Halt and Catch Fire (2014–2017): Season 1, Episode 7 - Giant - full transcript

The next phase of the PC project is design. Believing it could be aesthetically beautiful and not just another beige box, Joe is able to call in an old friend, top industrial designer Simon Church, to come up with a concept. Simon's arrival onto the scene has the possibility to alienate both Gordon and Cameron, but for different reasons. Gordon is feeling tired of people not listening to him, and acts upon his new-found albeit temporary freedom with the girls while Donna is out of town on business. Donna, on the other hand, may also act upon her new temporary freedoms based on a business meeting and a telephone call home to Gordon. And while he has been issued a divorce petition, an action which no one in the company knows about, John gets more bad news: the PC project is out of money, and without a quick cash influx, the entire company could shut down within a week if the PC project proceeds. John has to find some money to tie them over until COMDEX in a couple of weeks, without letting the PC team know what's going on behind the scenes financially.

Daddy?

- Gordon, are you okay? You're screaming.
- What?

You're screaming at the top of your lungs.

- Mommy!
- What time is it? Why aren't you in bed?

This analysis report... I have to leave for
Lubbock Tuesday and it has to be perfect.

- Did I wake up the kids?
- You probably woke the neighborhood.

- Are you sure you're okay?
- Yeah.

Monkeys, it's okay. I'm coming.

Can I get you some
dinner before I take off?

Can you still call it dinner
at 2:30 in the morning?

I'm good, Debbie. Thanks.



"Can I get you some
dinner before I take off?"

- Oh, be nice.
- She's right. You gotta eat.

Look who's talking.

All work and no play makes Joe a dull boy.

Hmm?

- There's got to be another way.
- We've tried everything.

- Well, get more creative.
- I can't.

I move more things around,
it's going to start to look bad.

It'll be a problem.

Personal Computer Division
is already operating

at a massive deficit.

By close of business next week,

the hole will be so deep, it will
take the entire company with it.

You keep this between us.



Do you understand?

We shouldn't be eating in here.

I know.

I just like looking at it.

It kinda turns me on.

Oh, is that weird?

Joe, that's a live current.

It's only a few volts.

What are you doing?

I'm turning you on.

No, someone's calling.

It's 3:00 in the morning.

No, no, I'm thrilled you'll do it,

I'm just surprised you called back.

I left you a few messages,
but that was several weeks ago.

Oh, next week? I had no idea
he was showing his photos here.

I'd love to see that. I would love
to see you, work with you on this.

Oh, the sixth. I look forward to that.

How have you been?

Can't say I'm exactly
happy about the extra memory

- or Cameron's expanded O/S...
- The lasagna is in the freezer.

Don't forget to take it out and let it
thaw before you reheat it in the oven.

You know, that's the
past. We have to move on.

...in case you need it the number
for the hotel is on the fridge.

- Gordon, did you hear me?
- I know what people are saying.

They're saying that I
roll over for software.

- But the truth is...
- Gordon, look at me.

Lasagna, freezer, thaw, oven,

number on the fridge. Got it.

Look, the QA tests, they're gonna go fine.

There's gonna be disappointment,

but we need to focus on the net gain here.

- They need to realize that...
- Okay, so you're taking the kids to school,

Rose will be here by the time you get back,

and I'll be home by noon tomorrow.

What they need to realize is
that I'm in there every day.

I'm pushing Joe to get what we need.

I'll miss you, too.

Sometimes our thoughts are often...

Boot time's 48.24 seconds.

48? We were at 39 last month.

OS memory requirements.
I mean, the thing's basically

doing a 600-pound standing squat

every time it turns on.

- System response time?
- 403 milliseconds.

There goes the Doherty Threshold.

- - Weight?
- Only added a few ounces,

but it puts us over 15 pounds.

It's the extra RAM
chips and the daughter board.

I know what it is. Loss in compatibility?

Tried to load Lotus this
morning and it tanked.

I'd call that a big yes.

All right, let's talk names.

Oh, you mean software's not naming it?

I'm gonna take a list of
suggestions to the product manager

and there's gonna be a discussion.

So you mean we don't have a chance in hell.

Do you guys have name suggestions or not?

Okay.

Thank you.

Well, if you knew this
guy was locked for a week,

why am I just canceling Kenny today?

It's awful abrupt and
he's not gonna be thrilled.

My guy's temperamental. He's an artist.

Despite our back and forth over the phone,

I wasn't even sure he would show up.

But now that he's here, I know he's a yes.

- There's something...
- He say that?

A bunch of teenagers broke into
Los Alamos National Lab's computers.

Also into some cancer
center and a big bank.

Most were DECs running VMS OS.

God, cover story and
everything. Pretty cool.

You stole my car.

I stole your keys.

The car just turns on when I put them in.

Oh, Simon Church. It's
fantastic to see you.

Thank you for making the trip all this way.

I can't tell you how exciting
this is for us and the project.

Right.

Hello to you, too.

I'm sorry I'm late. I
know I've kept you waiting.

I just have a few things to get in order.

Would you mind waiting for
us in the conference room?

I can't wait to see
what you've put together.

- Debbie?
- Mm-hmm.

You think today maybe we could
be adults? Just for a few hours?

Uh, yes, sir, Mr. MacMillan, sir.

He is one of the top industrial
designers in the world.

If he makes our case, it
puts us on a whole new level.

It was a joke, okay? I'm sorry. Jesus.

You knew I had this meeting today.

I'll go first.

The contour, the design,

the angles, it... wow.

All I can say is wow. It's
exactly what we wanted.

So glad that I could accommodate.

I think this is something very special.

Yeah, it's a pretty
girl. C-can I say something?

What happened to the specs
that you've had for a week?

I saw them, but they were too limiting.

Moving past the specs gives us
an opportunity to make something,

something that isn't
just a beige rectangle.

Okay, those rectangles

took months and months of...

do you think you can just waltz in here
and demand that we change everything

'cause you don't like
the way that it looks?

- Yes.
- Okay.

Okay, well, we'll redesign the
whole thing to fit the suit.

I saw that you worked on the
Countach and the DeLorean.

Let me tell you what I know. Both
are in the shop every hundred miles.

Nobody gives a damn about what the
computer looks like as long as they work.

Let me tell you what I know.

Your consumers will soon
have more than a dozen choices

that look identical to what you'd build,

so what will capture their attention?

A design that they will
be magnetically drawn to

every single time they
move to touch your machine.

Joe, this design will require
another hardware overhaul.

I'm talking hundreds of hours. The
one place that I'm ahead is heat.

If I ditch the sink for this, I run...

Ahem.

When we unveil the Contrail
and it looks like this,

people will be falling over themselves.

Wait, the what?

The Contrail. We're
calling it the Contrail.

I'm announcing it this
week, so don't tell anyone.

The Contrail? You're
naming it after the exhaust

that comes out of the back of a plane?

It's about soaring, leaving
the competition in the dust,

which is exactly what
this design can accomplish.

No, Joe, contrail is the dust.

Look, if we continue to
put form ahead of function,

we're gonna be the ones left
behind with everyone laughing at us.

I mean, why don't you just call it...

call it the "Cardiff Giant"?

You assured me that everything was in line

and that my time wouldn't be wasted.

I don't have time to waste.

What is this? I thought
this was a done deal.

You fly out all this way
and now you're leaving?

I let another designer go
just to take this meeting.

- What's with the girl?
- Is that what this is about?

I never should've come.

He's gone. Are you happy?

All because you didn't like the name?

What did you want to call it?

The Giant? Fine. It's the Giant.

I'll have marketing toss the
art and start from scratch.

Hey, regardless of the resizing,
half the design was metal.

You want your Armani pants to catch on
fire every time you put it in your lap?

I think you act like you can't see it

because the truth is you can't do it.

I read a whole magazine... thank you.

Someone made me breakfast.
Someone made my kids breakfast.

It's a revolution.

You must think I am just the greenest...

No, no, no one I know gets excited
about business trips anymore.

Especially this trip.

Why? We're bringing
them fixes for the 99/4A.

We're part of the solution.

Well, not sure corporate sees it that way.

These are Band-Aids on
a sucking chest wound.

Well, then why don't
we tell them the truth?

I would, but I'd also like to keep my job.

- Execs at this level...
- Four, please.

...they want to hear what they
want to hear. Eight, please.

They asked us to present the report,
so that's what we're gonna do.

We can play dress-up
and then play Cabbage Patch.

A dance party.

Mommy left lasagna in the freezer.

We could put it in the oven
and then play Cabbage Patch.

Or blocks. We could play blocks.

No one's gonna tell us what to eat.

We are gonna make our own
dinner all by ourselves.

- Mommy's gonna be mad.
- What are we gonna eat?

Mommy's not here.

_

We need to get Ken back.

Are you shitting me?

We have six weeks till
COMDEX and we need a case.

Unless you want me to wrap
the machine in a garbage bag,

we need a designer.

With only 256 bytes of RAM in the register,

we have a bottleneck that sets off

a four-cycle wait to clear
every time we load it.

- Hunt...
- Plus a power regulator that gets so hot,

users refer to it as
the "coffee cup warmer."

Hunt, you're listing off a lot of problems,

and a lot of problems means
a lot of money for fixes.

We need assurances that correcting these

will solve the computer's
flaws once and for all.

Well, they won't.

I'm sorry, but there are no
once-and-for-all fixes for the 99.

If you want to do the right thing,

you drop it from our product list for good.

She's right.

I mean, what are we gonna
do, slash prices again?

Hand out another rebate? We're
practically giving it away already.

If you ask me,

we get out of the PC market altogether.

I am so sorry. I didn't mean to jump in...

Donna, they've been toying
with dropping the 99 for months.

People are just too
scared to say it out loud.

- Except for you.
- Wait, really?

If you hadn't said that,

they never would've heard the truth.

- That took guts.
- I thought it took stupidity.

Will you please just take the credit?

Now, I say we meet downstairs for dinner,

on the company's credit card, of course,

and we celebrate a job well done.

7:00?

Yeah, okay.

She had to build her own fire...

...and gather her own wood.

Hello?

Hi,
Gordon. I've got Joe for ya.

But in 1898, Great-Grandma Iris

picked up some stakes and
ran off to the Klondike

during the last great gold rush.

Food was scarce. You
had to hunt and cook...

...from scratch all on your own.

But Grandma Iris, she was tough.

She was real tough.

And this was her original recipe.

- Are you tough?
- No.

Let her speak for herself.

Come here.

Show your big sister what you're made of.

- It's good, Daddy.
- It is good.

I want some. I'm tough.

- It's good.
- 'Cause you're tough.

And you're tough.

We're all tough.

Can we make cookies, Daddy?

Mommy has the
cut-and-put-in-the-oven kind.

Can we play with you, Daddy?

We really want to play with you.

Yes to cookies, yes to games,

yes to Daddy's wonderful stew.

You guys go wash up.

♪ I'm talking 'bout you... ♪

I take it you're not going to
the photography thing tonight?

No, actually.

I came to change because
instead I'm joining

John Bosworth and Ken Burke at "Strokers."

That's a strip club
with an incredible name.

Beige box it is.

Look, it's not what I want, either.

Blame Gordon. He blew it up.

Did you sleep with Simon?

Is that something that
would be a problem for you?

I don't give a shit that he's a man.

Honestly.

10 years ago, I was at
a conference in Europe.

Simon spoke, I was in the audience.

He was...

I wanted to be him.

We stayed through the end of the event,

traveled around the
continent for the next month

and then...

he left.

That's it.

And yet he was in the office today.

He's a brilliant designer.

I was willing to put up with him

if it meant something great
for the work we've done.

But I guess he was just stringing me along.

I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier.

That guy just messes me up.

Darlin'.

♪ Stroke me, stroke me ♪

♪ Stroke... ♪

That one, she'll dance for a dollar,

do anything you like.

I don't dance for a dollar.

Oh, your quote is perfectly reasonable
and we'd like to move forward.

My quote? It's gone up. Way up.

Oh, come on, Kenny, man.
We're not made of money here.

We're talking about a
basic injection mold now.

You and I have been in
the same circles for years.

I've always had the utmost respect...

We was window-shopping and
decided you were the man to marry.

Yeah, you're settling.

See, I like to get asked to the prom first.

If I don't, my feelings get hurt.

Hey, speaking of marriage, how's Ginnie?

Ginnie's doing just fine.

Yeah? You line anything up on the side yet?

Uh, we're not settling.
We're betting on utility.

Your design is simple, it's welcoming,

it doesn't intimidate, and
we want our machine to be...

friendly.

Shit, I don't need to give you a dollar.

You'll dance for free.

- Do you have an invite?
- Huh? Yeah.

What the hell is this?

You skank.

You used me for a ride, didn't you?

Huh? Relax, there's free champagne.

30 minutes and I'm leaving your skinny ass.

Can I get one of those, please?

Bleak.

Mm. I think the photographer
understood very well

how empty this place really is.

Tell me about it. I'm from here.

Mm, my apologies, then.

So, what can I do for "Miss
Rainbow Brite" this evening?

Agree to build our case.

How old are you?

Old enough to see the
difference between a $100,000 car

that only a fraction of
the population can afford

and a utility that every single human being

will be interfacing with
inside of five years.

I can certainly see why Joe likes you.

Please tell him I said bravo
for the very clever second push.

Joe didn't send me.

But I know this is important to him.

Important, hmm?

What did Joe tell you about me?

Look, I know you guys humped
all over Europe or whatever.

- And I don't care.
- Oh, is that how he put it?

Because I seem to remember
it fairly differently.

- Did he tell you I left him?
- Yeah, he did.

Did he tell you why?

Because I told him I loved him,

and the moment I said
it, I knew it was over

so I left the next morning.

I tried to spare myself the embarrassment.

We did have quite a bit of fun for a while.

Late nights.

Did a lot of stupid things,

but in the end, I believe
Joe just got bored.

Listen...

I know that you think what
you have with him is different,

but please don't make
the mistake of thinking

that he won't do the same
thing to you eventually.

Come on, let's go.

Wait, I just got this
one. Come here, come on.

Hey, let's have some champagne.

Who's that, an old boyfriend?

Hmm? Yeah.

He looks like a real asshole.
What did he say to you?

Nothing.

All right, hold the light
steady. Come on, focus, girls.

Can we play another game?
Something we can win?

If you play me, you won't win.

But Mommy never wins.

That's because Mommy loses on purpose,

which is not a good life lesson.

In fact, look. Look what time it is.

It's PJ time. You guys go get your PJs on.

All right, as soon as you brush
your teeth, I'll come in there.

Can we have our story in your bed?

Yeah, fine. Fine, just go.

- Hello.
- Hey, it's me.

Oh, hi.

I... I called.

Uh, is everything okay?

No, everything's not okay.

We went over the case design again today

and once again Joe wants me to shift
everything around inside to accommodate.

It's style over substance
and I'm tired of it.

Guy comes in and presents
something with metal paneling,

and because of the dimensions,
the heat sink won't fit.

I mean, the thing's gonna
end up being a waffle iron.

I'll fax you over the dimensions
so you can see how ridiculous it is.

Wait, but that could work, couldn't it?

Let the exterior paneling
pull heat off the board?

It's actually an interesting idea.

Ooh!

Gordon?

Gordon?

Gordon?

I have to go.

Daddy, we have our PJs on!

Come on.

At the end of the day,

we're happy to be doing
business with y'all.

We'll get you a case.

Well, I appreciate that, Kenny.

The pleasure's ours.

Get that plastic mold fired up ASAP, huh?

We figure with the amount
of money you're spending,

I can bump you to the top of the list.

I appreciate that.

Hey, you all right there, partner?

- Long week.
- Hurts, don't it?

Well, at least we got to have a good time

on Cardiff's dime, though, right?

- Yeah, sure.
- Have a good one, Kenny.

Hey, you know, we must'a
seen 20 pretty titties.

Not so much as a smile from you.

What, are you queer?

That is assault, John!
I will press charges.

I am gonna sue your ass, John!

You hear me?

All right. I'm good,
I'm good. Get your hands off me.

Can you still make it work with your guy?

I can try.

Daddy?

Um...

a long time ago, way back in the 1800s,

there was a farmer in Cardiff, New York.

Cardiff, like your job.

Exactly. And this farmer,

he wanted to feel special,

so he built a 10-foot-tall giant

and buried it out in his field.

And he waited, and a year went by.

And then he and some of
his workers dug it up.

And the men who worked for him

were convinced that the giant was real.

And the people told him
to show it to the world,

and he did.

And people came from all around.

And he felt very, very special.

He was so special

that somebody offered to partner with him.

P.T. Barnum,

an expert salesman.

And they fought and
they argued day and night

because the salesman wanted
the giant all to himself.

What happened?

P.T. Barnum built his own giant.

And he made it part of his circus

and he claimed that it was real.

And he was such an expert salesman

that everyone forgot about the farmer...

and he was left in the dust,

in the contrail.

And I swear I was headed
for the firing squad.

Great surprise, huh?

You've been far away.

I'm sorry, I'm...

Ever since Gordon called?

My husband is...

well, he is an amazing man.

What he created for
Cardiff, it's a miracle.

No matter how they
derailed him along the way,

he made it work at every step.

Chips on both sides of the board,

an entire megabyte of
RAM for an expanded OS...

Donna, why are you telling me this?

Because we made a deal.

We agreed that if he did this

that it wouldn't turn out like last time,

and I just don't think that
he's strong enough and I'm...

I'm not sure that I'm strong enough.

You?

You are incredible.

Gosh, you think this piano
player knows any other songs?

They should hire you to play.

They should.

Uh-oh, looks like he's taking a break.

Good.

- No.
- Go on.

- I can't.
- Quit your stalling.

Fine.

Go on, get up there.

That's a lot better than that last guy.

What's your name?

Susan Fairchild.

You call me all the way out
here just to shoot the breeze?

The PC program's out of money.

I'm sorry to land it on you like that.

Wait, why am I just hearing about this?

What the hell happened?

Innovation is a risk.

I don't understand even what that means.

You sound like Joe, for Christ's sake.

The good news is we're
weeks away from a payday.

The moment we debut at COMDEX, Nathan...

Did you strike Ken Burke
tonight in the face?

- He insulted Ginnie...
- He called me up madder'n hell.

I need you to personally offer us
a bridge loan to get us to COMDEX.

Are you out of your mind?

We're gonna pay you back
by the end of the year.

You have no idea what these
kids are making, Nathan.

This could change the...
this could change everything.

In five years, every one of us

could have one of these
damn things in the house.

It's not a small market
we're talking about.

We gotta get in the door now.

I'm thinking about putting up my home.

I need you to match that.

- Match?
- Yeah.

What the hell is wrong with you?

Rule number one, you
don't risk your own money.

You've been brainwashed, gone native.

Ain't nothing worse than a
businessman who's lost his compass.

Hell, Nathan, you trusted
me before, damn it.

I was the one that got us
to mainframes, didn't I...

Yeah, that's when you
were still levelheaded,

before you started burning the bridges

of every business relationship
that I have ever forged

and now you're dragging me out
here in the middle of the night...

asking me to cash in my family's land?

- Jesus, boy.
- Nathan!

If that program is out of money,

that is God saying, "Good
night and God bless."

Once the last dime goes, you shut it down.

Pull yourself together, John.

Go home to your wife.

The moment I met you, you
know what I longed for?

The day when we would get to work together,

when we finally had something
that would be worthy of you.

And that thing is a portable IBM clone?

Joe, I appreciate the blanket flattery,

but it's a little too late, isn't it?

I don't get it. Why call me?

Why come back into my life at all?

I remember when Jeremy
said he was leaving New York

to come spend a year here.

"Tour the Great Plains," he said...

Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas.

"Photograph the landscape." What landscape?

I mean, we all thought he'd gone mad.

But here I am trying to see
what he was talking about,

looking at his pictures, and trying
to figure out why you moved here.

I'll tell you why. Equal
opportunity, a level playing field...

Joe, please. I already got the hard sell

from your wunderkind over there.

Truly the future generation, Joe.

She actually reminds me of you at that age.

She's light-years ahead
of where I was then.

She is tomorrow, and we're
all better off because of it.

In the end, it doesn't
matter what design we choose

because it's what's inside
the machine that's brilliant.

She did that. Not you, not me.

Do the case, don't do
the case. I don't care.

Get off me, "Kojak." Ow!

All right. Come here, come
on. Get a hold of yourself.

Sorry.

"That guy just messes me up."

Oh, wait a minute. There we go.

You know, you probably
made that piano player

more in tips than he
makes in a whole year...

"Susan Fairchild."

Wait a minute, I think I know that name.

Oh, that's my mother's maiden name.

You probably heard it around.

No, actually, I think I read it somewhere.

Ahem.

You should be "Susan Fairchild" more often.

She's fun.

Can I tell you something personal?

Doing that extra report got you here.

Saying no to those execs

changed our whole presentation.

Showing people who you really are,

you should do that more often.

Be bolder.

Ahem. I'll see you downstairs
at 6:00 for our flight.

Will we find the giant?

I'm sure we're close.

We have to dig deeper, come on.

We're very deep.

Oh, my gosh. I think I found a worm.

You did? What should we name it?

Smiley?

Girls, what are you doing?

Digging for the giant.

No, honey, it's not a real giant.

It was real to him. You said so.

Sweetheart, you gotta get
inside or your mother...

Don't worry, Daddy. We'll find the giant.

Sweetie, it's just a story.

Okay, look, I'll show you.

See? No giant.

Daddy, what happened to your hand?

Daddy, are you okay?

You guys stay here. All right?

I'll be right back. I'm gonna show you.

I just had to come down. I was...

Whoa, whoa, what... what are you doing?

You said "bold."

You said... wasn't...

I came to bring you a fax.

Um, the hotel delivered
it to my room by mistake.

I think it's from your husband.

Oh, my God.

I am so sorry.

I... you must think that...

No, no, no. No, look,
these things happen, okay?

Look, people... people work together

and they develop, uh, you know...

they just... they don't
usually act on them.

Look... have a good night.

Oh.

Hello?

Um, are there any rental
car places still open?

Yes, now. I need to go home.

_

I need you to swing by my office

first thing in the morning.

Thank you.

I'll be a minute.

This didn't turn out the way
either one of us had hoped.

I just wanted to see you again, Joe.

Spend some time with you
really working on something.

Then I come to find you're with her.

Yes, I'm with her.

What we had was 10 years ago, Simon.

Stop living in the past.

Why bother with any of that now?

I'm sick.

I just came to say goodbye.

Aren't you gonna ask?

What?

If I'm still gonna do the case?

I know you, Joe. I know you're thinking it.

I set it up before I even got on the plane.

I need you to know

that the way you felt about me,

I wanted to...

Take care of yourself.

Go.

Are you gonna get bored of me?

I don't know.

Oh, my God.

Baby?

Baby, is everything okay? Where's Daddy?

We were in the back yard digging.

Okay. Okay, go back to sleep.

Hi, Mommy. We were helping Daddy.

Gordon?

Gordon?

Here! Down here!

Gordon, what are you doing?

I'm looking for the giant.