[SNORTS, CLEARS THROAT]
Don't take this the wrong way,
but I feel like you're the type of guy
who's, like, never taken a moment
to, like, think about who you are.
- [RISHI RAMDANI SNORTS, EXHALES] - [KNOCKING AT THE DOOR]
- I'm just wiping! - Like your identity,
your existence,
- your fucking adequacy. - Yeah, that sounds tiring.
Don't you think that, like, people underestimate you?
Not when I'm printing biz.
When you're printing biz,
it doesn't matter about your relationships,
or the firm, because you are--
HARPER STERN: Printing biz?
♪ [MUFFLED MUSIC BLARING]
RISHI: [SNORTS] Oh!
Yeah, I'm not sure Eric agrees with that.
RISHI: Harper, Jesse fucking Bloom?
Today you touched the face of God,
and for a moment became him.
- This really works. - Yeah.
Like a bat up your night-dress.
[SNORTS] Fuck!
[HARPER CHUCKLES] Excuse me.
- RISHI: Simon. Theodore. - [LAUGHS]
- ♪ [MUSIC AT FULL VOLUME] - HARPER: Yo, are you coming back? Ours?
- Uh, mine, right? The afters. - After what?
"After the party to the hotel lobby?"
- Come on. Let's go. - [DANNY VAN DEVENTER LAUGHING]
Forget your beer. Forget your beer.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
RISHI: "When Graham Gray is offered a pill
that rids him of his conscience,
he must ask himself the question,
'How much of his humanity
is he willing to give up to get ahead?'"
GUS SACKEY: Belongs in an airport.
God, he must know someone at Faber.
- [SNORTS] - GUS: Only explanation.
RISHI: Good luck to him.
Gus has been writing his for over a... year?
- It's, uh... - [INHALES DEEPLY]
[CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY] Andy McNab in Westminster.
[CHUCKLES] Please re-enter the workforce.
♪ [LIGHT POP MUSIC PLAYING OVER STEREO] ♪
DVD: I had a teacher once who told me,
"Your life depends upon your power to master words."
He made me feel ten feet tall.
♪ [MUSIC CONTINUES]
I-- I need to go to bed.
[SNORTS]
Oi, what have you got to wake up for?
8:00 a.m. family book club Facetime.
Good night.
- [PHONE DINGS] - Why are you so scared of going to bed?
There's nothing more terrifying than a cold pillow.
- DVD: Yeah. - Is that your fiancé?
I gotta go.
Uh, dude, hang around. Hang around.
[CLEARS THROAT]
RISHI: Congrats on the sex.
So, you've got a big family? Must be eventful.
♪ ["MOTH" BY DUA SALEH PLAYING] ♪
[SCOFFS] Mm.
- It's just you? - Uh, I have a brother.
Older. Ten minutes older.
So, he's the paragon of virtue?
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY] Kinda.
What's his story?
I'm 75 percent sure that he's in Berlin.
Uh, he likes to travel.
♪ Spring to the hours
♪ Converse, kick me In your mug ♪
♪ Pink piranha bite
♪ On the blisters Of your tongue ♪
I, uh, need to get some sleep.
♪ Park it out front
♪ Barking 'cause the drugs And the genie in my lungs ♪
♪ Swish that's nug...
I'll see you in the office.
♪ That's love Give me kisses... ♪
- [DOOR SHUTS] - [WATER TRICKLING]
[WATER DRIPPING]
[HARPER MOANS]
[BOTH MOAN]
[OBJECTS CLATTERING]
[ROBERT SPEARING BREATHES HEAVILY]
[HARPER MOANS]
[ROBERT BREATHES HEAVILY]
Don't worry about it. [MOANS]
[SIGHS, MOANS]
[MOANS]
- [PHONE VIBRATES] - [GROANS]
JESSE BLOOM: [OVER PHONE] Look at the mess you made.
I have half the Rican board shitting into my inbox.
Love it.
They sent me a "check the box to proxy vote" form.
[SIGHS] Did you sign?
JESSE: [OVER PHONE] Why would I sign away voting rights
twenty-four hours after buying 42 percent
of this fucking thing?
Well done, by the way. You in the office?
- [DOOR OPENING OVER PHONE] - Oh, my son just got home.
I don't know where he spends his nights.
[SIGHING] Hey, you're not connected to anyone
that went to Oxford, are you?
I get the sense that Oxford is not unlike the mob.
JESSE: [OVER PHONE] You think you could hook me up
with a tutor, like, yesterday?
Kid's got a deadline looming.
We had a whole day planned tomorrow,
and now I have to drag him to fucking Wales.
I'll see what I can do.
JESSE: [OVER PHONE] All part of the service.
Riddle me this.
How many grouse can you massacre with an AR-15?
Sub-question. Why do banks still do this shit?
I'll see you on the shoot.
The shoot.
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER] - [PHONE RINGING]
HARPER: You wanted to see me?
ERIC TAO: My mentor Newman got me this
the first time I traded with Meriwether at Long-Term Capital Management.
He made up some bunkum about...
how many pockets it's seen. Real estate deals, divorces,
insolvencies, arrest warrants, declarations of war.
♪ [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
ERIC: When he handed it to me,
he said, "Choose your own adventure."
♪ [TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
I genuinely thought letting Bloom in was smart.
- Saved the book. - Bloom's a get. No question.
Hence, rite of passage memorabilia.
But look, he isn't some guy you just cover.
I could hear ten red flags in the trade
a third-year's ear simply isn't tuned to hear.
You panicked, he heard it.
And then...
- he ran you over. - But Felim pulled--
ERIC: Bloom knew we had a position.
Knew it was almost hung.
Waited until Rishi was in max pain
before taking it.
But Felim pulled. We were DOA.
Felim was waiting to squeeze Rishi,
who would have improved.
Felim wins, the desk wins, and Rican wins.
They were counting on Felim to anchor the deal.
Not only did you lose control, but you replaced Felim,
a known entity friendly to the board's agenda,
with Mr. Covid!
I was servicing a client three times the size of Felim.
A skilled salesperson protects the client and the firm
while letting both think they're his priority.
Win-win.
We particularly know how crucial Felim is to our desk.
And especially to you. I know--
To us.
Harper.
We'll smooth it all out, on the shoot.
Bloom mentioned a "shoot."
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Do you have his ear?
He called me again.
ERIC: Good. Nurture that.
A trip to Richard Burton country.
Wales, Harper. Wales.
For weeks, IBD has thought
Felim was gonna buy the stake you sold to Bloom.
So, Pierpoint organized a celebratory event
for the new Rican investors. They know Felim loves to shoot.
Right, yeah.
Still trying to figure out how that's a viable pastime.
[CHUCKLES] This is a strange island.
IBD is losing their shit,
and holding our desk's feet to the fire.
But we know everything will be copacetic once Bloom...
sells his share to Felim.
You and I are not Eric and Harper in this.
We're vassals of the firm.
Win-win.
♪ [ENIGMATIC SYNTHESIZER MUSIC PLAYING] ♪
[DOOR SHUTS]
- All good? - Yes, fine.
Bit of a strange conversation with Enzo Carbone.
I feel like he's no longer the decision maker there.
Yeah. I got the sense that was Rocco,
even from the one meeting.
I can't even get him on the phone.
Thank you for doing this anyway.
I'm excited.
We like names like Tencent. Tesla. Long term winners.
Buy and hold.
I'd also like to put some impact investment on the table.
Of course, nominally, it would be me covering you
in order to avoid any conflict of interest.
But we'd both be truly at your disposal.
That painting is...
I think...
ersatz.
Oh, I can assure you it's not.
This is very professional.
She's very impressive, isn't she?
And in terms of moving holdings over to us--
This has been a wonderful end to my morning.
I saw some live geese, then spinning,
then an unparalleled hour at Fortnum's.
I'm trying to be more present.
Yasmin knows I'm unsophisticated when it comes to these affairs.
I always thought them rather grubby,
although they gild everything, of course.
I can't really make any decisions
without speaking to our family office.
Little Maximus, who my spies tell me
you've been seeing rather a lot of, "Mina."
[SNICKERING]
Well, unless there's anything else?
A memorable time spent with two very impressive young women.
- [CLATTERS] - Mm-hmm.
♪ [TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
I've booked us your favorite spot for lunch.
Your beloved Daphne's.
You do not live in the real world.
What's the matter?
Did you not sit through what I just sat through?
This is my job.
This is my career.
I know it's a fucking alien concept to you.
It's not fucking parents' evening.
Oh God, another alien concept!
Could you not have given me 20 minutes
of professional respect?
Stay out of my life.
But I've booked Diana and Dodi's table.
- [ELEVATOR DINGS] - [SCOFFS]
[TRAIN HORN BLARING]
BUFFET CAR SERVER: That's two-fifty total, please.
Oh, fuck. My purse. I left it on the seat.
Is it just a coffee? I can get it.
- Are you sure? - Yeah.
ANNA GEARING: Thank you. That's really very kind.
[RUSTLES, TEARS]
I've just come to expect better ATD.
Attention to detail from Pierpoint.
Everyone who works for this, is part of the Rican family,
so I feel a paternal instinct, and a paternal disappointment.
I'll make sure the deck's updated
before anyone else sees it.
You know, Bloom hasn't even signed the proxy vote?
What sorta system have we built where a stranger can waltz in,
and take forty-odd percent of a company I built?
James, I know this shoot was supposed to be a victory lap.
But now, we can be nimble.
Eric Tao, who heads up Cross Product Sales,
has promised me Bloom's selling the block
to Felim Bichan at Fenmarsh. Who was all of our top pick.
I spoke to Felim overnight.
Him owning 42 percent I can live with.
He knows our vision. We can trust him not to sell
until the timing's right.
We're circling
an eight-billion-dollar valuation here.
As long as you take care of this pitch book.
And keep page 27 away from that crusader Anna Gearing.
Her and her friend
have been a constant pain in my ass on this.
- [RUSTLES] - It's handled.
So, Harper put you up to this?
She a company man?
Think it's her life. [CHUCKLES]
♪ [FAINT MUSIC PLAYING OVER HEADPHONES] ♪
What does... what does your Dad do?
He's the Ghanaian Ambassador to Angola.
You're fucking serious right now.
My dad was a Post Office clerk.
I imagine unlike your dad,
like, my dad did not expect much of me.
Which college has Leo applied to?
Uh, he's doing an open application.
Okay. First error.
What's he going to read?
Uh. [SCOFFS] Books, I hope?
[SCOFFS]
He needs to write his personal statement,
that essay,
and it needs to be done before we return to London.
You spent much time in Wales?
I hear they have a healthy contempt for the English.
And who do you think is hornier for cash,
Tony Blair or Prince Andrew?
JACKIE WALSH: Do you consider yourself a Christian then?
KENNY KILBANE: I'm not sure I would go that far yet, but...
you know, one of the things you'd have to get onboard with
is that grief is actually a concession to a higher power.
JACKIE: ...actually studied theology at Oxford, at Regents.
- KENNY: No way. - [PHONE RINGING]
- ROCCO CARBONE: [OVER PHONE] Pronto. - Rocco. Hi.
It's Yasmin, from Pierpoint.
ROCCO: Yasmin! [CHUCKLES] Great to hear your voice.
Sorry for the noise. We're refueling.
Was just seeing Antoine at Loro Piana.
- Some juicy acquisition gossip? - [ROCCO CHUCKLES]
My father staunchly refuses to become part of the LVMH family.
[SPEAKING IN ITALIAN]
[ROCCO REPLYING IN ITALIAN PHONE]
ROCCO:
ROCCO: [OVER PHONE, IN ENGLISH] Huh.
You said you were kind of straddling two sides
of the business? What was it?
Um, private wealth and, uh, FX hedge-fund sales.
ROCCO: [OVER PHONE] Okay.
ROCCO: [SPEAKING ITALIAN]
[REPLYING IN ITALIAN]
ROCCO:
- ROCCO: Bye. Ciao. - Ciao.
[LINE DISCONNECTS]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER] - [PHONE RINGING]
Jackie, are you free to talk to a client about cryptos?
I don't have time to swot up.
JACKIE: Hedge funds or real money?
Private individual. Italian.
Oh, man, I don't cozy up to Euro types for no margin.
I like to rip 'em off, Yas.
The H on their belts stands for "hoodwinked."
I spent a lot of lockdown punting cryptos.
JACKIE: Cryptos reek of virginity
and building your own bomb, but Ken's more fluent
than he cares to admit.
I'm happy to clue them up. Phone, person.
[KEYBOARD CLACKING]
It's a dinner, tonight.
Well, if you want me, I'm here.
Best self. Need to be better at managing juniors.
[KENNY CHUCKLING]
Okay.
Okay. Thank you.
JACKIE: So, Venetia, actually...
Okay.
JACKIE: What the fuck are you doing on a foreign exchange system?
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
♪ [PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING]
GUEST 1: Hello. Thank you.
[GLASS CLATTERING]
[SPEAKING WELSH]
- [WAITER 1 CHUCKLES] - WAITER 2: [IN ENGLISH] Oh, my God!
- [CLANKING, CLATTERING] - [WAITER 2 CONTINUES SPEAKING WELSH]
[BAG UNZIPPING]
[RHYTHMIC KNOCKING AT DOOR]
Coming.
- JESSE: Yo. - Hello.
- JESSE: You have a minute? - Yeah, I do. Come in.
- They call it a "snug." - [CHUCKLES]
- Ugly word for an ugly room. - [CHUCKLES]
Of course Pierpoint put you in here.
I made them give your friend Gus the Queen Elizabeth Suite,
just to fuck with them.
Do you know that Pierpoint is intending to ambush you?
[GLASSES CLATTERING]
It's cute when young people use these militaristic terms
to describe something so run-of-the-mill.
At least now I can sell to Felim for a premium.
Always game for making a quick buck off a competitor,
- it's the part that thrills me. - Mmm.
I guess showing face could mean you have a vested interest.
Jacks up the price of your stake.
[CHUCKLES] It would probably make life a lot easier
if I just sold to Felim, right?
Or maybe I want to watch them scramble around me first?
[CHUCKLES] Courtiers around a King.
From what I know about Felim,
he's a walking fucking affectation.
But I know he's the great pretender.
He was born in state housing in Glasgow,
and he acts like Richard Rich.
[SNIFFLES]
Deep in the fun of '08, GS marked down my collateral,
triggered major margin calls.
I needed NAV waivers to buy time,
but my salesperson, Amy, sweet kid,
overeducated, bit neo-conny, but sweet,
made it very clear that her voice was Goldman's.
So, my custom... Well, how could I keep...
talking to Amy after she broke our covenant?
She acted like she could live without me.
Her life was contingent on me.
[JESSE BREATHES SHARPLY]
[JESSE SIGHS]
Do you think I should sell to Felim?
Pierpoint want you to.
Sell-side playbook.
You realize that's your boss
trying to "seniorize" that relationship
by telling you what to do?
I don't care what your employer thinks,
I don't care what your boss thinks.
The lie of the sell-side
is that your colleagues aren't your competitors.
What do you think I should do?
I'm not sure I even know
what the pieces on the board look like.
[SIGHS]
Well, then how do you expect us to play the game?
[BOTTLE THUDS SOFTLY]
I'm not sure Rican are being totally transparent.
[SIGHS] Fine.
I'll ask again after we murder some sentient creatures.
[SIGHS] Generally, when I ask a question like that,
I expect an answer that's more interesting
than the one you just gave.
You are your view.
- [FLOOR CREAKING] - [FOOTSTEPS RECEDING]
They have Au Bon Climat here. I swear by it.
[SPEAKING ITALIAN]
[ROCCO CHUCKLING]
Let's speak English.
- [IN ENGLISH] Oh, sorry. - [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
ROCCO: Um... for me, some sparkling water.
- But you indulge. - YASMIN KARA-HANANI: Great.
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER] - [UTENSILS CLATTERING]
YASMIN: So, Kenny...
Uh, do you want to clue Rocco up on the crypto space?
Rocco, Kenny is our guy on this.
I was skeptical about them as a genuine asset class but--
YASMIN: Well...
Blockchain's like the future.
Right, Kenny?
What does your tattoo mean?
Um...
It... it's fairly trite.
Essentially means "Carpe Diem."
[KENNY LAUGHING]
This might sound a bit strange but...
you a friend of Billy's?
[CHUCKLES]
- Yes! - I knew it. [LAUGHS]
I'm eight years. Are you--
KENNY: Oh, just coming up on four months...
- ROCCO: Congratulations. - ...but one day at a time.
- KENNY: Thank you, man. - [ROCCO LAUGHING]
Yeah. It's "carpe diem" to civilians, but...
- if you know, you know, right? - [LAUGHS SOFTLY]
"Civilians." I like that. [LAUGHS]
Yeah.
KENNY: So, listen, as someone who made a killing
on DogeLite and Ethereum,
the best financial advice I can give you is
throw a dart at the board.
- [ROCCO CHUCKLING SOFTLY] - Yeah. [CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY]
Nobody knows anything!
[ALL LAUGH]
ROCCO: So a friend of mine has just purchased this "Bored Ape."
Should I be adding this little chimp to my purse?
KENNY: I'd stick with an actual yacht club if I were you.
JESSE: The concept of a buffet is absolutely abhorrent to me.
I stopped eating breakfast in my twenties.
FELIM BICHAN: I will say that the tipping culture
at these corporate shoots gets a little out of hand.
Strikes me as vulgar to carry that much cash in your breeks.
Morning, Harper.
- Good morning. - ERIC: Good morning.
FELIM: What a fucking scruff...
Fieldcraft is so important, Eric. You never...
LUCINDA YOUNG: Morning, everyone!
Morning. On behalf of Pierpoint,
I am delighted to welcome Rican Healthcare,
and a number of its key investors.
Without much further ado, toast, tea.
Now, McKelvey!
[ALL APPLAUD]
Thank you, Lucinda, and our newest investors.
Don't look at me.
I'm just hypothetical in all this.
Well, brevity may or may not be the soul of wit,
but I think it'd be irresponsible
to give you all firearms
- on the back of some soporific corporate dirge. - [SCATTERED CHUCKLES]
JAMES MCKELVEY: So, the tele-medicine revolution continues apace.
Virtual 24/7 doctors' appointments,
remote prescription services,
and Rican Healthcare remains at the hard edge.
Now, here in the UK, we're proposing a substantial
public-private initiative,
whereby we partner with the NHS to deliver Rican
to patients across the country.
Good to have you with us, Madam Member of Parliament.
Increasing access,
reducing costs, improving patient care,
pending regulatory approval. But you know the spiel by now.
Let's not take time away from the festivities.
- ♪ [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING] - Anna Gearing. FutureDawn.
James, if I may, I'd like to ask,
how do you plan on lowering the US price point
for consumers?
Our interest and stake from a ESG perspective
was contingent on broadening access,
so we could service lower-income households.
We're looking to be as inclusive as we possibly can.
I mean, uh, accessibility was a founding tenet for us.
- "A doctor in your pocket." - Harper Stern. Pierpoint.
An impromptu Q&A session. [SCOFFS]
So, can you confirm
that the plan is to lower the US price point?
ANNA GEARING: I was told that would happen in six months,
then eight.
Base case keeps moving.
We're still working up the analysis on the timings.
That's what it is, but you well know
the only reason we exist
is to democratize healthcare, locally and globally.
ANNA: And there's still no visibility
on how you plan to fund that lower price point?
JAMES: I'm sure once we've worked the analysis,
it will tell us.
Okay, let's go see about them birds,
before they start to unionize.
[SCATTERED CHUCKLES]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Thanks for that dinner.
Your pal invited me to one of those posh AA meetings
off the Old Brompton Road.
Incredible networking, lucky I had my card.
Venetia, we call that kind of intro by Yas, "value add."
- You should write that down. - Glad to be of service.
Do you mind if I get Ven to follow up?
Oh, shit. I already did.
JACKIE: Oh, fuck off! Don't talk to me about Elon Musk.
[CELESTE PACQUET SPEAKING IN GERMAN]
♪ [SPACEY SYNTHESIZER MUSIC PLAYING] ♪
[IN ENGLISH] Precious metals ETFs
are a popular way to invest in these metals.
Either through physical or futures-based exposure.
Super. Tschuss!
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
[KEYBOARD CLACKS]
Celeste, hi. Um...
I... [CLICKS TONGUE]
I just really wanted to apologize for yesterday.
My father can be...
- a bit of a child. - No need to apologize.
Well, I thought, um,
I should be, you know, proactive.
So...
I had an excellent dinner with Rocco. [CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY]
I introduced him to one of our crypto guys in FX.
They really hit it off. So...
Yeah, I think it could be super generative for us.
Generative, for whom?
Foreign Exchange Hedge Fund Sales?
Well, you know, we're always talking about "One Pierpoint,"
breaking down silos, cross-pollinating clients.
Yes, well, that may be in your graduate literature.
You just gave him a person to speak to in this firm
that is not me.
♪ [MENACING MUSIC PLAYING]
I don't like to share my guys,
profit-share, mind-share, whatever. My list is my list.
I'm so sorry. [CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY]
That was not my intention at all.
CELESTE: Oh, I'm sure it wasn't.
It's just not what I had in mind for you.
- Jesse, Eric Tao. - Yeah.
Oh, I'm surprised we've never crossed.
Well, why's that a surprise?
Felim, good to see you.
- And you. - Yeah.
You know, my memory always seems to relegate you to average.
I remain shocked by your in-person handsomeness.
- Very good. - [BOTH CHUCKLE]
Well, the indices are all up this month.
That's all you track, right?
You must be making out like a bandit.
Or maybe missing out on the Rican block at a discount
has prohibited your fund
from keeping in rude health this month.
Let's not get caught up in the low...
skullduggery of our profession, shall we, Jesse?
I'm not ashamed of our profession.
We're with the angels.
- No need to dress it up. - Or dress up even?
Maybe a wee bit more respect for our hosts?
- [ERIC SNICKERING] - Oh, I'm dressed up, buddy.
I won't let your cold-weather breeding convince you otherwise.
Ooh!
Whereabouts was I bred?
You pass to my eye, very aristocratic.
[ERIC CLEARING THROAT]
Imagine thinking it was a good thing
for a man to live a life and never change.
GRUFFYDD: Would you mind, uh, gathering round, please?
ANNA: ...sustainable.
GRUFFYDD: Would you gather round, please? Thank you.
Come on in, I don't bite. [CHUCKLES] That's extra.
I'm just trying to see all the angles,
so I know how to pitch Bloom.
Sing him a fucking song.
Win-win.
GRUFFYDD: Well, I hope you've all enjoyed your bacon butties,
and soaked up, uh, whatever you drank in the bar last night.
Uh, now, we've got a 300-bird day for you,
and we'll be taking in three drives in total.
For those of you who haven't shot before,
just come to see me,
and we'll get you sorted, all right?
Oh, and by the way. This morning you may see
a rare white pheasant.
Now, they enjoy diplomatic immunity.
Do not shoot.
Five hundred pound fine.
- All right? - [CHUCKLING]
GRUFFYDD Right, well, if you're, uh, good to go, follow me.
What is it with you and bullies, eh, Harper?
You just seem to go from one to another.
Just because the business is fickle,
it doesn't mean that you have to be.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[ENGINE REVVING]
[SCOFFS] Leo Bloom is, uh, an interesting name.
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
Didn't take your dad for much of a reader. [CHUCKLES]
Jesse thinks that Ulysses is a yacht in a marina.
Yeah, I think he thinks people think he's a philistine.
But... he is a big Mel Brooks fan.
- [CHUCKLES] - [ZIPPER UNFASTENS]
He... he seems invested in your academic prospects.
He's, uh... throwing money at it.
- ♪ [MELLOW MUSIC PLAYING] - [BIRDS CHIRPING]
[LEAVES RUSTLING UNDERFOOT]
[CHUCKLES] Your dad's not paying me to swim with you.
LEO BLOOM: When you're ready, I'll be right here.
- [DOG BARKING] - You'll do fine with a 20 bore.
It's, uh, got a nice small grip and stock on there.
It's perfect for someone like you.
- All right? - Thanks.
I'll give you a set of these.
Oh, and, uh...
- [BIRDS CHIRPING] - [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[CHUCKLES]
[DOG BARKING]
- [WINGS FLUTTERING] - [GUNSHOT]
[DOG BARKS]
- [WINGS FLUTTERING] - [GUNSHOT]
FELIM: Pretty snazzy life, right.
[WINGS FLUTTERING]
- [GUNSHOTS] - SPEAKER: Dogs!
Sorry, Jesse! Wiped your eye with that one!
[DOGS BARKING]
[GUNSHOT]
[WINGS FLUTTERING]
[GUNSHOTS]
[NEARBY GUNSHOT]
- [CLATTERS] - [DOG BARKING]
[GUNSHOTS]
GUEST 1: Nice shot!
[STOCK CLATTERS]
[DISTANT GUNSHOTS]
GRUFFYDD: One more drive until elevenses.
Oh, I could murder a chocolate finger.
FELIM: Focus on the head.
- One eye should always be... - Anna!
You made that look easy.
Not just Peg Totty.
- I shot skeet in Beijing '08. - HARPER: Huh.
Unsurprisingly, nobody bothers to ask.
Right. [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
- Thank you again for the coffee. - Yeah. Of course.
If I'd known it was you,
I might have stretched to a cookie.
[CHUCKLES]
Well, we are a Social Impact Fund.
So, it's purportedly harder to buy us.
- Not impossible, just thornier. - [CHUCKLES] Hmm.
[DOGS BARKING]
I didn't know that a price point cut
was on the cards for a wider rollout.
Was. Was.
The Rican board don't realize I can hear them patronizing me
through the corporate verbiage.
We own 18 percent equity. I'm just a small voice to them.
I need to deliver a price cut, or my investors will wonder
whether Rican actually qualifies as a moral investment.
Hmm.
I saw you making a beeline for McKelvey's car.
- I'm a hawk. - Eagle-eyed.
- [CHUCKLES] - ANNA: Um...
No, it was actually Felim I was after.
When he takes Bloom's stake, I'm gonna chew his ear clean off
about lowering that price point.
- What's his position? - I'd love to know.
Harper, um, this is Aurore, a risen star in the Tory party.
Very safe seat.
I actually did six years in DCM at Pierpoint.
- Oh. - Healthcare.
And now an interest in government.
Aurore's just been nominated
for Health and Social Care Select Committee.
Rican partnering with the NHS is an exciting idea.
Is there a timeline on regulatory approval?
I'm not across those conversations yet.
Though I do agree,
it's a potentially exciting idea,
if Rican can deliver on their promise
to increase access and reduce costs in the US.
Private healthcare... [SIGHS]
...it's a very emotional subject here.
I imagine without a narrative that speaks to universality,
it's a bit of a non-starter.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- Sloe gin or Bull Shot? - She'll take a punt on the Bull.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- My pleasure. No problem. - Thank you.
GUEST 2: I'm not really into blood sports,
but thankfully pheasant is sustainable...
[CHUCKLES]
Jesse, try and imagine there's a hoop on the end of the gun
rather than just a bead.
So, you can keep the tail of the bird inside the hoop,
and that way you can track the line more consistently.
Hmm.
Isn't it ungentlemanly
to comment on someone's shooting?
- How many did you get? - FELIM: I shot straight.
You're not supposed to ask, "how many."
JESSE: How the fuck is she supposed to know
all the arcane feudal laws that govern this bullshit?
Is there a handbook they give certain men at birth or...
FELIM: Harper.
Why don't you blood yourself?
- What? - Harp, you, you wipe the--
Just get a couple of fingers in there and daub.
GRUFFYDD: Anyone for a jam sandwich?
- That's it. - GRUFFYDD: Let's get our
fingers sticky.
- FELIM: Congratulations. - Thank you.
- Part of the club. - Great pretender.
Mm-hmm.
Eric, you're about a million years old in sales years.
You must have been on too many of these to count.
Isn't it time you hung up your gun?
Yeah. Maybe. Harper, can I grab you quickly?
- Yeah. - [DOG BARKING]
GRUFFYDD: Sticky fingers, and fishy fingers for all.
Tell your guy to stop fucking around.
You're not controlling him.
Don't you think we might be operating in the dark here?
I feel like the board is deliberately hiding
something material.
- [BIRDS CHIRPING] - [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Am I gonna have to talk to Bloom myself?
GRUFFYDD: There, there! Look, white pheasant!
[PHEASANT SQUAWKING]
HARPER: He won't listen to you.
- I'm not a fucking child. - Respectfully, yes, you are.
GRUFFYDD: Anyone for a jam sandwich?
- [GUNSHOT] - FELIM: Fuck!
- [DOGS BARKING] - FELIM: Fuck! Fuck!
Missed.
ERIC: Holy shit!
- GRUFFYDD: Bloody fool, you hit him with the pellets. - ERIC: Let me see, let me see.
FELIM: It's all right. It's okay.
ERIC: Is there a medic or first aid?
ANNA: Oh, my God. Is there a doctor or
is everyone here in finance?
- FELIM:...it just stings a bit. - ♪ [SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
GUEST 3: Maybe, somebody load up the Rican app?
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
Good evening, Harper.
No more commotion, please.
Superficial cuts from a few stray pellets,
and the NHS still has you waiting for four fucking hours.
- But anyway. - [CLATTERS]
Never give a gun to an American.
Fuck, can I get you something?
Aye, drink-wise I will have something brown and deep.
- A strong water. - You got it.
Even my nerves feel a little frayed.
- "Harper Stern." - [DRINK POURING]
"Face that launched a thousand fuck-ups."
I'm the one you're supposed to be pitying please, madam.
Not that Pierpoint think
that your face is very memorable.
I noticed your picture,
was it in this morning's, uh, deck.
[DRINK POURING]
Yeah, a variant of that.
Happens so often, I've become desensitized to it.
Can't say the I-bankers over at Pierpoint
have covered themselves in much glory today,
especially with all the hoopla surrounding the pitch book.
Is this page 27?
♪ [SOFT MUSIC CONTINUES]
What was that about?
Rican commissioned analysis
on how to fund the tele-med expansion
to low-income households in the US.
McKelvey said it hadn't been done.
No, he, um, elided the truth to the other investors.
The analysis showed,
the only way to, uh, lower the consumer price point
was to cut the dividend.
Which, of course, hurts the share price,
kills the value in the short term, and...
frankly, makes it far less likely
to make me want to buy in.
- So, they suppressed it? - Mm-hmm.
To privilege you, over investors like Anna?
FELIM: You should all feel very lucky
I'm even at this fucking shoot at all.
Understand?
I am really sorry, again, about your afternoon.
FELIM: Well, let's concentrate on the bigger picture.
Because today, for some reason, the universe has sent down
a wee fucking goblin, to misuse a firearm in my face.
So when he now sells to me, which he fucking will...
I'll look back on this...
as the afternoon that I almost died.
But I still left with the Devil's things in my pocket.
- Slàinte Mhath. - [GLASSES CLINK]
Hi. Is Harper in? I've been trying her.
Uh, she's away.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Do you wanna come in?
Okay.
I don't know.
I don't even really know if it's right.
I know I want the fresh start, new floor, new boss.
Thank you.
I just-- [CLEARS THROAT]
I look at someone like Harper...
and she's just innately good at her job,
and people just take her seriously,
and I think, you know, why can't I have that?
Is she good?
Or does she just always have her foot on the accelerator?
You know, covet something.
Get it.
Covet something else. Maybe get that.
And then... die.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
Needs must.
I mean, what does your dad actually want from you?
To be perennially 12 years old. It's kind of fucked up.
ROBERT: Yeah, well, give it to him then.
Doesn't have to be real for him to think that it is.
YASMIN: Spoken like a true believer.
[CHUCKLES]
- [CLEARS THROAT] - [PARAPHERNALIA CLATTERS]
[SNIFFLES]
[SNORTS, SNIFFLES]
Did you get through that tonight?
Not really.
[PARAPHERNALIA CLATTERS]
- [YASMIN CONTINUES SNORTING] - ♪ [ENERGETIC MUSIC PLAYING]
[SIGHS]
[SLURPS]
[YASMIN GASPING, SIGHING]
Do you ever think...
if we'd have just fucked...
we would have saved ourselves a lot of--
Disappointment?
[CHUCKLES, SNIFFLES]
I don't really think I would have debased myself
in quite the same way, if I thought that...
I would have let you fuck me?
Well, I hoped it would have been a more mutual experience.
[CHUCKLES]
Nah, I mean...
if I thought that...
I was...
on your level.
You were very good at making me feel like I wasn't.
And honestly, I would have eaten broken glass
to have had my head between your legs just once.
And eat my pussy?
Yeah.
That's what I would do.
♪ [MUSIC ABRUPTLY STOPS]
[BOTH LAUGH]
Right. I'm going to bed.
Feel free to do whatever. [SIGHS]
You're an intoxicant, Yas.
Needs must.
♪ ["TAKE UR TIME" BY BARIL PLAYING] ♪
- Night. - ROBERT: Night.
♪ You can take your time
Hey, Papa.
I, um, I wanted to apologize.
I overreacted, and...
I shouldn't have disrespected you like that.
It's...
it's no way for a daughter to speak to her father.
Um...
I've just realized that...
I've really missed you.
And...
I just want you to be proud of me.
Um...
So...
if you want to get dinner or a drink and catch up,
and you're still in London, let me know.
Um, I've missed you.
I love you.
Let me know.
♪ [SONG CONCLUDES]
LEO: Every single boy in my year at Eton was...
told he should inherit the earth.
Tell a lot of average people they deserve everything and--
Yeah, maybe it was the kind of people
you were hanging out with, because...
I never really heard anyone speak like that there.
It was about merit.
Is it actually merit-based, though?
In this scenario, the earth is basically Oxbridge.
Once you're there, you're on a conveyor belt.
I can't take another three years of it.
Not around those people.
I won't.
You sound like you were lonely.
Hey, I was a big buyer of the conveyor belt.
You know, three... [CHUCKLES] ...three years at Oxford.
Six years in banking or law
- then maybe politics. - So what happened?
[CLATTERING, RUSTLING]
Look, could you-- could you fulfill your part of this obligation,
and write the fucking thing?
[SCOFFS]
I'm guessing your parents had
high expectations for you too, yeah?
Yeah. Of course.
LEO: Then how the fuck did you end up in here,
tutoring a little slut like me?
Okay.
I'm better than waiting two and a half fucking hours
for you to finish a swim.
Was it only two-and-a-half? It felt like 50.
- I was tripping. - Brilliant!
Given who your dad is,
it's not a revolutionary act to aim down.
In fact, it's pathetic you don't aim up.
[GLASS THUDS]
[DOOR CREAKING OPEN]
- [SIGHS] - [DOOR SLAMMING SHUT]
♪ [SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[GLASS CLINKING]
- JESSE: Oh! - [POURS DRINK]
AURORA ADEKUNLE: Aurora Adekunle.
- JESSE: Hi, Jesse Bloom. - AURORA: Nice to meet you.
JESSE: Yeah. It's good to put a face with the name.
- Yeah, after the, um... - Yeah.
- ...activities today. [SIGHS] - JESSE: Yeah.
AURORA: How are you finding it here?
- JESSE: Uh... little stuffy, fusty. - [AURORA LAUGHING]
AURORA: I'd love to talk to you about fundraising.
JESSE: Oh, yeah?
Well, "Lord Bloom" does have a ring to it.
Ah, here comes the, uh, kid
who is forcing my son's nose to the grindstone.
- [AURORA CHUCKLING] - [LAUGHS] Yeah.
We were at the same college, at Oxford.
Oh! Good to know my Wikipedia's accurate.
[ALL LAUGH]
JESSE: I must admit I Googled you
- when I was on the can. - [AURORA LAUGHING]
It's cute to be known as the "Tory with a conscience."
Uh, that's just a nice way of saying
I was treacherous, and lost the whip.
- Brexit was Brexit. - AURORA: Mm-hmm. Fog of war.
Luckily, people have short memories.
Delicious and incestuous. Like, uh, everything in England.
[BOTH LAUGH]
Excuse me, I'm keeping someone waiting.
[FOOTSTEPS RECEDING]
One of your ex-colleagues was talking to me about you.
Lucinda.
She said that you were brilliant,
but you got waylaid by some corporate politics?
Pierpoint's a great steppingstone.
I can vouch. But, um...
lifers can die while they live in there,
if you follow.
Excuse me, if this is incredibly forward,
but do you think I could pick your brain
about a potential next step?
You can have the time it takes to sink another Laphroaig.
Neither of us have to pay, after all.
So, tell me. What draws you to politics?
♪ [PIANO MUSIC PLAYING IN DISTANCE] ♪
- [DOOR OPENS] - [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
HARPER: You out here alone?
Certainly feels that way.
I saw Felim earlier.
He's taking it all surprisingly well.
Did you speak to Jesse?
We caught up with him briefly, yes.
He had the magnanimity to apologize.
And he has assured us he has the magnanimity to sell.
So you spoke to my client behind my back?
♪ [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm gonna give you the opportunity
to be honest with me.
[CACKLES]
[BIRDS SQUAWKING]
Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?
What do you want me to say to that?
Maybe give me the salient information?
Is that fucking crazy?
Because I am wandering around in the dark.
I tell you what you need to know to do your job.
How can we work together
if you can't be transparent with me?
You don't work with me. You work for me!
So you don't trust me?
Where is the evidence that I should?
This has been
one of my longest days in the business.
And the only reason you're here
is because Mr. Covid put in a call.
I wouldn't have had you within a thousand miles of this place.
- Who were you out here with? - Good night.
♪ [TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
Short term play is to sell to Felim now.
Cheap opportunity, tidy little profit.
JESSE: Perhaps shooting our counterparty in the face
now makes that the least egregious option.
I found this on top of one of my son's reading lists.
This Hobbes fucker, man.
This could've been written yesterday.
The natural state of man. "A war of all against all."
I mean, it was written during the Civil War. So...
pretty dim view of humanity.
JESSE: Then why does it feel so true?
[PAPER RUSTLING]
McKelvey wants to sell Rican.
They would need to cut the dividend
to fund consumer price point cuts.
They've been kicking the can around
to maintain the dividend, increase buybacks and...
most likely sell quickly.
Reading between the lines, I...
think that it's an acquisition target.
Again, strictly reading between the lines...
I think they've already engaged Pierpoint IBD to find buyers.
Okay. So what, we sit on the block,
let it rip and take profit?
No. That's Felim's play.
It's why he wants to buy from you.
It's why the board want him.
And it's why my boss kept me in the dark.
♪ [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
But I have a better idea.
Without the low-income expansion now,
Rican Healthcare will not get regulatory approval in the UK.
How the fuck do you know that?
I don't. It's an educated guess
after speaking with a member of Her Majesty's government.
So, what's the play?
Don't sell. To Felim or anyone.
Buy.
Take FutureDawn's shares.
[SCOFFS]
I have no interest in a controlling stake.
And I'm already long over three billion.
I'm not even sure I'm a bull on this space.
Hear me out.
You only need nine percent to give you a controlling stake.
Anna will sell you half of her equity
if you let her choose the board.
Cut the divvy. Fund expansion.
The price will drop in the short term, but...
there is potential for this company
to be a market leader in a genuine growth area.
How many companies can you say that about?
It's a gamble, but if I'm right, it's one hell of a long.
♪ [MUSIC INTENSIFIES]
You know, it was inevitable
that Eric tried to poach me on this trip.
Is that what you'd call that? Hobbesian?
Check me out!
Did you entertain that?
You got a pen?
I need to underline something.
This Hobbes is worth remembering.
Looks like a gift.
A memento.
Memento mori.
[CLATTERS]
- [UTENSILS CLATTERING] - [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
FELIM: Eric, where is the wee prick?
Let's just get this done, shall we?
Yeah. Uh, one second.
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: Please leave a message.
Harpsichord, it's me. Everyone's down here.
Uh...
we're nearly through this.
See you soon.
♪ [TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[PHONE RINGING]
Rishi, I need you to cross a block for me.
Pre-open. 16 million.
Harper, I'm hanging out my arse.
I've not even moisturized, and pulled the top off it--
I need this to happen pre-the open.
Bloom is gonna buy half of FutureDawn's stake in Rican.
Why would he do that? What's the angle?
Since when do you need context? Execute the trade.
- Has Eric signed off on this? - Sign off?
What fucking "sign off"?
RISHI: You can't pre-arrange a block sale.
I need the buyer and the seller.
I have that. I spoke to Harry on Anna Gearing's desk
this morning at FutureDawn. I have the order from Bloom.
He and Anna Gearing have already agreed on a price.
She sells at 48, he pays a quarter.
All right. Well, then get me a fucking seller!
All trades go through the execution desk, Rishi.
I have the order. We don't say no to biz in hand.
[KEYBOARD CLACKING]
One minute before European open.
♪ [TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES]
Morning, James. How are your eggs?
Getting cold. Where is everybody?
It appears that, uh, Jesse Bloom, of all people,
cares more about the future of this company
than its custodians.
At market open, I'll have sold half my equity to Jesse.
Giving him the controlling interest of Rican.
Harry, Harper again.
I need an order that instructs me to sell
sixteen million shares of Rican Health at 48--
- Where's my seller? - Harry confirms.
FutureDawn sells at 48. Bloom buys at 48.25.
If we fuck Felim twice on a block,
he will never trade with us again.
I'm doing my job. Do yours.
DVD: We answer to the man who pays.
She has a man who pays.
Execute.
♪ [TENSE MUSIC SWELLS]
[KEYBOARD CLACKING]
Done, 48!
♪ ["THIS MUST BE THE PLACE" BY TALKING HEADS PLAYING] ♪
RISHI: Done, 48.25!
Send the confirms.
You know, without results, Eric,
all we're really left with is your character.
And what the fuck is that even, really?
Nice knowing you for a time.
♪ ["THIS MUST BE THE PLACE" BY TALKING HEADS CONTINUES] ♪
♪ Home is where I want to be
♪ Pick me up And turn me 'round ♪
♪ I feel numb
♪ Born with a weak heart
♪ I guess I must be having fun
♪ The less we say about it The better ♪
♪ Make it up as we go along
♪ Feet on the ground Head in the sky ♪
♪ It's okay I know nothing's wrong ♪
♪ Nothing
♪ Oh! I got plenty of time
♪ Oh!
♪ You got light in your eyes
♪ And you're standing here Beside me ♪
♪ ["THIS MUST BE THE PLACE" BY TALKING HEADS CONCLUDES] ♪