Original subtitles

["Nemesis" playing]

[music ends]

[Rizo] ♪ Just a hit of you Will make me fly and soar ♪

♪ Without a clue and dive into The great divide ♪

♪ And not care if I come back Black or blue ♪

♪ A hit of you ♪

♪ One taste of you ♪

♪ The air up here ♪

♪ Is sweeter with you ♪

♪ I feel the sun come through ♪

♪ And then I fall ♪

♪ Then I fall ♪

-[people applauding, cheering] -[songs ends]

[both chuckle]

-[Bradley] That was awesome. -[Rizo] Thank you.

-We'll be back in a bit. -[Bradley] You're actually

a very good dancer.

[Cory] Hey.

Ballroom lessons when I was in middle school.

-Wow. -Paid off.

I think my mom wanted me to join a country club or... burn one down.

-Oh, really? -Yeah.

-Where'd you land with that? -Haven't yet.

Though I did try to set my dad's car on fire once.

-[laughs] What? -[laughs]

I thought I was the fuck up in this relationship.

Oh, Bradley, there's a lot you don't know about me.

So, tell me, what else should I know?

Well, I'm unemployed.

-Oh. -Mmm.

And, um, I've never been married.

[sighs] That's hot.

-Is it? -[snickers]

I got soft-canceled a little while back.

You're turning me on.

-Well, wait till you hear this. -[whispering] What?

I'm emotionally tied to my mother in a way you're gonna love.

-Stop. You make me crazy. -Mm-hmm.

And I have half a movie.

And locations in Big Sur if I ever get to make the other half.

Oh.

Wait, do you have any pictures of it?

-Yeah. -I'd love to see.

Okay.

-Okay. -Mmm.

Just swipe right.

Oh, my gosh. That's beautiful.

I know, right? And look at the rocks over there.

-[Bradley] And that beach. Um... -Yeah.

-Do you think I could get another drink? -Of course.

Another Merlot?

I'll have a Negroni.

-Negroni. Okay. -Switch it up.

Sophisticated.

[sighs] Fuck.

[suspenseful music playing]

[mouthing] Fuck.

[sighs]

[bartender] Here you go.

[phone thuds]

-Everything okay? -Oh, man.

I've been getting all these crazy texts.

-Work is just kind of blowing up. -[sighing] Oh.

I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to stay for the next set.

Oh. All right. Well, we...

could go back to my place.

Put on a record.

I know, you gotta be up in five hours.

It's all your fault.

You're the one who put me on TMS.

You should have just left me in West Virginia a million years ago.

Oh, well, then...

we wouldn't be here tonight. And I'd be missing you.

Cheers.

Cheers.

I have had high hopes for UBN. I mean, Alex and I go way back.

And I am dying for her to show these boys she can get it done without them.

-[Mia chuckles] -But it's really hard right now.

Yeah, legacy media is a numbers game.

It's all about staunching the profit-bleeding

-and juicing the stock price. -You don't have to worry about that here.

We are privately funded so we don't answer to the Street.

-[Mia] Hmm. -That is the whole idea of this place.

That we side-step the usual corporate quicksand.

Hmm.

I have to ask you a question.

Okay.

Your exit from UBN was abrupt.

And from everything that I've heard, that is not your style.

What happened?

I thought I could do more at the company, and, uh,

they had a different vision.

We parted ways. No hard feelings.

And you'd basically done everything you could in that job.

Mia produced Bradley Jackson.

And she made Chris Hunter a star.

My hype man over here.

Well, growing our talent roster is a high priority,

but I have to make it clear,

we don't have the money for the Chris Hunters of the world. Not yet.

Yeah, well, it's a different network, a different strategy.

For Defy, I would lean into the niche.

Break the stories that nobody else will.

And then promote iconoclasts that are indelible to your brand.

So we gonna go out and find the next Chris Hunter. Right?

We're not gonna catch up to UBN overnight, I know that.

But you don't need the biggest audience, you need the most loyal one.

And that is what we build on.

I mean, um, if I were to join your team.

[mischievous music playing]

-You crushed it. -I loved her.

Yeah. I-I think you're gonna get an offer.

No, wait. No, no. It won't be a UBN-sized offer...

No, but then we can make our 60 Minutes, girl.

With hosts that aren't all white geriatrics?

-[squeals] -No, no, but hey.

-What? -We can't jinx it. Okay?

'Cause I really want this.

And you're gonna get it.

-You're gonna get it. -Get it.

-You're gonna get it. We're gonna get it. -We gon' get it.

-We're gonna get it. That job... -Come on. Come on. Take money.

-Come on. Uh. We're gon... -We're gonna get it. Eh. Hey.

-Hello. -[Mia] Hi.

[starting pistol fires]

-Hold on. Is she gonna... -Ooh!

She's killing it!

-You did it! You did it! Come on! -Whoo! Yes!

-[Chris] Come on, Kali! -[coach] Let's go!

-[chuckling] -[exclaiming]

-[teammate] Kali! -[Chris] Damn.

Breaking her own record at practice.

-I remember what that feels like. -Mm-hmm.

And we got it in 4K.

-Yes. -Mission accomplished.

-Let's go home. I need an actual bagel. -Mmm. Mmm.

[Ben] LA is too damn healthy.

-[Chris chuckles] -[Ben] Hot dog!

Hey. Got everything you need?

-Ah! God, you're amazing. [laughing] -[laughing] Thank you.

-[sighs] -It was such a privilege to see.

[sighs] Let's just hope I can make that time in Paris.

You could beat it. I'm getting podium vibes.

Um, I didn't want to ask in front of everybody,

but, um, are you doing all right?

Yeah.

They always come after us, right?

They don't believe we can win without doping.

It's like, "Say it to my face, you little keyboard jockey bitch."

What are you talking about?

Jesus.

Yeah. [sighs]

[Ben] You ready for this?

People are taking dumps in the Seine so the swimmers can't compete.

Yeah, I guess some people let their feet do the talking and others...

Have you seen this?

Uh.

No.

-Neither has anyone else. -There is some troll online

saying I doped in London and Rio, and people are starting to pick up the story.

Come on. I mean, these-these sites report when they think somebody

-got their ass done. -This is serious.

People will believe this. And they're saying I cheated.

[sighs]

I'm not gonna let them bad-mouth me.

And I do not want this following me to Paris when I'm interviewing LeBron.

-Hey. Hey. -And Simone Biles.

There is nothing bigger than the Games.

And you are the face of them.

If you let these typo-riddled memes pass for real journalism,

you're only gonna make it worse.

I wanna go on TMS this week.

-What? No. No. -Show my face. Let the people see

-I have nothing to hide. -[stammers] Chris,

TMS has hosts.

-Bradley's there so you don't have to be. -Bump Yanko if you have to.

I wanna shut down the chatter.

Fine. Uh...

Talk about your book club. Talk about

-what you're gonna eat in Paris. -Mm-hmm.

But do not talk about doping. Okay?

-Don't give it any air. -Fine.

Ben wants to drop the hurricane piece,

but all the other changes for Chris are good to go.

I cannot believe he's letting her do this.

It took me an hour to calm Yanko down last night.

He said we were taking food out of his kids' mouths.

-Does he have kids? -Apparently he meant

-the kids he's going to have. -[scoffs]

And then I spent another hour rewriting these segments.

Well, you got it done. That's all that Ben cares about.

-[sighs] -You see this?

It's the best part of my day.

Huh. I wonder who made them.

Of course, I gotta have my heated booties.

End of the day

you pop these in the microwave, you slip 'em on, and you feel

-that high-heel trauma melt away. -Oh.

[chuckles] Okay, tell me what this is.

Ah, that's my pepper spray.

Wow. It's very Barbiecore.

Mm-hmm, yeah. I carry it when I run.

And, you know, it's Paris, so I'll be a little slow.

What? You're the fastest woman in the world.

-Not after, uh, three croissants. -Oh.

-[laughs] -[laughs] But...

Okay, you have to be safe.

-And I have my earbuds in, running. -Yes. That's right.

And you never know who's behind you. Could be a mime.

Could be, uh, Gaston...

-Gérard Depardieu... "Dieu." -[laughs] Oh, my goodness.

It's very hard to outrun the patriarchy.

-But I think you could take Gérard on. -Y'know. [mutters]

Just don't outrun us.

This has been so lovely having you today.

Oh, my God, I love being here.

We have to sign off,

-but will you join us tomorrow? -[sighs]

[stammers] That could happen.

Then what about next week?

Mmm. The Olympic interviews

with my schedule... [sucks teeth]

That math ain't math in'.

-Layla, great show. -Thanks.

Hey, listen, I know we talked about having Chris on again tomorrow,

but we might need to punt a little PR speed bump.

So, call Yanko, tell him we might need him after all.

What?

[sighs] The Olympics, the election, everything going on in Gaza, Ukraine.

We can't get on top of all of that.

Not when we're changing the show every five minutes.

I get it.

None of this is ideal.

But I think you can handle it.

So, can you pitch me some new ideas by lunch?

[reporter on video] After cancer rates began to rise,

Wolf River residents reached out to Kenneth Stockton,

a lawyer known for tackling environmental issues.

In this case, harmful PFAS, known as "forever chemicals,"

substances found in everything from cookware to makeup to yoga mats.

Well, the guilty party is Martel Chemical.

The compounds they make, the waste they generate are toxic.

They're poisoning the water, the air, every living thing in it.

But this company, they're shutting down anyone who dares to speak out.

Employees have been harassed, fired.

It's absolutely outrageous.

And I intend to hold them accountable.

Whatever it takes.

[keyboard key clicks]

[suspenseful music playing]

[Bradley] Who are you?

[phone buzzing]

[sighing] Oh, my God.

[Marcus] Okay... [speaks indistinctly] ...Ben.

[Marcus] Okay. Benjamin, this is just a blip in the social media cycle.

She's all over those promos. Of course somebody is gonna take a shot at her.

[Marcus sighs] Mm-hmm, I hear you. I hear what you're saying.

Not to worry.

Yeah, you... Ben, you seriously think I don't know what the Olympics means to her?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I'll talk to you later.

You mean, y'all finally decided this rumor has some teeth?

Babe, I'm trying to shield you from this shit

-so that you can stay focused. -[scoffs]

Am I some kind of fragile flower?

-[sighs] -I am the one who told you

-that it was happening. -Yeah, and I'm handling it.

I got it. There's... Nothing's changed.

I'm getting dragged online. No one's doing anything.

And you're just placating UBN

with some half-assed spin and keeping me off the air.

That is not protecting me.

I thought I was protecting us.

Hmm?

[Alex] So, Layla came and spoke to me.

And she's very concerned about TMS.

The workload. The last-minute changes. The staff is just at breaking point.

Alex, I've already talked to her.

All I'm saying is if you continue to pull this three-card monte talent shuffle,

we are headed for an epic on-air fuck up.

Mmm, I get it.

But until this online chatter around Chris is resolved,

we might need to come up with a backup plan.

Let's do that.

That would be fantastic.

Have you seen those Mia flyers?

"Wanted."

Yeah. I've seen them.

Do you think she should've gotten this job instead of me?

Uh...

I just think there was a much better way to handle all of this.

Because we need Mia.

[knocks on door]

-[Remy] Hey, sorry. -Hey.

Your assistant's trying to find you.

He said it's urgent.

[sighs] Oh. Maybe they found the troll.

-Let's hope this is the end of it. -[Alex] Mmm.

-[sighs] -Joy Taylor from Defy Media called.

-About Mia. -Mia. Okay.

-Um, also, there's one more thing. -[sighs]

It sounds terrible. What?

The Times picked up that story about your dad.

Do you want to see it?

No. Will you just get Joy Taylor for me on the phone?

[groans] Oh, God. Okay.

Chris's books have been a big hit for us. But Target has to walk a certain line.

Especially after we got torched for selling rainbow T-shirts to kids.

And these doping allegations are out there...

Understood. We appreciate your patience.

-But I can assu... -This partnership means so much to me.

I just want to reiterate that.

-You're a role model... -[whispers] Stop.

...and we want to support you. Keep us in the loop, Marcus.

-And thank you, Chris. -Of course.

-Have a nice night. -You too.

They do not believe us.

-They think it's true. -Slow down.

You know how these companies get nervous when rumors fly.

It's not a rumor. It's a lie.

[Marcus sighs]

How did they even get my old records?

I handled it. Okay?

[suspenseful music playing]

You know who it is.

We sent a cease and desist this afternoon.

We'll give it another day to see if they respond...

It's someone I know?

This is my legacy.

This is everything.

I'll show you if we can put this behind us.

Yes.

[Chris] Wow. I mean, she never liked me.

But this is...

Babe. If your old teammate can't handle something that you've earned on your own,

-that's on her. -Mmm.

-Just, please, just let it go. -Mmm.

It's date night. We said no phones.

-Hmm? -[Chris] Yeah.

[Marcus groans]

Let's just be married tonight, okay?

[kissing]

[Alex] I know this has all been so ugly.

And I want to make it right, I really, really do, Mia.

Just, please, call me back.

-We-We should talk. -[knocks on door]

-Zaria, hey. -[chuckles] Hey!

[stammers] Oh. What? What the hell is...

Well, I was in the area.

So then I thought I'd check on you

and bring you some Ethiopian food and some Pinot.

[Mia] In the area?

You live in Brooklyn. What are you...

Defy's not making you an offer.

I wanted to tell you myself. I'm sorry.

-What the... That interview was... -Uh, Joy wants to move quickly.

She's already focusing on another candidate.

What happened?

Uh...

She called Alex Levy.

Who apparently said you're the best EP she'd ever worked with.

So good that UBN is willing to do everything they can to keep you.

-Really? -Then Alex promised

to cohost Joy's charity gala this fall to make it up to her.

'Cause she's such a friend to those in need.

[sighs]

So, if UBN can't have me, nobody can?

Don't think about that.

Think about something you can build for yourself.

Something new.

Yeah, I thought I'd found it.

[Zaria] Come on.

Sorry.

[breathes deeply]

["We Should" playing]

[scoffs, chuckles]

-Drink. Eat. -Hmm.

-Mmm. Good. -Where did you get this from?

-[laughing] -[laughing] Damn right.

-That's what I wanted to tell her ass. -[house music playing]

It's working!

-Hmm. Mmm. Mmm. -Really?

Okay, then who would your first guest have been?

-Steve Harvey. -Come on!

[both groan]

-Text me when you get home. -Okay.

[breathes deeply]

[inhales sharply, sighs]

[phone chimes]

["Moments In Love (Beaten)" playing]

That white ball was Alex Levy's head.

Okay.

So was that yellow one.

Is this a booty call, or am I about to help you kill your old boss?

This is not a... [British accent] ..."booty call."

Oh. You literally wrote, "You up?"

-That can mean anything. -Uh-huh.

What? I wanted to see you before you left.

If you die, who am I gonna beat at pool?

Wanna know what I think?

No.

Ooh! Are you hustling me right now?

[chuckles]

Deal with it.

["M.I.A." playing]

I think that you stayed because you thought you could change the place,

but it ended up changing you.

Where'd you get that? Page-a-Day calendar?

Come on, Mia. You even dress like them.

Blazers, hair...

Don't talk about my hair. Ever.

See, they think you'll play by their rules 'cause you always have.

So?

Brutal. Feeling better?

["Better" playing]

-[Chris chuckling] -[grunts, chuckles]

[Chris] Oh.

[exclaims, sighs]

[moans]

-[Marcus moans] -[grunts]

[sighs] Wait. I gotta...

I gotta check on Naima.

-What? She's fine, baby. She's fine. -[gasps] Promise?

No, no, no, no, no. We... [pants] No, look.

-Uh-uh. [chuckles] -[chuckles]

I'll be back.

Mmm. Okay. [moans]

[breathes heavily]

[music fades]

[line ringing]

[mysterious music playing]

Hey. This is Tunde. Talk to me.

[phone beeps]

Tunde,

it's Chris.

I don't know who the fuck you think you're playing with, but...

[foreboding music playing]

[chuckles] If you have something to say, you should say it to my face.

But you know if you did, I would drag your ass.

[on video] Really, bitch? Is this what we're doing?

Really? Fuck you.

I have to deal with these phony people

-who don't respect me... -[Bro chuckles] Oh.

...or want to see us get anywhere, and you,

-you want to be the one to tear me down? -Fuck.

-Put those lies in the street? -Wow.

-Well, fuck you. Fuck you. -[both laugh]

You're just pissed because I got somewhere

-and you did not. -Oh, no.

-Mmm. Wow. -[chuckling] No.

-How fucking dare you? -That sounds like some good

-old-fashioned roid rage. -Do you know who I am?

[Bro] You know, maybe Chris Hunter isn't Black Excellence Barbie after all.

-[Sunny] Poor Chris. -Brotallion, guess what, y'all?

I got an advance copy of her new book,

My First Needle. You should check it out.

-It's coming to Target near you. -Chris, you've been a real naughty girl.

Yep. More of this and a deep dive into Hunter Biden's hijinks after the break.

[Sunny] Nice.

-What the actual fuck is wrong with you? -[chuckles]

Chris is one of ours.

Do you give a shit that you're fucking with your own network?

My audience expects me to call people out. It's my brand.

Your audience expects the Illuminati

to dance a satanic sabbat with Hillary Clinton and George Soros.

Just stop talking shit.

You know, if I'd left that voicemail... Oh, if Trump had left that voicemail,

it would be a banner on the Alex Unfiltered home page.

You see, I think you being overprotective...

-[sighs] -...of Chris Hunter

is actually extremely patronizing.

She can obviously fight her own battles.

And it is relevant and newsworthy

that a face of UBN's Olympics coverage might have cheated to win her medals.

It's just trash talk.

-It's just gossip. -Like the baseless rumor

a while back that you were fucking a billionaire trying to buy this place.

Oh, shut... You know what? Don't go there. Don't, Bro.

This is news. And you know it.

So, if you don't mind, I gotta get back to it.

[smacks lips] I think my ad revenue pays for your salary, right?

[dramatic music playing]

Fucking piece of shit.

-[Bro] I'll have a great show, thanks. -[Alex] Yeah, fuck you.

[sighs]

Motherfucker.

-[knocks on door] -[scraping]

-[Chris] Come in. -Hey.

[grunts]

Just checking on you.

-I'm so sorry about all of this. -Mmm.

I'm just trying to get this ice out.

Do you want someone to help you with that?

I'm okay. [sighs] Really.

Well...

Okay, well, I'm here if you need anything.

[suspenseful music playing]

[sighs]

-How is she? -Whew.

-Time to call Bradley? -Float it.

Let's see what she says.

-[reporters chattering] -[cameras shuttering]

-Chris, hey. -[sighs]

You look different.

Yeah, well, that would be the murderous rage.

-I think it's the hair. -Can we talk?

I don't know, can we?

Or is my child-bearing womb going to come between us?

Yeah, that was out of line.

I'm sorry.

But I-I just heard Bro's show.

And... And I'm guessing no one has your back in the building.

And you do?

I've seen what you can do, Chris. I know what you deserve.

I can help you get it.

Take a ride with me.

-[reporters clamoring] -Smile for the cameras.

[Mia] You know I wasn't mad at you?

I was mad at myself.

Letting those people have power over me.

For giving so much of myself to that place. And I...

[inhales deeply]

I knew, deep down, that they were never gonna give back.

And then I saw you, you know?

You wouldn't bend for them. You wouldn't compromise.

I was jealous.

And I took it out on you.

I just wanna get to Paris without this hanging over my head.

What do you want to do?

I want to muzzle Tunde.

Tell the world she's a liar.

-Clear my name. -Yeah, do that.

Go on Bro's show.

You're kidding, right? Bro?

Y-Yeah.

The Hot Pocket-eating man-child? [chuckling] What?

Tell him off for amplifying this bullshit.

-You're more than one angry voicemail. -Oh, yeah.

-Tell that to Ben and Target... -You...

...and everyone else coming at me

-with a pitchfork. -You tell 'em.

[intriguing music playing]

People don't stop caring about you because you fuck up. Not if you own it.

It just makes them love you more.

Does it? [scoffs]

Chris, everyone is gonna tell you to play it safe.

That's just gonna take you out of the game.

Believe me, I know.

[elevator dings]

-Hey. -[Alex] Hi.

I'm in here.

-Hey. -Jesus. God.

I'm about to put my hand in a blender.

This Chris shit is insane.

I know. Ben called me.

[Alex] And?

I can't sign a contract extension right now.

I don't wanna get involved in all this Chris stuff.

Not to mention, I feel like you didn't really want me here in the first place.

Whoa, whoa. No, no. But the extension is my idea.

-Really? -Yes.

-Why? -Because I... I'm...

Clearly I'm a masochist and even though you're a huge pain the ass, I really...

I believe in you.

-Well, maybe you shouldn't. -What does that mean? Why?

Uh...

I slept with Cory.

Wow. Okay, so,

-um... -It just happened.

Yeah. Just like... Like, um, "Oops"?

-[sighs] I was a mess. -Mmm.

And he seemed safe.

Cory Ellison seemed safe?

Like an open elevator shaft kind of safe?

Oh, no.

Oh, God.

Bradley, you didn't ask him about the Wolf River thing, did you?

Or Claire? Oh, shit.

Do I need to recuse myself from the story?

Well, if he...

If he did something, yeah, probably.

But we don't know what he did.

-I don't. -Okay, you know what?

You should just call Cory right now. Call him right now.

The longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be.

-Okay. -You can do it.

Just rip the Band-Aid.

-Yeah. Okay, okay. -Okay.

[line ringing]

Hi.

Bradley?

[Bradley] Hey.

[chuckles] Hey.

What's up?

I just wanted to talk.

I've been thinking a lot about Jonathan Groff.

Oh, yeah. I do that too.

You wanna go see Merrily We Roll Along?

Self-hating, middle-aged New Yorkers reflecting on their bad choices?

-[mouthing] Oh, my God. -I mean, sure. That sounds like fun.

-All right, great. I'll get tickets. -Okay, just ask him.

Ask him.

Do you...

wanna have dinner tomorrow?

-Oh, my God. -It could be,

like, a second date type of thing and then we can talk about stuff.

-Uh, my place? I'll cook. -Oh, my God.

-[sighs] -[Bradley] Yeah, okay.

Hey, Bradley.

I know you're on the fence.

Maybe we go away for the weekend.

Try it out.

I figure either one of us ends up dead or we move forward.

Either way, it's an answer.

Uh, why don't we talk about that tomorrow?

Okay. Sounds good.

Okay, see you then.

-[line disconnects] -[both sigh]

Okay, I-I know. I'll do it in person.

He deserves that much.

["Cinderella's Dead" playing]

I cannot believe you.

You ready?

You're gonna shut this down. You're gonna go home clean.

Look at you.

Look at us.

[Chris] Marcus thinks it's a terrible idea,

but he also wore a wool suit to our summer wedding.

-So... [chuckles] -[chuckles]

-Give you a minute? -Mm-hmm.

Hey, Chris.

Good to see you.

Tunde,

it's been a while.

Thank you for coming all the way to New York.

Last time I saw you, you just got engaged.

Now Marcus is threatening to sue my ass.

Yeah, I-I could've let him handle this, but I wanted to see you.

[laughs] You sure?

Thought you wanted to drag my ass. Mm-hmm.

[Chris clears throat]

No, I wanna apologize.

The voicemail?

That wasn't right.

It's a little late for "sorry."

I get it.

I mean, I'd be mad too.

But, uh, that stuff you posted online...

You know, I heard you blew off a Morning Show stop at your old school.

You can't stand people knowing where you come from, can you?

No, our schedule changed.

I was just slammed.

I'm coaching those kids now.

We trying to raise money for a new track.

Meanwhile, you can't even stop by your old town.

I didn't know the school was in trouble.

-You didn't care. -Mm-mmm.

You can stop it with your little Oprah act.

[sighs]

You and I could just walk out of here, grab a drink and talk.

Instead of airing this out in front of a bunch of Proud Boys.

Tunde, come on.

We are better than this.

You had your chance to make things right.

And you couldn't be bothered.

[Bro] Oh, Brotallion, do we have a show for you today.

Crack open that anything-but-Bud-Light and insert your catheters,

'cause you're not gonna wanna miss a second of this.

We have not one, but two players in America's DEI drama live in the studio.

One of them needs no introduction.

She's UBN's own pride and joy, The Morning Show anchor, Chris Hunter.

-[bell dings] -[chuckles]

-Thank you for having me. -And our surprise guest.

The world knows her as TruthSayer2006,

but now we've lifted the veil.

Folks, please say hello to former Team USA track-and-field

alternate, Tunde Johnston out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

-[guitar plays] -Hi.

And as a quick refresher for those of you just taking off

that VR headset after a 24-hour spank sesh, check this out.

[Chris] And you...

You wanna be the one to tear me down, put those lies in the streets.

Well, fuck you. Fuck you.

You're just pissed because I got somewhere and you did not.

How fucking dare you?

-Do you know who I am? -[chuckles]

-Mmm. -Yeah, Tunde, gotta know,

-do you know who she is? -[chuckles] Oh.

I think I got a pretty good idea.

I want to apologize.

What I said what inexcusable.

And, uh, I'm sorry.

I'm truly sorry.

Nobody deserves that, and I came on the show today to-to say that in person

because that's not who I am, and it's not who I ever wanna be.

-[Bro] Hmm. Tunde... -What do you think you're doing?

...do you accept that apology?

-[Tunde speaking indistinctly] -What Chris wants.

Which no one here seems to give a damn about.

It's not enough to tank your career. You gotta blow hers up too?

Chris is setting the record straight.

-You weren't helping her, so I did. -[phone buzzes]

[Bro] ...high school sweethearts. Were you always rivals?

-Yeah, we were always rivals. -I swear...

Hey, Alex. You get my text? We're at DEFCON 1 over here.

Yes, I'm sorry.

The IMAX meeting went long.

Can we just shut this shit down?

Uh, legally, no.

And believe me, I've tried.

I can't exactly storm in there and drag Chris out.

It's fucking live. And it's already all over social media.

All right, all right. I'm... Listen, I'm gonna get there as soon as I can.

This is all Mia's idea.

-Okay? This is Mia. -All right, Ben. Fuck.

When did you first think that Chris

was treating herself to that sweet, forbidden juice?

Look, we trained together

-for a lot of years... -[Bro] Mm-hmm.

...and she edged me out, she made the team. Okay, whatever.

But what I can't take is that she shaved off half a second and said she was clean.

Okay, for folks like myself who avoid running unless in extreme danger,

a half-second improvement in track is, like, a huge number.

I was always tested.

-Hmm? -I always passed.

-And anyone who ever accused me, I beat. -[whistles]

Oh, you... you didn't always beat me in high school or in college.

Oh!

Which is why I trained harder.

I pushed myself.

I think the real question here is if I doped 12 years ago...

-Mm-hmm. -...why wait till now to say it?

-Right? Forgive me. -Mm-hmm. Yep.

But Tunde just told me that our old high school track needs money.

[scoffs]

She's currently working there, and she's mad that I didn't donate.

[Bro] Mmm.

-Giving back was never really your style. -[hisses]

[sucks teeth]

I should have been more generous.

You know? You're right.

And... [scoffs] ...I don't know, maybe I have lost touch a little.

I'm just not sure that the punishment fits the crime.

Because you're saying things about me that aren't true.

-Mm-hmm. -[Bro] Yeah, Tunde, well,

tell us a little bit about yourself.

-You married? Have kids? -No.

Okay. Lone wolf. Respect.

I'm proudly undatable myself.

Now I gotta ask, would you say you're more

-or less attractive than Chris? -The fuck kind of question is that?

That's a ridiculous thing to say. This isn't...

Well, come on, people.

-I mean, Chris has gold medals. -[scoffs]

She's got money, celebrity, a-a family.

How about this, does that piss you off?

Because I'd be annoyed by all that shine.

-I don't give a damn what she has. -[Bro] Hmm?

I can prove she did it.

[Chris] This is not even about Tunde and I.

As a runner, there are always rumors.

-As an Olympic athlete, they're con... -Hold on. Wait a second.

-[chuckles] Excuse me. -Okay.

Tunde, you're telling me you have proof that Chris Hunter doped to win her medals?

If you brought a dirty bag of needles in my studio...

See for yourself.

What does she have?

Jack shit.

Chris pissed off a lot of people over the years.

And they gave receipts.

Okay.

-What is that? -[Bro] Let's find out.

Okay. Whoa.

Plot twist.

I think we have the smoking gun here.

Looks like some concierge doctor prescribed you anabolic steroids.

You know, Tunde, if these are legit,

Chris could sue you for releasing her medical records.

Let her try. It should've been me and you know that.

[Ben] This is defamation. Chris can stop this.

-Mia, come on. -Could you give me a second?

Yo. Okay, well, you know, you roasted Cybil Reynolds real good, but I gotta ask,

how's it feel to be in that hot seat, Chris?

Things feel a little different?

Have a look, Gold Medal.

Anything you wanna say?

I did what I had to do.

[scoffs]

-Shit. -[Bro] Hold up, hold up.

You're saying these medical records are real?

Yeah. They're real.

-Throw Bro off the fucking roof. -It's too late.

-She already said she did it. -Just to be clear,

-you're admitting you doped... -What?

-...to win London '012? -No, not London.

Uh, it was the lead up to Rio.

-Holy shit. -Right. Just Rio.

You're expecting us to believe you used performance-enhancing drugs,

but you only did it once.

I didn't need anything to win before I was pregnant.

Wait, wait. Wait. [scoffs]

You're saying this is because of your daughter?

My son.

I, uh... [sighs]

I got pregnant, uh, a couple of years after London.

We were excited, but my sponsors, when they found out,

they dropped me and nobody thought I could win gold after a baby.

So, we lost everything.

We had nothing. We just didn't have any more money.

[sighs]

[Chris] I went into labor at, like, five and a half months.

There was a problem with my placenta.

It was fetal growth restriction

and we didn't get to, um, take my son home.

A lot of women go through these things.

You just don't talk about it.

Mm-hmm.

I was broken.

Like, all the way down.

My body was just gone.

I, uh...

Uh...

And you know, it's... it's all that we have. It's our instrument.

And, um, I couldn't get out of bed.

I had to tape my abs just to move.

Uh, when I got back on that track, I was so slow.

I had to do something.

So I, uh...

I tried it out.

[chuckles] Didn't tell anybody.

Not a single soul.

The PEDs made me sick at first, but it felt kinda good,

like my body deserved to be punished.

And then they worked.

And I came back and so did my endorsements.

And, um, I pushed the baby thoughts right out of my head because I... I just...

[shakily] I was so desperate to have a reason to, um, keep going.

[sobs]

I had to be, um...

I mean...

[sobs] I had to be worth something.

After Nationals, I did quit doping.

I didn't actually need it anymore, and by the qualifiers,

I was, uh, faster than ever.

Uh, about a month later, I was on that podium in Rio.

They started playing the national anthem, and I was just standing there,

thinking how I let everybody down.

And I did.

That's when I made the move to broadcast.

I...

I didn't ever wanna be in that position again,

where I could lose everything so fast.

And... And... And I didn't do it to be famous.

I did it for my family, my body, and for my daughter.

And...

[sobs] Sorry.

[sobbing] I did it for my son.

His name is Amari.

Amari Marcus.

I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry you lost your son.

-Thank you. -[Bro] I think we need a little breather.

Hey, boss. Get us into commercial.

We'll be back with Tunde Johnston and Chris Hunter.

[somber music playing]

Thank you.

[sniffles, breathes shakily]

[Bro] Chris has gold medals.

She's got money, celeb...

-Are you happy? -What?

Just blowing up people's lives like that? Huh?

[sighs] You know, Alex, I had no idea that was gonna happen.

Mm-hmm. Well, it did.

And there's gonna be a lot of fallout from that.

Hmm. Yeah, I know. Yeah.

Also, um...

It was a good interview.

[intriguing music playing]

[Mia] I'll convey to your...

-[sighs] -Well, I will, um...

Absolutely.

Okay.

All right.

Bro Hartman? Really?

Ratings killed for two of your biggest stars.

Clips are beyond viral. You're welcome.

Did you know about the doping?

No, but social media is trending heavily in her favor.

-Oh, Jesus. -Everybody wants an interview.

I mean, I think she's gonna be just fine.

Okay, well, our Olympic coverage is about to be fucked.

Maybe. Maybe not.

You know, Alex, people love it when someone actually owns their shit.

You could learn something from Chris.

What is that supposed to mean?

You told Defy not to hire me.

Because I did not want to lose you, Mia.

We have so much more work to do together here.

So you tanked their offer to get what you wanted.

I didn't tank anything.

I just told Joy the truth.

I didn't ask you to do that.

I don't understand. You have so much more of an impact here.

It is so patronizing for you to think you can make those decisions about my life.

Oh, my God. You know what?

I don't even know why I do any of it for anybody. Honestly.

Considering that fucking move.

I mean, what was that?

I thought you were better than that, Mia.

You know what?

Fuck you, Alex.

Hey. Hey. Careful.

You just went rogue. Bravo.

And I'm sure you're feeling really good about yourself,

but we have no idea how this is about to pan out.

Okay, so you can screw over your billionaire boyfriend,

and it's considered strategic.

Cory can leak a racist email and it's a tactical move.

But when I play hard, you think I'm supposed to be better than that.

None of us are proud of any of those things.

Okay, but you did it, and it's my time now.

Chris and I are gonna be working together from now on.

Marcus will be calling you this week as we explore our next steps.

"Next steps"? So what, is that some kind of a threat?

It's not a threat. It's the current state of play.

Chris isn't sure that UBN is the right fit for her anymore.

She's exploring her options, and so am I.

And I think we make a great team.

Mia, we are not done.

I am.

[dramatic music playing]

[mouthing words] Oh, my God.

-[Bradley] Hey. -[chuckles]

There she is.

I was starting to think maybe you didn't like my apartment.

[chuckles] Oh, no.

I like it fine.

Uh...

Can I get you something?

Maybe something to drink?

[Bradley] Um...

Do you...

Do you wanna go out? I thought we were gonna eat here.

Oh. Yeah.

We were.

I was gonna make you this world-class lasagne, but then I...

I searched through my email to find the recipe

that my buddy had sent me from Carbone, and you know, when you do that,

it brings up all your previous email searches.

Strangest thing.

Somebody searched the name Kenneth Stockton.

Cory, I tried to tell you.

You asked to see pictures of my movie

so that you could look through my phone.

While we were on a date.

I know about Wolf River.

Okay. All right. Great.

What is it you think you know?

-I know that you covered up a story... -[scoffs]

...about a polluted waterway.

Dead animals, crazy cancer rates.

And then you sent a fixer to smear the lawyer who was just trying to clean it up.

[sighs]

What the hell is going on here?

Are you investigating me? Am I a story?

I'm trying to be honest with you.

Did you sleep with me for information?

-No. -Really? 'Cause it kind of

-feels like you did. -No, Cory. No.

I did not know you were involved until after we had been...

Oh.

Well...

[sighs] That's a relief.

It wasn't all bullshit.

There's a woman in the picture with Kenneth Stockton,

and I need to know who she is.

And I don't fucking know what you're talking about.

Okay, so, within a month of you becoming the head of UBA News,

the story just sort of disappears?

[laughs] You're trying to tell me that you don't know anything about it?

-Well, you might remember I was dealing... -Nothing?

...with a little problem called Mitch Kessler.

You remember him? He was an accused rapist,

-he drove his car into Lake Como... -Yeah, I do.

But you know, I do remember Fred told me not to run the story because of some

legal issues, and I did what most people do

when they get a new job, I listened to my boss.

-And you didn't look into it? -Of course I fucking did!

The EPA put out a report exonerating the company.

Legal told me I had nothing to run, so I moved on

to the predator with a button under his desk.

And then you hired Earl to go smear Kenneth Stockton.

I told Earl to shut down a lawyer

who was trying to sue UBA with baseless claims.

He was wasting everybody's time and his clients' money.

Now he's dead.

He killed himself.

What?

You really didn't know that?

Oh, my God. The fucking...

You had Earl go down there and talk to him,

but you didn't know he was dead?

[Cory sighs]

Uh, I made one phone call.

I told Earl to make it go away.

I don't know what the hell he did. We never talked about it again.

But the fact that you think I could be a part of something like that...

-That's fucked up, man. -I mean...

What am I supposed to think, Cory?

I'm sorry, but that's... This is who you are.

This... That's...

This is who you've always been ever since I met you.

If anybody tries to get in your way, if anybody hurts you, you...

you get to them first.

Really? So I'm the bad guy in this scenario?

I'll tell you what it is.

You thought you could string me along, pretending like you were afraid of

falling in love or some kind of emotional trauma bullshit, and it would...

Hey, but thank you for enlightening me.

I'm such a fucking idiot, I thought you were still

pining over Laura or something like that.

You were just using me.

Like you always fucking do.

-But here... Hey, take my phone. -No, I wasn't. No.

Take a look. All of my photos, all my texts, all my emails.

Call Earl if you want him, and ask him yourself.

If you can find him. I don't know where the fuck he is

'cause he screwed me over on his way out the door.

-But I did not do this! -Okay.

You fucking hear me?

I hear you.

Cory, I didn't know.

I had to ask you.

And I didn't wanna feel anything, but I did.

And when everything started to happen between us,

I thought maybe this is it. Maybe we...

Please just stop pretending to be a human being.

'Cause what you sound like is a liar.

You sound like a fucking liar to me.

Um,

you don't give a fuck about me.

You know, I...

I spent a long time...

getting over you.

[exhales]

This time's gonna be a whole lot easier.

-Cory... -Just get out.

Cory, just...

[softly] Get out.

["Burning" playing]

[door opens, closes]

What are you doing here?

We need to talk.