Halt and Catch Fire (2014) s04e03 Episode Script

1 They're gonna delay my game.
Indefinitely.
[Knock on door.]
Previously on AMC's "Halt and Catch Fire" Rover isn't developing a browser.
It's indexing the web.
I need to borrow some money.
You don't know what it's like being retired.
This can't be my last thing.
Could we drill down on leadership experience? If that's what Rover needs, I have the perfect person.
- What is this? - Well, markup language is pretty easy.
Not like it's C++.
Joe: Imagine a website of websites that takes you wherever you want to go.
[Water dripping.]
[Horns honking.]
[Water dripping.]
[Crying.]
It wasn't about him.
[Sniffles.]
I was sad.
And I needed to pour that sadness into something, and he happened to be there.
I was in the same room as him.
I just keep thinking about everything he said to me.
[Sighs deeply.]
You took his side.
You love him.
That's not true.
Why should I believe you? Because there's no loving Joe.
He's impossible to love.
He's empty and he just becomes whatever circumstance needs him to be.
Who are you? [Knock on door.]
Gordon: Joe! Oh.
Wow.
This is perfect.
Didn't waste any time, did you? Is he here? At the office! You're not hearing me.
No, this is an opportunity for you.
Mm-hmm.
We are willing to restructure the deal, Jon.
Listen, just give me five minutes of your time.
Uh-huh.
[Sighs.]
[Indistinct conversations.]
[Telephone rings.]
Gordon, I'm sorry.
I had no idea what was going on.
Just got off the phone with Volpi.
Of course you can get him on the line.
He's not budging! I'm trying PacBell.
There's nothing there.
You're too late.
The only play we have left now is to sell while we're still worth something.
Don't say that.
We can still figure something Oh, spare me the theatrics, Joe.
If you've been on the phone for five minutes, then you know! That is not what I want to hear from you right now.
How's Cameron? Yeah, I stopped by your place this morning.
She looked, uh comfortable.
You know, you can imagine my surprise.
You disappear, I think you're upset with me, and then turns out you've been holed up with a married woman.
She's divorced.
Almost.
[Laughs.]
Almost divorced! - Th-That's beautiful.
- Why are we talking about Cameron? Because I know you two! And it's like it's like it's like you're a train and she's a train, and you think, "Oh, we're both trains.
We should get along great"! But then both the trains are on the same track, and they're both headed right for each other, and guess what both the trains are carrying dynamite.
Look, I've seen this a thousand times.
I know how it ends.
- Okay.
It's gonna explode! - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- It's not - We're bad for each other, - and it's going to be disastrous.
- Yes! What is this? Cameron: Mm.
[Microwave beeps, humming.]
[Dishes clattering.]
Hey! I made you breakfast.
It's cheese egg.
Cheese egg! Mm-hmm.
Um I, uh wish I could come today.
We're putting the final details on the sale, and Gordon's a little heartbroken, I think.
Honestly, it's just fine.
It's such a non-thing.
I'm gonna do my little obedient-robot routine, and that's it.
You should swing by after.
Gordon'll get over himself.
[Microwave beeps, humming.]
It's fine anyways, 'cause I have to excuse me.
Um, I'm having a sit-down with Atari after the panel deal to talk next steps on Pilgrim, so Oh, that should go smoothly.
Yeah, I think they're gonna come around.
I, uh I got a present for you.
Me? Mm-hmm.
For your video games.
Oh.
Well, that's passive-aggressive.
Really? Is it? 'Cause I was I was aiming for blunt, - uncompromising clarity.
- Oh.
You missed the mark.
You're loud.
Everything you do is loud - and messy.
- Sorry.
Which reminds me, you should unpack the boxes today.
I'm so sorry for interrupting your perfect catalogue existence little life.
I feel like you, um you thought that was an insult.
You're a freak.
You know that, right? Unpack.
You're like if somebody gave Howard Hughes - Unpack.
.
our boxes.
- a copy of "Siddhartha" and he just led with it.
You're like three bottles of piss away from building a perfect antibacterial chamber.
See? God, these work great.
I can't hear a word you're saying.
[Laughing.]
You're so annoying.
[Telephone ringing.]
[Chatter.]
Your car will be here in 20.
The guys from StrongBox are presenting at 10:00.
- Also - Do you have the proposal from MultiLink? It's on your desk, but [Guitar strumming.]
Good morning.
Hey.
Uh, the guys at TuneWorx sent this in today as a thank-you for the IPO.
They know I play.
[Guitar strums.]
Ah.
[Guitar strums.]
I talked to the guys at Spyglass.
I thought they weren't taking VC.
If I'm reading it right, they're going to license the Mosaic code, and if they take anyone's money, it should be ours.
Few weeks ago, you weren't interested in a browser play.
Yeah, well, you know, the right browser could have legs.
[Guitar strumming.]
Been taking lessons a couple years now.
[Strumming continues.]
I mean, I'm a good player.
I'll never be a great player.
Oh, don't say that.
[Clears throat.]
I'll keep you in the loop on Spyglass.
We could tag-team it.
[Guitar strumming.]
Thanks.
Package came for Cameron.
Joe: Great.
More stuff.
It's from Tom.
Just a couple more.
You okay? Our hands were tied.
We sold high.
Got twice what we thought we would.
Guess you can still navigate the business world when you're motivated.
We've got capital, blank canvas.
I liked this place.
I know it doesn't feel like it now, but this is the start of something.
Our 11:00 will be here soon.
There's a dream they sell you when you're young [Brakes squeal.]
But they never tell you when it comes What's up? Joe would like to talk to you about the pro The index you made, the the the guide, the comet list thing.
I love it.
Thanks.
More importantly, other people love it.
The traffic is astonishing.
Yeah, honey, it's a really, really good idea.
The idea, obviously, was mine, the indexing.
I did that work by hand over years.
What your dad means to say is that the execution of that idea is wonderful, and we want to buy it from you.
Oh, Joe, slow down.
Joe I want to build it and make it into something real no offense.
I would migrate it to its own dedicated server immediately so there is a seamless transition, no interruption in service.
I would do that today.
I did it already.
You want to buy it? Uh, what he Joe's, uh Look, you you did the work, so it's only natural that we would buy it from you.
That's That's That's how these things work.
Okay.
Buy it for how much? We would begin I think a reasonable sum would be $20,000.
[Stammering.]
Can I talk to you real quick? [Door opens, blinds clattering.]
Look, I thought you were gonna offer her, like, a-a gift certificate to Blockbuster or, like, a hundred bucks or something.
You want to low-ball your own daughter? No, Joe.
You said a "nominal fee," okay? She's 14 years old.
- You can't give a 14-year-old $20,000.
- This website has - I'm crushing your head.
- 12,000 unique visitors in two weeks.
That's unbelievable.
Ckk, ckk, ckk, ckk, ckk.
Chh, chh! - Chh! - I don't give a shit.
She's 14 years old.
In 10 years, she'll be 24 years old, and this idea could be worth a billion dollars.
We're not giving her the money.
Okay? We can come up with another idea or a trust fund or something, but we're not giving a her Yes, that sounds great.
Yeah, we'll put $20,000 in a trust fund.
[Door opens, blinds clatter.]
We talked.
And we think that $5,000 I don't want money.
I want to work on it.
- Deal.
- What? Wh I want to be able to come here and work on it instead of going to school for one period.
Well, we could - It can be my independent study.
- Mm.
No problem.
We'll wire that up right away.
Now, I understand you have to get back to English, so we're gonna talk about this after school.
Gordon, we'll meet at your place? Sure.
[Indistinct conversations.]
Is their firewall as strong as it sounds? Donna: Third-generation, application layer.
They're very talented.
Put on a good show, too.
Speaking of putting on a show Look at him.
For all his quirks, it's good he's a partner.
He brings in deals.
He's trying to outflank me on the browser front.
Few weeks ago, he shits all over Millennium.
Now he's cozying up to Spyglass? Well, he didn't mention anything to me.
Maybe he just wants to work with you.
Oh, there's Nina Klein.
I should go say hi.
You go ahead.
I'm gonna Man: Hey, Donna, well-done.
Really good.
Grab a seat? Yeah, we should.
Well, uh, [Chuckles.]
Joe Lieberman can blow me.
Hey, Doom is just the tip of the iceberg, okay? That's the future, full stop.
No.
Sorry.
I'm not sure I totally agree.
Look, I haven't played Doom, but it's not because it's so violent, because to me, it seems boring.
[Scoffs.]
You kidding me? It's addictive.
Yeah, it's a Skinner box a lot of these games are.
They're slot machines, so they'll keep you coming back, but they're not gonna fulfill you in any way.
Look, all I'm saying is, I think there's room in the future for more than just gory, first-person shooters.
I think we have another another question.
Woman: This question's for Cameron.
Hi.
I was wondering if you could talk about your new game, Pilgrim.
I saw the release date was changed.
Yeah, Atari has been a really supportive partner in collaborating on this game, and they are just taking a bit of extra time to figure out the best strategy.
But, um, it's coming.
I'm excited about it.
I think you will be, too.
Do you have, like, a ballpark time when it'll be done? It's done now.
- [Audience murmuring.]
- In terms of release, that would be a question for Atari.
Cool thing about games you download, in terms of release, there's less overhead, which means less interference, meaning more blood.
[Cheers and applause.]
Eugene: Do we have any other questions Yeah, I mean Yeah, anytime you can cut out a middle man, it's a good thing, right? Like I said, I have a great relationship with Atari, a lot of mutual respect, but there have been times in my career where my choices were not as respected.
W Okay.
If there aren't, uh, any more questions, I think that about does it for us.
Uh, thank you all for coming.
- [Applause.]
- Um, thanks to our guests, Tommy and I have a question for Ms.
Howe.
Hello, Donna.
I was hoping you could talk a bit about the relationship between a creator, such as yourself, and the business side of gaming.
You seemed to indicate earlier that there was some difficulty for you there, and I was wondering if you felt you had any culpability in that.
Well, it's inherently a fraught relationship, right? Huh.
How so? Well, in that we have the ability to create something out of nothing, and that can be threatening to people on the business side because they can't.
Well, in my experience and, granted, I'm not the one up there onstage at the Menlo Internet Strategy Conference [Laughs.]
but in my experience, someone on the business side could help shepherd a project that's meandering or headed off a cliff.
Could be an ally, no? Seems like that relationship should be symbiotic.
[Man coughs.]
I would say it's parasitic.
There's little regard for the well being of the host because a parasite can always scuttle away, on to the next warm body.
[Audience murmuring.]
[Clears throat.]
Ok-Okay.
I think that does it.
We are, uh We're out of time.
Thank you all for coming.
Thank you for your questions, and I hope we get a chance to meet some of you outside.
[Applause.]
Well, yes, I'm going to make the monthly.
I-I'm at the mercy of the pay schedule here.
It's a consultant position.
- Tanya: How was - Donna: Fine.
It was fine.
- Yes.
- Do we have an update? The algorithm is continuing to pick up new pages.
It's effectively charting the web.
Okay.
We're only searching URLs and page headings but Why can't we search the body of the page? Elliot: That's the ultimate goal, of course.
- We're just not quite there yet.
- It's too much data.
W-With With current bandwidth, everything just grinds to a halt.
How effectively can we search titles? Vera: Very effectively, but the title doesn't always correspond with, um, what's on the site, so the results are You keep giving me bad news with a smile on your face.
Do you know that you're doing that? [Scoffs.]
You guys are invested in this, right? Well, they have been up all night working on it.
And what do you have to show for it? Let's search "president.
" [Keyboard clacking.]
No Clinton.
Well What I see are generic president results.
My guess is that somewhere buried among them are results about the current leader of the free world, which is what I assume people are looking for when they type in "president.
" What we need is a sophisticated rules engine in place.
What I see is no rules engine at all.
You do know I used to be an engineer, right? They don't know what's expected of them unless you tell them.
I am counting on you to make it clear just how little time they have to get this right.
Okay? Okay.
[Door slams.]
[Mouse clicks.]
Oh, yeah.
Cool.
Okay.
Pull it up, let's take a look.
[Door closes.]
I changed the header.
Oh, yeah.
I like that.
It's Comet.
It sounds like vomit.
Don't listen to her.
It conveys speed, a sense of wonder.
- What is this? - It's Joe and Haley are working on Haley's website project.
It's replacing my independent-study credit.
[Refrigerator door closes.]
What? She gets to miss school for this? I want to miss school.
You do miss school, you just don't tell anyone about it.
Hardy-har-har.
Hey, you know, I think it would be helpful if, like, we started out with a bunch of categories, and then But we don't want to make it seem dry, you know? We don't want to make it feel like anyone could have organized this.
Right.
Yeah, it's a dumb idea.
No, no, what's so great about what you've done is its personal touch, the feeling that there is a person on the other side, creating this experience for you.
- Haley: Yeah.
That's what I meant - Mom know about this? No, she does not yet, but I will be the one to give her that information, thank you very much.
like education or something.
Can I watch? [Chuckles.]
like informational sites Why don't we go, uh, caving in upstate New York, you know, spelunking? You're literally shouting nonsense.
I got all this stuff, you know, and and I've got time now.
We should go on an adventure.
I don't want to go to a cave.
Well, look, Haley Um spelunking? You remember that project you did about stalactites? I'm cool with whatever you want, Dad.
Oh, that T-shirt.
That's wild, I was listening to Ritual on the way over here.
Mm.
Please don't try.
Wh-What about fly-fishing in Jackson Hole? Oh, hey! Someone just sent me a new link to put in our index.
It's, um, Smuth-ut.
You know, Joanie, we could actually use your input here.
What would make a website seem, you know, cool to you? Well, I think it's pretty cool on "America's Funniest Home Videos" when guys get hit in the nuts.
That's a great idea.
- [Mouse clicks.]
- [Chuckles.]
It's like some kind of construction thing.
Gordon: We should do this.
The Appalachian Trail! Next summer.
We can do the hundred-mile wilderness of Maine! - Oh, n - Oh, my God.
- Oh! - Oh! Whoa! - Hey! Hey! - Take down that - Sorry.
I'm taking it down! - Turn it off! Shut it down.
Shut it - Whoa.
- Yeah! - I'm sorry.
- Turn it off.
- Oh, there's another head! - Take it off! - Ugh! - Whoo! - There's another head.
- Hide your eyes.
- I'm not looking! - She's too precious, you guys.
Get off of me! - God.
- [Laughter.]
Gordon: Okay, look, that is inappropriate.
- [Indistinct conversations.]
- Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yes, uh Yeah, let's sit down next week and talk about it.
I'll have Tanya or um, Ashley give you a call with times.
Okay.
You, too.
Bye.
- [Receiver clicks.]
- [Sighs.]
What were you and, uh, Richie Sambora talking about? His summer vacation plans.
Oh, well, that must have been riveting.
Stop talking about Trip.
I don't want to talk about Trip anymore.
Okay.
He is an asset and a partner in this firm, Donna.
Yeah, I understand that.
I guess I was just trying to make sure that someone had my back.
You know this office is a boys' club.
It is a boys' club, and I made managing partner without anyone holding my hand.
Does he have an advantage? Of course he does.
But that has nothing to do with you.
Your success here is based on results, and I don't think you kicking the crap out of your team is the way to get 'em.
I came in here to tell you that your girl from the Rover team she was crying in the stairwell just now.
You might want to consider a lighter touch.
[Indistinct conversations.]
[Sighs heavily.]
[Telephone rings in distance.]
[Indistinct conversations.]
- [Door closes.]
- Okay.
Here we go - Okay.
- So Listen, I heard what you said about strategy, and I I'm sorry, let me [Chuckles.]
I think we should go first here.
Unfortunately, we don't know how this happened, but someone at Electronic Gaming Monthly got a hold of Pilgrim.
You're kidding.
A review came out today, and we got our hands on an advanced copy.
How is it? It wasn't good, to be honest.
We were all rooting for this game, and you know how fond we are of you and all the work that you've done.
Are you just gonna sit on it? Releasing it in its current form isn't a viable strategy at this point.
[Sighs.]
That's crazy.
What did it say? I'll let you read it.
[Briefcase unlocking.]
I promise, our lawyers are gonna get into it with the reviewer, and whoever gave him the game will be dealt with.
I gave it to him.
I want to spruce up the interface not too slick, but it should be, like, clean and efficient.
And we should spread awareness on the message boards.
Print ads, too, might be worth a look down the road.
You seem really excited about this.
I mean, you should run with it.
Absolutely.
I'm committed to this.
No, I mean, uh, you should take it.
Write Haley a check and and take it.
Is this about Smut Hut? I'll make my e-mail the contact for the site.
No, no.
It's It's not.
It's just, uh it's a lot of things, okay? I'm not sure that I want this for her.
Oh, um okay.
Uh You know, Gordon I want us to do this together.
[Stammers.]
You can't sit still any more than I can.
- Joe, I haven't been sitting still.
- You know? [Chuckles.]
I've been busting my ass, working on things, things that I care about, and just to let you know, I have been doing it without your help.
- And I'm sorry about that.
- Mm-hmm.
It's a big shift, you know, and and it happened fast and Nothing's shifted for you, Joe.
You've had your eyes locked on this, on the web, the whole time.
You push people, Joe.
You did it at Cardiff.
You did it at WestGroup.
You do it all the time.
You decide what's right for a company or a person and you push them whether they're ready for it or not, and I can tell you right now, Haley's not ready for it.
Oh, shit.
I should go.
- [Door opens.]
- [Doorbell rings.]
[Soft music playing.]
[Gasps lightly.]
- Oh, you didn't have to do that.
- [Chuckles.]
Trip asked me to bring this to you.
Letter bomb? [Chuckles.]
I'm gonna put this in the fridge.
Do you need me to do anything? Uh, no, just, uh pour yourself something.
[Music continues.]
[Refrigerator door opens.]
[Refrigerator door closes.]
[Knock on door.]
Bosworth: Knock, knock.
Hey, Bos, thanks for coming.
Well, sure, it should be fun.
I just felt bad.
I was such a I had a crappy morning.
I figured a little unwinding would be good for morale.
Oh, no, look, I get it.
The kids are gonna get whiplash, though, well, you laying 'em out one minute and invitin' them to dinner the next.
But[Chuckles.]
Hey, um, you know you can always come directly to me if there's ever any trouble with Rover, right? - Trouble? - Elliot: Hello! Hey! There they are! - Hey.
- Come on in! [Chuckles.]
You can, uh, grab yourself something to drink, and there's Oh, come here.
[Chuckles.]
Pizza's on the way.
Hi.
Hi.
[Chuckles.]
[Inhales sharply.]
- Wow.
- [Exhales sharply.]
- It's a really nice home.
- Look at that.
- Cab? Scotch? - Vera: Oh, no, thank you.
[Exhales sharply.]
Cameron: "A ponderous mess.
" Oh.
"It's Howe's ego-encasing strategy to put any understanding of the game completely out of reach, and then blame the user when they are unable to grasp it.
Let me assure my readers, you are not missing anything, for this game simply isn't any fun.
" Why did you send it to 'em? I thought it was good.
It's just one review.
It's not.
It's the review.
It's God, the focus-group testing even you didn't like it.
I haven't finished it yet.
What did they say, what what what's They're gonna take the game, take the code, give it to some guy, retool it, add I don't know probably a big-titted mercenary decapitating people or something.
Hey, hey, hey, look at me.
You are full of ideas, and you are going to make a lot of games that people love.
You need to put this behind you, start fresh, and move on.
It's not that easy for me.
I need to, uh, take a breather, just be by myself for a sec, okay? [Clears throat.]
[Liquid pouring.]
[Soft music playing.]
Well, here comes my famous salad.
[Chuckles.]
There's candied walnuts in it.
That's the secret.
- [Door closes.]
- Well, it's safe with me.
Hey, monkey.
Everything okay? No.
Dad's being a dick.
Can I stay here tonight? Uh, yeah, sure.
Joanie, this is everyone.
Everyone, Joanie.
Do you want some pizza? Oh.
She made her famous salad.
Did she call it her "famous salad"? Bosworth: [Chuckles.]
[Sighs.]
[Music continues.]
At work today, I found a website Guys, we don't have to talk about work.
This is fun.
You're not on the clock.
Well, if we're not gonna talk about work, what we gonna talk about? Okay.
All right.
I'm sorry.
Well, I have an update.
Uh, the problem we were having, the the president problem - Mm-hmm.
- Cecil came up with a fix.
A A temporary solution.
Uh, Vera implemented basic inference rules that complement the Boolean logic, so when you type "president" without "Clinton," you get relevant results.
"Rock" will give you climbing and music, "chicken" will give you Parmesan.
It's a Band-Aid, but it works for now.
[Exhales sharply.]
Well, what if we typed in "dinner-table conversation"? [Laughs.]
[Light laughter.]
Mm-hmm.
[Music continues.]
Okay.
Okay.
All right, I didn't want to have to do this, but apparently, I do.
Oh.
Look out.
Look out.
Here come the big guns.
[Clears throat.]
[Chuckling.]
Oh, shit.
[Gasps.]
But we are going to relax.
We are gonna have fun.
[Liquid pouring.]
We are all going to forget about what a jerk I was this morning.
- Can I have one? - Oh, yeah, right.
Uh, I'm okay, thanks.
No.
Unh-unh.
This is mandatory.
Unless you're pregnant, I don't want to hear another word about it.
[Gasps.]
[Chuckles.]
[Music continues.]
Oh, my Oh, my God.
- I'm I'm so sorry.
- No.
It's okay.
[Music continues.]
Nice one, Mom.
[Bottle thuds.]
Well, I guess, um We're pregnant.
[Chuckles.]
Bosworth: What? [Laughter.]
Hey! Well, congratulations, for God's sake.
- Thank you.
- Cecil: Salud! Oh, my God.
That was so rude.
It's completely okay, please.
Okay, well, let me at least propose a toast, then, after that horrible, invasive, horribleness.
- [Light laughter.]
- [Sighs deeply.]
I remember when I was pregnant with that one she loves it when I do this [Chuckles.]
I was working at Radio Shack so I could get a discount on parts, Joanie's dad and I were building our first computer, and I was terrified that my boss would find out.
So I went to a thrift store and I bought just the biggest, baggiest sweaters I could find.
Anyway, months go by, and I think I've got this guy completely fooled, and then one day, he leans over to me very casually, and he says, "Before you know it, they'll be grown.
You kiss that baby every chance you get.
" [Chuckles.]
Well, he was right.
[Chuckles.]
[Voice breaking.]
Anyway, [Chuckles, sighs.]
you don't have to wear any giant sweaters around me [Chuckles.]
but You kiss that baby every chance you get.
I'm so happy for you.
- [Chuckles.]
Cheers.
- Hey.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
Here's to baby-smooching, then.
[Laughter.]
- Elliot: To baby-smooching.
- [Chuckling.]
Sure! - Tanya: Cheers.
- Salud.
- Vera: Cheers.
- [Sighs.]
[Sighs.]
[Door closes.]
There you are, you little shit.
[Gunfire.]
[Keyboard clacking.]
Ohh! Hey.
[Theme music playing.]
Sorry, I just needed someplace to play.
I'll get out of your hair.
You playing Doom? Yeah.
[Scoffs.]
Yeah, I guess this is where everything's going.
You just kill everything.
It's pretty awesome, right? Yeah.
You've played? Yeah.
Pretty good at it, too.
Deathmatch? [Theme music intensifies.]
- God! - [Keyboards clacking.]
[Gunfire.]
[Growling, groaning.]
Gordon, move! You do know the object of the game is to not die, right? Ugh! You bastard! [Groans.]
- [Sighs.]
- [Theme music playing.]
So, I, um I'm sorry about the divorce.
[Chuckles.]
Yeah.
Thank you.
[Chuckles.]
There is something cathartic about it.
You bet your ass.
It's that you get to be divorced afterwards.
I was talking about the game.
Oh, um, yeah, yeah.
[Chuckles.]
So, how you dealing with all of it? Good.
[Chuckles.]
You know, for me and Donna, it was, uh you know, those last few months, the process and just getting everything untangled.
- It was - Oh, my God.
It was really hard.
Yeah, I can imagine, with kids.
For Tom and I, it's been, you know, as good as it can be, I guess, but still, it's That reminds me, um, you got a package out there.
Joe forgot to take it with him.
Oh, I Okay.
I'll take it on my way out.
[Pen scratching.]
So, how's Joe? Good.
I mean, you know, who knows, but right now good.
Think you guys'll ever work together again? No.
That's a minefield.
Oh, he, uh, is really pumped about this Comet thing, though.
He showed me.
It's really cool.
I just can't believe little Haley is Yeah, I told him to move on without us.
- [Pen clatters.]
- Why? I don't know, I Joanie says it's 'cause I'm jealous.
Is she right? Maybe.
Maybe I'm just jealous that they had a new idea.
I mean, I'm definitely jealous that I'm not a kid anymore.
You know, all that time you spend worrying about wasting it on the wrong project, or the you know, the wrong person.
It's hard to think of a better way to spend your time than working with her on something she cares about.
I wish my dad could have seen me be good at something.
Look, your teenage daughter wants to hang out with you.
That doesn't happen.
Yeah, I know, but [Chuckles.]
You don't have to worry about her turning out like me.
She has two awesome parents looking out for her.
You've even got a mug to prove it.
[Crickets chirping.]
- [Keys jingle.]
- Gordon: Cameron! - Oh.
Sorry.
- Box.
Thank you.
[Horn honks.]
[Breathing heavily.]
Hey, Cam? Yeah? It wouldn't be so bad if my girls turned out like you.
I'd be proud of 'em if they did, you know, as a dad.
[Horn honks.]
Geez, Louise.
Haley's project's pretty cool, right? It's very cool.
Yeah.
[Car door opens, closes.]
[Vehicle departs.]
[Thud.]
Oh, shit! [Vehicle approaching.]
Hey! No! No! No! [Exhales sharply.]
[Knock on door.]
What's going on? Can I come in? Yeah.
[Door creaks.]
Do you want to work on Comet with Joe? Yeah.
Then there are conditions.
One, you don't let him or anyone else push you around.
Okay, if you have an idea, you say so.
If you don't like an idea, you say so, okay? Number two, this is fun, okay? And the second that it stops being fun, you say so, and we both walk away.
Okay.
- Promise? - Promise.
Cross your heart, hope to die? Yeah, all that stuff.
Okay.
Where are you going? We should get started.
Sweetheart, it's midnight.
Well, we have work to do.
Okay.
All right.
Your idea about categorizing Uh-huh.
it's smart.
So let's start there.
Okay.
They had the crowd eating out of their hand.
I mean, Diane was there.
They're slick.
And Rover? I had the whole team over last night so we could open up the lines of communication, bat stuff around outside the office, went really well.
Uh, what's the endgame with that site? In what sense? The finished product I'm just curious how you're seeing that.
It's the first site you visit every time you're online.
It's the page that gets you where you wanna go - [Whispering indistinctly.]
- I'm sorry, is there a problem? No, sorry, I just wanted to flag something for you, but we can circle back to that later.
I'll swing by your office.
Oh, no.
If you have something to share, be my guest.
Benji sent me a link to a site that feels like it might be operating in a similar space.
Just wanted to make sure you were aware.
Benji, do me a favor and see who's behind Comet.
Maybe there's a play to be made there.
Benji: Sure.
[Indistinct conversations.]
Thank you so much.
Oh, no.
I can get that.
Okay.
Uh, I actually had one thing I wanted to talk to you about real quick.
Oh, good.
Uh, me, too, but you go first.
Someone at work showed me the comet list or Comet? Yeah.
Yeah.
What do you think? - It's good.
- Yeah? It's really good, I just we have something, a play that looks like it could be part of the competitive landscape, and I wanted to make sure you knew.
Part of the competitive landscape? It's a search algorithm, basically indexing the web, making it searchable.
It started as a medical indexing software, and they shifted into web.
Oh.
They shifted.
When? A little while ago.
Mm.
Look, it's the idea the team came to.
I wanted to tell you as a courtesy.
Well, why didn't you tell me as a courtesy when I mentioned our indexing project the first time? Well, you told me that Joe was writing down websites.
You didn't tell me you were building a company out of it.
So you're competing with us? Well, we don't have to be.
I'm sure I can talk the partners into buying you out.
Buy us? Why don't we buy you? Oh, well, Gordon, you can't compete with us.
You're not capitalized the way we are.
You don't have the staying power, believe me.
It's Haley's website.
Uh, wait.
What? Haley's Comet she made the thing.
We're building it together.
When were you gonna tell me this? - Right now.
- Oh, over second dessert? Oh, yeah, like you weren't holding out on the news that you stole our idea.
Oh, please, I didn't steal anything.
You know everyone's getting into this right now.
You can't keep things from me about our daughter.
This just happened.
It just happened.
I'm telling you now.
That's what these dinners are for.
You want to have dinner with me every night? Well, no, not really.
I tried that for 15 years, didn't exactly get all the information then, either.
Oh, God.
Yeah, we're really playin' all the hits, aren't we? This is not the kind of decision you get to make on your own.
Listen to me Haley built it, okay? And we're helping her make it into something more, and she loves it, okay? You want to crush that, go ahead.
But when you break the news to her, make sure you to tell her why that Mommy's knock-off company couldn't compete with the one that she built.
Gordon, this is a bad idea, I'm telling you.
Rover has the full weight of the firm behind it, it's got momentum, and I couldn't stop it now if I tried.
Listen.
We're building the site.
You do whatever you think is right.
[Indistinct conversations.]
[Laughs.]
[Mutters.]
[Menu thudding, silverware clattering.]
[Clattering.]
[Grunts.]
[Clattering continues.]
[Cameron sighs.]
What are you doing? I'm unpacking.
[Grunts.]