Plus, Anushka and Martin grow further apart while JoAnne and Gary consider a move to the country.

The Audacity recap: Carl comes aboard, but it’s a doomed deal that sends Duncan spiraling

Plus, Anushka and Martin grow further apart while JoAnne and Gary consider a move to the country.

By Matt Cabral

Matt Cabral

Matt Cabral is a writer at **.

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May 10, 2026 10:20 p.m. ET

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Carl Bardolph (Zach Galifianakis) and Duncan Park (Billy Magnussen) are at odds on 'The Audacity'. Credit:

- Anushka's anonymous press tip ruins Duncan's deal with Bardolph, leading the cranky billionaire to buy controlling shares in Hypergnosis.

- As financial burdens continue to bury JoAnne and Gary, they consider moving to the country to Orson's anger and dismay.

- Martin continues to favor his AI-companion project over his family, driving a deeper wedge between him an Anushka.

It took four episodes and a bloody battle in a tech bubble thunderdome, but last week Duncan (Billy Magnussen) finally convinced Carl (Zach Galifianakis) to invest in Hypergnosis. Still riding high from his Silicon Valley fight club victory, he's anxious to close the deal with his new billionaire board member at the start of *The Audacit*y's fifth episode, "Lamplighters."

But when Bardolph arrives with his right-hand man Stan, the pair insist on knowing how Park predicted Orlando Lee would be ousted from his CEO position. If Duncan's all-seeing algorithm was indeed responsible for this sorcery, then Carl wants a peek under the tech's hood before signing any papers.

Duncan refuses, stalling the negotiations. But still feeling like he's in the driver's seat, he doesn't back down. That is, until Harper (Jess McLeod) nervously pulls him aside with word the truth has come out on the doomed Cupertino acquisition. Worse than that, when Anushka (Meaghan Rath) anonymously called the press in the last episode, she not only spilled the beans on the dead deal, but gave up Duncan as the one who leaked the original acquisition rumors.

Unsurprisingly, the bad press spreads like wild fire and, just like that, Carl is now holding all the cards as Hypergnosis' stock tanks. Duncan grovels at Bardolph's feet, but it's too late. Carl shuts down their deal, and instead buys enough stake in Hypergnosis to grant him more ownership of the company than Park. Needless to say, Duncan doesn't take this sudden turn of events very well. He retreats to the abandoned mansion of his deceased partner Hamish, where he then proceeds to have an epic meltdown.

Meanwhile, Lili's (Lucy Punch) at home also digesting the news of her husband's downfall. But she's soon interrupted by Los Altos' headmaster/new bestie Beatrice (Rukiya Bernard), who informs her she's been voted off the school's board. Suspicious the decision was at least partially based on Duncan's rapidly diminishing reputation, she sends their daughter Jamison (Ava Marie Telek) to find him.

Beatrice (Rukiya Bernard) has bad news for Lili (Lucy Punch) on 'The Audacity'.

Having just attempted to scrub away the word "sorry" from where Hamish had etched it prior to hanging himself, Duncan greets his daughter in a bad state. She recognizes he's not well, but he takes offense to her suggesting he's suffering a breakdown. Duncan angrily sends her on her way, but not before accusing her of stealing his precious tungsten cube. For those keeping score, the cube was originally snatched by Tess, but is now safely back in Park's possession.

Feeling a bit guilty about selling out Duncan to the press, Anushka isn't having a great day either. She hopes to find some comfort in her husband, but Martin (Simon Helberg), of course, is fussing over his AI passion project Alexander. While he doesn't know that his wife violently took her frustrations out on Xander, its uncharacteristically somber tone and depressed state tips him off that something's not right with the robot.

"He's generated a couch to hide behind," Martin says solemnly.

As the couple argues, the AI becomes increasingly anxious, eventually peeing itself — an "accident" hilariously represented by a blue puddle suddenly appearing beneath the squiggly lined avatar. Martin astutely surmises it's Anushka's voice that's bothering the bot, leading the typically soft-spoken tech nerd to scream at his wife to leave the room.

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A quick check-in with Orson (Everett Blunck) reveals the tummy ache-plagued teen is doing much better. He's joined the school's orchestra, he continues to flirt with Tess (Thailey Roberge) — via the trophy case — and his sensitive stomach can now handle spicy chili. He credits the latter with the pricey holistic meds stepdad Gary (Paul Adelstein) scored for him without his wife's blessing.

Already at each other's throats over their ongoing financial struggles and the pending loss of their rental home, Gary and JoAnne have it out when the truth comes out about her son's $2,000 remedy. The family decides to decompress with a trip to the country for some fresh air and apple picking. This leads to the couple discussing a move from Silicon Valley — and leaving their toxic billionaire patients behind — and buying a small farmhouse within their budget.

This news does not sit well with Orson, who feels he's finally settled in and found his groove among the rich kids at Los Altos. Coupled with JoAnne's refusal to pony up for his meds, this development results in Orson *almost *calling his mom a "selfish b----." Deciding he needs to fend for himself, the increasingly rebellious teen steals his stepdad's credit card and purchases more of the magic medicine he's convinced has turned his life around.

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When we return to Lili, she's still frantically trying to track down her husband. She heads to Hamish's house and digs up an apparently secret spare key to get inside. Duncan is nowhere to be found, so she sneaks into Hamish's bedroom, which appears to not have been touched since his death. She becomes distraught and begins sobbing into one of his sweatshirts, strongly suggesting the two were having an affair right under Duncan's nose.

Speaking of her spiraling husband, the ex-CEO is pulling out all the stops to save his reputation and company. He's taken a chopper to reunite with his other former business partner Gabe Choi (Randall Park), who lives as a paranoid recluse on an island patrolled by armed guards. Duncan arrives under the guise of wanting to rekindle their friendship, but the emotionally indifferent Gabe knows he's undoubtedly working an angle.

Gabe (Randall Park) gets a surprise visit from Duncan (Billy Magnussen) on 'The Audacity'.

Sure enough, Park begs Gabe — who serves as Hypergnosis' absent CFO — to come back with him to rile up the staff, incite an uprising, and save the company from the evil Bardolph. Gabe's more concerned with sticking to his dopamine fast and sunbathing his butt hole, but he's also too smart to fall for his former friend's self-serving shenanigans.

Meanwhile, back at Hypergnosis, Bardolph and Stan are pondering Park's fate. Carl wants to mercilessly destroy him, but he also can't deny that the narcissistic tech bro made him a mint off his seemingly clairvoyant Orlando-ousting prediction. Regardless, they have to find him first, something Harper and the god-tier algo can, of course, help out with.

Having failed to bring Gabe to the dark side, Duncan makes a desperate call to Anushka, who's still a member of Hypergnosis' board and, just maybe, his last chance of somehow getting his company back. Needless to say, Park isn't happy when Anushka reveals she's resigned from the board — she'd actually sent him a resignation letter, but he failed to read it. The conversation takes a worse turn when she also confesses to calling the press and selling out Duncan. He asks how she could stab him in the back, to which she replies by calling out his selfishness and hanging up the phone.

Anushka's betrayal is far from the last wound Duncan suffers in the episode's final stretch, as Carl and Stan have just landed on Gabe's bizarro island. But to Park's surprise, Bardolph isn't their to fire him or drag him back to the office. He's come to buy off Gabe's ownership in the company, an offer the reluctant CFO is more than happy to accept.

Carl (Zach Galifianakis) and Stan (Chris Shields) arrive at Gabe's island on 'The Audacity'.

As Gabe signs the papers, Carl soaks up Duncan's suffering, leading the disgraced CEO to beg Bardolph to bring him back aboard. He claims the algorithm is nothing without his guidance, and putting him back at the helm of Hypergnosis is the only way to grow the company. But the conversation quickly devolves into petty insults lobbed between the parties, causing Park to leave in a huff. In a bold move — even for Duncan — he hijacks Bardolph's chopper while whipping double birds at him from the air.

Down but not entirely defeated, Duncan turns to his original unwilling partner in crime as a last resort. He arrives at JoAnne's home office, open laptop in hand. She immediately pulls her new pistol on him, but he's able to talk her down with a solid combination of ego-stroking and desperate pleas for help. He concedes that he never should have blackmailed her, but bribed her instead.

He gets down on one knee, presents the laptop's screen, and proposes, "Will you be my bribe?"

JoAnne (Sarah Goldberg) and Duncan (Billy Magnussen) on 'The Audacity'.

He offers her $1.2 million, the profit he made off her unintentional tip about Orlando's imminent firing. He continues to butter her up, insisting she earned and deserves the money, ultimately leaving JoAnne speechless at the scene's closing.

A similar, albeit less bribe-y, deal is going down at Hypergnosis, where Carl has invited Anushka for a meeting. He proceeds to praise her and make her an offer, specifically to be his interim CEO. She's intrigued, but says she'll only consider the position if the algorithm's superpowers are used for good. Carl concedes such tech is usually controlled by evil geniuses, like himself. Still, he hates what Silicon Valley has become, and he'd welcome the opportunity for her to convince him why it doesn't have to be that way. He returns her board resignation and, while she doesn't officially accept his offer, she takes the letter back.

The episode's final scene finds Lili in her bedroom, talking to someone on the phone about her absent husband. Just then, Duncan walks in, a week after his privileged life started to unravel. He gently hugs her, and tells her she's his best friend and the only person he can trust. "I need you.," he says, as he begins kissing her head to toe. She begins to respond, "Baby, I'm sorry…" But he interrupts with his own apology. He then pauses and looks into her tearful eyes, before she finishes her sentence, "...I want a divorce."

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Source: “EW TV”