Chris Sheridan
The following recap contains spoilers for The Audacity S1E8, “Granfalloon” (teleplay by Jonathan Glatzer, story by Glatzer & Semi Chellas & Arthur Phillips, and directed by Alex Buono).
Here we are, at the season finale of The Audacity. It’s been a very eventful season, anchored by stellar writing, direction, and performances across the board. Everything has led to this, and I am pleased to report that it was all worth it.
Carl (Zach Galifianakis) might have a lot of things, but tact is not one of them. Case in point: somehow convincing Tom (Rob Corddry), a combat veteran, to participate in his intense WWI reenactments. Almost immediately, the first explosion causes Tom to panic. As he rushes across the “battlefield,” we get a freeze frame and our title card. Following the reenactment, Carl offers Tom some whiskey, and while the now-sober Tom sniffs the glass, he does not partake. Carl brings Tom into a room filled with battle dioramas, including one of Medina Ridge, complete with a little figure of Tom. Tom is disgusted, “What is wrong with you?…This is f*cking obscene!” He leaves.
Gary (Paul Adelstein) is eavesdropping on JoAnne (Sarah Goldberg) talking on the phone about how she’s no longer seeing Duncan (Billy Magnussen) as a patient. She talking with Anushka (Meaghan Rath) over concerns that Duncan is going to have a negative effect on the night’s WatchCode forum at which Alexander will be unveiled. Gary assumes that she might be having an affair since according to what he can hear, JoAnne is simply “no longer seeing him.”
Orson (Everett Blunck) has stolen his mother’s gun and placed into the trophy case at school in a severely misguided attempt to rekindle the game he was playing with Tess (Thailey Roberge) earlier in the season. Approaching her, he insists that she has to see it, and when she entertains him, they find that the gun is no longer in there: the headmistress Beatrice (Rukiya Bernard) has found it and taken it to her office. She calls Jamison (Ava Marie Telek) into her office to confront her, since Lili (Lucy Punch) has pinned things on Jamison given that Duncan accused Jamison of stealing that godforsaken tungsten cube. Jamison is distraught over what this looks like, and the effect it will have on her prospects of getting into Stanford. Beatrice sends her home. At home, Jamison pretends to be asleep as her parents talk about how this will ruin her college chances.
Orson, in a panic, has gone home, and begs Gary for the tincture. Gary is willing to give him a little bit, in exchange for information concerning his wife’s assumed infidelity. Orson, surprisingly, does not play into this, instead telling his stepfather that Duncan is blackmailing JoAnne. Gary confronts JoAnne about this, but she denies it, telling him that they need to get ready for the school’s gala. There, Gary continues to press JoAnne about the blackmail, which she denies, so Gary goes to the adjacent WatchCode forum to confront Duncan directly and call him a “f*cking sociopath.” Duncan tells him to spread the word, and uses that confrontation for a renewed confidence in doing the upcoming interview with Nena.
Tom learns that they will no longer be giving the Alexander presentation, because Carl has already licensed the AI to be a combat assistant, something that both he and Martin (Simon Helberg) are opposed to. Carl counters Martin by pointing out a clause in his contract. Tom’s repeated, exasperated questions over whether Hypergnosis can still use Alexander to assist veterans fall on deaf ears as Martin and Carl are furiously arguing with each other. Tom walks away, but Anushka catches up to him to offer him the leading role in a veterans’ foundation that she and Martin could start up for $5 million. It’s an insulting offer, and the 38-days-sober veteran brushes past her to head to the bar. Before he can get there, Duncan approaches him to drive the knife even deeper and point out that all of the veterans’ data belongs to Carl, who will do what Duncan was going to do and license out the data for profit. Tom is quickly reaching the end of his rope.
At the gala, Gary continues to push JoAnne on Duncan’s blackmailing, and she continues to push back, until she finally breaks down and tells her husband how much she hates Duncan. She decides to go upstairs go watch Duncan’s interview with Nena. At said interview, Duncan gets a pretty good grilling from Nena about PINATA, and he completely leans into the controversy over profiteering from the public’s private data, something that Silicon Valley has always done. He pushes further, declaring that access to that data can be used to, say, identify a potential mate, or simply be entertained. Where things sour, however, is during the presentation, where the data reveals that Jamison might not be his. He confronts Lili about an affair with Hamish, and whether Jamison is actually his daughter. “Please…” Lili begs tearfully. Duncan storms off.
Jamison reads a message from Stanford that she has been denied early admission, and steps out of the front door. Her absence at the gala does not go unnoticed. Afterwards on the bus Tess notices her walking past outside, and exits to pursue her. Jamison, devastated and ashamed, has stepped onto the train tracks, ready to end it all. As she cries, waiting for the approaching train, she hears the train’s horn blare, the brakes screech, and a crash, but but far before it’s gotten to her. Tess arrives, throwing her arms around Jamison to comfort her. Martin and Anushka are riding home, when Anushka receives a phone call, reacting in shock. With the emergency vehicles surrounding the tracks, the camera pans down and shifts into the foreground to show a badge and lanyard from the convention, belonging to Tom Ruffage.
As we close things out, JoAnne is looking at the Hypergnosis stock when Gary enters the room, reminding her that they still need to talk, when she’s ready. In the car with Gary, Orson confesses to taking JoAnne’s gun; he knows where it is, but will need help getting it back. Duncan goes to Carl at the diner to propose that Hypergnosis acquire PINATA for a dollar, with him reinstated as CEO, so the two of them can “break everything worth breaking.” Carl refuses. Duncan admits that Cupertino will end him if he doesn’t make a play, that he and Carl could have set the world on fire, and leaves. Carl removes a dollar from the tip jar, and exits the diner. Finally, JoAnne receives a phone call from an unknown number. It’s the FBI, and they want to talk.
Damn, this was a good finale. When I first saw the teasers for The Audacity, I envisioned a dark comedy with some searing takedowns of Silicon Valley. And it was that, but what I did not expect was a surprisingly complex drama with interesting characters, engaging plotlines and solid reasons to come back every week. This finale, in particular, was pretty much devoid of any lightheartedness and went straight for emotion and tension. In particular, the score as things came to a head with Jamison’s suicidal ideations was incredibly effective. What hit me the hardest was Tom’s death, which in hindsight makes all of his suffering throughout the season that much more impactful. He was my favorite character, and he will be missed. Immediate events are mostly tied up, but we’re left with a very, very good cliffhanger. Excellent stuff.
Hopefully the wait for Season 2 isn’t too long.
