All language subtitles for The Premise s01e05 Butt Plug.eng

It doesn't matter
what I'm saying.

It's just, "Oh, that's nice.
He showed up."

[music]

The season finale of The Premise
is a philosophical fable

about the power of redemption
versus the drive for revenge

and whether it's possible for a
human being to outrun his fate

or rewrite his destiny.

It's called "“Butt Plug".

[music]

[dramatic classical music]

We could dip into
the kids' college funds.

That's their future.

I know,
but if we lose the house,

we're going to have to move out
of the school district, so...

I really think you should just-

No, no, no, no, no...

What do you have to lose?

You're working on a
financial services company.

He is the biggest
international banking CEO--

No.

No.

I was terrible to him.

It's a shame in my life
how I treated that kid.

It was 30 something years ago.

I would think he
would forgive you.

He shouldn't forgive me.

I wouldn't forgive me.

What did you tease him for?

[exhales]

You know, for whatever.

For being...

different.

for being poor.

For being poor?

Eli, he's one of the
richest men in the world,

of all the things in the world

to have a sense
of humor about.

Look, that's what you
should say to him.

How sorry you are.

How funny this is.

That obviously, this is karma.

That you ended up having
to turn to him.

He'd never take the meeting.

Just reach out and see.

Swallow your pride.

It's not pride.

It's shame.

Nobody ever says
swallow your shame.

Yeah, no, I agree.

It's a weird phrase.

[phone intercom]

Eli Spector, he says
you grew up together.

Eli Spector.

After all these years.

No, no. To the contrary.

For you, I can make the time.

[music]

Hi.

[laughs]

Um, wow.

Nice to uh--

It's been so long.

So long.

Obviously,
so much has changed and...

for you, especially.

You still live in Victory?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I remember you were
living in this beautiful house

right next to Crystal Lake,

always in the newest,
finest clothes.

Yeah, the, the--

the place has changed,

you know.

Not what it used to be.

Do you know the story
of the ship of Theseus?

[laughs]

Never paid much
attention in school.

A ship at sea over time has its
planks replaced one by one.

At a certain point
after many years,

none of its planks are the same.

Is it still in fact
the same ship?

[chuckles]

[poof]

I mean uh...

I just uh...

Your success,
it just blows me away,

and then you really earned
everything on pure merit.

What is merit, when you
really think about it?

Inner qualities,
outer influences,

Is any of that really merit?

Or are we just sailing blindly
along a scripted sea of fate

on a winding path that would
seem all too obvious

to anyone looking back?

Hey, man, I---

I just have to get
this out of the way.

I uh...

I feel terrible,

absolutely awful, um...

about the way I was,

and um...

I just want a chance
to raise my kids right.

And um...

[clears throat]

We were children, Eli.

We're different now.

And without those obstacles,
I wouldn't be who I am today.

It motivated me, Eli.

It still motivates me.

And the more success I have,
the more I realize that

the only things that really
matter are the elemental things,

the personal things,

like this lunch with you.

So---

How can I help?

[exhales]

Okay.

[clears throat]

You've heard of
the blockchain and

I've heard of the blockchain,

but 97% of insurance providers
have never heard of-

I'd say no--

Stop, I'm sorry.

Um,

You're still doing it.

Blockchain...

You're still following what
the popular kids are doing.

You're better than that, Eli.

See, in business,
I've learned to not follow

what the popular kids
are already doing because

the opportunity is
definitionally marginal.

If you want a
transformational opportunity,

you need to find something that
everyone else sees as worthless

and elevate it to
something priceless.

Well, that um--

sounds very wise and uh,

it's certainly worked for you,

so thanks.

Do you know what would
be of interest to me?

A butt plug.

A butt plug?

Just a butt plug?

No,

not just a butt plug.

A great butt plug.

A butt plug the likes of which
the world has never seen.

A but plug that once the world
does see it, changes the world.

If you were to bring
me that product,

yes, that would be of
great interest to me.

You see,

the difference between
your face and mine right now,

the difference between our
faces is the human definition

of an arbitrage opportunity.

That is profit.

I don't quite-

Of course it would have to
be something extraordinary,

something that would require
your complete and total focus.

You would have to quit
your project and

devote yourself full time to
developing a product that

would be worthy of
my consideration,

but if you did,

I would schedule a meeting
of the full board

of my company
a year from today,

and you would have the
full and undivided attention

of me and my associates.

Are you saying...

you want me to quit my job--

and...

spend the next year of my life
developing a--

butt plug?

Would there be a contract?

No, no contract,

no promise of any
kind other than a meeting.

No, you would be pursuing
this on pure speculation

based on the
well-established history

I have of proposing things

that sound outlandish at first

only to be met with
unprecedented success.

This could be the next
one of those,

or it could be the worst
decision you ever make.

Of course,
at the end of the day,

you don't bet on an idea,

you bet on a person,
so you need to place a bet.

You need to look into
my eyes and ask yourself

whether for a person
in my position,

mercy is a
stronger satisfaction

than revenge.

You can stay on the path
you're currently on,

or...

drop what you're doing and come
to my office a year from today

with a butt plug that will
change the world and

your life along with it.

Um, what ah--

is a butt plug?

Sounds like you have
a long journey ahead,

and you've already
taken the first step.

Hm, butt plug.

I had to look it up.

Well...

How hard is it
to make a butt plug?

The way he wants to do it?

Take everything I've got.

There's no
half-ass in this, Susie,

so to speak,
I'd have to--

quit the startup.

You'd have to take a second job.

Is he fucking with you?

What if he is?

What if he's not?

[phone rings]

Eli...

I'm glad to hear it.

Yeah, we'll be in touch.

[music]

One of the keys
to a butt plug is

you don't want to
go too small.

- Ahh...
- Small ones fall out.

It needs to be wide enough for
the sphincters to grip it and

hold it in place.

[background conversations]

Got you.

[background conversations]

Fuck!

[TV: Oh, God. Oh, God.]

[moans]

Uh, good, not great.

I feel like you're losing sight
of how the insertion goes.

Right. Right.

I definitely think
material-wise, metal is perfect.

It feels better in your butt,
in my opinion.

[music]

[manufactuing sounds]

[alarm goes off]

[rhythmic music playing]

My friend.

Oh...
[laughter]

Oh, my God.

Are you excited?

Oh--

I'm fucking terrified.

[laughs]

Well, the whole board
is here as promised.

London, Dubai, Buenos Aires,

they all flew in from
around the world.

- Really?
- Mm-hmm

Just for a butt plug.

[chuckles]

It's not just a butt plug,
is it?

I asked for something
transcendent,

something revolutionary,

something worth an hour of
my time and a year of yours.

You're not telling me now
that it's just a butt plug?

Everything I have--

is riding on this butt plug.

Okay.

The people you're about
to meet are my colleagues,

and in many cases,
they're my friends,

but they are not my peers.

My peers are the other chairmen

of the world's
largest companies.

You see what I'm saying?

We grew up shoulder to shoulder

but we were not peers.

You see what I'm saying?

No.

I don't want an object whose
peers are other butt plugs.

I want a butt plug
whose peers are

the other great objects
in existence.

Whenever you're ready.

My friends,
thank you all for coming.

It's my great pleasure to
introduce you to Eli Spector.

We've known each
other since childhood.

And the time has changed
us all so much.

Uh, [laughs]

None more than your
chairman here.

[laughs]

Eli, it's a pleasure
to introduce you

to the board of directors.

To your immediate left, with
the confident smile, is Sandy.

Sandy has led two
Fortune 500 companies,

but her sense of humor has
remained very down to earth.

To her left is Alice.

Alice comes all the way to us
from London and this is in fact

her first time traveling since
the loss of her husband.

My condolences, Alice.

The man with the generous
light shining through

his eyes is Charles.

Charles and his partner Steven
run our charitable foundation.

Wonderful to meet you, Eli.

Thank you for
the work you do.

And, of course, you'll
recognize Gail Truesdale.

Ambassador.

Troy is the youngest
member of our board,

a former Fields Medal winner.

That's a prize given out to--

The most gifted statistical
analyst of his generation.

I'm well aware, Troy,
or if I may, Dr. Ozdemir.

Last but not least is Marcus
'The Moneyman' Stevens

[chuckles]

representing our emerging
investments arm.

Excited and pumped.

[chuckles]

All of us, Marcus, all of us
are very excited and pumped.

[chuckles]

Eli.

[clears throat]

I'm here to present a butt plug.

Come on. Laugh.

Butt plug.

Come on, it's funny.

And, those are funny words.

It's funny that
I'm here, a stranger,

a total nobody standing
in front of all of you saying,

I'm here to present
a butt plug,

right?

Come on, let's be honest,
when we hear a butt plug,

we assume it's a crude punch
line to a cruder joke or a--

cheap accessory to a--

cheaper experience.

That ends today.

[swooshing sound]

How do you find the most value?

You search for that which
is the most undervalued.

One of the great financial
thinkers of our time said that.

In fact, that thinker happens
to be in this room right now.

But, I want to take you on my
journey in finding value

in the undervalued today.

Now, the sex toy industry, is
a $50 billion a year industry

growing at nearly 25%
a year for the last 5 years.

Now, as Marcus will
be the first to tell you,

those numbers are
enough to motivate

just about any company
in the world,

but that's not this
company's philosophy.

Follow the magic and
the math will follow.

The world, since Daniel and
I were children, has changed.

And, the inspiring story
of our time is

the revolution
we're living through

and our approaches to
intimacy and identity.

Once marginalized,

orientations and identities
are rapidly fighting

for representation and
respect in a more

inclusive society
they're defining.

With that sexual practices once
trivialized and diminished,

with even harmless-seeming
mockery and jokes,

move from the shadows
into the sunlight of society.

So, that leaves us with
a great story,

but with all due respect to
the foundation Charles runs,

you guys aren't a charity--
[chuckles]

and a great past but--

you guys don't have
a time machine.

You don't, do you?

[laughter]

No, what you want to know
about is the future.

Now, when we've seen
this growth parabola and

comparable industries that
develop in tandem with

a cultural shift, there's a
fascinating commonality.

Whether it's computing
or high-end coffee,

a product at the center of
a cultural shift reaches

the exact point we're at
today when an object,

a singular object emerges
that hits the nexus between

elite status and mass appeal
and powers the leap from

cultural uniqueness
to cultural ubiquity.

With coffee in the 1990s,
it was the Starbucks cup.

With computing in the 2000s,
it was the iPhone.

This point of no return is when
an industry coalesces around

its DSO,
its dominant singular object.

Where are you getting this--

This theory of analysis?

This is my original analysis.

It's proprietary,
but I'd be more than honored

to share it with you
if we work together and

apply it to all
sorts of phenomenon.

But um...

Back to the bottom line--

[laughter]

if you will--

What will be that object
in this industry?

The Harvard Medical School
Center for Study of

Sexual Practices conducted
studies on every

sexual and gender identity.

I obtained a researcher
pass to visit them and

see what they learned.

Their conclusion
was the obvious.

There is one anatomical point
with a far higher incidence

of sexual responsiveness across
all human beings than any other.

Not more sensitivity, mind you,

but more universally reported
sensitivity by a mile.

Why are the numbers so high?

Because it's a body part
virtually every human being has.

[laughter]

So,

we've established the
potentially dominant

universality of this object in
response to one cultural shift:

sexual and gender identity.

But, there's a second shift
we're experiencing:

the nature of intimacy.

The two fastest-growing intimacy
statuses with which people

self-identify are, one, people
who are solitary by preference,

and two, people in
a relationship in which

another partner
is not physically present.

Now, the object I'm presenting
today is not only an object

with near-identical responses
across all sexual and

gender identities, it's also
an object with near-identical

responses across
all intimacy identities.

That means, in intimate
partnerships as well as

those without partners or

without partners
physically present.

And Troy, you don't need a
Fields Medal to know that when

you overlay two growth curves,
the curves don't double,

they grow-

Exponentially.

But that's just the dominance of
a $50 billion a year industry.

Why quit there?

Stop.

Stop.

I need a break.

[background noise]

This is him?

He is a madman.

- Oh, adorable.
- Yeah.

So, we've established the
potential of this object

to ride this cultural wave,

Right? But--

How could it do
something more important?

How could it expand
the wave all together?

Let me start with an example
you might find amusing.

Vibrators are a
$3 billion a year business.

Not bad. Not bad.

You know what's a $7 billion
dollar a year business?

Hand-held personal massagers.

[laughter]

[laughter continues]

[laughter continues]

I'll wait.

The point being, many
consumers need a cover story

to purchase an object
designed for sexual pleasure

which alone accounts for
enormous hidden numbers.

But, what if their cover story
wasn't just a cover story?

What if this were
an object that--

provided relief
to nearly 40 million

people a year who suffer
from constipation?

What if it had a built-in
Wi-Fi-enabled camera

that could automatically
operate a colonoscopy

saving as many as
10,000 lives a year?

Do you think $599
is too much to charge

for a previously
marginalized object?

I did.

So, I took it upon myself to
lead a dozen focus groups

all of which came to
the same conclusion.

Even though $411 is the
break-even point,

the price point the consumer
preferred wasn't $499, $599,

or even $799.

Customers want to pay
$999 for this object.

Because the extra cost
was what helped

counteract the stigma
of a butt plug

and turn it into a genuine
"Veblen good."

Like a Lamborghini or
a bottle of fine cognac,

this is the type of good
where the customer

actually wants to overpay.

$1,000 bucks is a lot,
but it's my health, you know.

It's important.

Accounting for this
astronomical profit margin.

incredible--

But what really makes something
worth it to a consumer?

If it's a great investment.

I know what you're thinking.

How could something like
this be a great investment?

Well, it would be if, say--

it were made with zinc.

And if I had pre-negotiated zinc
futures with the government

of Bolivia to ensure that even a
moderate order hits a threshold

that will drive up
the price of the metal

so high that anyone
who owns the object

can rest assured it
will appreciate in value

whether or not they ever
take it out of the box...

which I didn't.

Put another way, anyone
who owns this butt plug can

at any point in times of
financial emergency,

melt it down for parts
in case times get tight,

and make a substantial
profit on their purchase.

But I don't think
they'll want to.

How do you find
the most value?

You search for that which
is the most undervalued.

We all know what it's like
to be undervalued,

but I know both sides of it.

I undervalued someone.

I know I undervalued him
not because he went on

to become one of the
richest men in the world,

but because when
he had no reason to--

he still gave me a project

to change the last plank

on a ship.

Some say a man's
character is his fate.

Others say fate is
the joke a man's life

plays on his character.

Where are you getting this?

Revenge is the expression
of our yearning to bend

the chaotic world towards
balance, justice, logic,

but mercy--

mercy has no logic.

It's the divine.

It's the expression of
a universe that makes no sense.

A universe that has something
when it should have nothing.

It's the spark of the divine,

of a new beginning
out of nothing

with the potential
of the infinite.

Anyway...

that's what this
butt plug means to me.

I'm curious to hear
what it means to you.

You spent a year on this?

Yes.

It shows.

Thank you.

Look, Daniel, brought us
in from all over the world.

He clearly wanted
us to be here for this,

and I can see why.

We're more of a financial
services company,

but, the principles
that you applied to this

couldn't be more in line with
what we've been searching for.

We haven't done products here.

We've always had
a family-friendly brand.

But you have made a great case

as to why that might
not rule this out.

I'm curious as to
what Daniel thinks.

You can look me in the
eyes and tell me you put

your entire heart

and soul

and vulnerability into
this presentation?

Answer carefully--

Answer honestly.

Yes.

The answer is yes.

I'll tell you exactly what you
can do with your butt plug.

You can shove it--

up your ass.

[laughter]

[classical music playing]

[laughter continues]

Thank you.

[exhales]

How did it go?

Now I'll be the
greatest regret--

of his life.

[classical music plays]

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