Abhiroop Das
Created by Jonathan Glatzer, AMC’s ‘The Audacity’ reimagines the innermost circles of Silicon Valley, where tech takes a backseat in the face of interpersonal chaos. Duncan Park’s massive wealth comes almost entirely from the stocks of his data-mining company Hypergnosis, but when business takes a particularly bad turn, he realizes that everything he has ever done is now running on a timer. Enter Dr. Joanne Felder, the favorite psychologist of the wealthy and the elite, who offers a listening ear to Duncan and, occasionally, a few words of advice.
However, in a game as rigged as this one, no one can quite be trusted fully, especially not Duncan and Joanne. What this leads to, instead, is a dramedy series where everyone tries to one-up each other, only to lose in a zero-sum game. Episode 1 of the show, titled ‘Best of All Possible Worlds,’ lives up to its name by giving us a glimpse into the highs and lows of Duncan’s life, only to spice things up by the end. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Meet the CEO and His Therapist
‘The Audacity’ opens with tech CEO Duncan Park seemingly talking to the screen, before we learn that he is with his psychologist, Joanne, for an urgently needed session. As a self-proclaimed “inventor of the future,” Duncan manages to get his data-mining company’s stocks to skyrocket, but only because of a half-baked lie. Anticipating an acquisition offer from the tech giant, Cupertino, Duncan spreads rumors of an expansion, only for things to backfire when Cupertino retracts its offer. There is a very narrow window now where Duncan can either cash out and exit, conjure a new way to make bank, or simply sink with his company, and he is unsure about which way to go.
Though Joanne tries her best to console Duncan and warn him of trying anything illegal, her real feelings slip out when she rushes to her phone the moment he leaves the office. While she clicks away, Duncan has to put up an even braver face on his way back to the mansion. Though he tries to impress his attendants with even the minutest of things, like his prized tungsten cube collection, the only thing he can really do is brainstorm. Meanwhile, Joanne realizes she is late picking up her son, Orson, at the airport, whom she is seeing for the first time since her divorce. While Orson isn’t exactly pleased to return, his admission into one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious schools forces him to. We also learn that Joanne’s ex-husband is sick, which is the only reason she bags a scholarship in the first place, much to her son’s scorn.
Hypergnosis Struggles to Get Back on its Feet
Meanwhile, desperate for answers, Duncan rings up Anushka, an executive at Cupertino and seemingly his close ally. However, all she has to offer is a damning confirmation that the door to her company is shut for good, and what he needs is a new story to pitch, ideally to someone else. Still, when Duncan invites her home that night to discuss options, Anushka obliges, only to be surprised when she sees him high after an impromptu ayahuasca session, and clearly in no mood to convene. The following day, we are introduced to Tom Ruffage, an army veteran who is looking for funding from Silicon Valley’s richest, including those in Cupertino. Though Anushka wishes to lend them a helping hand, her superior, Tim, turns down the offer, leaving Ruffage to ruminate about his options, including a conference speech later that week.
Orson has a very hard time fitting into Joanne’s life and house, despite basically having an entire floor to himself. The thing that perplexes him the most is her sessions with a long list of tech billionaires, or, in some cases, their children. One of these patients, Carl Bardolph, who is among the richest people ever, is on the brink of an identity crisis. He believes that the public is unfairly targeting him for something he has earned, and though Joanne seemingly has a lot to say, she decides to keep her lips shut. Meanwhile, Duncan wakes up from his ayahuasca session with a refreshed look, but that comes crashing down when his wife comes back home, announcing that she slept with a Danish CTO as part of their polyamorous arrangement. In reality, though, she is led to believe that Anushka and Duncan spent last night together, which in turn prompts her retaliation.
Duncan Goes After the Man His Wife is Seeing, Only to Chance Upon an AI Genie
Though Duncan wishes to clear the air, what completely invades his mind is the mysterious Danish CTO, and the impulse is strong enough that he rushes back to the office in search of an AI project one of his employees made. This AI is capable of digging just about anything a person has ever shared online, and Duncan wants to use it to find out more about the mystery man. Though the AI’s creator, Harper, objects at first, she is eventually persuaded and gives Duncan everything he wants to know, and even the things he doesn’t. However, what strikes as special in the scene is the sheer prowess of Harper’s AI, and Duncan realizes that it might be the key to pulling his company out of the water.
From Duncan, the scene then shifts to Joan Anushka’s husband, Martin, who appears to be a tech genius as well. Though he is busy creating an AI bot that can replicate emotions, he and Anushka have to go to Duncan’s grand house party, where Joanne and her family are also invited. The scene quickly dissolves into chaos, however, as microconflicts begin to emerge left and right. Anushka’s daughter, Tess, was once friends with Duncan’s daughter, Jamison, but that no longer appears to be the case. Later, Anushka reveals that it was she who texted Duncan’s wife about their meetup, hoping for transparency, only for the meaning to get lost along the way. The ruling issue, however, is that Duncan really wants to have an impromptu session with Joanne, and he does that right in his home office, minutes before Orson catches Tess stealing one of the tungsten cubes. Though he later gets it back from her, he chooses to keep it for himself.
Joanne Turns Out to Have Demons of Her Own
During his session with Joanne, Duncan reveals his plan to leverage the acquisition rumors till they are gone for good, and potentially bring up stock prices to a healthy level. However, doing this with his level of foreknowledge is downright illegal, and none of Joanne’s warnings seem to be reaching him. His big break comes from Anushka, who relays her experience with Tom, the veteran, to give Duncan a new lead. Tom, whose conference speech was shelved at the last minute, has little to do except for drowning his sorrows at the bar, which is when he meets Duncan. Things don’t exactly take off between them either, as Duncan came in expecting an insider military deal, but doesn’t find a veterans’ conflict hip enough. Still, with all of his chips down, he realizes that it is a risk he might just have to take.
At Joanne’s home, Orson video calls his father in frustration, but learns that he will have to stay with his mother for at least the next two semesters. Enraged, he launches the tungsten cube through the walls of his room and into the storeroom next door. When he goes in to retrieve the cube, however, he realizes that the space is right underneath Joanne’s office, and he can hear everything she or her client says. Fortunately or unfortunately for him, the client today is Duncan, who is here with some fresh information from Harper’s AI.
As it turns out, Joanne had a lot of Hypergnosis stocks to her name, which she sold the moment Duncan opened up about his problems. This not only confirms that she is exploiting his information for profit, but also suggests that he might not be the only one. All of a sudden, Duncan no longer feels powerless as he realizes that he is sitting on a goldmine of data about the people he is after, and all it needs is for his therapist to do the talking, and him to listen.
Read More: Is Netflix’s Thrash Based on a True Story? Are Hurricane Sharks Real?
You must be logged in to post a comment.