A Man in Full
Season 1 – Episode 4
Episode title: Tick Tick
Original release date: May 2, 2024
Based on: A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe
Plot: Conrad adjusts to his new reality. Raymond takes a huge gamble. Charlie finds strength after surgery only to be reminded of his ongoing financial woes.
* * *
♪ I’m new to the life I have ♪
♪ I’m failing fast ♪
♪ I gave it all I got and now I’m gone… ♪
♪ I’m here with my new friends ♪
♪ The doubt, the fear ♪
♪ They tell me I will never get put on… ♪
♪ And these thoughts surround me ♪
♪ They’re haunting me night and day… ♪
Brand-new day, baby.
♪ And these thoughts surround me ♪
♪ I’m falling just like their prey… ♪
I am it today.
My “it” day.
It shouldn’t be too long.
Yeah, yeah.
She said you’re next.
Anesthesiologist to pre-op. Any available anesthesiologist…
You don’t have to wait with me.
Of course I do.
Do you really think you might be discharged by tonight?
Possible.
These procedures they become like mowing the lawn for surgeons.
Well, I thought you said this was revolutionary.
Not the procedure, just the knee.
What about it?
It’s evidently got, you know, some, uh,
robotics.
What kind of robotics?
It’s no big deal. It’s…
Everything’s automated these days. Self-driving cars, you name it.
It’s the future.
So you’re getting a self-driving knee?
Serena…
it don’t necessarily suck to be 60,
but it does to be weak.
Okay?
It’s okay to be weak, Charlie.
No, it really isn’t.
Push hard.
You want to have strong body, strong mind, strong character.
Push.
The key to life is never… being… good… enough.
♪ Father, I’m better than butterfly… ♪
Raymond Peepgrass for Herb Richman.
♪ You can have soul… ♪
Mr. Peepgrass.
♪ What you need isn’t me… ♪
Please, call me Raymond.
What’s this about?
It’s about Charlie Croker, sir.
What about him?
Well, you devouring him… sir.
♪ You can die, no matter, I’m better… ♪
He owes Planners 800 million dollars,
and he owes other lenders too.
We plan to foreclose, but if we do that,
it’s an untenable write-off for the bank.
And what’s it got to do with me?
There’s word…
…that you hold a special kind of contempt for him.
You heard wrong. I pride myself on being void of transactional emotion.
He brought you down to Turpmtine to make you watch horses copulate.
How’d that feel?
Who have you been talking to?
At the moment, I’m talking to you, sir.
If the right buyer came along,
the bank would support a very favorable deal.
So, I’m starting with potential buyers who might be motivated.
Hmm. And what would be in it for you?
Well, for starters,
I’d… be a big hero with my employer for securing a buyer.
Being able to drill a nail in Charlie’s coffin would be an…
added bonus.
Well, as I said, emotion plays no part in my business decisions.
Will you excuse me?
Has anything improved since Wes Jordan got elected?
Look, it’s not rocket science.
He’s not returning my calls.
Preoccupied with some issues at work.
All the more reason he should take a meeting with the mayor.
I understand, Wes, but it can’t be today.
He’s having knee surgery. Could be out for a day or two.
Roger, look, we have an urgent situation here,
as does your man, Croker, so you need to get him in a room with me
so we can address our respective urgencies.
I’m, uh… I’m gathering that he knows… exactly who our sexual assaultee is?
Do you?
I do not.
Mr. Mayor, can you speak to Maggie?
Yes, I can.
Hello, Miss Maggie. How you doin’?
All right. That’s good to hear, that’s good to hear.
What do you mean, three to a cell?
The place is beyond overcrowded.
The bail is being arranged.
Roger White is working on a transfer.
It just might take a day or two.
There’s some red tape.
I’m not entirely comfortable with Charlie Croker putting up my bail.
Because?
It just…
doesn’t feel right.
I appreciate his help, but… taking his money?
Does being in here feel right?
I’m sorry.
Probably should’ve just taken the 60 days.
I was thinking about me.
I should’ve been thinking about you. Well, think about me now.
And our baby.
And the life we are meant to have.
The goal of the day is just to get you out.
Hey.
Thank you.
What do you mean we can’t post it?
The bank won’t wire any money or release any funds.
Not for bail…
Why not?
Because they’re freezing our assets.
Attaching real estate at every turn. It seems almost personal.
I think it’s coming from Zale.
Hey.
Hey.
What’s wrong?
We hit a little snag on the bond. Nothing we can’t fix.
But, Jill, we will fix it.
Where’s Charlie?
Almost there.
I’ll irrigate. Thank you.
O2 levels are stable.
Keep him steady…
Yes.
Abraca-fucking-dabra. There’s your motherfucking card, right there.
No.
This is your card.
That’s not my card.
This is your motherfuck…
Look me in the eye and tell me this is not your card.
One of these has to be. Did you pick a card?
All right.
What’s up with ya?
I told you which card you had. This is a mind game. This is a…
You want something?
No.
Why don’t you fuck off then?
Bullshit. Shit.
He gets rages.
Best not speak to him.
There you are.
Hey. My head’s up for you is heads down.
Don’t be attracting attention.
Excuse me.
I’m sorry.
He’s new too.
Watch it.
Lucky for you.
Sweet boy?
Hey, yo, my man! My man, I like those!
What’s your name?
I asked you your name.
Conrad.
See, yo!
You need anything, you let me know.
How you doing, Charlie?
Am I dead?
Of course you’re not dead. I don’t kill patients.
I had this sense, this absolute certainty, I had died.
You didn’t. You’ll be moved to a separate room this afternoon.
Walking tonight, discharged tonight or tomorrow, depending how you feel.
Would you like to see? Your knee?
Please.
So I need a remote control?
No. It’s programmed to be activated by pressing on a ball of your right foot.
You’ll be shown in rehab, and you’ll be able to do rehab
in your sleep with an iPhone app.
Dear God.
Cuts recovery time by nearly 50%.
It feel… It feels like science fiction.
Well, it’s not.
The knee you hurdled that linebacker with to win the national title,
this one’s better.
Doctor…
I… I’m still surprised you said yes.
I can’t remember the last time I went on a… date.
Me neither. I’m a little bit nervous.
I can see that.
I, uh… I suffer anxiety from time to time.
It’s probably why I went into banking. Not a lot of risk taking.
I heard you like risks.
I heard you took one with a Swedish trapeze artist.
What?
Well, Atlanta’s a big town, but Buckhead less so.
Ah.
Well, uh, she was Finnish, not Swedish,
and, uh, she worked, uh, for Nordstrom’s.
Although, I will happily accept the trapeze upgrade.
It makes me sound half interesting.
And is that what this, um… date is about, you being interesting?
‘Cause being seen in a restaurant with Charlie’s ex-wife, I…
Is he in play?
Is he with you?
Well, I asked you first.
Well, I… I can’t say for sure that he isn’t.
I have a complicated relationship with your ex-husband.
Such as?
Envy…
admiration…
some hate.
He has a way of making you feel like you don’t matter.
Not even one tiny speck of a bit.
Going on a date with his ex-wife would be…
Yeah. I would matter to him then.
But that’s not the reason for my interest.
Here we are. Enjoy.
Thank you.
At least, I don’t think.
What is?
What is what?
What is the reason for your interest?
You’re a beautiful woman.
And you strike me as kind.
It’s hard to find kind these days.
Beautiful and kind both?
It’s like…
Am I talking too much?
No, you’re talking just the right amount.
It’s policy, sir.
Not mine. I told you, I don’t do wheelchairs.
Charlie.
You heard the doc.
He wants me to walk on it.
Tomorrow.
He said tonight if I feel up to it, which I do.
Mr. Croker!
I don’t do wheelchairs!
Lights out in Cell Block 3.
Prisoners, stay in your bunk for head count.
Tell me about your wife, man.
Describe her to me.
Don’t.
Shut up Five-O.
If you describe her, he’ll visualize her when he self-recreates.
Man, I said shut the fuck up. Trying to have a conversation with my celly.
So, is she curvy? ‘Cause I bet she curvy.
Oh, I bet she curvy.
Oh, this motherfucker likes them curvy. No shade, no whatsoever.
I like a bitch curvier than a racetrack, so…
Come on, man, just… throw me a crumb.
Okay?
All I’ll say…
Yeah?
She’s the most beautiful woman I ever saw.
Fell in love with her the first time I saw her
like she was a… angel,
which… she is.
An angel.
Shit, that’s beautiful man, an angel.
Big titties?
Told you.
Shut the fuck up, man!
Shut the fuck up, Mutt!
No, I don’t shut up. You shut up!
I don’t shut…
Y’all being disrespectful.
Bullshit!
He’s here? Now?
In the conference room. He wants a meet, like a sit-down.
Do we know why?
He knows he’s done for.
He’s looking for mercy.
Do we extend it?
No, we need to hold down the fort.
People like Croker, should he survive, you and me won’t.
We’d walk out of here as eunuchs.
Our balls in the jar on his mantle underneath the mounted head
of some poor elk who bled out
while seeing that shithead fornicating in its bullet hole.
He wants to Humpty Dumpty himself back onto the wall.
We cannot let that happen.
You ever wrestle, Raymond?
No.
Play any sports?
No, I was more, you know, the chess club.
Well, I wrestled. It taught me a lot of things about life.
One of them, you get your opponent on the mat, you do not let him up.
You called for the meeting, Mr. Croker, you have the floor.
When you seize a man’s assets,
when you humiliate him in front of business associates,
in front of his family, repossess his Gulfstream…
…it is a war.
I don’t need to tell you in war, any war, nobody wins.
Some lose more than others.
In this case…
probably me.
But I called this meeting in an effort to stave off our…
…Gettysburg.
I would like to work this out.
Ooh-wee.
You know what I think?
I think that pretty young wife of yours is smarter than I gave her credit for.
‘Cause what you just said, I recognize wife advice when I hear it.
Smart advice at that.
Here, I thought she was kind of a bimbo, one of them trophy gals.
Damn good wife advice.
And the advice you, no doubt, got from your boss,
Arthur Longley, is make a deal.
PlannersBanc stands to lose half a billion in write offs at least.
I suspect your boss directed you to find some common ground.
Having a bit of trouble hearing you at this distance.
Wanna crawl on over and whisper it in my ear?
I bet the both of you’d love to go back and say, “Gee, we tried,
but the bastard done challenged us to a fist fight in the parking lot,”
which is why you baited me.
Calling my wife a bimbo…
…trophy.
Well, guess what?
My better judgment…
…which I don’t typically call upon,
says don’t give you the satisfaction.
That’s exactly what I’m gonna do, Harry.
And you have a choice to make.
‘Cause I’m either going to kick your ass in the parking lot,
or I’ll do so right here in this conference room.
Well, I’ll be.
You challenge me like that on one good wheel.
That’s what I call a dropped tailgate.
Here’s what’s funny.
Your brand new knee, I am told it’s a clinical trial,
experimental whoopee-doo, one insurance doesn’t cover.
You know what that means, Chucky?
You bought it with our money.
We don’t just own your business.
We own your knee.
Isn’t that a bugger? We got your balls.
You’ve taken your shot.
Now, I’m gonna take the bank’s.
You will turn over your deeds
in lieu of a foreclosure.
That will spare you the public humiliation.
You can keep your house, your knee.
Everything else goes to us.
You can go fuck yourself!
Wrong answer… but the one I was hoping for.
I know I gave him exactly what he wanted.
What came over you?
I just… snapped!
I felt so reduced.
Then I saw Raymond Peepgrass smile out of the corner of my eye.
I could…
Let’s meet with Wes.
Towards what end?
Let’s hear him out.
I gave him exactly what he wanted.
♪ Uptown got its hustlers ♪
♪ The Bowery got its bums ♪
{\an8}♪ 42nd Street got big Jim Walker He a pool-shootin’ son of a gun ♪
♪ Yeah, he big and dumb As a man can come ♪
♪ But he stronger than a country hoss ♪
♪ And when the bad folks All get together at night ♪
♪ You know they all call big Jim “Boss,” ♪
♪ Just because… ♪
♪ There’s a saying ♪
♪ You don’t tug on Superman’s cape ♪
♪ You don’t spit into the wind ♪
♪ You don’t pull the mask off That old Lone Ranger ♪
♪ And you don’t mess around with Slim… ♪
♪ Yeah, Big Jim got his hat ♪
♪ Find out where it’s at It’s not hustlin’ people strange to you ♪
♪ Even if you do got A two piece custom-made pool cue ♪
Hey.
Hey.
What you doin’?
Ah, just sittin’. Listenin’ to them cicadas.
You think they’re laughin’?
Could be.
I heard once
a man reaches the point where he’s over,
that ain’t the tragedy.
Tragedy is he refuses to recognize it.
You’re not over, babe.
Yes.
I never went in for all that legacy crap.
I just want, when I go, for people to say, “There goes a big man.”
Like that song you like, “Big Bad John.”
Yeah.
I can’t go out small.
The thing about putting through windmills,
don’t ever think about what’s on the other side of them.
You said the same thing about the castle moat.
Well, that’s a life rule with castle moats.
With windmills, it’s only mini golf.
Got it.
The other thing,
and I learned this from my uncle…
Uh-oh.
…you got to hike your pants up real high.
What?
Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
Oh my God.
Yeah.
All right. Let’s see it.
Oh!
Ha.
Yes!
Yeah, yeah.
Whoo!
Please remain seated until your captain removes
the fasten seatbelt sign.
Good one.
Can I walk you to your front door?
Well, I’m not inviting you in.
I don’t wanna be invited in. I’m not even sure I’ll make the door.
I had fun.
Again.
Me too.
You know, I, uh, kind of picked mini golf
because it’s a bit high school.
Um, my first kiss ever.
Windmill.
And now I feel like I’m tilting at one.
Well, you can relax.
I haven’t been kissed in over 20 years.
Not really, anyway.
And now I’m completely daunted.
Don’t be.
Kinda like the windmill. Just don’t think about what’s on the other side.
You know, some of the best kisses,
the lips barely even touch.
I can’t believe that.
Okay, I can believe…
I’m still not inviting you in.
That’s actually a relief.
Go home.
Yes.
But call.
Yes.
Now, get.
Night.
Night.
♪ Everybody needs a friend ♪
♪ One that’s true to the end ♪
♪ When you need me, I’ll come through ♪
♪ Cause I know just what to do… ♪
What kinda complications?
Most of Croker’s Georgia state assets are in the process of being frozen.
We have out-of-state assets, but for bail, the bond has to come from within Georgia.
So we gotta open accounts, secure the bond before the funds get locked.
It’ll get it done.
Roger, why are you doing it?
It’s just a bond. You don’t think I’m capable?
Of course you’re capable, but there are criminal lawyers.
And with all that Charlie’s got going on,
I would think he would need your undivided attention.
And he’s getting it.
This case is important.
Obviously to Conrad, but to me too.
You wanna be the guy.
I don’t know what that means.
It means you wanna be the guy fighting this fight.
This fight appeals to you.
I certainly appreciate you coming in.
I can also appreciate that we may differ some on our politics.
I’m here, Mr. Mayor.
And this is obviously, a delicate situation,
one that requires some discretion.
Norman Bagovitch becoming mayor
has the potential to do enormous damage to this city.
I’m sure we can both agree on that.
How can I be of help?
Yeah. I’m getting to that. Here, sit down.
You’re the 60-minute man.
You enjoy a… a… a great deal of celebrity here in Georgia.
A good will that I hope to trade on. The problem, you’re going bankrupt.
And should that become public, your… your celebrity, your word,
your power of influence, it all becomes compromised.
So we need to move with efficiency here.
I am not going bankrupt.
It would be best if you checked your bullshit at the door.
I know a lot of what goes on at PlannersBanc.
We, and I’m talking about the city here,
we keep a lot of our deposits, municipal deposits, at this bank.
I’m talking about hundreds and millions of dollars they can lend
based on those deposits.
They will do a lot to keep me happy.
If you were to damage Norman Bagovitch’s mayoral prospects,
the city of Atlanta would be indebted to you.
I would be indebted to you.
Spit it out, Your Honor.
I will modulate my spit at my own pace.
Coffee?
I believe that PlannersBanc…
…will find it in their long-term interest as a part of this city
to restructure your debt load in some significant fashion,
should you please me.
And how do I do that?
You out that cocksucker Bagovitch as a sexual predator.
And don’t tell me you don’t know shit. You’re a man who knows shit.
I certainly recognize it when it’s staring me in the face.
Listen, I don’t care
if you give a fuck about me
or even Atlanta,
but I will trust that you care about yourself.
You can go down as Charlie Croker, Georgian and American hero
or you can go down as one of the biggest deadbeats in the history
of commercial real estate in Atlanta.
You reveal Bagovitch to be a predator. You reveal who the woman is.
I take it you know.
Not for a certainty.
Then go with the rumor. Just make it stick.
You out Bagovitch, you get the victim to aid you in this endeavor,
and your troubles at PlannersBanc become mitigated.
How exactly would this work?
Well, I’ll figure that out,
but first, I need to know,
are you in?
I need to think on it.
All right. Fine.
Think on it.
Pray on it,
but do so quickly.
Should you lose credibility…
…you become no good to me.
It’s a pivotal moment in Atlanta’s history…
and yours.
Tick, tick, tick.
Hey. Can you hear me? Hey!
Hey, somebody get down here. He’s bleeding.
I’ve got an inmate down in Cell Block 3. I need medical attention.
I need help. Come on.
Where y’all at?
Code blue in Cell Block 3.
Code blue in Cell Block 3.
Sir, can you hear me? Can you tell me your first name?
Is there any pain when I touch your belly? Get the infirmary.
Partially diminished left side…
Anybody see what happened?
No? Nothing?
Set me up with a second line, large bore IV.
You? What happened here?
No.
He’s crazy. Jackpot.
He can survive…
He’s the whole thing, right? He’s so generous.
Gentlemen, ready to order?
I’m here.
Thanks for meeting me.
What do you want?
Bonjour, madame.
Could you please give us a minute?
I’ll flip it back over when we’re ready.
I’m busy, so just lay it out.
Wow! That how you wow them with your clean girl charm?
I know you too well, Charlie.
Really?
Gee, I didn’t think you knew anybody too well.
Wait, I’ve got that wrong, didn’t I?
Nobody knows you. Not fully.
You might be the most hermetically-sealed person we got goin’.
What is it you want?
Norman Bagovitch is a liar, a crook, and a rapist.
Lying crooks are electable.
Rapists, not so much.
For the good of Georgia, we need someone who was sexually assaulted
by him to step forward.
So, I’m looking at you.
He didn’t rape me.
Right.
He didn’t.
Joyce.
Remove your hand, or I will stab it with my fork.
I can appreciate your career’s all bound up in your facade,
but there’s a greater good.
What’s yours?
I wanna help Atlanta.
And, of course, America.
Even for you, that’s such…
I’m only asking you to speak the truth.
I know a little bit of what happened. Some of it, I even got from Norm.
The truth is I had a sexual encounter with Norm Bagovitch
twenty-five or so years ago.
It was consensual.
I don’t think so. You forget, I also know Veronica Sherman.
Veronica is mistaken.
Again, I don’t think so.
Joyce, we do not want that bag of shit to be mayor.
You can stop the evil.
You are really something.
Um, so I’ve been told. What are you?
There are mysteries, and there are mysteries.
I regret my encounter with Norm Bagovitch.
If he were to approach me today, I’d likely have the same message for him
as I do now for you.
I suspect you know exactly what that message is.
Joyce, the train is moving.
You can either be on it
or under it.
Take care.
Thanks very much.
I don’t know how I let you talk me into this shit.
How’d that guy ever get to be mayor? Schemes like that.
I gotta tell you, Roger,
I thought Morehouse turned out higher pedigree stuff.
Do you know what tomorrow is?
It’s “shit hits the fan” day, like every other damn day.
It’s also Take Your Daughter to Work Day.
Oh.
You gonna be bringing Cara in?
No, I’m not.
I have never wanted to do that.
Why not?
There’s the question.
This is an honorable place of business, Roger.
I surround myself with honorable people.
You, Jill, Wiz.
It’s an honorable place.
And it needs to survive. So let’s collect our heads and figure out a path forward.
Hold on.
Do not think…
that I don’t pick up on your tone.
And Wiz’s tone.
Goddamn everybody’s tone.
I hear it all in your voices, and I see it on your faces.
“He is not in a good way.”
And I agree with you.
You all got it goddamn right.
Boy’s gonna be all right, but that wasn’t a smart move.
How did I fuck up? I ain’t even say his name or anything.
The fact you said something, man. Shit, what did I tell you?
Keep your head down and don’t go attracting any attention.
I couldn’t just do nothing.
It’s exactly what you fucking do.
Doing nothing is what keeps your ass alive, man.
Bronx Rotto looked like he wanted to fuck you up.
Rules are different in here, man.
You need to leave that Good Samaritan shit outside.
I just need to listen to what’s inside me.
Oh yeah? How’s that working out for you?
♪ If I catch you, better pray You catch a blessing today ♪
♪ Yeah… ♪
What’s that?
That is Rapmaster.
He was a musician.
Till he caved somebody’s head in with a hammer.
♪ If I catch you, better pray You catch a blessing today ♪
♪ I’m in here rebuking all the demons Pray to God I know we’re in allegiance ♪
♪ Grew up out the concrete, the cement To survive, I had to be strategic ♪
♪ White folks tryna take my freedom ♪
♪ Say they got my back, I don’t believe ’em, Cap, Cap! ♪
♪ Cap, Cap, Cap, Cap, Cap, Cap! ♪
♪ I be strapped, if you from where I was from, boy, you’d adapt ♪
♪ If you try me and my family… ♪
They singing that to me?
If the shoe fit…
♪ If I catch you, better pray You catch a blessing today ♪
♪ If I catch you, better pray You catch a blessing today ♪
♪ It’s a lot of backwards action runnin’ So, we gonna get you straight ♪
♪ It’s a lot of backwards action Round this hoe, we gon get you straight… ♪
Joyce.
Norman.
♪ I’m in here rebuking all the demons Pray to God I know we’re in allegiance ♪
♪ Grew up out the concrete, the cement. To survive, I had to be strategic ♪
♪ White folks tryna to take my freedom Say they got my back, I don’t believe em ♪
♪ Cap, Cap, Cap! ♪
♪ If I catch you, better pray You catch a blessing today. ♪
♪ If I catch you, better pray You catch a blessing today. ♪
♪ It’s a lot of backwards action Round this hoe, we gon get you straight ♪
♪ Lot of backwards action Round this hoe, we gon get you straight ♪
♪ I’m in here rebuking all the demons Pray to god I know we’re undefeated ♪
♪ Long as I’m alive, I’m in allegiance ♪
♪ Grew up out the concrete, the cement To survive, I had to be strategic ♪
♪ White folks trying to take my freedom Say they got my back, I don’t believe em ♪
♪ Cap! Cap! Cap! Cap! Cap! Cap! Cap! Cap! ♪
♪ I be strapped, if you from Where I was from, boy, you’d adapt ♪
♪ If you try me and my family, nigga I ain’t gone cut you slack ♪
♪ Ain’t no “my bad”, no “my fault” No “sorry”, matter of fact ♪
♪ If I catch you, better pray You catch a blessing today ♪
♪ If I catch you, better pray You catch a blessing today ♪
♪ It’s a lot of backwards action Round this hoe, we gon get you straight ♪
♪ Lot of backwards action Round this how, we gon get you straight ♪
♪ See, my night light is that light post Outside tryna stack dough ♪
♪ As a young, nigga, I ain’t get no sleep I was taking care of my household ♪
♪ Mama can’t work enough jobs And my pop’s a nigga I don’t even know ♪
♪ Ain’t shit to lose, I risk it all Just to die rich, tired of living broke ♪
♪ Look at the pros and cons Either you ball or end up in jail ♪
♪ It’s either the pros or cons ♪
♪ Niggas don’t find they calling Sit in a cell ♪
♪ Press my luck, pick up the mic ♪
♪ Start making hits like Tyson Fighting indictments ♪
♪ Finally, I’m winnin’ in life, nigga Don’t make me get sentenced for life ♪
♪ Cuz ain’t no justice, it’s just us That means you and I ♪
♪ And since justice is blind Nigga, it’s eye for an eye ♪
♪ Say lil bro You can’t play me for no hoe ♪
♪ I’m a man man Disrespect get you on shirt ♪
♪ That’s your own brand This one for my niggas ♪
♪ That’s tryna make it right ♪
♪ ‘Cause it’s always some hoes out here Tryna take your life ♪
♪ If I catch you, better pray You catch a blessing today ♪
♪ If I catch you, better pray You catch a blessing today ♪
♪ It’s a lot of backwards action Round this hoe, we gon get you straight ♪
♪ Lot of backwards action Round this hoe, we gon get you straight ♪
