Manhattan (2014–2015): Season 2, Episode 4 - Overlord - full transcript
Frank's situation improves with unexpected aid. Oppenheimer's private life has unforeseen impact on project.
Previously on "Manhattan"...
Dr. Oppenheimer has asked
me to run the new group.
How soon can you deliver?
A month? A year?
Oppenheimer picked you because
he knows that he can control you.
You're the director of G group. Direct.
I spent all day wondering why I
didn't make your idiotic group
and you left me on the bench because
you can't control your hard-on?
Remind me of her name.
There was a time when I hoped Crosley
would take a shine to my daughter.
If you're not a communist,
why are you risking your own
neck to give them a bomb?
You know, if Dr. Winter
were in less than
comfortable circumstances,
I would worry they may not
improve after today's events.
I can get you as far as
the Lamy train depot.
I had a dream you jumped up
and licked my thighs.
Robert Oppenheimer's
having an affair.
Abby, stay out of other
people's marriages.
Your husband's not going
to Washington tomorrow.
I do not need marital
advice from a deviant.
You should have Oppenheimer's job.
"Batter my heart, three-person'd God,
for you as yet but
knock, breathe, shine
and seek to mend.
That I may rise and stand,
overthrow me and bend your force
to break, blow, burn
and make me new."
Batter my heart, o' two-person'd boy.
For you as yet but cover your loins
and abandon me.
They expected me on the
Hill two days ago.
No one's abandoning you.
I'll die if you leave.
I'm gonna miss the 4:10.
Do you believe in reincarnation?
Dr. Inessa says you and I
have been traveling
together for lifetimes.
You told your psychiatrist about me.
I've been your daughter,
your brother, your wife.
You gave birth to me
in a European ghetto.
You murdered me...
dozens of times. You enjoyed it.
What do you want from me?
Same thing that you want.
Hold me down under the water.
Do it.
Do it.
Do it!
What am I looking at?
Request for a Declaration
of Taking Property 112,
Ms. Maria Capo-Berryman,
- Tract B-31 quadrant...
- English.
We need to buy this lady's
farm so we can blow it up.
The judge is a hard-ass.
He wants to know why we're
trying to stiff her.
I thought this went away.
She claims the land is worth $750.
The Army appraised it at $744.
And the Army can't pony up six bucks?
There are 43 of these. Today.
- Tomorrow there could be...
- Jesus.
Dr. Isaacs, I need an
ETA on the machine tools.
Just, uh, take a number.
Um, where are the
updated X-ray studies?
- On your desk. And if I could...
- No calls.
Jesus, Nancy, I said no calls!
So... what do we tell the judge?
Right. Tell him that I said
that he can wipe his ass with
the Declaration of Taking.
Tell him that this eminent
domain is imminent,
- And tell Ms. Caperberry...
- Capo-Berryman...
...to take her $744 or she
can take up her grievances
with the business end
of a Sherman tank.
We don't have time for this.
God damn it! What?
Blasphemy doesn't suit you.
Uh, Dr. Oppenheimer, sir. Sorry.
You're too high up on the chart
for "sirs" and "sorries."
Yeah, well, uh, things have
been a little hectic here.
I thought you'd be back on Tuesday.
There have been some unexpected delays.
We can't afford any more delays.
We've missed the last three
interim delivery dates.
That's why I need your hand
on the tiller, Charlie.
- Sir, I think we need to...
- Split the governing board
into administrative and
scientific divisions.
Cuts everyone's obligations by half,
and it frees me to run
the technical staff.
Then do it.
I... I don't...
I don't think
it's my place to reconfigure the board.
Only you have the authority.
I'm granting you the
authority, Charlie.
Assert it. Do whatever you must.
If it helps to pretend
you're me, pretend.
That's what I do.
First off, I'd like
to thank you all for being punctual
on our first official
morning as the Gun Group.
I'm sure many of you
would rather be working on implosion.
You may feel your talents
have been overlooked...
like the younger sibling
living in implosion's shadow.
But Charles Darwin was
a younger sibling
and so was America.
There's no question implosion
is a beautiful solution,
but beauty does not win wars.
Wars are won by blunt force, brutality.
Guns, not beauty, have won every war
since the Chinese
invented black powder.
Guns liberated this
country from the British,
they liberated Europe
in the last world war.
A gun also liberated
Reed Akley's brain.
Thin Man was a gun-type weapon
based on a thousand years
of ballistic science.
You've got a barrel,
you've got a projectile.
Now, we all know Thin Man failed...
Is that what we're doing here?
Resurrecting a cadaver?
The problem with Thin
Man wasn't the gun.
It was the bullet... plutonium.
But if we swap plutonium for uranium,
the gun design can work.
And we are going to
make it work together.
Thank you, Helga.
Nothing quickens the pulse
at the start of a day's work
like the sight of a lady with a pistol.
Sadly, all the gumption
of American industry
won't enrich enough uranium
to blow up a privy.
Not before 1950 at least.
We few, we unhappy few,
have gathered here to wank out numbers
until the implosion group
gets its ticker-tape parade.
As head of the Gun
Group, I can assure you
we will not be wanking anything.
Ah. Head of the Gun Group, yes.
One of those snappy claques
that reports to the Chief
of the Projectile Division.
Ah, there's his name, Dr.
William Hogarth.
Who's for elevenses? Back in two hours?
So...
is this a case of the
clerical miscarriage
or sadistic prank of the gods?
Well, surely you didn't pick me.
I wouldn't have picked you in the
full flower of your talents,
much less this wilted state.
Well, then, perhaps you'd
entertain a request
for a favor for old times'.
It's not in my power to
transfer you to the test group.
Yeah, but you can sack me.
Mm, off the project. Send
me packing for good.
- For what cause?
- Truancy, insubordination.
Whatever insults your daughter
suffered at my hands.
Take your pick.
Attention...
SED Team three
is in Building U, room 106.
When you come across a wounded buck,
the sporting thing to do is shoot it.
Please.
You've never been on a
shoot, have you, Paul?
At close range, the muzzle flash
ruins the flesh for eating.
No, I think I'll savor this meal.
The closest thing we have to
a medical reference at home
is the Talmud.
It's sort of like a Hebrew
"Farmer's Almanac."
Apparently, there are five
different colors of female blood
the rabbis consider to be unclean...
red, black, bright crocus,
earthy water, and diluted wine.
Let's call it "earthy water."
Is that bad?
Well, I'm no rabbi, but I think the AMA
would say it's an indication of
overly vigorous intercourse.
Maybe just ask Dr. Isaacs
to go easy for a few days.
Mm.
Nurse!
Can I get some help in here, please?
Nurse?
Kill the spider. Please kill it.
Don't let it get away.
Just do it. Please.
Oh, thank you.
Joey was born on the fourth
floor of Beth Israel.
Her mother would be horrified
if she knew how her second
grandchild would be born.
If my mother saw this
place, she'd find it
the least horrifying thing about me.
Oh.
The doctor says they're
not real contractions.
I told
him I'm not leaving
until he takes this
thing out of my womb.
Does Dr. Oppenheimer know you're here?
I can put a call through to Washington.
We both know that's a fool's errand.
Well, at least let me get the nurse.
I don't need anyone to hold my hand.
I'm royalty.
I've lived on relief checks.
I've lost a husband to war and
others to lawyers. I've...
I've seen the elephant before.
They say the, uh... the
first baby is the hardest.
Was your son difficult?
Robert's leaving me.
Charlie!
Abby, what's wrong?
- Is Joey okay?
- Yeah.
The Oppenheimers are splitting up.
- Abby?
- What?
I told you to leave it alone.
Today, of all days, I do
not have time for gossip.
It's not gossip, it's intelligence.
Kitty told me herself.
What did she tell you, exactly?
She said he's leaving
her for that woman
in San Francisco, the Communist.
He's with her right now.
What, he told you he was
having lunch with Roosevelt?
Charlie, this is your chance.
For what?
Well, it... it's not just
his family he's abandoning.
He's leaving the project.
No, Abby. You must've misunderstood.
- Robert wouldn't do that.
- Don't do that.
I understand perfectly.
He's dropping the reins in your lap.
The fate of the war, Charlie.
You're already doing Oppenheimer's job.
It's time you had the title.
Nancy?
I've reduced men three pay
grades for calling me less.
Colonel.
What can I do for you?
What's that smell?
Did you tell Judge Foster Clements
to wipe his ass with the
Declaration of Taking forms?
- Did he really?
- I don't know.
Could be his dog's,
could be his wife's.
The taxonomy of feces
is outside my purview.
It was a poor choice of words.
All due respect, Colonel,
wrangling local judges...
it's not my purview.
It's Dr. Oppenheimer's.
Well, until one of you geniuses
manages to bend the laws of space-time,
he can't be here and in
Washington simultaneously.
So you'll have to be his surrogate.
Right. Washington.
And he might be there a while.
Operation Overlord is in motion.
Overlord? It's happening now?
Which is why we can't
abide snafus like this.
Hitler's backed into a corner.
He'll accelerate his project.
We have to keep pace.
We might need some reorganization.
What exactly are you proposing?
I think the Tech Area org chart
might be outside of your
purview also, Colonel.
Do you know why the general
chose Robert Oppenheimer?
He dines with Cabinet members,
smokes cigars with Cochiti Indians.
Rides stallions with governors,
takes target practice
with enlisted men.
Oppenheimer keeps the trains running
with salesmanship and charm.
I haven't seen much of that lately.
And without jeopardizing the project,
by asking a judge to defecate
on U.S. Code 40, subsection 3114.
There isn't a physicist on God's
earth who could replace him.
Winter.
You have some pretty fancy friends.
Clean yourself up, for Chrissakes.
Martha. How... how did you...?
Is it... is it...
Is the war over?
Yours is.
President Roosevelt...
ringing up the warden in
that tenth circle of hell.
Wish those spooks had recorded that.
It wasn't Franklin.
You said Einstein
called the White House.
It was Eleanor.
She handles the lost causes.
Frank, you need to slow down.
I know.
I tried to keep myself sane
remembering your hands.
Every line...
every pruning scar.
I should've kept you and
Callie out of this.
So the Princeton house is rented.
But that Craftsman down the street
is back on the market again.
- I already talked to the realtor.
- Liza...
And then we can visit your
father on the way home.
I'm so sorry.
You don't have to apologize.
I have to go back to the Hill.
You just escaped from a prison.
You... you want to break back into one?
We're never going back to that place.
No... no, I...
I don't expect you to come with me.
...known details.
All figures to follow are
best known estimates.
There is a new front
in the war in Europe.
156,000 Allied soldiers have
landed in northern France.
The invasion is still
in its earliest hours,
But all indications point
to a promising start
along the approximately 60-mile front.
Casualties have been
lighter than expected
with no signs of
immediate retaliation...
I've got a half brother out
there slaughtering Heinies.
I'm sitting here like a woman.
Don't flatter yourself.
Turn it off.
- The show must go on.
- For how long?
We're... we're taking Europe.
Isn't class dismissed?
Not until the last Jap is eating
apple pie with his chopsticks.
I've been asked to send
a liaison to Site X
to oversee the enrichment
of their marvelous uranium.
I spent three years at Site X.
I know the staff. I'd be glad to go.
As head of the Gun Group, it
should be my responsibility.
Nothing so poignant as idle ambition.
But if you two insist on a duel...
I meant to weigh in on
the relative merits
of three equally deficient
refinement techniques.
Best proposal buys you a ticket
on the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
Why would you want to leave the Hill?
You just got here.
Did take a bit longer than I'd hoped.
But if the war is almost over,
I can't pass up a chance for a
final promotion now, can I?
Hitler will dig
in, probably for months.
And every day he does, the
Army pumps Oppenheimer
or Isaacs, the whole senior
staff, full of their lies.
"Imminent Threats," V2 over New York,
cities of ruins.
They'll say anything to
build that thing faster.
Racing an imaginary German project.
Yeah. Trust me,
all I want is to come
with you to Princeton.
But you're the only
man who can fix this.
Have you ever wondered why
you're always the only man for the job?
It's just a few days.
That's all I need.
There are hundreds and
thousands of soldiers
hurling themselves up those beaches,
but Frank Winter thinks
he's the only man
who can save the world alone.
You know Glen warned me about this.
In 1939, you thought
you were the only man
who could set this ball rolling.
Now in 1944, you're the only one
who can stand in its way.
This time it's different.
You know, I'm not gonna chauffeur
you back up that hill.
You want it so bad, you can hitchhike.
I apologize.
Big doin's today.
Y'all finished or you
want something more?
That, uh...
that Model A you got out there.
It says there's a contest.
Will it get me as far as New Mexico?
Jesus, Frank.
All you gotta do to win it
is beat Red's own record
for eating Texas red chili.
But I should warn you...
no one's ever done it,
and the chili's two bucks if you lose.
Well, since yesterday I
was starving to death.
I kinda like my chances.
All right.
Papa, Sonny, bucket of Texas Red.
Comin' right up, Mama.
You had no right to
keep a secret that big.
I had no choice.
Because you took an oath?
You broke every rule in the
Army handbook except one.
What does that make me? The
exception that proves the rule?
Is Red human?
No, sir. That's him right there...
a Berkshire hog.
Here are the latest
details as we now grasp them.
While landing along the beaches
of France continue even now,
dodging enemy fire along the shore,
Prime Minister Churchill
informed the House of Commons...
Lady of Norfolk had a
baby this morning.
Called her "Dee Day."
Spelled D-e-e Day.
Ain't that cute?
Naming your daughter after a land war?
It's adorable.
You're not as chatty
as the last mail girl.
How did you get in here?
Spycraft.
I told the janitor I was your cousin.
I have one aunt.
I'm pretty sure she's a virgin.
You've been listening to the news?
I have bigger news.
For us, anyway.
Charlie Isaacs is gunning
for Oppenheimer's job.
What?
Yeah, Frank was just the warm-up act.
Now he's got Oppie in his crosshairs.
You remember what
happened to Julius Caesar
on the Ides of March?
No, I only read the first 10 pages.
Charlie thinks that he can
win the war by himself.
He pulled me and Fritz in
to make his case for him.
Well... then make it.
What?
This is good for us.
If Charlie Isaacs
overthrows Oppenheimer,
it sets the schedule back, right?
- I guess so.
- The longer that it takes anyone
to deliver a weapon, the
less chance anyone has
of dropping it over a city ful
k before the war is over.
You wanna save lives, right?
So talk Charlie into it.
Uh, you are not Gretchen.
Two doors down.
Sorry.
We have to set some ground rules.
We can't be seen like this.
Well... so, what?
We just pass notes in the hall?
Like grade school?
We have to limit our contact.
If... if anyone asks, we, um...
we had a one-night stand.
It was a bad match.
Hmm.
Though since we are...
bending the rules.
This could be our last
hurrah for a while.
- Stop.
- Why?
Because we're cousins?
Don't be an altar boy, Jim.
I am the only one on the Hill
that knows what you really are.
And you're the only one
who knows what I am.
And if I wasn't?
Does it really matter?
They're not gonna let
you back on the Hill.
You think it was hard getting out?
I have to try.
I'll take you to the
bottom of the Hill.
But I go no further.
There's no question our
efficiency takes a nosedive
when Oppenheimer is off campus.
89% of targets met to
81% when he's away.
But if, God forbid,
we lost him entirely,
we'd hit zero. Zilch.
Oppenheimer is the reason
we have Triple A priority.
You think we'd slip to AA-1?
AA-2. We wouldn't have the
metals or the machine tools
that we'd need to build
a prototype until 1946.
If we have any chance of hitting
our targets, we need Oppie.
We need him on the Hill full-time.
And never mind what happens
if the Germans accelerate.
Yeah, but that's not
accounting for Stan Musial.
Do you remember, uh,
remember last year when the Cardinals
lost Enos Slaughter to the service?
Yeah, of course. I'm from St. Louis.
Right. Everybody thought
you guys were cooked.
But you put Musial in right field
and you won the pennant by 18 games.
Now, we're all assuming that no
one can replace Oppenheimer,
but what if we had a Musial,
someone equal to Oppenheimer or better?
For all we know, we could
be testing by March.
But the Cards
still lost the series.
By moving Musial to right,
they had no one to replace him in left.
I mean, maybe if Frank was still
here, you would have a case,
- but otherwise...
- This stays between us.
I need to speak with Dr.
Oppenheimer now.
Can you get him on the phone, please?
No. But I can get you a map.
Why didn't you tell me you were back?
Is Kitty asking for me?
Everyone's asking for you.
The two divisions insist on meeting
with you before they split,
and the Munitions Board won't
raise urgency standings
without your sign-off.
Also, apparently, I pissed off
Judge Clements of Santa Fe County.
Clements. You should
invite him to my stable.
He loves gelding horses.
I don't mean horses
that have been gelded.
He loves the specific
act of gelding a horse.
Jesus. Do you hear yourself?
It's one thing to play
the oriental sage,
it's another to smoke the opium.
Do we have a problem, Dr. Isaacs?
You were here nine days in all of May.
None in June.
I can't do my job when I'm doing yours.
Don't you want my job?
That's what everyone
thinks, including my wife,
but they're wrong.
I-I want you to want your job.
This is where it will happen...
your test.
Where the caldera opens up
and swallows the world.
It's your test, Robert.
So, that's it. You're,
uh, really walking away?
I'll be alerting General Groves
that you are my successor.
No, I don't accept.
It's D-day.
75,000 American soldiers
are throwing themselves
into enemy fire,
and you're abandoning ship.
You think Overlord wouldn't have
happened without Eisenhower?
You're wrong.
"Great men"?
Pasteboard masks.
I know you were in San Francisco.
Take a mistress. What do I care?
Take a whole harem if it
gets you through the day.
But you have got to
get through the day.
Oh, to finish the gadget?
So that we win the war?
Then lord it over our allies in peace.
Wave it under Stalin's
nose if he gets rowdy.
That sounds pretty Red.
- Careful, Charlie.
- This woman, whoever she is,
she's a Communist, isn't she?
She's planting ideas in your head.
Her name is Jean.
Look, I haven't been perfect, either.
I was with another woman,
I cared about her,
but... but I have a family.
- So you ended it.
- Yes, I ended it.
If that was in your power,
then you have no early idea how I feel.
Already
throughout the nation,
countless church
services are being held.
Many states and cities
have issued special
proclamations on D-Day.
Britain's King George is
scheduled to go on the air
this afternoon at 3:00
for the special "Invasion Day" message.
What do you think of Winnifred?
"Win" for short.
A triumphant name for a postwar baby.
It was Joey's idea.
Like "Winnie the Pooh."
- You had a long day.
- I was with Robert.
He's back. What did he say?
You were right.
He wants me to take over.
I knew it.
Charlie, I'm so proud of you.
Abby, there's nothing to celebrate.
You are worse than my father.
If it were up to him,
he'd be selling hats
out of the back of a truck on Route 60.
But, luckily, my mother had a
little more faith in his product.
For the millionth time...
I'm not a businessman.
Well, no, but you have the
best products on the market...
- your brain.
- For Christ's sake, my brain
can't requisition B-29 bombers, Abby.
Or keep Senator Truman and his cronies
from shutting off the money tap.
Only Oppenheimer can do that.
Well, if Robert thinks that
you can steer the project...
I don't think he cares
if I steer the project
right into the Rio Grande.
This is bad, Abby.
- Okay.
- Without Oppenheimer,
his connections, the game's over.
Well... well, then we
have to change his mind.
We can't do anything.
You think we're some kind of a team
just 'cause you know about the gadget?
I just spent the last hour
in the middle of nowhere
wasting my breath trying to
convince the man to stay.
Well...
Maybe you're wasting your breath
on the wrong person.
If that's true, someone
has to do something.
Your attention, please.
Today's Allied casualty list.
The thought of all those boys
cut down in their prime.
You know, Clark Gable enlisted
after his wife's plane crashed.
Yes.
Uh, he... he was very
good in "Boom Town."
Hello?
Hello.
Am I speaking with the
lady of the house?
This is, uh, Doris Lombard
with "Redbook Magazine."
Well, I'm the only one here.
I suppose that makes me the lady.
Unmarried. Perfect.
We are conducting a survey
what the modern girl
looks for in a man.
May I have your name and initial?
My name is Jean. Initial "T."
What a sensible name.
Now, do you have a gentleman,
or do you prefer to play the field?
There's no field,
just 3,000 miles between
conjugal visits.
Sounds like a strain.
How do you keep the fireplace stoked
with this... gentleman?
We talk on the telephone.
Sometimes we swallow each other whole.
Don't you ever worry he
might be stepping out on you?
I know he is with his wife.
Oh, a married man. That's risky.
You're hovering.
Thank you.
I'm so sorry to come by
at a time like this.
It's about Robert.
I'm four centimeters dilated
and he's packing his steamer trunks.
What else do you want to know?
Please. I need you to reason with him.
He won't listen to me.
He tried to murder a man once.
Did you know that?
His physics tutor at Cambridge.
He was upset over a paper,
so he dipped an apple in cyanide
and left it on the man's desk.
Like Snow White.
- That's...
- Certifiable?
She makes him look like the
model of mental health.
Jean is out of her mind
and that's why he can't resist her.
You want me to reason with him?
For five years I have been
my husband's straightjacket,
and he's finally slipped out of it.
What about your reputation?
Don't you worry about what
might happen if word got out?
I try not to associate
with the kind of people
who value reputations.
Well, what about your gentleman friend?
Don't you think the affair
might affect his career?
This isn't a survey, is it?
I know what you are.
Seducing him with pornographic sonnets
and Freudian nonsense.
Who is this?
He's about to have another child,
and you want to rip him
away from his family.
What do you mean "another child"?
Oh. Of course he didn't tell you.
I mean, he lies to his wife,
why shouldn't he lie to you?
Is this Kitty?
He doesn't love you.
You're just a rag.
You are nothing.
And you will never see
my husband again.
They just opened the doors
and let him walk out.
Well, it's okay. I
know where he's going.
I'll call you back.
Dr. Oppenheimer is leaving his wife
for a Communist in San Francisco.
Jean Tatlock.
You knew.
Did you know that he's
abandoning the project for her?
Tendering his resignation,
effective immediately.
Cost to the schedule if he leaves.
Three months lost at least.
Assuming the Magpie intelligence
is right, that's the ball game.
By next summer Washington,
D.C.'s a crater,
and, uh, Heisenberg's on the
cover of "Time" magazine.
We have to do something.
We?
Well, you said no one can replace him.
Or conscript him.
He works on the project voluntarily.
His wife says the woman is sick.
The state of California must have
ordinances for that sort of thing.
Couldn't you lock her
up for her own safety?
Oppenheimer is a master of bureaucracy.
He'd simply wave a magic pen.
Right. I... I'm not telling
you how to do your job.
I'm just telling you that
there's a job to be done.
Frank Winter was a problem.
We made him disappear.
Liquid diffusion can enrich
the feedstock for K-25.
As you can see, Dr. Hogarth,
it's our best chance
at rapid enrichment.
Yeah, that's just a stopgap.
Um, my proposal is to skip Alpha stage
and move directly to the
Beta track of the calutron.
Still a long way from
overcoming the uranium problem.
But it's competent work from
the groundlings in the pit.
I think you'll see if you examine
my detailed calculations...
Very tedious all this is.
I have no doubt.
But I was intrigued by a third proposal
that came across my desk.
Yeah. Apologies. I'll,
um, happily return those
to their proper owner.
I believe her name was Eloise.
You spent a... an evening
with young Eloise
on top of my desk?
She said that you'd given
her the night off.
Wouldn't want a girl to starve.
Hope it's not a firing offense.
Oh, God, Crosley.
Congratulations, Paul.
I've decided you will
be the Site X liaison.
What?
This is K-6. Outside
line to San Francisco.
Douglas 8522.
Hello?
Is this Douglas 8522?
Who's calling?
Put Jean on the phone.
Inspector?
This is Inspector Dunn, SFPD.
I'm afraid that won't be possible.
There's been an incident.
Tell Callie I'll call
her as soon as I can.
You know...
it wasn't because of some Army code.
That's not why I didn't tell
you what we were building.
It was because I knew
what you would say.
You'd have probably talked me out of it
before we crossed the
Pennsylvania border.
I'd have tried.
I am sorry.
I had no right to make a choice
that big for the both of us.
So, now it's your choice.
If you think that we should
go to Princeton, we'll go.
We'll go right now.
Abby.
Frank.
They told me...
I thought you were dead.
They lied.
Dr. Oppenheimer has asked
me to run the new group.
How soon can you deliver?
A month? A year?
Oppenheimer picked you because
he knows that he can control you.
You're the director of G group. Direct.
I spent all day wondering why I
didn't make your idiotic group
and you left me on the bench because
you can't control your hard-on?
Remind me of her name.
There was a time when I hoped Crosley
would take a shine to my daughter.
If you're not a communist,
why are you risking your own
neck to give them a bomb?
You know, if Dr. Winter
were in less than
comfortable circumstances,
I would worry they may not
improve after today's events.
I can get you as far as
the Lamy train depot.
I had a dream you jumped up
and licked my thighs.
Robert Oppenheimer's
having an affair.
Abby, stay out of other
people's marriages.
Your husband's not going
to Washington tomorrow.
I do not need marital
advice from a deviant.
You should have Oppenheimer's job.
"Batter my heart, three-person'd God,
for you as yet but
knock, breathe, shine
and seek to mend.
That I may rise and stand,
overthrow me and bend your force
to break, blow, burn
and make me new."
Batter my heart, o' two-person'd boy.
For you as yet but cover your loins
and abandon me.
They expected me on the
Hill two days ago.
No one's abandoning you.
I'll die if you leave.
I'm gonna miss the 4:10.
Do you believe in reincarnation?
Dr. Inessa says you and I
have been traveling
together for lifetimes.
You told your psychiatrist about me.
I've been your daughter,
your brother, your wife.
You gave birth to me
in a European ghetto.
You murdered me...
dozens of times. You enjoyed it.
What do you want from me?
Same thing that you want.
Hold me down under the water.
Do it.
Do it.
Do it!
What am I looking at?
Request for a Declaration
of Taking Property 112,
Ms. Maria Capo-Berryman,
- Tract B-31 quadrant...
- English.
We need to buy this lady's
farm so we can blow it up.
The judge is a hard-ass.
He wants to know why we're
trying to stiff her.
I thought this went away.
She claims the land is worth $750.
The Army appraised it at $744.
And the Army can't pony up six bucks?
There are 43 of these. Today.
- Tomorrow there could be...
- Jesus.
Dr. Isaacs, I need an
ETA on the machine tools.
Just, uh, take a number.
Um, where are the
updated X-ray studies?
- On your desk. And if I could...
- No calls.
Jesus, Nancy, I said no calls!
So... what do we tell the judge?
Right. Tell him that I said
that he can wipe his ass with
the Declaration of Taking.
Tell him that this eminent
domain is imminent,
- And tell Ms. Caperberry...
- Capo-Berryman...
...to take her $744 or she
can take up her grievances
with the business end
of a Sherman tank.
We don't have time for this.
God damn it! What?
Blasphemy doesn't suit you.
Uh, Dr. Oppenheimer, sir. Sorry.
You're too high up on the chart
for "sirs" and "sorries."
Yeah, well, uh, things have
been a little hectic here.
I thought you'd be back on Tuesday.
There have been some unexpected delays.
We can't afford any more delays.
We've missed the last three
interim delivery dates.
That's why I need your hand
on the tiller, Charlie.
- Sir, I think we need to...
- Split the governing board
into administrative and
scientific divisions.
Cuts everyone's obligations by half,
and it frees me to run
the technical staff.
Then do it.
I... I don't...
I don't think
it's my place to reconfigure the board.
Only you have the authority.
I'm granting you the
authority, Charlie.
Assert it. Do whatever you must.
If it helps to pretend
you're me, pretend.
That's what I do.
First off, I'd like
to thank you all for being punctual
on our first official
morning as the Gun Group.
I'm sure many of you
would rather be working on implosion.
You may feel your talents
have been overlooked...
like the younger sibling
living in implosion's shadow.
But Charles Darwin was
a younger sibling
and so was America.
There's no question implosion
is a beautiful solution,
but beauty does not win wars.
Wars are won by blunt force, brutality.
Guns, not beauty, have won every war
since the Chinese
invented black powder.
Guns liberated this
country from the British,
they liberated Europe
in the last world war.
A gun also liberated
Reed Akley's brain.
Thin Man was a gun-type weapon
based on a thousand years
of ballistic science.
You've got a barrel,
you've got a projectile.
Now, we all know Thin Man failed...
Is that what we're doing here?
Resurrecting a cadaver?
The problem with Thin
Man wasn't the gun.
It was the bullet... plutonium.
But if we swap plutonium for uranium,
the gun design can work.
And we are going to
make it work together.
Thank you, Helga.
Nothing quickens the pulse
at the start of a day's work
like the sight of a lady with a pistol.
Sadly, all the gumption
of American industry
won't enrich enough uranium
to blow up a privy.
Not before 1950 at least.
We few, we unhappy few,
have gathered here to wank out numbers
until the implosion group
gets its ticker-tape parade.
As head of the Gun
Group, I can assure you
we will not be wanking anything.
Ah. Head of the Gun Group, yes.
One of those snappy claques
that reports to the Chief
of the Projectile Division.
Ah, there's his name, Dr.
William Hogarth.
Who's for elevenses? Back in two hours?
So...
is this a case of the
clerical miscarriage
or sadistic prank of the gods?
Well, surely you didn't pick me.
I wouldn't have picked you in the
full flower of your talents,
much less this wilted state.
Well, then, perhaps you'd
entertain a request
for a favor for old times'.
It's not in my power to
transfer you to the test group.
Yeah, but you can sack me.
Mm, off the project. Send
me packing for good.
- For what cause?
- Truancy, insubordination.
Whatever insults your daughter
suffered at my hands.
Take your pick.
Attention...
SED Team three
is in Building U, room 106.
When you come across a wounded buck,
the sporting thing to do is shoot it.
Please.
You've never been on a
shoot, have you, Paul?
At close range, the muzzle flash
ruins the flesh for eating.
No, I think I'll savor this meal.
The closest thing we have to
a medical reference at home
is the Talmud.
It's sort of like a Hebrew
"Farmer's Almanac."
Apparently, there are five
different colors of female blood
the rabbis consider to be unclean...
red, black, bright crocus,
earthy water, and diluted wine.
Let's call it "earthy water."
Is that bad?
Well, I'm no rabbi, but I think the AMA
would say it's an indication of
overly vigorous intercourse.
Maybe just ask Dr. Isaacs
to go easy for a few days.
Mm.
Nurse!
Can I get some help in here, please?
Nurse?
Kill the spider. Please kill it.
Don't let it get away.
Just do it. Please.
Oh, thank you.
Joey was born on the fourth
floor of Beth Israel.
Her mother would be horrified
if she knew how her second
grandchild would be born.
If my mother saw this
place, she'd find it
the least horrifying thing about me.
Oh.
The doctor says they're
not real contractions.
I told
him I'm not leaving
until he takes this
thing out of my womb.
Does Dr. Oppenheimer know you're here?
I can put a call through to Washington.
We both know that's a fool's errand.
Well, at least let me get the nurse.
I don't need anyone to hold my hand.
I'm royalty.
I've lived on relief checks.
I've lost a husband to war and
others to lawyers. I've...
I've seen the elephant before.
They say the, uh... the
first baby is the hardest.
Was your son difficult?
Robert's leaving me.
Charlie!
Abby, what's wrong?
- Is Joey okay?
- Yeah.
The Oppenheimers are splitting up.
- Abby?
- What?
I told you to leave it alone.
Today, of all days, I do
not have time for gossip.
It's not gossip, it's intelligence.
Kitty told me herself.
What did she tell you, exactly?
She said he's leaving
her for that woman
in San Francisco, the Communist.
He's with her right now.
What, he told you he was
having lunch with Roosevelt?
Charlie, this is your chance.
For what?
Well, it... it's not just
his family he's abandoning.
He's leaving the project.
No, Abby. You must've misunderstood.
- Robert wouldn't do that.
- Don't do that.
I understand perfectly.
He's dropping the reins in your lap.
The fate of the war, Charlie.
You're already doing Oppenheimer's job.
It's time you had the title.
Nancy?
I've reduced men three pay
grades for calling me less.
Colonel.
What can I do for you?
What's that smell?
Did you tell Judge Foster Clements
to wipe his ass with the
Declaration of Taking forms?
- Did he really?
- I don't know.
Could be his dog's,
could be his wife's.
The taxonomy of feces
is outside my purview.
It was a poor choice of words.
All due respect, Colonel,
wrangling local judges...
it's not my purview.
It's Dr. Oppenheimer's.
Well, until one of you geniuses
manages to bend the laws of space-time,
he can't be here and in
Washington simultaneously.
So you'll have to be his surrogate.
Right. Washington.
And he might be there a while.
Operation Overlord is in motion.
Overlord? It's happening now?
Which is why we can't
abide snafus like this.
Hitler's backed into a corner.
He'll accelerate his project.
We have to keep pace.
We might need some reorganization.
What exactly are you proposing?
I think the Tech Area org chart
might be outside of your
purview also, Colonel.
Do you know why the general
chose Robert Oppenheimer?
He dines with Cabinet members,
smokes cigars with Cochiti Indians.
Rides stallions with governors,
takes target practice
with enlisted men.
Oppenheimer keeps the trains running
with salesmanship and charm.
I haven't seen much of that lately.
And without jeopardizing the project,
by asking a judge to defecate
on U.S. Code 40, subsection 3114.
There isn't a physicist on God's
earth who could replace him.
Winter.
You have some pretty fancy friends.
Clean yourself up, for Chrissakes.
Martha. How... how did you...?
Is it... is it...
Is the war over?
Yours is.
President Roosevelt...
ringing up the warden in
that tenth circle of hell.
Wish those spooks had recorded that.
It wasn't Franklin.
You said Einstein
called the White House.
It was Eleanor.
She handles the lost causes.
Frank, you need to slow down.
I know.
I tried to keep myself sane
remembering your hands.
Every line...
every pruning scar.
I should've kept you and
Callie out of this.
So the Princeton house is rented.
But that Craftsman down the street
is back on the market again.
- I already talked to the realtor.
- Liza...
And then we can visit your
father on the way home.
I'm so sorry.
You don't have to apologize.
I have to go back to the Hill.
You just escaped from a prison.
You... you want to break back into one?
We're never going back to that place.
No... no, I...
I don't expect you to come with me.
...known details.
All figures to follow are
best known estimates.
There is a new front
in the war in Europe.
156,000 Allied soldiers have
landed in northern France.
The invasion is still
in its earliest hours,
But all indications point
to a promising start
along the approximately 60-mile front.
Casualties have been
lighter than expected
with no signs of
immediate retaliation...
I've got a half brother out
there slaughtering Heinies.
I'm sitting here like a woman.
Don't flatter yourself.
Turn it off.
- The show must go on.
- For how long?
We're... we're taking Europe.
Isn't class dismissed?
Not until the last Jap is eating
apple pie with his chopsticks.
I've been asked to send
a liaison to Site X
to oversee the enrichment
of their marvelous uranium.
I spent three years at Site X.
I know the staff. I'd be glad to go.
As head of the Gun Group, it
should be my responsibility.
Nothing so poignant as idle ambition.
But if you two insist on a duel...
I meant to weigh in on
the relative merits
of three equally deficient
refinement techniques.
Best proposal buys you a ticket
on the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
Why would you want to leave the Hill?
You just got here.
Did take a bit longer than I'd hoped.
But if the war is almost over,
I can't pass up a chance for a
final promotion now, can I?
Hitler will dig
in, probably for months.
And every day he does, the
Army pumps Oppenheimer
or Isaacs, the whole senior
staff, full of their lies.
"Imminent Threats," V2 over New York,
cities of ruins.
They'll say anything to
build that thing faster.
Racing an imaginary German project.
Yeah. Trust me,
all I want is to come
with you to Princeton.
But you're the only
man who can fix this.
Have you ever wondered why
you're always the only man for the job?
It's just a few days.
That's all I need.
There are hundreds and
thousands of soldiers
hurling themselves up those beaches,
but Frank Winter thinks
he's the only man
who can save the world alone.
You know Glen warned me about this.
In 1939, you thought
you were the only man
who could set this ball rolling.
Now in 1944, you're the only one
who can stand in its way.
This time it's different.
You know, I'm not gonna chauffeur
you back up that hill.
You want it so bad, you can hitchhike.
I apologize.
Big doin's today.
Y'all finished or you
want something more?
That, uh...
that Model A you got out there.
It says there's a contest.
Will it get me as far as New Mexico?
Jesus, Frank.
All you gotta do to win it
is beat Red's own record
for eating Texas red chili.
But I should warn you...
no one's ever done it,
and the chili's two bucks if you lose.
Well, since yesterday I
was starving to death.
I kinda like my chances.
All right.
Papa, Sonny, bucket of Texas Red.
Comin' right up, Mama.
You had no right to
keep a secret that big.
I had no choice.
Because you took an oath?
You broke every rule in the
Army handbook except one.
What does that make me? The
exception that proves the rule?
Is Red human?
No, sir. That's him right there...
a Berkshire hog.
Here are the latest
details as we now grasp them.
While landing along the beaches
of France continue even now,
dodging enemy fire along the shore,
Prime Minister Churchill
informed the House of Commons...
Lady of Norfolk had a
baby this morning.
Called her "Dee Day."
Spelled D-e-e Day.
Ain't that cute?
Naming your daughter after a land war?
It's adorable.
You're not as chatty
as the last mail girl.
How did you get in here?
Spycraft.
I told the janitor I was your cousin.
I have one aunt.
I'm pretty sure she's a virgin.
You've been listening to the news?
I have bigger news.
For us, anyway.
Charlie Isaacs is gunning
for Oppenheimer's job.
What?
Yeah, Frank was just the warm-up act.
Now he's got Oppie in his crosshairs.
You remember what
happened to Julius Caesar
on the Ides of March?
No, I only read the first 10 pages.
Charlie thinks that he can
win the war by himself.
He pulled me and Fritz in
to make his case for him.
Well... then make it.
What?
This is good for us.
If Charlie Isaacs
overthrows Oppenheimer,
it sets the schedule back, right?
- I guess so.
- The longer that it takes anyone
to deliver a weapon, the
less chance anyone has
of dropping it over a city ful
k before the war is over.
You wanna save lives, right?
So talk Charlie into it.
Uh, you are not Gretchen.
Two doors down.
Sorry.
We have to set some ground rules.
We can't be seen like this.
Well... so, what?
We just pass notes in the hall?
Like grade school?
We have to limit our contact.
If... if anyone asks, we, um...
we had a one-night stand.
It was a bad match.
Hmm.
Though since we are...
bending the rules.
This could be our last
hurrah for a while.
- Stop.
- Why?
Because we're cousins?
Don't be an altar boy, Jim.
I am the only one on the Hill
that knows what you really are.
And you're the only one
who knows what I am.
And if I wasn't?
Does it really matter?
They're not gonna let
you back on the Hill.
You think it was hard getting out?
I have to try.
I'll take you to the
bottom of the Hill.
But I go no further.
There's no question our
efficiency takes a nosedive
when Oppenheimer is off campus.
89% of targets met to
81% when he's away.
But if, God forbid,
we lost him entirely,
we'd hit zero. Zilch.
Oppenheimer is the reason
we have Triple A priority.
You think we'd slip to AA-1?
AA-2. We wouldn't have the
metals or the machine tools
that we'd need to build
a prototype until 1946.
If we have any chance of hitting
our targets, we need Oppie.
We need him on the Hill full-time.
And never mind what happens
if the Germans accelerate.
Yeah, but that's not
accounting for Stan Musial.
Do you remember, uh,
remember last year when the Cardinals
lost Enos Slaughter to the service?
Yeah, of course. I'm from St. Louis.
Right. Everybody thought
you guys were cooked.
But you put Musial in right field
and you won the pennant by 18 games.
Now, we're all assuming that no
one can replace Oppenheimer,
but what if we had a Musial,
someone equal to Oppenheimer or better?
For all we know, we could
be testing by March.
But the Cards
still lost the series.
By moving Musial to right,
they had no one to replace him in left.
I mean, maybe if Frank was still
here, you would have a case,
- but otherwise...
- This stays between us.
I need to speak with Dr.
Oppenheimer now.
Can you get him on the phone, please?
No. But I can get you a map.
Why didn't you tell me you were back?
Is Kitty asking for me?
Everyone's asking for you.
The two divisions insist on meeting
with you before they split,
and the Munitions Board won't
raise urgency standings
without your sign-off.
Also, apparently, I pissed off
Judge Clements of Santa Fe County.
Clements. You should
invite him to my stable.
He loves gelding horses.
I don't mean horses
that have been gelded.
He loves the specific
act of gelding a horse.
Jesus. Do you hear yourself?
It's one thing to play
the oriental sage,
it's another to smoke the opium.
Do we have a problem, Dr. Isaacs?
You were here nine days in all of May.
None in June.
I can't do my job when I'm doing yours.
Don't you want my job?
That's what everyone
thinks, including my wife,
but they're wrong.
I-I want you to want your job.
This is where it will happen...
your test.
Where the caldera opens up
and swallows the world.
It's your test, Robert.
So, that's it. You're,
uh, really walking away?
I'll be alerting General Groves
that you are my successor.
No, I don't accept.
It's D-day.
75,000 American soldiers
are throwing themselves
into enemy fire,
and you're abandoning ship.
You think Overlord wouldn't have
happened without Eisenhower?
You're wrong.
"Great men"?
Pasteboard masks.
I know you were in San Francisco.
Take a mistress. What do I care?
Take a whole harem if it
gets you through the day.
But you have got to
get through the day.
Oh, to finish the gadget?
So that we win the war?
Then lord it over our allies in peace.
Wave it under Stalin's
nose if he gets rowdy.
That sounds pretty Red.
- Careful, Charlie.
- This woman, whoever she is,
she's a Communist, isn't she?
She's planting ideas in your head.
Her name is Jean.
Look, I haven't been perfect, either.
I was with another woman,
I cared about her,
but... but I have a family.
- So you ended it.
- Yes, I ended it.
If that was in your power,
then you have no early idea how I feel.
Already
throughout the nation,
countless church
services are being held.
Many states and cities
have issued special
proclamations on D-Day.
Britain's King George is
scheduled to go on the air
this afternoon at 3:00
for the special "Invasion Day" message.
What do you think of Winnifred?
"Win" for short.
A triumphant name for a postwar baby.
It was Joey's idea.
Like "Winnie the Pooh."
- You had a long day.
- I was with Robert.
He's back. What did he say?
You were right.
He wants me to take over.
I knew it.
Charlie, I'm so proud of you.
Abby, there's nothing to celebrate.
You are worse than my father.
If it were up to him,
he'd be selling hats
out of the back of a truck on Route 60.
But, luckily, my mother had a
little more faith in his product.
For the millionth time...
I'm not a businessman.
Well, no, but you have the
best products on the market...
- your brain.
- For Christ's sake, my brain
can't requisition B-29 bombers, Abby.
Or keep Senator Truman and his cronies
from shutting off the money tap.
Only Oppenheimer can do that.
Well, if Robert thinks that
you can steer the project...
I don't think he cares
if I steer the project
right into the Rio Grande.
This is bad, Abby.
- Okay.
- Without Oppenheimer,
his connections, the game's over.
Well... well, then we
have to change his mind.
We can't do anything.
You think we're some kind of a team
just 'cause you know about the gadget?
I just spent the last hour
in the middle of nowhere
wasting my breath trying to
convince the man to stay.
Well...
Maybe you're wasting your breath
on the wrong person.
If that's true, someone
has to do something.
Your attention, please.
Today's Allied casualty list.
The thought of all those boys
cut down in their prime.
You know, Clark Gable enlisted
after his wife's plane crashed.
Yes.
Uh, he... he was very
good in "Boom Town."
Hello?
Hello.
Am I speaking with the
lady of the house?
This is, uh, Doris Lombard
with "Redbook Magazine."
Well, I'm the only one here.
I suppose that makes me the lady.
Unmarried. Perfect.
We are conducting a survey
what the modern girl
looks for in a man.
May I have your name and initial?
My name is Jean. Initial "T."
What a sensible name.
Now, do you have a gentleman,
or do you prefer to play the field?
There's no field,
just 3,000 miles between
conjugal visits.
Sounds like a strain.
How do you keep the fireplace stoked
with this... gentleman?
We talk on the telephone.
Sometimes we swallow each other whole.
Don't you ever worry he
might be stepping out on you?
I know he is with his wife.
Oh, a married man. That's risky.
You're hovering.
Thank you.
I'm so sorry to come by
at a time like this.
It's about Robert.
I'm four centimeters dilated
and he's packing his steamer trunks.
What else do you want to know?
Please. I need you to reason with him.
He won't listen to me.
He tried to murder a man once.
Did you know that?
His physics tutor at Cambridge.
He was upset over a paper,
so he dipped an apple in cyanide
and left it on the man's desk.
Like Snow White.
- That's...
- Certifiable?
She makes him look like the
model of mental health.
Jean is out of her mind
and that's why he can't resist her.
You want me to reason with him?
For five years I have been
my husband's straightjacket,
and he's finally slipped out of it.
What about your reputation?
Don't you worry about what
might happen if word got out?
I try not to associate
with the kind of people
who value reputations.
Well, what about your gentleman friend?
Don't you think the affair
might affect his career?
This isn't a survey, is it?
I know what you are.
Seducing him with pornographic sonnets
and Freudian nonsense.
Who is this?
He's about to have another child,
and you want to rip him
away from his family.
What do you mean "another child"?
Oh. Of course he didn't tell you.
I mean, he lies to his wife,
why shouldn't he lie to you?
Is this Kitty?
He doesn't love you.
You're just a rag.
You are nothing.
And you will never see
my husband again.
They just opened the doors
and let him walk out.
Well, it's okay. I
know where he's going.
I'll call you back.
Dr. Oppenheimer is leaving his wife
for a Communist in San Francisco.
Jean Tatlock.
You knew.
Did you know that he's
abandoning the project for her?
Tendering his resignation,
effective immediately.
Cost to the schedule if he leaves.
Three months lost at least.
Assuming the Magpie intelligence
is right, that's the ball game.
By next summer Washington,
D.C.'s a crater,
and, uh, Heisenberg's on the
cover of "Time" magazine.
We have to do something.
We?
Well, you said no one can replace him.
Or conscript him.
He works on the project voluntarily.
His wife says the woman is sick.
The state of California must have
ordinances for that sort of thing.
Couldn't you lock her
up for her own safety?
Oppenheimer is a master of bureaucracy.
He'd simply wave a magic pen.
Right. I... I'm not telling
you how to do your job.
I'm just telling you that
there's a job to be done.
Frank Winter was a problem.
We made him disappear.
Liquid diffusion can enrich
the feedstock for K-25.
As you can see, Dr. Hogarth,
it's our best chance
at rapid enrichment.
Yeah, that's just a stopgap.
Um, my proposal is to skip Alpha stage
and move directly to the
Beta track of the calutron.
Still a long way from
overcoming the uranium problem.
But it's competent work from
the groundlings in the pit.
I think you'll see if you examine
my detailed calculations...
Very tedious all this is.
I have no doubt.
But I was intrigued by a third proposal
that came across my desk.
Yeah. Apologies. I'll,
um, happily return those
to their proper owner.
I believe her name was Eloise.
You spent a... an evening
with young Eloise
on top of my desk?
She said that you'd given
her the night off.
Wouldn't want a girl to starve.
Hope it's not a firing offense.
Oh, God, Crosley.
Congratulations, Paul.
I've decided you will
be the Site X liaison.
What?
This is K-6. Outside
line to San Francisco.
Douglas 8522.
Hello?
Is this Douglas 8522?
Who's calling?
Put Jean on the phone.
Inspector?
This is Inspector Dunn, SFPD.
I'm afraid that won't be possible.
There's been an incident.
Tell Callie I'll call
her as soon as I can.
You know...
it wasn't because of some Army code.
That's not why I didn't tell
you what we were building.
It was because I knew
what you would say.
You'd have probably talked me out of it
before we crossed the
Pennsylvania border.
I'd have tried.
I am sorry.
I had no right to make a choice
that big for the both of us.
So, now it's your choice.
If you think that we should
go to Princeton, we'll go.
We'll go right now.
Abby.
Frank.
They told me...
I thought you were dead.
They lied.