A Man in Full
Season 1 – Episode 2
Episode title: The Big Squash
Original release date: May 2, 2024
Based on: A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe
Plot: Charlie races to entice a potential investor. Roger devotes his attention to his first criminal case. Raymond tries to flip a setback into a settlement.
* * *
What do you mean? I told you to get somebody criminal.
Defense attorneys aren’t available, because we haven’t paid them.
In fact, they’re in the “pissed off” bucket,
a trough that seems to be runneth-ing over of lately.
Not the time for you to judge me.
I’m just pointing out the reality.
The number of people unwilling to come to your rescue is growing.
Jesus balls almighty.
I will be at the meeting.
You better be. You’re my fucker-backer.
And after, I’ll head to the court and handle Conrad’s arraignment.
I need your focus.
And you’ll get it.
Jilly?
We got this, Jilly.
We do. We’re gonna post a bond, darlin’. We’re gonna get him out.
Don’t you worry about a thing. You’ll see.
He asked for another meeting… Croker.
And I agreed to it.
Because?
Let him know that the last one was not a fluke.
He’s bringing his lawyer. What do we know about him?
Roger White.
He’s an excellent attorney. And he’s a good person, actually.
Charlie likes to cloak himself in decency
to throw people off his vulgar scent.
This will be the big squash.
People like Croker need to be snuffed out.
We need a list of all his assets.
Antiques, planes, art, racehorses, all of it!
Already in the works.
‘Cause that shit belongs to us now.
Exactly.
Man, this is fun stuff.
You think I could take him?
I’m sorry?
Croker.
I know he was this big college athlete. “The 60-Minute Man,” they called him.
Do you think I could take him?
Well…
Is that important?
Is it important?
Part of being a man,
not the main part but a part,
is being able to kick another man’s ass.
The way he shook my hand,
wouldn’t let go.
That fuck thinks the whole world sways
to his big swinging dick.
Well, because it kind of has.
Not anymore.
His dick-dom belongs to me.
Just like we talked about.
Fuck ’em up the ass, on the head, in the eye, and in the mouth.
That Zale is cut from a certain cloth.
We cannot display even a hint of weakness.
Charlie, we don’t hold the cards here.
I appreciate that.
Ass, head, mouth.
♪ Ten, nine, eight, seven, six Five, four, three ♪
♪ Ten, nine, eight, seven, six Five, four, three ♪
♪ Ten, nine, eight, seven, six Five, four, three, two ♪
♪ One ♪
♪ Gonna be an explosion, baby ♪
♪ Gonna be an explosion, baby ♪
♪ Gonna be an explosion, baby ♪
♪ Gonna be an, gonna be an, gonna be an… Ahhh ♪
Hmm.
I asked for tenable.
This is not tenable.
A hundred and eighteen million dollars in 60 days
seems pretty damn tenable to me.
Wanna know what I think? I think you fail to grasp the gravity.
Your debt near exceeds a billion dollars.
Perhaps you’d consider your own peril, Mr. Zale.
My peril?
You’ve done a DFC.
If you foreclose, our operating losses become yours.
You’d be left having to manage Croker Industries
and 17 wholesale food warehouses.
It will call into question,
“Who is the head of Real Estate Asset Management Development at Planners?”
That would be you.
I’m sorry, your name again?
Roger White, Chief Legal Counsel of Croker Industries.
Well. Now I’m all aflutter.
Should you choose to foreclose,
you’ll suddenly have an $800 million loss on your books
converted from a loan that’s currently posted as an asset.
That’s a $1.6 billion swing, Popeye.
What’s this?
No, wait.
Don’t tell me.
A tailgate done dropped.
It is a legal claim, Mr. Zale, against Planners
for breach of lender/borrower contract,
economic duress, fiduciary duty, instrumentality fraud.
Croker Industries relied, to its detriment,
on the banking expertise of the loan officers
at PlannersBanc.
Tell you what, Mr. Chief of Legal Counsel.
My name is Roger White.
Mr. White.
I’m no lawyer…
…but when borrowers sue banks,
it doesn’t usually go well for the borrowers.
Harry, there’s a boneyard full of folks
who died dancing on what they perceived to be my grave.
Fuck off.
You wanna take your shot? You better make it your best one.
Oh, Peepy. I didn’t even notice you sitting there.
Imagine.
Go at him. What bullies tend to do.
Harry, you can trust I’ll be coming after you.
Whole lot of huffing and puffing and bluffing going on.
You agree, Mr. White?
I could not agree more, sir.
It’s a very sad day
when a duke of bombast tumbles to the reality that,
at day’s end, he’s nothing but an empty sack.
I’m not sure I’ve ever had the urge to kill another human being before.
We have two options.
We could sell off assets, but that takes time.
The other is a white knight.
Who’s gonna want to invest in us?
People who buy sports teams.
It’s not because they make for a good business transaction.
Sometimes they do, but more often,
it is about boring people lookin’ to buy some dazzle.
You’re Charlie fucking Croker.
Turpmtine? With Herb Richman? If I can get him, I wanna go tonight.
Tonight?
Time is a bit of the essence.
We have the gala tomorrow.
Which we’ll be back in time for.
Oh, Charlie.
Herb Richman is my ticket, our ticket.
Honey, this seems beyond rash.
Let me finish.
It would be best if you didn’t raise your voice with me.
If I can land Herb, my problem goes away.
My chances improve, as they always do, when I have you at my side.
I’ll bring Wally too.
He’s suspended from school. It’d be good to have him.
Oh yeah,
it’d be good for Herb Richman to see you as a family man.
Serena. Charlie.
I’m not missing that gala.
We will be back in time for the gala.
You’ve never done a criminal case?
It’s just the arraignment.
They’ll bring him in, read the charges, set a trial date,
and then we’ll bring in somebody who specializes in criminal.
If you find somebody. I overheard your conversation with Charlie.
We’ll find somebody.
You said no fucking jail.
You motherfucking, cocksucking piece of lying shit.
You said no fucking jail!
Come on.
You took my money.
Get him off!
Fucking owe me money.
♪ I’m a good man, food’s on the table… ♪
Thank you so much.
You better not let them cut the dreads.
Oh, no.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you for having me. I will see you all at the polls, right?
See you all at the polls?
Oh, man. Thank you for coming through, my man.
Don’t let us down.
Hey, man. Appreciate it.
Where the fuck is he?
He didn’t say exactly where.
Okay, but?
Evidently, he had an unforeseen criminal case
it was a bit of an emergency.
Oh, no. That’s bullshit because Roger White is not a criminal attorney.
Mayor Jordan.
Oh, hey!
Hey, I’m pulling for you. We don’t want Bagovitch anywhere near that office.
Thank you so much. You’re a true patriot.
Yeah, you are.
He sends his apologies.
Well, I don’t need his apologies. I need his ass here. Today.
Mayor Wes.
Hello. Hey, good to see you.
There’s also some issue with tomorrow’s rally.
Evidently, the choir was told they’d be paid.
What? No. They’re supposed to be pro-fucking-bono for fuck’s sake.
Even so…
No, no, fuck that shit.
See, like, why do I have to jab a stick up everybody’s ass
just to make them do a little good.
This is supposed to be the biggest election in the history of Georgia,
and the choir that I’m preaching to wants to get paid?
Fuck that shit.
Wes Jordan!
Oh! Now that’s what I call fashion right there. I’ll take a hug.
Oh, the hugs are okay, right?
All right. Damn, I look good on you!
You tell Roger White to get here. Right the fuck now.
All right. Hey.
Hey. What’s up, man?
Good to see you.
Case number 62322.
People of Georgia versus Conrad Hensley.
Assault and battery against a police officer.
Roger White for the defendant, Your Honor.
We’ll waive the reading and ask that he be released.
He attacked a police officer.
He defended himself against the officer, which we’ll establish.
For today’s purposes of bail,
I would emphasize that Mr. Hensley has no criminal record,
strong roots within his community,
one where he’s been gainfully employed and a valued member.
A million dollar bond, 250,000 cash.
Wait, what?
These are serious charges.
My client has no record.
You mentioned that.
A million is excessive.
Your client attacked a law enforcement officer,
rendered him unconscious.
It was an aberrant event…
{\an8}This is not the forum for you to argue the case.
I’m making a case for Conrad Hensley and why he should be released on bail.
He is a law-abiding citizen and a fine young man.
{\an8}Which makes it worse.
Sorry?
{\an8}Oh, this whole thing over a parking ticket?
A so-called law-abiding citizen attacks a police officer
over whether or not his car was parked in a red zone.
What the hell is that?
Bad enough our police have to deal with dangerous criminals.
Now, they’re being attacked by the good guys too.
Well, there comes a time when we have to draw a line.
Bail is set, 250,000. One million dollar bond.
Case number 35414.
You gotta be joking.
Turpmtine, tonight?
We’re not dead yet.
Charlie, you need to unload Turpmtine.
Excuse me?
It is a non-core asset and a red flag.
Zale probably doesn’t make $300,000,
and he knows that you’ve got a 29,000-acre quail plantation.
It’s an eco-lodge.
Why go all the way there?
Because I can better wow Herb there.
You said yourself we need a white knight, and he’s it.
And he actually agreed to come?
Prob ’cause he smells blood in the water.
Another reason this gives me pause.
Wiz, I do not have the fucking luxury of hitting pause right now.
You can appreciate that.
Part of my duress is due to an emerging and compounding accounting crisis.
Certainly, you can appreciate that.
♪ I work all night, I work all day To pay the bills I have to pay ♪
♪ Ain’t it sad? ♪
♪ And still there never seems to be A single penny left for me ♪
♪ That’s too bad… ♪
You have arrived at your destination.
What the fuck?
♪ If I got me a wealthy man ♪
♪ I wouldn’t have to work at all I’d fool around and have a ball… ♪
He practices here?
It’s a shithole case, Raymond.
Tends to attract commensurate lawyers in commensurate venues.
I can’t believe this.
I’m gonna tell you something for the umpteenth time.
Answer the questions exactly.
Do not editorialize. Do not commentate. Do not exaggerate.
This woman has come all the way from Finland to push the very buttons
she knows full well to be at her disposal.
The more ugliness she can extract from you on the record,
the bigger her settlement.
Please… do not talk to me like I’m an idiot.
Raymond, that’s why we are here.
Because you were an idiot.
You invited her to dinner out of your interest in Finnish art?
She told me about her Nordic landscapes.
I said I’d be happy to see her slides.
Did you invite her to dinner for any other reason than to revisit her Nordic terrain?
I’m gonna object to that.
Besides dinner, did you two have anything to drink?
We had something called a bamboo cocktail.
And what made you think you might like to have that particular drink?
Ms. Tiramaki recommended it.
Why?
She said it was made with a fertilized egg yolk in it
instead of a maraschino cherry, which was supposed to…
um… enhance sexual energy.
Did it?
Mr. Peepgrass,
did the bamboo cocktails enhance your sexual energy?
I don’t recall.
You two had sex this evening.
We did.
How many other times did you and my client have relations?
One other time.
This is a lie.
Sirja.
I gave many blowjobs.
We’re only here to collect his testimony.
Many.
All right, so when you and my client had relations,
you were not concerned that you might impregnate my client
with your bamboo-egg-yolk-infused sex?
How can you not be disgusted with yourself?
You disgust. I give blowjobs.
Sirja.
Also, I let him enter anus.
Why didn’t you ever tell me that it was this bad?
I didn’t really know.
Uh, debt can be kind of a badge in business.
Tesla’s got a debt of four billion. Apple, 100 billion.
Hmm.
You gotta borrow to grow.
You gotta grow to survive.
Nothing bad about debt
until your lender calls it in.
Which they’ve done. Why?
I am not a well-liked person, Serena.
My methodology.
I have hurt a few people.
You get a competitor down, you gotta finish him,
so they don’t come back to bite you later.
I’m a pretty sore loser… …but I can be a vicious winner.
Yeah, what’s that saying?
“Things that go around come around.”
Things have come around.
Charlie.
All right.
Pull, pull, pull!
All right, all right.
Okay.
Oh.
It seizes up. Even my own body is turning against me.
Have you talked to the doctor about this?
He says it’s just stress.
We should get to the airport.
Yesterday, our lives, everything was perfect.
And now, 30 days in jail?
I’m collecting footage to make sure it went down
like the prosecution’s maintaining.
The officer was wearing a body cam, but if it’s close to what they’re saying,
a Black man attacking a white police officer in Georgia…
So this plea…
We’d enter it tomorrow.
After which he’d begin serving time?
Most likely, yes.
Can I see him before?
Sit with him?
I plan to go back tonight to prep.
It’s after visiting hours, but… technically, you can join as my assistant.
How is this happening?
♪ Take you home with me Put you in my house ♪
♪ Boom, boom, boom, boom… ♪
Still throbbing?
It’s better.
Can’t you just sell some of your things? This plane, for starters.
I already took out a line of credit on it. The others, they’re borrowed against.
Money was cheap. Wismer thought it was a good idea.
All right. So what’s the plan exactly?
We have a good dinner tonight, a full day of nature and so forth tomorrow.
We bond and it bears fruit.
Here we go.
I swear you grow another three inches every time I lay eyes on you.
We are gonna have ourselves one hell of a time.
I’m looking forward.
Thanks for droppin’ him. And for, you know, lettin’ me take him.
Spend some real time with him, Charlie.
Oh, you know I will.
Everything okay?
Never better.
There’s some stuff at work.
How bad?
Nothin’ I can’t handle.
Bank’s just tryin’ to squeeze me. Same old.
That’s what this trip is about?
It’s about spendin’ time with Wally.
Herb, my good man.
Charles.
Marsha.
You remember Martha?
Good to see you. Okay.
Hop on that plane there.
I got two seats with your names on them.
Okay.
♪ I love bad talk When you talk like that ♪
♪ You knock me out… ♪
Herb, you ever been on a G5?
Uh, many times, yep.
The 30 days is one thing, but it… it’s the conviction.
Is there any way to avoid that?
Probably not.
As a kid,
my parents pegged me as the first ever in my family
to graduate from college.
Instead, I’ll be the first with a criminal record.
What about…
There’s a new study
that says trauma can be passed down generationally in the DNA.
Grandchildren of Holocaust survivors that have PTSD.
Conrad’s father was beaten up by a police officer once.
His grandfather too, maybe… maybe there’s something in his DNA
that made him biologically afraid,
made defending himself an involuntary reflex.
It’s a legitimate point, but not one that’s gonna carry the day in Georgia.
Look, we can push this, take our chances,
but like I said, the 30-day offer might not stay on the table.
We don’t wanna risk six months.
This just feels so wrong.
You knocked him out, Conrad. A cop.
Like you said, you’re gonna be a dad.
I think the fastest route to the other side of this is best.
I really do.
I’m so sorry.
Can we just sit here a minute?
Do we have to go?
We can stay a while longer.
Thank you so much for agreeing to get dinner.
It’s not a good idea. One drink, you want sex.
That’s not true.
You already want.
I read your face. You want me to sit on.
Uh…
I will agree to five if we can structure it.
I really am a bit broke, Sirja.
Also, I would like to get along with you, believe it or not.
You’re the mother of my child.
Child you don’t want.
I will take full responsibility.
I would also like the opportunity to love him.
For his sake.
And also for my own.
I have nobody to love in my life.
What do you want to be, Raymond?
You have to pick something,
somebody.
It’s not that simple.
Yes, it is.
You wake up in the morning, you brush your teeth,
you look in the mirror, you ask the question.
Is there an answer?
I suspect on some level, I wanna be Charlie Croker.
Why?
I have no idea.
You need to forget this Charlie Croker person
and be Raymond Peepgrass.
I’m sure you were expecting more from an American banker
than you got in me.
I’m sorry.
Five hundred, over three years, plus 6% interest.
Over four years, I think I can do.
Okay. Four years.
Thank you.
You want to have settlement sex?
Uh…
Well…
I… I… I…
I can’t financially risk more offspring.
We get condom.
I put on.
You never have condom put on the way I do.
Come.
I’m not a godly person by nature.
But the nature here at Turpmtine,
there’s some kind of higher power doing his best work.
Got my pride and joy over there in that barn,
First Draw.
A nose shy of winning the Breeders’ Cup just two years ago.
I thought I was your pride and joy.
Pull over here, Rufus.
Yes, sir, captain.
Easy, girl.
What do you got going on here?
We got us a big old diamondback.
Serious?
A snake?
And he’s a monster, captain.
Oh my God.
Look at him.
Mm-mm.
All right, hon.
Look at his girth.
Please.
Dad.
Whoa.
It’s all right.
He’s a specimen, is what he is.
Dad.
Stand back, folks.
Charlie.
There’s nine, maybe ten rounds of rattle.
What’s he plan to do?
I don’t know.
Dad, you need to be normal.
Charlie, please.
Dad, come on.
Tell him to get back.
Dad!
What’s he doing?
Charlie.
Come on.
Charlie, put it down!
I got him! I got him!
♪ I’ll be your… ♪
Whoo!
Oh, yeah!
Dad!
Oh, Jesus! Dad!
♪ I’ll be your man ♪
♪ I’ll be your man… ♪
Did he get bit?
No, but Mom, even for him, it was beyond nuts.
Are you sure he didn’t stage it to show off?
That’s what I thought at first,
but the snake was real, it could’ve killed him.
You should talk to him. You’re the one with common sense. That’s what he needs.
Okay.
Well, I’ll call you when I get home, okay?
And him.
My God. Charlie wrestled a rattlesnake.
What?
Probably showing off.
Why does he need to show off to Herb Richman?
Some stuff going on at work.
What stuff?
Debt.
Probably to do with The Concourse.
I tried to talk him out of that monstrosity.
I begged him.
Don’t you still own part of The Concourse?
A small piece, why?
Well, if he borrowed against it, then his debt could be your debt.
Hey.
Yeah, I’m still sitting here with Conrad. Jill’s here too.
We’ll be here a little while longer.
Sure, put her on.
Night, night, baby.
I’m sorry I didn’t get home in time to tuck you in.
I love you too.
Time’s up. Back to your cell.
How about I sing it to you when I get back home?
I’ll sing it softly while you sleep.
Okay.
♪ As I return from daily strife ♪
♪ To heart and wife ♪
♪ How pleasant is the life I lead ♪
Night night, baby.
Harry?
Arthur.
You’re late.
And so are you.
Just locking down this Croker stuff.
How did the workout go?
A little rough, but good.
He’s not liquid. We’ll have to foreclose and grab.
A lot of assets to recover.
Just be careful.
Croker is still pretty much revered in these parts.
We don’t want to engender any badwill.
Mm-hmm. I’m mindful of that.
Sorry, thought I was the only one here.
Hmm. Channeling your Red Auerbach?
Two of the greatest leaders in our lifetime, Red Auerbach
and Curtis LeMay.
The general.
One time,
he appears before a senate committee…
and he’s asking for 10,000 nuclear warheads for the Air Force.
One of them senators says,
“I thought you told us that with 6,000 warheads,
you could reduce the entire Soviet Union to cinders.”
“Why should we give you 10,000?”
And LeMay says,
“Senator, I wanna see the cinders dance.”
I understand Charlie Croker is a bit of a public figure.
But all the more reason if we’re gonna squash him,
we’ve gotta damn well squash him.
It’s time his embers did the Watusi.
You think you can kill me?
Nothing can kill me.
I’m tougher than all of you put together.
See that?
Still standing right here.
I’m Charlie Croker is who I am.
That’s who I am.
That’s who I am.
Dad?
What are you doing?
Fine snakes.
Yeah,
but… why are you telling them your name?
Oh, well, I…
talk to snakes, son.
I’m an endangered species, Wally.
Maybe it’s a good thing.
Too many like me, shit…
But… the world needs at least one.
Yeah. Dad, you… you… you kinda sound like a madman.
Yeah, maybe so, well…
It’s a gift, son, when people try to take you down.
It’s like a wake-up call.
It’s a gift.
So it’s pretty bad?
♪ You can run on for a long time ♪
♪ Run on for a long time ♪
♪ Run on for a long time ♪
♪ Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down… ♪
Taser, taser, taser!
♪ Go tell that long-tongue liar ♪
♪ Go and tell that midnight rider ♪
♪ Tell the rambler The gambler, the back-biter ♪
♪ Tell ’em God’s gonna cut ’em down ♪
♪ Tell ’em God’s gonna cut ’em down ♪
♪ Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down ♪
♪ You can run on for a long time ♪
♪ Run on for a long time ♪
♪ Run on for a long time ♪
♪ Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down ♪
♪ Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down ♪
♪ Well, you may throw your rock And hide your hand ♪
♪ Workin’ in the dark Against your fellow man ♪
♪ But as sure as God Made black and white ♪
♪ What’s done in the dark Will be brought to the light ♪
♪ You can run on for a long time ♪
♪ Run on for a long time ♪
♪ You can run on for a long time ♪
♪ Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down ♪
♪ Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down ♪
♪ Go tell that long-tongue liar ♪
♪ Go and tell that midnight rider ♪
♪ Tell the rambler The gambler, the back-biter ♪
♪ Tell ’em God’s gonna cut ’em down ♪
♪ Tell ’em God’s gonna cut ’em down ♪
♪ You can run on for a long time ♪
♪ Run on for a long time ♪
♪ Run on for a long time ♪
♪ Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down ♪
♪ Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down ♪
