Fortitude
Episode 6 of WeCrashed begins with the aftermath of a big party at WeWork. Rebekah and Adam are both sprawled out on the sofa, marveling at a picture from Masa, praising Adam for being crazy. For now, the pair decide to leave and head off to California to “work” because “WeWork is wherever we are.” Unfortunately, this leaves Miguel behind to try and appease the board at HQ. That’s obviously easier said than done given the current state of the finances. Rebekah has been having thoughts and she decides that she wants to expand the business beyond WeWork to try and revolutionize flying. After a big pause, Adam decides to take her up on the offer and presses ahead with this, even doing a big TV interview declaring as much. Off the back of this, Bruce arrives to see Adam and warns that the board are turning against him. Bruce promises that he’s on the eccentric owner’s side and has given him millions from the beginning. Bruce promises to support Adam while he’s in charge… but for how long will that be? Rebekah and Adam pull their daughter out of school, believing they need to give her exceptional education to expand her mind. Of course, Rebekah selfishly spins this into a business venture and comes up with an idea for “WeGrow.” However, this happy news is completely thwarted by additional revelations that the Uber CEO has had to step down with immediate effect. A lovely bit of foreshadowing; Adam starts to worry. The next day, Adam and Rebekah show up at work and find Bruce there with Cameron, the British banker we’ve been seeing bits and pieces of across the season. Anyway, he’s actually moving into the office, and that means a formidable force for Adam to try and reckon with. In fact, Cameron wants the balance sheets for the company for the past 10 years. So Adam gives him everything; a mountain of paperwork to try and dissuade him. Of course, it’s quite the opposite. Cameron brings in a whole group of assistants into his office to sift through the paperwork. After going through everything he has to offer, Cameron begins probing the financial records and questioning the direction of the business. Specifically he probes why Adam has taken shares out in Wavegarden, a coffee company, when he’s supposed to be in charge of a shared workspace. Given the company has now floated and gone public, along with Adam lying about the company being profitable, it really doesn’t look good. With Rebekah still looking to press ahead with her plans too, we skip across to Mexico City where Adam opens yet another branch. As he screams freedom up on the rooftop, Adam turns to Masa and decides not to listen to the banks, investors or IPOs and just do what they want. A wry smile crosses Masa’s face as he tells the guy he has fortitude. Of course, this causes more friction when Adam returns to the main office, with Cameron annoyed and angry over him starting the new WeGrow business. After getting rid of Cameron, Adam learns that Masa wants to buy out the other investors for 20 million – but he wants control of the company. That’s something Adam is not privy to and he immediately rejects the offer. Elsewhere, Cameron decides to go back through the documents again. Between this and friction with Rebekah – not to mention Masa learning that Adam is refusing to give up control of the company – things don’t look good. Adam is so preoccupied with planning a party, he’s missing the bigger picture. With WeWork growing beyond Adam’s expectations, Cameron brings the board in as they all question Adam’s motives. After laying out all of Adam’s grand schemes and future ventures, Cameron tries to pass a motion to have Adam removed as the CEO. Adam bites back and actually encourages everyone to vote on it with immediately effect. The vote goes in Adam’s favour. Just. Unfortunately, this also has the knock-on effect of Adam having a big party and oversleeping through his scheduled meeting with the Abu Dhabi bank. His contact, Amu Bharat, is not amused. When Adam eventually rocks up 45 minutes late, Bharat is furious and refuses to invest any money into the company. Of course, this also prompts Masa to pull out of investing too. As everything comes tumbling down around Adam, it’s really hard to actually feel any empathy for the guy.
The Episode Review
WeCrashed returns this week with a much-improved episode, energizing this show with a good deal of tension and some great moments. Cameron’s charismatic and scathing analysis of Adam’s business is exactly what he needed but unfortunately the eccentric CEO just doesn’t see that at all and everything eventually pays the price for it. The thing is, it’s hard to feel sorry for him or Rebekah. The pair are a couple of narcissists and really not very likable at all. The fact that they were able to get away with this for so long is telling unto itself and they only have themselves to blame. With Masa now pulling out of investment and the whole company on the verge of falling apart, it remains to be seen where the final two episodes will go from here. Apple’s latest biographical drama has been overlong but this chapter is at least a big improvement.
