* I'm on a new level
* I'm on a new level...
MALE ANNOUNCER: Welcome, New York City
to the Titanfall
North American finals!
(crowd cheering)
BULL: I had no idea you were into gaming, Chunk,
but I get it.
Nothing inspires a sense of tribalism
like sports.
Competition, Chunk, it's is in our DNA.
Yeah, and the costumes are fun, too.
Tommy.
Hey, Mr. Palmer, welcome. Thanks.
Wait till you see Team DV8, they're incredible.
And the team captain? He's inhuman.
MALE ANNOUNCER: ...the greatest eSports player in the world
will be leading the unstoppable team
in another Titanfall 2 final.
Can the underdog, Team Quadrocon...
(sighs) You okay?
I don't think so.
I think I'm...
awesome!
(teammates cheering)
Who's gonna do this?!
TEAM: We are! JACE: When we gonna do it?!
Forever! (whoops)
(fans cheering)
Good luck. Not gonna need it.
MALE ANNOUNCER: Team DV8!
Led by team captain, Jace Rundle!
(crowd cheering)
In just a few minutes, ladies and gentlemen,
you will see all the drama up on this large screen...
70 million people are watching this online.
Tonight's finals is bigger than the World Series,
so how can so many people not know about this?
'Cause they got their heads up their asses, man.
Hey. (chuckles)
MALE ANNOUNCER: Three, two,
one!
(crowd cheering)
CHUNK: Yeah!
(whoops, laughs)
MALE ANNOUNCER: Jace Rundle draws first blood.
FEMALE ANNOUNCER: And that, folks, is the reason that Jace
is the number-one player in the world.
Oh! You see that?
(laughs)
With a $3 million cash prize and the title at stake,
can Team Quadrocon stop Jace Rundle and Team DV8?
MALE ANNOUNCER: Highly unlikely.
Jace in front prepares for the shot.
He takes aim.
What?! He misses that shot?!
Come on, man.
Can't believe that.
That is surprising.
Jace held back there, missing an opportunity.
It appears the mighty are falling.
They'll pull it out. Just-just hold on.
MALE ANNOUNCER: Dewey creates an opening for Jace to take a shot.
I'm down to 20%.
Take the shot, Jace!
What are you waiting for?
MALE ANNOUNCER: Jace hesitates and Dewey goes down.
Damn it! I'm down.
MALE ANNOUNCER: Things are going really bad for DV8. Oh!
Can Jace make this shot and keep DV8 alive?
FEMALE ANNOUNCER: Quadrocon readies for escape.
Jace has them in his sights.
He misses!
Oh, my God, he missed.
He missed! Man.
MALE ANNOUNCER: Quadrocon escapes,
and they win!
What a surprise victory!
FEMALE ANNOUNCER: Oh, my God.
Team DV8 has been beaten.
Quadrocon won $3 million?
It's quite the upset.
This isn't an upset;
this is the Patriots losing to Oshkosh High.
MALE ANNOUNCER: A heartbreaking defeat for DV8.
This was an epic choke.
What the hell, man?
I missed, okay?
No, nobody misses a shot like that
unless they're trying to.
MALE ANNOUNCER: Wow. A titan has fallen.
A dynasty overthrown.
This was an epic, and I mean epic, choke
by the greatest gaming team
in history. His mama's gonna be so disappointed in him.
Hmm.
WOMAN: Was that for real?
MAN: That was a crazy choke, man.
MAN 2: You think he threw the game?
(overlapping voices) MAN 3: That was crazy, man.
Jace Rundle's never missed a shot like that.
(overlapping voices continue)
There was over $200 million in bets
riding on the championship,
and when Team DV8 lost, so did millions of fans.
But that was just the first of many shocking twists.
I've got nothing else to say.
Jace Rundle threw the game intentionally.
There's no other explanation.
I've suspended him from the team.
No more questions.
That is a huge accusation from team owner Vin Creuster.
A charge which Jace flatly denies.
Vin's a liar. I didn't throw the game.
And anyone who knows me, knows that.
Three months later, Jace has found himself unemployed
and a pariah in the league.
He's fighting back with a $20 million defamation suit
against his former boss, Vin Creuster.
Everyone in the eGamer-verse will be paying attention
to how this case unfolds. Hmm.
I don't think "eGamer-verse" is in the dictionary.
(chuckles)
Benny uses a dictionary.
MARISSA: We are representing Jace, who is the plaintiff,
so a change of pace for us.
The good news is, we present our case first.
The bad news is, we have the burden of proof
that Vin defamed Jace when he said that
Jace threw the game.
We have to convince ten out of 12 jurors that Vin's comments
cost Jace his career.
Not easy to do.
Well, it's clear that it cost him his job.
Vin fired him. Well, how do we know that Jace didn't throw the game?
But Vin hasn't provided
any evidence to back up his accusation.
Is there actually $20 million in the whole sport?
There's billions in it.
I mean, Vin's team alone
is valued at $40 million.
And that's after he fired Jace.
I'm sure you're all over it.
No, not this game, it's too addictive.
What's the story behind that?
It's none of your business.
Well, I'm way into the 'Fall.
Into what?
Titanfall, that's the name of the game.
And it's electrifying.
I think it's the dawn of a whole new era in sports.
Right now the problem with this sport is
team owners like Vin, they can accuse players
like Jace of anything, and the players have no recourse.
So, let's put together some mock juries... (knocks table)
see who agrees. Mm.
eSports.
(over speaker): The biggest sport you never heard of.
Tops players
make millions of dollars a year.
From playing video games.
WOMAN: Excuse me, Dr. Bull?
BENNY: When the stakes are that high,
calling someone a cheater can have devastating consequences.
You must be Abigail Walsh,
of Schuster, Denton & Hart.
ABIGAIL: This is my client, Jace Rundle,
number-one gamer in the world.
JACE: Good to meet you, Doc.
This is, uh, Marissa Morgan.
Number-one algorithmer in the world.
She says you're the best.
According to Don Schuster.
BULL: Well, Don and I handled the NHL renegotiations.
Helped about a dozen players out of some sticky situations
over the years. But no eSports.
ABIGAIL: Uh, whatever the context,
I find every trial comes down to the same dynamic:
selling the jury.
That's funny.
I find every trial has a different dynamic.
Jace,
would you mind excusing us for just a moment?
Just when it's getting good.
Jace, why don't I show you around?
Excuse us. Thank you, Marissa.
When, um, Don suggested,
actually, insisted I hire you,
I protested.
Not because I don't value your services,
but because I don't believe I need them.
Well, they couldn't hurt.
Handling the first big eSports case?
A win for Jace would mean a lot of new gamer clients.
A windfall that Schuster will attribute to you.
Are you afraid you won't get credit?
Let's establish some rules.
(chuckling): Oh, okay.
If we disagree, I get the final call.
And if you try to poison my client against me,
then I will do everything in my power
to see that you get fired.
I accept your rules,
if you'll accept mine.
I'll let you take the credit,
but if you don't take my advice,
you also have to take the blame.
I'm a big girl.
I'm okay with calling you "boss" in front of Jace,
if it helps.
Welcome to my team.
And you can call me Abigail.
Sure thing, boss.
BULL: Pebble Beach?
St. Andrews?
Ooh, how about something hard?
Bethpage Black, from the tips.
Okay.
She, uh, read you the riot act?
I get the feeling she didn't play a lot of
team sports growing up, but she likes games.
Which brings us to the question of the day...
Did I throw the game? Hmm.
BULL: Very unorthodox swing, but nice drive.
A slight fade might've helped you with the virtual wind.
If you didn't throw the game...
...how'd you lose?
JACE: The same way Steph Curry
or Cam Newton do it,
by having the worst day of my life.
Playing a draw sets up the approach better.
Why didn't you join another team?
Vin blacklisted me.
Nothing official or anything,
but I guess the other owners bought into his lie.
Overnight,
I went from number one to nothing.
This game,
this team,
it was my life.
When I was four, my mom bought me a used game console on eBay.
I never stopped playing.
It was an escape?
From the crappy one-bedroom
row house with six people inside?
Yeah.
Nice shot.
I'm still gonna win.
You all right?
I'm fine.
BULL: Yipped it.
Jace? Mm-hmm?
For some people, winning is an addiction,
it's physiological, it's in their blood.
And for other people? It's psychological.
It's something they... need.
But you losing intentionally?
I don't think you're capable of it.
All right. Now that you know I didn't throw the game,
double or nothing.
Because you know what?
Seems like you have to win just as much as I do.
Captioning sponsored by CBS
BENNY: This is Jace's gameplay from that night.
I can't tell whether he's trying or not.
How do we prove to the jury that he didn't throw the game?
We'll get experts to dissect the moves for the jury.
Testify that Jace's play was inconsistent with someone
who was intentionally losing.
No, because then they'll get experts
to testify that he was trying to lose.
Can't win a case on dueling experts.
We're asking the wrong questions.
It's not, "Did he intentionally lose?"
It's, "Could he intentionally lose?"
We put his character on trial.
The other side will.
They'll say he's a cheater.
So, our strategy is to paint Jace as a competitor
who wants to win so badly, he could never throw a game.
Hmm, talk to his teammates.
Get them to testify to that.
We'll need a better mock jury pool.
They still haven't landed on the right configuration.
Let's cast a wider net: gamers, sports fans,
cheaters and people who hate cheaters.
On it.
Let's see where Danny is with the money.
$200 million was bet on this game.
At 25 to one odds, somebody won big time.
Making sure Jace is clean?
And let's find who's dirty.
ABIGAIL: So, you're the expert.
What's their jury move going to be?
Vin's the team owner, the man in charge.
Oh, so they'll stack the jury
with people who respect Vin as the boss:
authority figures.
Who do you want to see on the jury?
Well, initially I was thinking sports players, but now...
people who resent authority.
Our mock trials showed only one group
consistently sided with Jace: people with horrible bosses.
They think Vin shafted him,
and they want to see him pay for the daily indignities
they suffer under their own horrible bosses.
Ah, I can work with that,
but there's one small snag:
the judge's docket is backed up,
so he's going with a blind strike voir dire
to speed things up.
I love the blind strike.
JACE: What the hell's a blind strike?
Well, normally, attorneys take turns
striking jurors in open court, but...
ABIGAIL: But with blind strikes,
each side makes their lists in private.
Then we give them to the judge at the same time,
so we have to guess who the other side will strike.
So, you could waste a strike on the same juror.
The dreaded double strike, which...
Which we do everything we can to avoid.
How do you do that?
By getting the other side to...
Oh, I'm sorry, would you like to finish?
Only if you need me to.
By getting the other side to strike jurors for us.
(gavel strikes)
JUDGE: Ms. Walsh, your jury.
She can pull off a purple power suit.
(click, beeps)
All right, Marissa, I'm plugged in and ready.
First up. Walter: 42, architect,
buttoned-up, dots his "I"s crosses his "T"s.
His boss took credit for one of his designs,
and won an industry award.
He almost jumped out of his chair
when the judge banged the gavel.
Makes me think he might have a problem with authority.
Getting intel on a comm?
Cool.
We want Walter, so that means
the defense will want to strike him.
Mm, which is why we expose his stickler side,
make him look like a guy who hates breaking
even the smallest of rules,
and that way the defense will want him, too,
'cause they'll think he has respect for the boss's rules.
Do typos and grammatical mistakes bother you?
They're annoying.
What about punctuation errors? Not my favorite.
Ending sentences with prepositions?
Please.
Let's just say I don't like them, okay?
BULL: Looks like they took the bait.
You're devious; I love it.
Five minutes left, guys.
Okay. One strike left.
Arlo or Connie.
Arlo, 43. VP of a cosmetics company.
His department has the highest turnover rate of the company,
and possibly the world.
Oh, epitome of the horrible boss.
He'll love Vin. Strike.
I agree we don't want him, but you got him
to admit that he likes playing Frisbee,
a sport he likened to Titanfall.
So, they'll use a strike on him.
No need for us to waste one on Arlo.
Unless they don't, then we're stuck with him.
They'll strike him.
Vin's attorney isn't a risk-taker.
He won't mind giving up a strike to get his way.
I won't take the risk, either.
We strike Arlo.
We need to strike Connie.
MARISSA: Connie's 65, secretary by day,
animal activist by night.
Takes in rescues and attends animal rights rallies.
BULL: She sees herself as a saver of lives.
She'll have little patience for those who take them,
virtual or otherwise.
We strike Connie, they strike Arlo.
One juror can kill
our entire case.
Connie's a question mark.
Arlo is poison.
I hate question marks.
I agree with Bull.
Do I have to leave again?
I just want to win.
Me, too.
Okay, guys, clock's ticking.
Well, that makes three of us.
If Bull is wrong, which believe it or not, is possible,
then Arlo will infect the entire jury.
I need to go with my gut here.
We strike Arlo
and we take our chances with Connie.
Do we need to revisit the ground rules?
You're the boss.
Okay, juror 22, thank you for your service.
Arlo, you're excused.
Number 23, could you please take his seat.
They struck Arlo.
We both did; the dreaded double strike,
and now we're stuck with Connie.
So much for your gut.
Abigail was right.
We had no shot with Arlo on the jury...
but if she'd trusted me,
we would've avoided Connie, too.
Trust has to be earned, I guess.
JACE: Connie's looking at me
like I'm stuck on the bottom of her shoe.
BULL: Well, then...
it's a good thing we love challenges, isn't it?
(distant siren wailing)
Oh.
Hey, I like the scruff.
Things have changed since you graduated
from being a field agent.
I guess you can do what you want,
now that you're the big SAC.
I prefer...
Special Agent in Charge.
Made it easier to get you what you wanted.
You'd be amazed how much gambling is in sports.
The game had millions bet on it.
Most of the betting on the game was underground.
Bahamas-based supply packaging companies...
fronts for offshore gambling.
That's a lot of bets,
but I'm not seeing anything over 20 grand.
Follow the credit cards.
There's some repeat offenders there.
Must have been intense playing with Jace.
Understatement of the year.
The guy practiced 16 hours a day.
So did we just to keep up with him.
If he made the tiniest slip, he'd beat himself up,
like it was all on his shoulders.
Any chance he threw it?
I've been asking myself that,
but if you saw him right after the game,
he was in shock.
You'll testify to that?
Yeah, if it'd do any good.
Why wouldn't it?
Our team was pretty special.
We won the championship four times in a row,
but Vin broke us up just to punish Jace.
Even if Jace wins the case,
we'll never get the team back.
Ask Yuna. She'll tell you the same thing.
YUNA: It's not like Dewey's
a bad team leader, he's trying,
and clearly, he likes being in charge, but...
He's no Jace.
Dewey's young.
Jace is old, like, 25.
(laughs)
And Jace knew how to make us want to win,
you know, play as a team.
And we tried harder
because we didn't want to let him down.
You don't think he lost intentionally.
No, no. No, he wanted it too badly.
He was just a bit off that day, that's all.
You miss him.
We all lived together in a gaming house.
Worked, played, practiced, 24/7.
But nothing ever happened between us.
Jace was very clear;
he didn't want anything to interfere with the team dynamic.
What about now?
The second he was gone, Vin excommunicated him.
No texts, calls, nothing.
So, yeah, I... I miss him.
Sorry, I won't get this emotional
No. on the stand.
I want you to be exactly like this.
Don't change a thing.
You're gonna be a perfect character witness for Jace.
I'm an avid gardener.
I rescue distressed animals.
I listen to heavy metal.
The mirror jurors are evenly split after opening statements.
Connie is leading the dark side.
Well, let's bring her to the light.
Ever heard of the IKEA effect?
I imagine I'm going to.
It's a cognitive bias
where consumers place a higher value
on a thing they have put work into.
Like building furniture; it makes them like it more
than if they bought it assembled.
We get Connie to invest in Jace
by enjoying the video game Titanfall,
she'll be converted by the end of the trial.
Hey, so, I called in a favor from a friend at the Bureau.
Thousands of bets were made on the big game, but mostly small.
When I started cross-reffing some of the larger ones,
I found several were from corporate sells,
that, um, all came from the same offshore bank.
Someone wanted to bury a big bet. How much?
500 grand, but all against Jace.
The odds were 25 to one; he was unbeatable.
No one would risk that unless it was a sure thing.
That gives Jace a very good reason to lose.
Your lawyer's here.
Actually, I'm not a lawyer.
So I'm gonna go.
Go where?
Anywhere without lawyers.
(sighs)
She's a keeper.
This isn't what she signed up for.
(laughs) I can imagine.
I know about the bet.
What bet?
One hour before the match that you lost,
someone put $500,000 down on the other team.
At 25 to one, that's...
$12.5 million.
Who would make that bet?
Should've been 50 to one.
You think I placed the bet and tanked the match.
I did when I sat down.
Something change your mind?
It's called the Pinocchio effect.
When a person lies,
there's a slight increase in temperature
to the nose and orbital muscle,
causes a little bit of redness.
No red nose,
plus you scratched your neck.
Which means?
You're wondering the same thing.
So, who's $12.5 million richer?
That's the question. We're gonna keep digging.
You know, Vin says the only way you could've lost this match
is if you'd thrown it.
He's never played it, so he doesn't get it,
but anyone who actually gives it a chance, they love it.
And if you really love it, why the hell would you ever
throw a game?
Then let's get the jury to love it.
So, what are we looking at here?
An introduction to the masterpiece known as Titanfall,
a sci-fi fantasy first-person shooter game.
Two teams of four fight each other
until one team has destroyed the other's base.
To be successful, you need teamwork, strategy.
ABIGAIL: Like most companies?
Yeah, but we slay enemy forces,
save civilians. It's... fantasy.
But still, it's-it's just a game.
Why are so many people attracted to it?
JACE: You get to be a heroic warrior who saves mankind.
For a lot of people,
it beats the hell out of real life.
So, could we
play the game right now?
Yeah, sure.
Just touch your screen to start.
Customize your character to reflect your own personality.
Just let your imagination run wild.
That's what made me fall in love with the game.
Now, though, it's all about the competition.
Okay, I chose my avatar.
Everyone choose theirs?
Not yet, hold on.
Hold on.
Oh, all right, take your time.
We'll wait.
(scattered laughter)
I have to say, you were good in there.
I thought it went well.
I get the feeling you think I'm the enemy.
We're allies, you know.
Sounds like you want me to sign a treaty.
Well, I happen to know
this great restaurant called Versailles.
(chuckles)
You're cute.
But I don't date employees.
Oh, boy.
(gunfire on video game)
BENNY: (groans) Crap!
Did I just die again?
You'll-you'll respawn in a minute.
But a pro tip: don't block with your face.
Right, I respawn.
Not sure I want to do that. (grunts)
Oh! Killer in the house.
I knew you played. Why'd you stop?
I told you, it was too addictive.
She is so lying.
Did you see how she kind of moved her head a little bit?
Uh-huh. Oh, yeah.
Uh-huh. There was a guy involved.
Come on. Okay, yes.
Wes. Wes?
He was just this stupid guy that I had a crush on.
A game designer
that got hooked on his own product,
very ironically,
and soon, that's all he was doing--
eating and sleeping
in front of the screen.
I had to get out.
Ah, crap. There you go. I died again.
Mm, yeah. Good game.
Great game. Mm-hmm.
I'm gonna go see how they're doing in court.
(laughs)
(whispers): Is that Wes?
Shh. That's the dude.
No... No, that's him.
That's your ex.
Ooh. Enough.
He... he knows where you're at.
You should really get Wes to analyze Jace's gameplay.
Hundreds, if not thousands of gamers
have analyzed the footage and not one expert
has said that Jace deliberately threw the finals.
What do you think, Mendel?
No way he threw it.
Jace hated to lose.
And he would never hurt the team.
Why would Mr. Gallico make such an accusation?
MENDEL: I couldn't say.
He and Jace had a lot of disagreements.
The owners make millions.
Jace wanted us
to get a bigger piece of the pie.
Not surprisingly, Vin disagreed.
ABIGAIL: You are one of the best players in the world,
so I'm assuming that means you have
one of the highest salaries. No, I don't
make as much as some of the players on other teams.
Then why not go play for one of those other teams?
MENDEL: I have a non-compete clause in my contract.
I'm not allowed to play for another team
for three years if I leave.
But like I said, I'm not complaining.
Because you know what happens if you do complain?
You get defamed, fired, and blacklisted.
Objection!
ABIGAIL: Withdrawn.
Nothing further.
Sounds like my boss.
I do all the work, he makes all the money.
Never thought I'd feel sorry for these guys.
Roger's hating on Vin.
Yep. Heart rates are elevated,
biometrics show agitation.
The mirrors have moved to eight to four,
but Connie isn't budging.
What happened to the IKEA effect?
Playing the game should have given her
more appreciation for what Jace does.
That ungrateful brat is getting paid
to play video games.
She clearly doesn't build enough furniture.
We'll have to try a new strategy for her.
Well, our next witness is Yuna.
Yuna's been prepped to speak Connie's language.
Yuna, would you say you know Jace
better than anyone?
He's my best friend.
ABIGAIL: Can you tell us what happened
during the championship game?
He made a mistake.
It happens to all of us.
Thank you. Nothing further.
Had you ever witnessed
Jace make a mistake before that night?
Yeah, a-a few.
Five, a hundred, a thousand?
Closer to five.
You don't get to be world number one
by making a lot of mistakes.
And how many mistakes did he make during the finals?
He-he made a few. A few?
Five, a hundred...
Closer to five. He had a bad night.
If in one night,
he made the same number of mistakes as he'd made
in the previous six years,
it sounds like something much more than a bad night.
MARISSA: Biometrics are shifting.
Jurors are feeling uneasy with this.
BULL: Yuna will be fine.
As long as she sticks to the script.
So, Miss Kim,
over the course of six years of play,
Jace Rundle had a record
of 118 wins and 12 losses.
How do you explain this bad night?
He told me before the game he had a headache.
ATTORNEY: A headache?
That's why he lost?
At our level, gamers need to be 100%.
Any little thing can throw us off.
CHUNK: This is new, she didn't mention that.
So much for the script.
Her mouth may be smiling, but her eyes aren't,
and her speech baseline's changed to third person.
She's lying.
Biometrics suggest our jurors sense they're being lied to.
And they don't like it.
Yuna was our kill shot,
and she just tanked the match.
We are still down four to eight.
We have to switch our strategy.
Instead of trying to prove that Jace was telling the truth,
we have to prove that Vin was telling a lie.
Yeah, but why would Yuna lie?
Maybe she thought that Jace threw the game
and was trying to protect him.
I don't think Jace threw it.
Look at this.
So Dewey, his teammate, went on a shopping spree.
New car, new clothes, new watch...
Wait, so you think Dewey
bet against the team and tanked the match?
But if Dewey threw the game,
why did Yuna lie?
BENNY: Chunk's getting to bottom of it.
Hey.
Bull coming?
Nope, just me. Chunk Palmer,
big fan. Thanks.
But since we're here, what do you say
we get a quick game of the 'Fall in, huh?
I've been working on a couple of moves
I think you're going to find really interesting.
Uh, sure.
Awesome. All set up.
Mm-hmm. Okay.
Go.
Are you sure you want to play me?
Oh, yeah. I love this game.
So...
what was that move?
You figure it out?
No idea.
I'll give you a hint.
Yuna committed perjury
and I think you made her do it.
I have no interest in losing the case.
So you decided to game the trial?
I needed a credible story and everyone loves Yuna.
Your credible story is the truth,
and Yuna is a terrible liar.
Now her credibility, as well as yours, is gone.
I... (scoffs)
I was just...
Trying to play Bull's game.
Every bit as stupid as me trying
to play your game.
So, did you learn anything?
I need Bull.
Very good. Round two,
we're on the attack.
We're gonna turn the spotlight on Vin.
I like the new place, Wes.
WES: God, it's been, what?
A year?
Pretty much.
I think this is the longest
I've seen you away from your keyboard.
How is everything with the game?
Well, actually, I don't...
I don't play anymore.
Really?
Because you messaged me mid-game.
Yeah, well, um, I'm a developer,
so I have to monitor all the games and everything.
Oh, yeah, yeah, you were monitoring.
Yeah, what can I say? I still love it.
So... (sets bottle on table)
I texted you because I need a favor.
Okay.
I just sent you
the master file of the match Jace lost.
Would you take a look at it for me?
Yeah, of course. Anything for you.
Cool. (chuckles): Cool.
Mr. Creuster, is it fair to say
you share in the risk of each player's career?
No, because I take all the risk.
These are untested 18-year-olds
playing video games in their parents' basement.
I provide room and board, security,
equipment and the best training money can buy.
They should be paying me.
Jace Rundle was just 19
when you first signed him.
At just over half a mil a year.
ATTORNEY: And since then, he's amassed
an astonishing win-loss career of 118 and 12.
118 and 13.
ATTORNEY: Right.
So why would someone
with such a superlative record
intentionally lose a championship game?
Because there was something in it for him.
You believe he benefitted financially
by losing?
We'd been discussing a new contract.
He wanted more money,
but I felt that his career was peaking.
And he wanted to show me just how invaluable he was.
So this was a negotiations ploy?
VIN: Yeah.
So you believe Jace lost the game,
knowing that if anyone had found out what he had done,
it would destroy his career and reputation?
He didn't think he'd get caught.
He thinks he's bigger than the game, but no one is,
not even Jace Rundle.
ATTORNEY: No further questions.
So, you say that the players should be paying you,
but it seems to me they already are.
Your deductions for living and travel expenses,
equipment rental, insurance and management fees,
bring Jace's "just over half a mil"
into just under $73 thousand.
It's not cheap to develop a new player,
and the contract allows me to recoup my expenses.
ABIGAIL: Speaking of contracts,
you said you and Jace had a disagreement
over what he was worth?
I just couldn't afford
to give him what he was asking for.
But you had no problem
coming to an agreement with Jace's teammate,
Dewey Cussler. In fact, you even gave him
a brand-new contract.
Well, he's...
my new captain.
Worth 10% more than Jace was asking.
First I don't pay my players enough,
and then you're... you're slamming me
for giving them a raise?
ABIGAIL: So, we've established that
you could afford it.
The question now is, did you fire Jace
because he intentionally threw the finals,
or did you use the loss to smear his name
and justify his termination?
Objection!
Did you profit from it, Vin? Did you have something to do
With the loss? Objection, Your Honor!
Withdrawn, Your Honor.
$73,000 is more than I've ever made
doing a real job.
BULL: Time to show Connie
who hates small animals.
You made a lot more than $73,000 last year, didn't you, Vin?
You made somewhere in the neighborhood
of $8 million.
What are you gonna do next, whip out my tax returns?
You've been seen driving a Porsche,
a Bentley, a Ferrari.
How many cars do you own?
You forgot about my McLaren.
Yeah, I make a lot of money. I'm proud of it.
That doesn't change the fact that Jace got
exactly what he deserved.
Vin's a rabbit killer,
and Jace now works hard for his money.
Connie is swinging hard to our side.
Thank Danny.
She pulled a rabbit's foot out of the hat.
MARISSA: Connie has two pet rabbits.
She's turning on Vin, and he knows it.
I think the last thing we... Hey, Jace.
This thing's taking a lot longer than I thought.
I've got to get back to work, so how 'bout you drop the suit,
and I'll clear your name, and I'll take you back?
BULL: So you found out about the rabbit-lover on our jury?
She's not coming around.
Maybe it's time for another key chain.
Is this a formal settlement offer? Yeah.
Take it or leave it.
You've got 24 hours.
Well, we can counter.
I'd rather we win.
It's a good offer.
Is this about what's doing best for our client,
or getting another one in the win column?
Have you met our client?
He likes to win, too.
So how long did it take?
For what?
You know, before you realized I left.
Not long. That's why I quit playing.
I'm really sorry.
It was my fault.
You want to get coffee with me Saturday?
Yeah. What time?
Like, around 2:00.
That's the same time as the Titanfa regionals.
Really? What a coincidence.
Huh.
Think about it.
Uh, so I started with Dewey, like you asked,
but his play seemed perfectly legit.
So then I moved on to Jace.
Take a look at that.
It's a crap offer, and you know it.
Didn't ask you here to talk about the offer.
Reviewing my big choke?
I do that, too, in my head, 50 times a night.
Every gamer has their own style,
and you are no exception.
Okay, I'm with you so far.
Thousands of fans and top shoutcasters
have analyzed your replays.
You didn't throw the game.
There were no deliberate mistakes,
only a few unnatural moves.
Unfortunately, those moves suggest the possibility
of a neurological disorder.
It's time to face reality, Jace.
(bell tolling in distance)
Hey.
I was just thinking.
I started playing when I was four.
That's 84% of my life.
100% when you consider
I don't remember anything before then.
I've got nothing else.
What'd the neurologist say?
I...
have Parkinson's.
Sorry.
Parkinson's?
Like, who the hell gets that at 25?
There are medications.
Strategies for treating it.
With treatment,
you can stay in the game for years.
Like a month before the championships,
I knew... I knew something weird was going on.
My precision was off, my reaction times.
Occasional shakes.
I thought it was just the caffeine.
Have you told anyone?
No.
I, uh, would have told my girlfriend,
but, lucky for her, we broke up yesterday.
She couldn't handle being with a loser anyway.
Disease can't make you a loser.
Only you can do that.
Easy for you to say.
This disease took the finals.
Lost me everything.
The timing's bad, I'll give you that.
But we have to talk about today.
This is the last day of the trial.
I need to know what you want to do.
Now? Yeah.
Does it even matter?
If I tell them about my diagnosis,
they'll know I didn't mess up on purpose.
And then the world will know,
which means I'll never play competitively again.
I mean, I'm screwed either way.
Hold on.
What happened to Mr. Double or Nothing?
The man who made me play 36 holes of simulated golf,
just to get a win?
Where's that guy?
I know you got handed a terrible diagnosis,
but you can't give up.
Not today.
So... what do I do?
What if I told you there's another option?
BULL: Vin.
I made the offer. The window's closed, guys.
Well, a window closes, another door opens.
You let Jace back on the team,
as captain, with a three-year contract,
and commensurate raises for Yuna and Mendel.
Why would I do that?
I've reassessed my options. I can win this.
And full benefits.
That'll cover treatment for his Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's?
What the hell are you talking about?
Look, is this some kind of play?
No play. It's for real.
I just found out.
Hey, I feel for you and everything,
but the offer's gone. The team's filled.
W-What do you want me to do?
If I walk back into that courtroom,
and I tell the jury about Jace's condition,
you're gonna lose the case
and millions of dollars in punitive damages.
But if you agree to our settlement,
with a confidentiality clause...
You sure you still want to play?
More than ever.
BULL: About one of his new teammates,
there's something you should see.
DEWEY: Yo, yo, Jace.
DEWEY: If it isn't El Capitan.
Congrats, man, I'm glad you guys settled.
YUNA: Yeah. Casa DV8 hasn't been the same.
Team.
I missed you, too.
(chuckling)
DEWEY: Let's get back to it, bro.
One big, happy family.
You son of a bitch.
A dysfunctional family.
You were a snotnosed little pockmarked
mall rat when I found you.
BULL: I think what he's trying to say is that we analyzed
all the team play, and when we got to you...
You threw the finals, you bastard.
What? That's ridiculous.
See the slight reddening around the nose?
The Pinocchio effect.
BULL: Offshore accounts aren't
quite as secure as people think.
You'll never play again.
If I ever see you again,
I'll break your hands.
It would appear there is an opening on the team.
Welcome back to DV8.
(laughing)
*
Well, look who decided to show up.
You really thought I wouldn't?
So what are we gonna...
Okay.
Well, I'm not thinking about regionals anymore.
Good, 'cause we're not going.
(cheering loudly)
I am so pumped
to announce that I am bringing back
the number-one player in the world.
Ladies and gentlemen, Jace Rundle.
(crowd cheering loudly)
(whooping) DV8! DV8!
*
This marks a new era
in the profession of eSports.
New player contracts formalized across the league.
Players and owners on equal ground,
taking this epic game
to even greater heights.
Jace Rundle!
(cheers and applause)
(whoops)
"Epic"?
Yeah, well, I thought I should throw
some dude-speak in there so it would seem authentic.
Mm-hmm.
Sorry you didn't win.
I have a happy client
and a whole lot of players
who are gonna want to renegotiate,
so I'm good.
Plus, we righted some wrongs
in the dawn of a new league.
Yes, we did. Hmm.
You haven't played the game yet.
Not really into games.
Ha. Really?
You were sending a lot of signals.
It seemed like you were interested.
Was I wrong?
* And then you said
* "What's the difference"
Let me put it this way.
You're no longer an employee.
(crowd cheering) * "Brings you to your knees"
* Redemption
*
* Redemption
* For you and me
(cheering, applause)
(chuckles)
* For you and me.
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org