[PRINTER WHIRRING]
ERIC TAO: What are you doing?
[PRINTER CONTINUES WHIRRING, STOPS]
It's fine. Printing is not a felony.
Taking the printouts is. Take a picture and put it back.
- Okay. - Leave the paper trail
in the printer. Nobody will blink.
Take pictures of anything you see.
Org charts. Blotters. Position reports.
I can bring coalition data from upstairs.
Take the photos within WhatsApp
on your personal phone and then send them to me
through there, so it's encrypted.
Our job is to sell ourselves, but our real leverage
- is our color. - Got it.
We need to know the whole franchise.
Or give the impression we do, so we can sell ourselves
as the franchise. What client owns what. Who owns who.
Where the opportunities are.
Hi.
How the fuck was I supposed to know the chrysanthemum
was the flower of death?
I'm now long ten grand worth of chrysanthemums!
ERIC: Any particular reason you're dressed as Kendall Roy?
You look like an undercover cop.
DIANA: [OVER PHONE] Look, we're way over budget.
Yeah. I-- I know we're over budget.
DIANA: Just let my dad pay for it.
No-- I'm not letting your dad play viceroy.
DIANA: Stop being racist.
That is not a colonial joke.
- That is an age joke. - [DI SCOFFS]
Hello? Hello?
- Fuck! - [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
- RISHI RAMDANI: What is she doing here? - [CAMERA CLICKS]
- Rish, sit down. - RISHI: No, fuck this.
One of the few things DVD actually got right
was suspending her.
She's the only reason I called you.
I told him it wasn't worth selling ourselves
if we didn't have the best trader on the street.
[CHUCKLES] Yeah, I see through your flattery.
And let me tell you, the way you turn on a dime
is sociopathic.
ERIC: She also covers our biggest client.
Her and Bloom are the weight of our offering.
I only ran you over to placate him.
It wasn't personal.
And I know a part of you respects that.
And listen, - this New York/ - London endgame...
[SCOFFS] ...little bit of inside info...
we're on the wrong fucking side of that equation.
- There is no future here. - The merger isn't a merger.
It's a slaughter.
Okay, fine. I have very explicit terms,
because I need a flashlight
to get through the gray with you two.
Be crystal with me. One. I'll be an MD. Immediately.
I need more than a fucking head nod,
- Eric, mate. - It's done. Guaranteed.
- Should've happened a while ago. - Yeah. No shit.
And you guarantee my comp for 24 months,
nothing tied up in stock, no BS deferrals.
No BS, Rish.
- No lies. Kings, and Queens. - "Kings" is fine.
Kings of a new patch.
- [THUDS] - All right. Fuck 'em.
[CAMERA CLICKS]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Everything all right?
Yeah.
- Just the usual work stress. - I'm not "work stress."
ROBERT SPEARING: Of course not.
Can I ask...
what was it like being covered by Harper?
Who?
Hi, um, Venetia Berens.
- I work under Robert. - NICOLE CRAIG: Do you?
Well, it's a pleasure, I hope.
I'm sorry. I-- I know this is unprofessional
or maybe it's super professional,
I don't know. Um.
I've really ticked every box pre-RIF.
What the fuck is RIF? [CHUCKLES]
I just need, for security, face time with a client.
And I saw Robert was meeting with you.
And he owes me a favor. Don't you?
- Mm-hmm. - VENETIA BERENS: Um...
I hope you don't mind me fangirling.
"Fangirling"? Well, You're actually doorstepping us.
ROBERT: It's not like you, Venetia.
[CHUCKLES] Well, Oxford was quite an education.
Plucky.
I'd love to hear about your positioning in '08.
I did my dissertation
on collateralized debt obligations.
[CHUCKLES]
You're talking about it like it was the Great Depression.
Oh, it kind of was.
Christ.
I really am over the hill, aren't I?
Could be worse.
We could be ugly.
- [CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING] - ERIC: Look, all groundwork
with the Yankees are done.
- "The Yankees"? - Safer to use code names.
Get into the habit of calling them "the Yankees,"
becomes second nature.
So, the Yankees. We need to show up.
- Perform. But it's done. - Okay. What makes you so sure?
I came up with Douglas who runs Hedge Fund Sales there.
Kids are at Thomas's together.
We've been strategizing in the playground.
[CHUCKLES] What, like a couple of nonces?
That was really your whole plan? A one-bank meeting strategy?
If we jump from Pierpoint
and don't secure anything by tomorrow,
we'll be flipping penny stocks to pensioners
in some chop shop. What's our next best bet?
I've had a few head-hunters call since I started repping Jesse.
RISHI: Yeah, that'd be Beers Bailey.
You know, he got caught stealing art off the wall at Annabel's.
The phrase "wrong-un"
- was invented for him. Next. - What if we just DM
the most senior person at, uh...
Reichstag. Is that good code?
I mean, I would've gone with "Hitler-loving cunts,"
- but it'll work. - Okay. Why don't we just message
the most senior person on Reichstag's CPS desk?
[ERIC CHUCKLES]
Yeah. All right. We'll go direct.
We're not taking a meeting at Reichstag.
If the Yankees get wind, we're meeting on the same day,
they'll think we're rubes, and we'll jeopardize our sure thing.
Sure thing is a big phrase
we should probably stop using in this business, no?
RISHI: [CHUCKLES] Now, Reichstag's a bit scheisse,
but two offers is better than one.
ERIC: I don't want to take another meeting.
Well, I'm not doing this without a contingency.
So, I guess we're at an impasse.
All we need is an offer.
I don't care where it comes from.
Eric.
♪ [TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
Sit down.
[CHAIR CREAKING]
I'll LinkedIn the guy's name, drop him a DM.
Uh. No. Let me do it. Got more profile.
I'll DM Reichstag's tallest dick.
Tell him the best CPS team on the street
repping Jesse Bloom is available until midnight.
Then? Well, we wait.
Uh. I'm gonna pop out quick, uh, bring back sustenance.
RISHI: Uh. Yeah. Low calorie. I'm on a shred.
[CHUCKLES]
What? I can't be looking like pre-Hurley Shane Warne
- in the wedding photos, like... - Right.
RISHI: You good? You need some cash.
Fuck you.
♪ [MUSIC INTENSIFIES]
Jesse, I'm going to keep calling you until you pick up.
- [ELEVATOR DOOR OPENING] - That's what a salesperson does.
I know FastAide is moving against you,
and I don't know if you've already stopped out
or if you're still listening to me from a distance.
I know you can't ignore me.
♪ ["CHERRY" BY SERAPHINA SIMONE PLAYING] ♪
♪ Coat me in sugar So I slip down sweet ♪
♪ Baby, I'm the lie That upholds your beliefs ♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
♪ I'm Cherry, Cherry
♪ And I taste so sweet
♪ Don't waste your Hail Mary's
♪ I got you hooked On sugarcane ♪
♪ Now you'll do anything For the taste ♪
♪ Sold your soul So now you're famous... ♪
It's so inspiring to see a strong woman in this industry.
Uh... Can I say this?
- A fucking titan. - Whoa!
"A fucking titan." [LAUGHS] What are you selling?
- Financial services. [CHUCKLES] - [LAUGHS] A titan, yeah? Hmm.
Well, some days.
Others...
a desiccated husk.
Oh, look at me feeling sorry for myself in public.
- How unbecoming. - Very unlike you, I'd say.
It's from hanging out with you, you fucking wimp.
Has Robbie written you a poem yet?
Yes.
Petrarchan sonnet. He leaves them on my desk.
NICOLE: Well, why wouldn't he? Look at you.
People would go to war for you.
Oh, now, listen, I better warn you
that the start is his favorite bit.
I mean, Robbie's covered me, what, for mere months now,
I'm already fucking bored of him.
Bored of me? I'm fucking bored of you.
No. I pay you. So, I decide who's bored of who and when.
Good job you've got the next gen.
There you go.
Come on.
Let's try and graduate you
to someone who's actually fucking interesting.
[EXHALES] Maybe he could do with another espresso.
Yeah. Or six...
in lieu of his beloved bag of chop.
Don't let the sober routine fool you.
Go on, Mummy's not looking.
Oh, you'll get to hear all about Robbie's mummy issues.
[ROBBIE'S FINGERS CLICKING]
- I'm getting the bill. - Hmm. Go on.
I don't need a babysitter.
Fine. You can pay up then.
[CHUCKLES]
- Ooh. [LAUGHS] - VENETIA: Here.
Mm, thank you.
This is nice. Have some more.
♪ [TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[SIRENS WAILING]
♪ [TENSE MUSIC FADES]
Uh. Hi. Ven, it's me. Um...
Are you okay to get home?
Just call me. Please.
- ♪ [POP MUSIC PLAYING] - Dude...
I was in the middle of a date.
- [LAUGHS] - [GASPS] No.
[CHUCKLES]
You didn't tell me Celeste was married?
Why would I?
You got me over here to ask me that?
Oh.
You banged her, didn't you? [LAUGHS] Un-fucking-real.
It was a mistake. Like this.
- [CHUCKLES] - MAXIM ALONSO: Ouch.
Well...
I hope it was as enjoyable as our mistake.
[SNIFFS, EXHALES]
You got something you wanna tell me about Berlin?
Like what?
Why'd you go and see my cousin?
You shouldn't have done that.
There could be all sorts of legal ramifications.
Don't worry, I'll deal with it...
as ever, cleaning up after you and your fucking dad.
She said her and Dad were in love.
Yeah. I really didn't know about it at the time.
I kinda remember that trip around Positano.
Actually, no.
It's a sense memory. [SNIFFLES] Not a real memory.
Impossible to trust. [SNIFFS]
They were great trips though, right?
[YASMIN KARA-HANANI CHUCKLES]
Amalfi Coast...
- Balearics... - [CHUCKLES]
...sneaking into the clubs.
Maybe I've just romanticized them.
We were very lucky.
I have work in the morning.
- Oh, come on. - Oh, come on...
my balls are aching.
They're as red as the Pacha cherries. [LAUGHS]
YASMIN: Wha-- What are you...
What the... Get the fuck off! What are you doing?
Fuck it. I'm so sorry.
I'm really sorry.
[DOOR OPENING]
- ♪ [DANCE MUSIC PLAYING] - Get the fuck out!
Now! Now! Get the fuck out now!
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
♪ [DANCE MUSIC STOPS]
Five to the witching hour.
HARPER STERN: They're not calling.
Oh, they're calling.
If I'm on the plate, someone's eating.
And if they don't,
let's not let it fuck with our momentum.
Yankees are buying our confidence.
We gotta go in on an uptick,
like we're still the next big thing...
RISHI: I'll come in tomorrow as a decoy,
make it look like nothing's amiss on the desk.
I'll say I'm, um...
You're gonna tell them you're getting
your teeth cleaned twice?
All right, I'm getting my arsehole waxed.
Fuck it. Hair's so long down there,
Di's started calling it Abu Hamza. [LAUGHS]
Why are you so calm?
You know why, Harper? 'Cause...
my old man always said to me,
if you lob something out into the universe...
- [CELL PHONE BUZZING] - ...occasionally...
- [CELL PHONE CONTINUES BUZZING] - ...it'll lob something back.
Ramdani. Pierpoint.
Well, formerly of that parish
if you quickly start saying the right things, mate.
ELEVATOR VOICE: Doors closing.
Doors closing.
How's the new gig?
YASMIN: It's great.
It's where I should be.
That's great, yes. It's great.
Uh. We had a... a proper A-lister
drop in to one of our meetings the other day.
Young Oscar winner. He-- he said...
he woke the morning after winning,
stared at the statue, and thought,
"Thank God I didn't spend my entire life pursuing this,
because I feel exactly the same."
I've been thinking about Step 9 a lot.
"Make direct amends to people we have harmed,
wherever possible, except when to do so
would injure them."
So, I-- I hope this doesn't injure you.
But I am chairing my first meeting. Six months.
- Congratulations. - KENNY: Yeah.
- ELEVATOR VOICE: Floor eight. Doors are opening. - Um. This is probably
a gross over-step, but it, uh...
it would mean a tremendous deal to me if you came.
[CHUCKLES] Well, if you tell me who the celeb was,
- I promise I'll think about it. - [CHUCKLES] That's all I ask.
A clue...
[ROBOTIC VOICE] "I have always been interested in the stars."
HARPER: You have to start thinking about yourselves
with the same exceptionalism as the American banks.
Cross-product sales is the answer.
We're a straight plug and play solution
for you guys to start dominating flows.
Aren't you a bit young to be talking like this?
If I'm good enough, I'm old enough.
What makes him more than just another trader?
RISHI: "Him"? [CHUCKLES]
I'll bite my tongue out of decorum.
But I'm a dying breed, okay?
A prop-style guy that embraces customer flow.
A salesperson is nothing
if you can't monetize the relationship on the tape.
RISHI: I mean, if you guys don't want to take prop risk
while serving clients,
we're gonna walk straight out of that door.
SEBASTIEN: We wanna take risks in the right areas.
HARPER: Good.
That's the only way you'll make yourselves relevant.
The other European banks are morgues.
And who wants to work in a morgue?
Do I look like a pervert? Don't answer that.
HARPER: Look...
Why are you paying
three to four execution monkeys in each time zone a bar plus
when you could pay a small global team
with real relationships half that all-in number?
That is the crux.
So, we have a trader, a terrier.
Does a terrier cover
the biggest hedge fund manager in the world?
Jesse Bloom.
He never screens my calls.
So, commission wise, I'm a game changer.
Places like this don't cover people like Jesse,
- with all due respect. - So, a trader, a game-changer...
and?
Experience.
Seems pricey for some war stories and aphorisms.
Guys, shall we drop the charade?
We're deigning to meet you.
We're punching down,
so you might get a slim opportunity to punch up.
Everyone knows this place is on life-support.
Don't let this whole "sat across from you" BS,
this inversion of status mess with your heads.
Make us a very good offer, and we'll weigh
coming here and upgrading you via our very presence.
We come from a proper shop.
We can make you a proper shop.
So, offer. Else, there's the door.
You can be the ones to walk out.
Eric. Eric, what the absolute fuck, mate?
I did you a favor.
At Pierpoint we murder each other in broad daylight
to win share. Acceptable. I'm not going to a place
where we knife each other in the back to share nothing,
- but losses. - It's fucking reprehensible
- to torpedo something like that. - ERIC: Put your chin up, man.
Sell yourself at the level you carry yourself,
for fuck's sake. This is beneath you.
We have a giant squid, right?
- Yeah. - Wine for my men.
We ride imminently. Yankee Stadium at 11.
Don't let that dinosaur go off-piste at the next meet.
- I'll do the talking. - I will literally cut him off
mid-sentence if it starts to go south.
I don't give a fuck.
I'll tell the Yankees that me and you
are the totality of the offering and he's an expensive hanger-on.
- Dead weight. Is that clear? - Very. We will be Yankees.
- I'm sure of it. - Yeah,
you're very good at the, uh, the empty salesman's patter.
- Thank you. - RISHI: Fuck.
Di's got another thing coming if she thinks
I'm gonna relocate to the countryside.
Did you know that Neil Hamilton's a guest at my wedding?
Now, how the fuck has this been allowed to happen?
- The F1 driver? - No. Not "the F1 driver."
Uh. I'm gonna go play the part at Pierpoint, all right?
HARPER: Yep.
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
[DIAL TONE RINGS]
- GUS SACKEY: Hey. - HARPER: Hey, Gus.
Have you heard anything in the committee meetings
about the NHS contracts for Rican
or maybe for even FastAide or, uh, anything
that might be material for the FastAide share price?
I'm suggesting Bloom?
HARPER: Any intel on the space?
Harper, Harper, what-- what are you doing?
HARPER: I'm not asking for anything confidential,
I'm not asking you to tell me anything privileged.
It's just-- it's just whispers, right? It's just whispers.
GUS: Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you.
It's illegal and unethical and deeply, deeply stupid.
Okay, fine. Can I speak to Aurore then?
I just need two minutes.
GUS: Harper, what fucking line are you doing this on?
I'm gonna do you the biggest favor
I could possibly do you right now and hang up.
Hello?
- Hello? - ♪ [RAP MUSIC PLAYING FAINTLY]
♪ [RAP MUSIC GROWS LOUDER]
- Hey, Siri, stop the music. - ♪ [MUSIC STOPS]
Is there a more gross phrase in the English language
than "designer to the stars"?
Got the woman who did George Soros' house.
She asked me if I had any opinions of my own.
Harrowing question.
I quite like what you've done with it.
[CHUCKLES] What's your last name, man?
Sackey.
Augustus Sackey, I'm using the Wu-Tang Name Generator
to try and figure out what to call Leo's fund
if he follows his dad into the family business.
- [KEYBOARD KEYS TAPPING] - JESSE BLOOM: Here we go.
[LAUGHS]
The "Iron Toad Attacker." Long-Only.
You reckon that'll stop us raising cash?
I'm pretty sure Leo doesn't want to go into finance.
The more you push it, the harder it'll get.
You're lecturing me right now on abuse of power?
The guy who I hired
to tutor my son, who then slept with him?
I mean, I'm rich enough to be a Democrat,
but you think that sits well with me?
I'm really sorry.
It crept up on both of us. It was--
it was very unprofessional.
Sadly, my own looks have declined to the point
where only women will sleep with me.
So, he's been drifting long enough.
He'll either follow me back to New York or...
I don't know...
I'll cut him off.
Isn't that what people with means
are meant to do with their unruly kids?
Maybe he won't be passionate about it,
but it might surprise him.
I mean, obviously all the, uh, romantic ideals
of Proust and spires and all that shit,
that was more about me than him.
As it turns out...
money couldn't buy it without a network.
Nothing but net.
All right, man.
I assume you don't want
Her Majesty's tithe collectors getting their hands on this.
There's a colossal amount here.
BLOOM: Yeah I-- I thought 30-odd K would cover it.
- He didn't get in. - [CHUCKLES] Yeah, but that--
that doesn't reflect on your tutelage.
I mean, I could tell
he tried, I could tell he was disappointed,
and I could tell he wanted comfort, even from me.
We've made some progress. So, thank you.
Imagine how much it would have been if you got him in.
Hey, Siri...
- resume the beat. - ♪ [RAP MUSIC PLAYING]
♪ [MUSIC CONCLUDES]
CELESTE PACQUET: His Highness is very à la mode.
You know, big in NFTs.
Right now he's obsessed
with buying the Beach Boys' back catalogue.
- Savvy. - CELESTE: Mm-hmm.
But really he's a conduit to the people he knows.
His network is full of those
who don't want to be anywhere near Forbes.
The actual richest people are only interested in hiding
their net worth.
'Cause they're afraid of being eaten. [CHUCKLES]
"Eat the Rich." Sorry...
- terrible joke. - Well, feel free to observe
and, of course, we are rather delicious.
I'm having a little gathering at my apartment tomorrow.
I'd love you to be there.
I think it would be helpful
to you to meet some of my people.
[DOOR OPENING]
YASMIN: Sorry.
[CLEARS THROAT]
- Hey. - VENETIA: Hi.
What's up? What are you doing here?
I'm so-- I'm sorry. I didn't want to disturb you.
Um. I just didn't know who to come to.
Uh. I didn't want to go to Kenny first
and Jackie's not exactly approachable.
Can we go somewhere more private?
YASMIN: I can't. I have to be in this meeting.
I went to dinner with Robert and this client...
and after dinner, she offered me a lift home...
and...
uh, she sexually assaulted me.
- "She"? - VENETIA: Yeah, she.
Right this way, gentleman.
Hmm.
- [DOOR CLOSING] - YASMIN: Are you okay?
I'm fine. Yeah. It's fine.
I stopped it before it could go too far.
But it just feels like something that shouldn't go
unsaid or unreported.
And you're sure it was an assault?
Just, you know...
- Especially if you stopped it. - Oh-- Oh, I don't think it is.
Well, just, if it was a sort of drunken pass?
- I mean, we've all been there. - [CHUCKLES]
She tried to put her hand between my legs.
YASMIN: I don't know.
If I was to call every unsolicited advance
"sexual assault," I mean...
I was assaulted yesterday by that metric.
You were?
[EXHALES] Is she a big client?
Yeah.
YASMIN: Do you ever have to see her again?
I don't know.
Look, RIF is right around the corner.
I think there's your answer.
Look, cynically, this might even help you.
You strike me as pragmatic.
[CELESTE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
CELESTE: Now, I think that would be good,
and we can guarantee you access to Pierpoint's box
at the World Cup Final in Qatar...
Oh, there she is. This is Yasmin Hanani.
YASMIN: It's an honor to meet you, Your Highness.
Sorry to keep you.
[EXHALES]
YASMIN: As-salamu alaykum.
- Wa alaykumu s-salam. - Wa alaykumu s-salam.
I've got lunch with Jesse, if you wanna join?
I'll let you catch up.
I sort of look forward to seeing him now.
- You'll be calling him dad soon. - [CHUCKLES]
- Maybe. - [LAUGHS]
I think his life, his business,
making sweeping predictions about prices of things
based on people's fear and greed,
I think it genuinely might be one of the most asinine ways
of spending your hours on Earth.
You might be right.
It was you, buddy.
You made me feel like I could achieve something on my own.
You did a pretty convincing job of pretending not to care.
[LAUGHS]
'Cause I really wanted it.
GUS: I had everything given to me...
but still, I applied myself.
That's success, as I understand it.
I'm just...
I'm just glad you forced me
to sit down and work on something myself...
even if I fucking failed.
All will be well.
[CHUCKLES]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER] - KENNY: Ray?
- Yeah? - KENNY: Leave it with me.
- It's okay. - KENNY: You did the right thing.
- Yo, why are you so late? - Tooth needed filling in.
Been giving me Fred West level murder.
- Uh. I, uh, Danny? Is it? - Yeah.
Kenneth. Not sure we've met beyond head-nodding.
I'm looking after the FX desk with Jackie Walsh
while our MD's off sick.
A bit of an interregnum for us.
DVD: Yeah. Not unlike over here, man.
Yeah, well, that's, uh, that's exactly it. Do you mind?
DVD: No. Please.
I, uh...
I don't really know what the protocols
around this stuff are, but since we're
the de-facto senior salespeople on the floor, um...
This is actually quite sensitive.
Do you have a minute to confab in private?
- Of course. Sure. Yeah. - Uh. This involves you too.
Uh. Okay.
KENNY: Venetia said she joined you for a client dinner.
Yeah. Uh, she wanted client exposure pre-RIF.
DVD: What happened at dinner?
Nothing.
Well, yeah, not nothing. Um...
Yeah, we ate and, uh, we chatted a bit. They got on.
And I wasn't drinking,
so I left them to finish up, and told Ven to pay the bill.
And then, when I went back they were gone.
Why did you go back?
I forgot my wallet.
KENNY: But you left them to pay?
She has a-- a corporate AMEX? How's that possible for a grad?
I gave her mine.
So, you must have had your wallet in hand as you left,
but then you forgot your wallet?
And then you called her?
ROBERT: Uh.
Yeah. I just wanted to check that she got back all right.
Right.
Even though you left first?
In all the time you've been covering Nicole,
have you witnessed any behavior
that made you or any person you work with uncomfortable?
No.
No? Because this is not an in-house,
peer-to-peer disciplinary issue, it involves a client.
The correct channel is a bit fuzzy.
No. Well, it became my responsibility
the moment she told you.
It's-- it's unacceptable for her to attend a dinner
and be unsafe. It's reprehensible.
Bill Adler's in the building
meeting with the desk heads pre-RIF.
All right. I'll run it up the chain, we'll go from there.
Thanks, Rob.
- [INDISTINT CHATTER] - [TELEPHONE RINGING]
DOUGLAS: It's all so competitive, you know?
You feel guilty pushing them into these schools.
But then are you, they, getting their money's worth?
And is that the sickness of the system talking?
Uh. Candace...
Candace looks after the girls' school results.
I try to do the culture.
Bit of Pixar...
a gallery sometimes,
they even have me reading poetry, can you believe it?
This feels good. [CHUCKLES]
Feels right.
Well, it's a boon for us to have you in the building.
ERIC: Call me overly romantic,
but I've always wanted to know what these pinstripes
feel like before hanging up my jersey.
And if you can gut the Red Sox in the process...
- win, win, right? [LAUGHS] - [LAUGHS] Win, win.
If we keep telling you how good you are,
why hire us?
I agree. So, do you wanna tell us
where the holes are in our business?
You've over juniorized the trading desks.
Accounts want to know that they are seeing the flows
or get the best price.
- You can't be neither. - ERIC: He's right, Doug.
You need our dynamism,
'cause reputations are burned while they're enjoyed.
DARIA GREENOCK: Apologies.
Apologies. I loathe late people. [CHUCKLES]
You know Daria. Uh. She's a very new MD in our team.
[CHUCKLES] I-- I had no idea you were still in the business.
Yeah. Took 18 months maternity.
I haven't officially started yet,
but I heard you were in the building,
and I didn't want to miss out.
I was just, uh, talking to Jesse Bloom.
You know him, right?
Oh, we're all friends. We've been tryna convince him
to stop out of a short he's hemorrhaging money on.
He calls for our desk's council nonstop.
We're a team here, you see.
He's still running it? He hasn't stopped out yet?
Oh, you work here already, do you? [CHUCKLES]
Doug, I didn't know we were adding
to our Senior Relationship Managers?
Didn't they send you upstairs, Eric?
Gotta cut to the mustard. Uh. Truth be told,
you're kinda helping us materially
just by being in the room now.
We've been in negotiations with a competitor's CPS team
for months. Let's call them Shogun.
Is that problematic? I hope not.
They've been chasing us on terms. Inviting you here,
well, we kinda knew they'd get wind of it.
Hopefully, this will spook them into signing.
Daria's going to run that team for us.
Frankly, we're tickled pink at the prospect.
I'm sure another opportunity to collaborate
is just around the corner for me and you.
[CHUCKLES]
What did-- what did I ever do
for you to fuck me like this, Doug?
If the roles were reversed, I'd applaud.
So should you.
Touché, you fucking prick.
DARIA: Um, no need for handbags, gentlemen.
You know the rough and tumble of this business.
DOUGLAS: Anything else you wanted from these three?
No.
Got everything I need.
Didn't know you were a smoker.
Yeah, I nicked them from Harper's desk.
I'm sorry...
about whatever happened.
I think I overreacted bringing it up.
I feel fucking stupid.
And to be honest, I have no idea how to feel about it now.
ROBERT: Well, I don't think you overreacted.
I'm surprised they've let you out of the room.
VENETIA: Yeah. They don't have the protocols
in place to deal with it.
Yeah.
There's a bit of a leadership vacuum, I think.
I think you knew.
- Excuse me? - You heard me.
You don't have a normal relationship
with that woman. The way you spoke to each other.
I cover her.
That's a deeply personal relationship
when it's successful.
- You're projecting. - VENETIA: Bullshit.
She spoke to you like you were...
- her toy, just a plaything. - ROBERT: So did you.
Look, I'm so sorry that...
that that happened to you.
VENETIA: It's okay.
You weren't to know, right?
I mean, it's not like you sent me
a concerned voice-note or anything.
KENNY: Let's run it up the chain first,
get a bit of a steer then we can see if we need to involve HR.
- DVD: I'll do it right now. - KENNY: Grand.
Great. Thanks.
Where the fuck is Rishi by the way?
Uh. Dentist, he said.
- Or hygienist. - Again? What-- what has he got,
a fucking abscess?
- I need to talk to you. - DVD: Look, man, can it wait?
This day is just evaporating before my eyes.
- I'm meeting with Adler in five. - No. I lied earlier.
DVD: Once again.
I lied about Nicole.
We had a sexual relationship.
Woah, man. That's very thorny. You, uh, you sure?
What do you mean, am I sure?
No idea why I said that, my brain is fucking fritzed.
Are you a mad man? Out of all the women?
What do you mean, "of all the women"?
We-- we worked together, it became intimate. Is it really that strange?
No. It's deeply naive and unprofessional.
That behavior will always blow back in your face.
You know, that's the kinda shit you have to disclose
to the regulators, right?
I'm-- I'm correctly assuming it was consensual?
- Correct. - [EXHALES]
I feel like it's an added complication that doesn't help
with this morning's events. It-- it muddles the picture.
Where-- where is our fucking head trader?
I have fifty clients wanting prices.
- I know it's a pattern of behavior. - What is?
- Rishi's fucking dental work? - No. Nicole.
Now, I don't know the details,
but I know something happened to Harper when we first joined.
Wait, you serious? She told you that?
All but. Yeah.
Fuck. She been holding that in the whole time?
Jesus.
ADLER: Why are you involving me in something so low-level?
This doesn't say much for our duty of care
if this shit's happening to grads.
Well if you wanna manage,
then make management decisions. Take a course of action.
If you'd thought I was ready for management,
then you might've promoted me as promised.
[CHUCKLES] I'm sorry,
is this about you or about the new hire?
Uh. I'm worried it's a pattern.
The client did the same thing to Harper Stern on our desk.
[SIGHS] That kid prints a tonne of biz.
You close?
No.
I just suspended her
for fucking up one of our trader's books.
Well, I still want her business in New York,
but I don't want her
in another HR entanglement, given her history.
I-- I don't want more HR noise anywhere on that floor.
What I tend do in these situations is,
sit on them.
You'd think they fester, but in the aggregate,
they just, you know, they just go away.
- So, you want me to bury it all? - [ADLER SCOFFS]
Let it bury itself.
And Danny, I've gotta put in face time
with the new blood on RIF, and fold London CPS
with God knows how many redundancies.
I really don't have the minutes in the day
- for mosquitoes like this. - All right. I'm sorry.
TUTOR: Yeah, that's always gratifying to see
my former students do so well.
And the politics faculty
talk about Aurore more than is healthy. [CHUCKLES]
Yeah, moderate, sensible, conservatism.
Something radical in that I suppose.
Yes, she was one of my ablest. Do give her my very best.
- How did you two connect then? - Well, through mutual friend.
TUTOR: Hmm.
- GUS: So... - [SAUCER CLANKING]
...I know this chap, just out of Eton,
who was interviewing for History & Politics.
Sadly, he didn't quite make the cut, but I just wanted to,
you know, shine a light on him. [CHUCKLES]
Leo Bloom.
You may have heard of his father Jesse,
- he runs Crotona Park Capital. - TUTOR: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Of course, yeah, he was all over the news at one point, right?
Profiteering off misery. [CHUCKLES]
Yes.
Um. Well his son Leo is really very smart.
You'd like his energy.
He's a... [FINGER SNAPS] ...quick study.
I-- I think you'd like spending a few hours a week with him.
So, I was just wondering
if there was anything we could, um...
do?
Uh. Do? [CHUCKLES]
As regards? [CHUCKLES]
Bump him up the ladder.
Find him a place in college for next Michaelmas.
- [CHUCKLES] - [CHUCKLES]
[HESITATES] I mean...
Uh. Well, we're-- we're not really set up
for that sort of thing.
I've been thinking recently, actually speaking to Aurore,
about how important it is for us to give back
to the institutions that shape us.
I thought perhaps there could be some kind of conduit
between the college and the department.
Maybe we could make a parliamentary internship
for one of the outgoing PPE students.
Uh. Well, it would be-- be great
if-- if Aurore could come back and speak to the finalists.
We'd definitely be open to starting those conversations.
We only have six places for History and Politics this year.
Surely someone who'd love
some potential work experience in a minister's office.
[CHUCKLES]
Do you remember,
uh, Stiffy a few years above you at school?
I think he went back and taught Mandarin and cricket,
house cricket, when you were in B block.
I helped him out a bit
with the application here. Nothing underhand of course,
just a little advice.
Well, um, Stiffy minor has just landed
a place in this year's intake. I could...
speak to him about a potential gap year.
I mean,
that will certainly put him in a better position for life
- post-degree. - [CHUCKLES]
And this Leo is intelligent?
- Very. - TUTOR: And he's an OE?
- Yup. - [CHUCKLES] He's one of us.
- A "PLU". [CHUCKLES] - [GUS CHUCKLING]
TUTOR: I'm-- I'm sure we can figure something out.
Let me speak to, um, Stiffy's father.
I always had you pegged for politics.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
You drink whisky at a wake, right?
[LAUGHS]
RISHI: I just don't know, Eric.
Know what? Uh. Three more whiskeys. Doubles!
RISHI: Why we brought you.
You're fucking last mate, honestly.
HARPER: Don't talk to him like that.
Oh, you can fuck off and all.
You're a total catastrophe. I swear you're cursed.
I'm gonna go back to the office. Put my head down.
We can't pretend this didn't happen.
Pierpoint finds out five minutes from now or five minutes ago.
Cat's voided bag.
What about Credit Suisse...
JP Morgan, MS, Barclays? We can still try those, no?
Some cunt will hit a lazy bid and have us, surely?
The chatter from today will materially hurt us.
If I was at any of those places
and was to pick up the phone to our equivalents now...
desperation reeks like cheap cologne.
Do I look like a Duty-Free kind of guy to you?
ERIC: They'd offer us an insulting package.
Rightly so.
I need a slash something terrible.
- [CELL PHONE BUZZING] - ERIC: You should take that.
[CELL PHONE CONTINUES BUZZING]
DVD: Harper, I'm glad I got you.
Yeah, what's up?
Uh. Just having the day from hell.
Um. Look...
I-- I think I know why you are the way you are with me at work.
I know
people in this business have hurt you.
I know you feel you haven't been able to speak out.
I'm getting a lot of pressure from above to bury it myself...
but I-- I know it's-- it's a pattern now.
It's the whole damn culture. It's fucking Adler, man.
- I feel a bit sick. - [DOOR CREAKING]
Okay. I hear you. Um...
Could we have this conversation in person?
DVD: No, I can't get off the desk.
I'd really like to have this conversation in person.
Now. Drink. Usual spot. Right now.
DVD: Okay, just-- just give me a couple minutes.
News of our mutiny hit?
HARPER: No, it was something else.
ERIC: How did we not know the Yankees covered Bloom?
We shouldn't have said we "own" him. It was a lie.
I did think that he cut me loose,
but, I mean, as ridiculous as this sounds,
the fact he hasn't stopped out of that FastAide position
means I'm still in his head.
He's not the kinda guy who wants anodyne, Daria-style,
parrot of broker, no-coverage. He wants edge.
He wants someone who can say, "I know for certain."
CELESTE: I think that you're too good
towards steady income instruments.
Too many bonds.
And it would be fantastic if it--
I'm so sorry, um, must be an emergency.
Um. I'm so sorry.
CELESTE: Sportswashing objectively works,
but buying a chunk of Chelsea Football...
KENNY: I need to have a serious word with you.
Venetia told me that she came to you with, uh, something
very serious, and your response was very disappointing.
From the outside, it looks like you were trying to silence her?
You do realize the facts
presented to me lead me to that conclusion.
It's the exact opposite of pastoral care.
It's not the culture we're trying to engender here.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Can you hear yourself? [EXHALES]
You gave up the right to be the "custodian"
of any kind of culture
when you paid for a girl's tits to be bounced in my face.
Forgive me for thinking you shouldn't be the arbiter
of how young women are treated on your desk.
Yes, I'm worried about how this looks for you--
No. Shut the fuck up for a minute.
How dare you pull me out of a meeting
to speak to me like this? You don't get to lecture me.
There's no high ground for you anymore.
I don't care if you're sober, Kenny.
You're still a cunt.
That doesn't go away with a few sessions
with a bunch of other whingers.
You don't have a disease, you're a narcissist
with a new excuse
to lord it over people. You're weak.
In case that wasn't crystal clear,
no, I will not come to your fucking meetings.
No, sorry, you're right. You're-- you're right.
RISHI: Daniel. We're just, uh... [CHUCKLES]
We're just having a couple of sneaky on-the-clock sharpeners.
- What the fuck's going on? - Beats me.
I asked him to come.
You...
What?
HARPER: Danny, have a seat.
Very soon it will be common market knowledge
that we've been taking meetings away all day.
[CHUCKLES]
- Fuck you. - Not fuck us. No.
There is an opportunity here.
A huge competitor has just gutted a rival's CPS offering.
There's a gap to fill out the gutted firm.
We're fixing a supply issue.
Now, the way I see this is...
you know how quickly the clock ticks
when you flirting with a competitor.
We need to secure this now. We have hours. Not days.
You can tell Adler, stay at his heel.
Or you can join us...
and take what was denied to you.
I can see Bill's POV. Why promote a blind acolyte...
when he can get you to do more work for the same money?
HARPER: Ultimately, your loyalty is what cost you.
You're still drinking buddies with the guys over at Shogun,
yeah?
- Shogun? - HARPER: Our Japanese brothers?
You still hit up the Slug and Lettuce
with those guys?
DVD: Oh...
Yeah, sure. I know everyone there.
They've been making overtures towards me for months.
Well...
the floor is yours.
You guys really are something else.
So, fucking tell them that then.
Uh...
I'm an immediate MD.
I run the desk.
You all report to me.
I run the comp pool. And I'm paid like a trader.
Percentage of total commissions made.
My upside is unlimited.
Old-school.
We can do that.
Can't we, Eric?
We can.
You reckon you can feign sobriety long enough
for me to save your careers?
ERIC: [CHUCKLES] We'll fucking try.
I'm gonna make a call.
[DOOR OPENING]
[DOOR CLOSING]
Isn't it lucky that no one is ever satisfied? [LAUGHS]
♪ ["LIQUID SWORDS" BY GZA PLAYING] ♪
♪ When the MCs came To live out the name ♪
♪ And to perform
♪ Some had to snort cocaine To act insane ♪
♪ Before Pete rocked it on
♪ Now on with the mental plane To spark the brain ♪
♪ With the building to be born
♪ Yo RZA flip the track With the what to cut ♪
♪ Fake niggas get flipped In mic fights ♪
♪ I swing swords and cut clowns Shit is too swift to bite you ♪
♪ Record and write it down
♪ I flow like the blood On a murder scene ♪
♪ Like a syringe On some wild out shit ♪
♪ To insert a fiend
♪ But it was your op The shop stolen art ♪
♪ Catch a swollen heart From not rolling smart ♪
♪ I put mad pressure
♪ On phony wack Rhymes that get hurt ♪
♪ Shit's played like Zodiac signs on sweatshirt ♪
♪ That's minimum And feminine like sandals ♪
♪ My minimum table stacks A verse on a gamble ♪
♪ Yo RZA flip the track With the what to cut ♪
- [BEATBOXING] - ♪ [SONG CONCLUDES]