Silicon Valley (2014–…): Season 2, Episode 9 - Binding Arbitration - full transcript

(MUSIC PLAYING)

Hey, could we get one more round, please?

It's on a tab, Bighetti.

- WOMAN: Sure. Coming up.
- Cool. Thanks.

Well, well, look who's the big shot.

Yeah, big shot.

How are you guys?
Everything good over at Nucleus?

Nucleus is dog shit. How do you do it, man?

You used to be the most useless guy
in the entire Nucleus team,

but now you run an entire division.

Did you ever ask yourself why?



No. (CHUCKLES) No, I never have.

Do you have any skill at all

other than magically
failing your way to the top?

I have a boat. I guess that's not really a skill.

- Fucking Big Head, man.
- Fucking Big Head.

Take care.

Oh.

Hey. Hey' you forgot your phone.

At least, I think this is your...

Holy shit.

RICHARD: Holy shit.

Right?

- This is Nucleus?
- Yep.

That is a beta of their entire mobile platform,



and it sucks.

Yeah. I mean, the UX is, like, Soviet-era.

When it stores photos,
they actually gel larger.

They never cracked middle-out.

I actually kind of wish
you didn't show me this,

because now
I know we totally would have beaten them.

As it is now, I mean, we can't get funded.

All of our new coders quit.

I mean,
can you even imagine what would happen

if, like, a tech biog
got their hands on that piece of shit?

They'd tear it apart.

I mean, it could actually
totally destroy Nucleus' release.

I bet Gavin would do, shit, anything
to prevent that from happening, right?

Yeah, totally.

Jesus, Richard,
am I actually ahead of you on this?

Take the phone, man.

-It's yours. Take it.
- Are you serious?

Yeah, dude. Come on, I owe you.

I mean,
I was about to quit Hooli and move home.

And then
Gavin promoted me just to spite you.

And now, he keeps promoting me
for some inexplicable reason.

I mean, I haven't done anything, Richard.
I mean, less than nothing.

- Well, yeah.
- But look at me now.

We're sitting on my boat, Richard,
and that's because of you.

Soon, we can sail it to fucking Hawaii

or Sausalito.

Three more classes,
and I get my boat license.

Really? How many classes does it take?

Three. It's three classes.

I heard you can pay somebody
to take the test for you,

but I just haven't got around to it yet.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

GAVIN: Enough with
your coy bullshit, Richard, okay?

I know you have my goddamn phone.

What the fuck do I have to do to get it back?

Well, I was thinking
that in exchange for my help, you...

I'm sorry, hold on.

You can't use the term "in exchange."

It implies causality.
That's basically extortion.

Any actions he takes must be
un-coerced and of his own volition.

Go.

(CLEARS THROAT)

Hello. It's me again.

I was thinking that if you found your phone,

you might be so happy
that you would be inclined

-to drop the lawsuit.
- Why would I do that?

Because if you found your phone,

that would mean
that no tech bloggers or journalists did,

and they couldn't write a scathing review
based on what was on it, as it sucks.

Uh, who knows?
It might even cause Hooli stock to crash

or certain careers to be ruined.

Richard, are you threatening me?

Uh...

Am I threatening you?

That's a good question.

Um...

No.

If you don't give me my fucking phone back,
I'm gonna find you,

bend you over your desk
and fuck you so hard, your front teeth...

(SHUSHING)

Hold on.

You can't threaten them,
especially not sexually.

This little shit
could cause major damage here.

What am I allowed to say?

Richard, it's me again.
- Yes.

Here 's my concern.

If my phone
ends up in the hands of a journalist,

Palo Alto Chief of Police, Ed Gaskins,

who, apropos of nothing, happens
to be a close personal friend of mine,

would have to go and ask this person
where they got my phone.

Keep in mind,
these aren't real journalists, Richard.

They're tech journalists.

Do you think they'd go to prison
to protect their source?

I don? either.

And since this phone's OS
is a stolen prototype

worth $40 to $60 million,
you're looking at felony grand theft, Richard.

You could go to jail for 40 years.

Then again, you'd probably be fine
in a full-blown hard time penitentiary.

I mean, after they waxed your rectum

and knocked out all your front teeth
just to make things easier.

(SNICKERS)

You know, Gavin, if you don't want my help,
then I guess we'll just see what happens.

All right, Richard. So, what do we do here?

I don't know. What do we do here?

Paul, are you there?

- Ron?
"Hey, buddy

Sam and Melinda there, too?

- They are. They say hi.
- Hey, Ron.

What up, kids?

Let me hit you back in 10
and we'll sidebar this.

Binding arbitration? What's that?

Well, it's like a trial,
but massively accelerated.

Next week,
we're gonna go in front of a retired judge

and argue our whole lawsuit in just mo days,
and then we're done.

So, this will all be resolved next week?

I've always wanted to go
to binding arbitration.

A weird thing to have always wanted to do.

Everybody who's ever sued me
has settled out of court. Pussies.

But now, finally, I'll be able to take the stand,
be a part of the big show.

No show.
This is a serious legal proceeding, okay?

And speaking to that,
Ron LaFlamme has got us a new litigator

and we are meeting him in an hour.

How are we gonna pay this person?

Our guy has agreed to waive his entire fee
until our case is resolved.

It's some wet-behind-the-ears noob
straight out of law school.

No, he is said to be very experienced,
one of the best in the biz.

Then why the fuck
would he take our case on spec?

Was I in possession of
cocaine, amphetamines,

amyl nitrate, also known as "peppers,"
at the time of my arrest?

In large quantities.

Did I have consensual intercourse
with two women under the age of 18?

Repeatedly. I admit this.

Did I violate the Mann Act and transport them
across state lines for sexual purposes?

Alleged, but not proven.

And, boy, they tried. They tried.

Therefore, I was incarcerated
and I was disbarred.

Wait, hold on. You were disbarred?

So, you can't practice law'?

Not in open court in the State of California.
That's correct.

But this is an arbitration.

I'm really grateful for the opportunity.

I'm turning my life around.

I've served my time.

Questions?

I guess I have one at least.
What does amyl nitrate do?

- Oh, it dilates the anus.
- That is accurate.

Also produces euphoria.

- Okay, thank you, Pete and Jared.
- Sure.

Anal dilation aside,
what do you think of our case?

You think we're gonna go in there
and just dick-slap those Hooli pieces of shit?

I have reviewed your case
and it is extremely strong.

Thank God.

I do, every day of my life.

It's only by his grace that I was able

to survive that plunge into the ravine
and 11 months in a state penitentiary.

I'm sorry, were you in an emotional ravine
or did you actually go into a ravine?

Both.

Now, with your approval,
I would like to move forward.

I currently am not in possession of an office,

and I'm residing in a halfway house,

so I would like to give Hooli Legal
your home address.

Why?

They need to send over
their discovery documents,

all of them.

All of them?

This is craziness.

Couldn't they have just emailed all this?

I mean,
it's mostly just printed-out emails, anyway.

Yeah, of course, they could have.

And it would have been digitally searchable,
and that is the point.

It's a classic document dump.

But what they didn't take into account
is the power of us.

So, grab a box, guys.
Stan pulling anything you think is relevant.

And you may have to work pretty hard,
but it will free us from this lawsuit.

- Are you saying, "Work will set you free"?
- Yes.

They have the manpower.

We have the perseverance.
Triumph of the will.

He's the most cheerful person
I've ever heard quote Hitler.

So, Hooli's entire intellectual property claim
boils down to three simple questions.

Did your work on Pied Piper
at any time overlap

with your scope of work or Hooli business?

Uh, no.

Did you ever do work on Pied Piper
on Hooli time?

No.

And at no time
did you ever use Hooli equipment

to develop Pied Piper in any way?

No, never.

We're on our way, then. You just tell that
honestly to the court, and we're home free.

Okay.

Unless, of course, you've offered
a conflicting version of that to anyone,

a friend, your parents, girlfriend.

No, no, and not possible.
I haven't had a girlfriend in, like, three years.

Boyfriend?

No. I'm not gay, just busy.

- We're not litigating your sexuality.
- That's good, yeah.

It's a good thing, too, because if we were,
we'd all end up in prison.

Am I right?

No offense.

Here, I did a first pass.
Let me know what you think.

Just a few questions for you to ask me
while I'm on the stand.

It's rough clay. We can shape it as we go.

You realize I have no intention of
ever putting you on the stand?

What? Why not?

Well, I just don't think
you have anything to offer the case.

They're trying to say
that Pied Piper was created at Hooli,

whereas I'm living proof
that it was created here in my incubator.

I nurtured Richard like a little baby.

I was his patron,
like the Borgias with Da Vinci.

Actually, the Medici were Da Vinci's patrons.
The Borgias poisoned people.

- Say "Medici" again.
- Medici.

- Shut the fuck up.
- That's how you pronounce it.

Let's be clear, okay? The burden of proof
falls on Hooli here. And they have none.

You have a Barrett SKI-caliber rifle
at your disposal

that you can use to shoot Gavin Belson
in the goddamn face.

And you're not gonna use it?
What kind of fucking attorney are you?

Well, technically,
I can't refer to myself as an attorney

until I'm reinstated
and make restitution to my victims' families.

I'm a lawyer. And I'm a good one.

And if you know one end
of a Barrett 50-cal from the other,

I'll eat a bowl of shit.

Did you get a taste
tor that on the inside? Mmm?

Hey, guys,

it's been almost two weeks
since the mother condor has been to the nest.

Do you think
something might be wrong with the egg?

Something is. It's on our website.

No, really. I mean...

I think maybe I should call the museum,
see if this is normal.

Jared, you want that egg to be alive, right?

- Of course.
- Well' right now,

because you don't know whether it is or not,
it exists in both states,

like Schrodinger's cat.

Like what?

It's a quantum mechanics thought experiment

that an Austrian physicist came up with
to help understand quantum states.

So, he imagined putting a cat into a box
with poisoned food.

There's a 50/50 chance the cat eats it.

That does sound rather Austrian.

DINESH: So, according to Schrodinger,

if you open the box
and confirm that the cat is dead,

then in a sense, you've killed the cat.

Or if you call the museum
and get the information,

then you've killed the egg.

- No, that's silly.
-(LINE RINGING)

ls it?

Okay.

I'm just gonna think about it for a minute.

PETE; Richard.

- Yeah?
- We have a problem.

What's up?

You and I are going into arbitration tomorrow.

I need you to look me right in the eye
and tell me why you've been lying to me.

I haven! been lying to you.

You told me
you haven't had a girlfriend for three years.

I have found at least 15 emails
to Nelson Bighetti

in the last year
where you reference a girlfriend.

"Spent the day in bed with my girlfriend."

"A homeless guy in the coffee shop
almost stole my girlfriend."

It's a joke. Big Head and I,

we call my laptop my girlfriend

because it's the only warm thing
that's touched my crotch in a little while.

So, when you said, quote,

"My girlfriend shit the bed last night,"
that was your laptop?

Laptop. yeah.

Well, that's good to hear.

Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Now, listen to this.

April 10th, 11:14 p.m.,
"Taking my girlfriend to the Apple store."

April 12th, 3:42 p.m.,
"Picking my girlfriend up at the mall."

Yeah, so?

So, your laptop was in the shop
for three days, right?

The 10th through the 12th, right?

Yeah, and?

April 11th, 2:48 p.m.,

"Ran a test of
the perceptual modeler during lunch,

"made a few tweaks and wow,
it's working on a whole new level."

Yeah, that just means that it's going great,
that it's working really well.

PETE: Richard, Richard,

you didn't have your laptop with you at Hooli.

What computer did you use
to run that test that day?

Oh...

Shit.

Richard, you didn't use a Hooli computer?

Tell me
that you didn't use a Hooli fucking computer.

I don't know. Yeah, yeah, okay.
Yes, I think I did.

Fuck, I mean,
I just used it once, though, right?

I mean, that's not a big deal.

It's a huge deal. We're done. That's it.

- What's it?
- God damn it.

Well, under the law'
Hooli can lay claim to the underlying

intellectual property
that makes up Pied Piper.

So, we're fucked now, is that it?
We're totally fucked?

Well, I mean, it all depends on
whether or not the attorneys at Hooli

figure out that your girlfriend is your laptop.

Are you telling us this entire case

hinges on people believing
that Richard had a girlfriend?

We are fucked.

All right, this is gonna be a long two days,

so let's try to keep things brief.

Your Honor,
I think I can help speed things along.

We are willing to concede

to all the numerous counts
brought by Mr. Belson,

except the ones regarding the ownership
of intellectual property.

Is that right?

On the non-solicit violation,

my client is willing to concede
that Donald Dunn was improperly hired.

And on the unjust enrichment charge,

Richard will agree to repay Hooli

$39 and 99 cents

for the phone charger that he took home,
and so on.

Thank you, Mr. Monahan,
for accelerating the process.

Okay, let's start this. Plaintiff?

PETE: Okay, Richard, here it goes.

They call you first, we're toast.

I think I'm gonna puke.

Your Honor,
we'd like to call our first witness.

We would like to call Nelson Bighetti,
AKA Big Head.

(RICHARD SIGHS IN RELIEF)

Wait, are you sure?
'Cause it says "No Admittance"...

Okay. Yeah, you were right. It's this one.

Is that me?

I'm sorry, Richard.

Firstly, sir, lei me say it is a privilege

to be speaking to someone
as accomplished as you.

Okay.

You were one of the earliest members
of the Pied Piper team, were you not?

And since your departure,
your rise has been meteoric.

Haven't you received
three Hooli promotions in a month?

Uh, yeah. Yeah, I guess that is right.

It seems like everything you touch
is made dramatically better, Mr. Bighetti.

You make a meaningful
and crucial contribution

to everything you do, do you not?

Wait. I'm sorry. Do I not?

Are you asking if I do do that
or if I don't do that?

This is amazing. They have nothing.
It's a desperate play.

They're trying to build him up,

make it seem like
he was a crucial part of Pied Piper.

It's a Hail Mary. They have nothing.

Because if I don't not do that,

isn't that the same as...

- Let's move on.
-Okay.

Is it not true that Wired...

I'll rephrase.

Did Wired magazine run a cover story on you'?
Yes or no?

Oh, yes.

That did happen, yes.

JARED: I think I just made a mistake.

That was the museum.

I decided to call and check on the condor,

and they said that it's very unlikely
that the condor egg is still alive.

But my phone call itself

drew their attention
to the low viewing numbers

and they've decided
to take down the cameras today.

So, by making the phone call,
you've most likely killed the condor egg.

Oh, come on, I mean,
that Schrodinger stuffs all just theoretical.

- It doesn't apply here.
- DINESH: Doesn't it?

I mean, look at Richard.

He didn't know
that he had tested on a Hooli computer

until Monahan
opened that box of emails, right?

So, Richard was both innocent and guilty,

but as soon as Monahan opened that box,
it made Richard guilty.

But, I mean, by that logic,

anyone who goes to an open-casket funeral
is a murderer.

You are one dark motherfucker, Jared.

WOMAN: So, Mr. Bighetti, you have stated

that you didn't have
anything to do with Pied Piper.

No.

I suppose you'd also say that you had
nothing to do with Hooli XYZ either.

No, not really.

And what about
the Hooli AIDS and Cancer Societies,

of which you were president?
Did you have anything to do with those?

Honestly, not really. I actually remember
when they told me I got the AIDS thing,

for just a second
I thought they were telling me that I had AIDS.

But then I realized, no,
I was just the president of the AIDS thingy.

- But for a second, it was pretty scary there.
-(CHUCKLING)

You see, Your Honor, Nelson Bighetti
is pathologically modest.

While he humbly denies credit,
the record shows

that he had everything
to do with all of these achievements.

It may be possible
that Nelson actually believes

he didn't have that much
to do with the founding of Pied Piper either.

'Cause...

But it is painfully obvious
that he had a huge hand in it.

No further questions, Your Honor.

JUDGE: May I say, Mr. Bighetti,

how refreshing it is to finally
encounter someone in the tech community

who is so free of pretension and ego?

PETE: Well, that was troubling.

ERLICH: Yeah, what was that?

It's just that
he scored big points with the judge in there.

So, what's our plan? Do we go in there
and cross the shit out of him?

Tear him a new hole in his butt?

Let's just remind ourselves here

that he gave me the phone
and made this whole thing possible.

So, let's take it easy on him.

Yeah, I don't think shredding him
is the right way to go either.

- Thank you.
- It could backfire, turn the judge against us.

I have something else in mind.

Mr. Bachman,
are you still prepared to testify?

Fuck yes, lam.

- Mr. Bachman.
- Yes, sir?

You are the owner and sole proprietor

of the Palo Alto-based Hacker Hostel

in which Mr. Hendricks
and Mr. Bighetti both resided. ls that correct?

Yes, sir. That is, in fact, correct.

Uh, it has been called
the "Garden of Tech Eden."

ls it also fair to say
that every instinct you have as a businessman

has been completely and totally wrong?

- Sorry, what?
- You hard of hearing, Mr. Bachman?

- No, I've heard everything...
- Aren't you considered a joke in this town?

I don't quite know
where you're going with this.

Nor do I. Can you tell us
where you're headed here, Mr. Monahan?

Your Honor, if you are to accept

Hooli's reverence for Mr. Bighetti
as proof that he's a genius,

then you must also accept

Mr. Bachman's reverence for Mr. Bighetti
as proof that he's a moron.

I'm simply establishing this type of logic,
Your Honor, cuts both ways.

I see. I'll allow it.

Really? Because I don't think "joke“ is...

Mr. Bachman, you have incubated

a seemingly endless string
of patently unsuccessful apps, haven't you?

No. No, that is not correct.

I incubated Pied Piper. I saw the value in that.

Oh, did you'? Isn't it true
that you were about to evict Mr. Hendricks

until he became the subject of a bidding war?

You disliked Pied Piper.

The one app in your hostel
that showed promise.

Well, I think that's a bit harsh. I mean, every...

In fact, you tried to encourage Mr. Hendricks

to change his app to be more like
Mr. Bighetti's horrendous app

called NipAlert. Isn't that true?

Well, yes,
I thought NipAlert showed great promise. Yes.

It did not show great promise.

What it showed was the location
of nearby women possessing erect nipples.

And as such,
Mr. Bighetti's grotesque creation

was passed over by every investor
in this town except you

because it was perverted.

Well, I'll admit that...
I'll concede that the cultural moment

may have passed, but at the time...

No' at the time'
it was as misogynistic as it is now,

wasn't it, Mr. Bachman?

-It... Yes, it had some major problems...
- Some major problems?

Mr. Bachman, a few moments ago,
you said that it showed great promise.

You said that. I can have the court reporter
read it back to you, Mr. Bachman.

I don't need her to read it back to me.
I can remember...

NipAlert was poorly conceived
and riddled with bugs, wasn't it?

Well, all apps in the beginning...

Mr. Bachman, answer the question.
You liked NipAlert, and it was terrible.

- No, I...
- Didn't you?

- Liking an app...
- Mr. Bachman, you liked it, didn't you?

Okay, yes, yes! Fine! Yes, I liked it.

Even though it was a terrible app
and it had no market potential.

I was high when he pitched it
and I like nipples...

PETE: Thank you, Mr. Bachman.

It was a buggy,
rapey piece of shit designed by an idiot.

- Mr. Bachman, thank you very much.
- ERLICH: It sucked.

It was so bad that the first time
that Richard tried to boot it up on his system,

it crashed his laptop.
It was in the shop for three days.

'Cause it was a piece of shit!

- Um... Uh...
-(CLEARS THROAT)

That...

I mean, among other things that weren't that

were reasons why it was bad.

No more questions, Your Honor.

What the fuck is going on here?

ERLICH: I don't know what happened.

He got in my head.
It's a very uncharacteristic error.

They're calling you next, Richard.

They want you on the stand in 10 minutes.

Great. So, they figured it out.
We're fucked, aren't we?

It looks that way.

Damn it, they're gonna
ask me if I ran a test of Pied Piper

on a Hooli computer,
and I'm gonna have to say yes.

What if you said no?

What are you talking about?

Are you saying I should lie on the stand,
or something?

(CLEARS THROAT) Gentlemen,
the less I know about this, the better.

Well, then it appears we're in good hands,
because you don't seem to know shit.

You're a mean and terrible attorney.

I'm not an attorney.

Richard, all they know

is that you didn't have your laptop
when you ran that test,

so just tell them that you borrowed my laptop

or you came home for lunch
and used my computer.

Whatever you say, I'll get back on the stand
and then back you up.

That would be committing perjury.
That would be lying under oath.

If you don't lie, Richard, you lose.

We lose everything.

The company,

90% of what could potentially be
a billion dollars...

I mean, you know, because I have 10%.

I know. God damn it, I know.

Richard, do the right thing here.

Lie on the stand.

Mr. Hendricks, you are heterosexual, yes?

Uh”. Yes.

How long has it been
since you were in a relationship

with a woman, Mr. Hendricks?

Two years? Three?

Yeah, that sounds about right, I guess.

You're under oath.

Uh... (CLEARS THROAT)

Longer.

So, you've definitely had no girlfriend
in the past three years?

This seems needlessly cruel. We all get it.

Mr. Hendricks, when you refer to a girlfriend
in these emails to Mr. Bighetti,

to what are you referring?

My laptop computer.

The same laptop
that Mr. Bachman just told us

was in the shop for three days

from April 10th to the 12th of last year?

Yes. Can we get to the point, please?

Mr. Hendricks, did you at any time

use a Hooli computer to test and/or alter
your Pied Piper algorithm?

(SMACKS LIPS)

You're under oath.

L just...

I just wanted to be different.
I wanted Pied Piper to be different.

But if this company is built on lies,

then we're really
not much different than Hooli.

The law says that I lose everything,

my whole company,
everything that I worked for,

because I used one Hooli computer (SIGHS)

to test and modify one block.

Is that right? I mean, is that fair?

To me, if the system says that's fair,

then I guess
I'm probably not meant to be a part of it.

Mr. Hendricks, please answer the question.

Did you at any time use a Hooli computer...

Yes. Yeah, I did. I made a mistake and I did.

I used a Hooli computer
to work on my algorithm, one time.

And so, here you go.

It's okay, Richard.
You don't have to protect me anymore.

I'm his girlfriend.

Sit down, Mr. Bachman.

Judge, objection!

I was the one
that was in the shop for those three days

'cause he had hit it so hard,
I needed a doctor.

JUDGE: Sit down, Mr. Bachman.

DINESH: Hey, has anyone
heard from Richard?

Should I text him
to see how the arbitration's going?

Uh...You can.

But right now, it's going both well and poorly.

And if you get
definitive information back and it's bad,

I could argue that you have
effectively caused us to lose the arbitration.

Oh. He's taking it down.

MAN: All right, I am unclipped.
If you're watching, I'm sorry.

Fm gonna go ahead and leave {his egg here.

This camera does need to come down.

That's good. He's leaving the egg.

The bolts are all rusted out here. (GRUNTS)

GILFOYLE: You should have never
called that museum, Jared.

They're on there pretty good.

(GRUNTS)

(SCREAMING)

(GRUNTS)

Holy shit.

Jared, you just killed that guy.

I just got a text from Richard.
I'm not gonna read it.