPTLY) ♪
- (MOTORBIKE ENGINE RUMBLING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(MOBILE CAMERA CLICKING)
("GIRLS ON FILM"
BY DURAN DURAN PLAYING) ♪
- (GLASS SHATTERING)
- (GASPS)
Then walk right out
To the four-line track ♪
There's a camera rolling
On her back ♪
On her back ♪
I sense a rhythm humming
In a frenzy ♪
All the way down her spine ♪
Girls on film ♪
Girls on film ♪
Girls on film ♪
Girls on film ♪
Lipstick cherry all over
The lens as she's falling ♪
And miles of sharp blue water
Coming in where she lies ♪
The diving man's
Coming up for air ♪
'Cause the crowd all love
Pulling Dolly by the hair ♪
By the hair ♪
And she wonders
How she ever got here ♪
As she goes under again ♪
- Girls on film ♪
- Two minutes later ♪
Girls on film ♪
(SONG CONCLUDES) ♪
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