Meanwhile, Martin’s therapy bot’s success takes an emotional toll on its creator.

*The Audacity *recap: Duncan and JoAnne’s contentious relationship comes to a head

Meanwhile, Martin's therapy bot's success takes an emotional toll on its creator.

By Matt Cabral

Matt Cabral

Matt Cabral is a writer at **.

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May 24, 2026 10:30 p.m. ET

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

- Duncan's new private data-sharing business venture begins building plenty of buzz, but not the kind that will positively reflect on his reputation.

- AI therapy bot Alexander shows huge potential, but not before an emotional Martin has to say goodbye to the teenager-like tech he's bonded with.

- JoAnne fully forgoes caring for her patients in favor of leveraging their personal details for her insider trading side hustle.

*The Audacity*'s penultimate episode — dubbed "Foundering" — picks up some time after Hypergnosis' pivot to ethical data collection under Anushka's (Meaghan Rath) leadership. Tom (Rob Corddry) is now 34 days sober, and confidently overseeing the upload of literal truckloads of veterans' personal information into the company's advanced "Gnodin" algorithm.

Martin (Simon Helberg) has also come aboard to bring his therapy bot Alexander up to speed to help those same vets. The trio, along with Carl (Zach Galifianakis), believe the combined power of the algo and the AI is ready for prime time. Leveraging the former, they identify a vet in need, then allow the latter to to do its healing magic. Sadly, things quickly go south when the too curious Xander begins upsetting the patient with triggering personal questions.

Unsurprisingly, Bardolph berates the bot and its maker — "Rejigger your doodad!" he yells — insisting the tech's teen-level maturity is a poor fit for the project. He suggests they instead use Tom's biometrics and combat background to "age-up" the AI. As expected, the perpetually sullen Martin takes this very personally, as if his flesh-and-blood child is being attacked.

Carl Bardolph (Zach Galifianakis) on 'The Audacity'.

JoAnne (Sarah Goldberg), per usual, is dealing with her own first world problems at the episode's start. Last week, we learned Duncan (Billy Magnussen) purchased her and Gary's (Paul Adelstein) rental home, making his previous blackmail ploy against her look like a parlor trick. While Gary apparently believes their financial burdens have been solved by the money fairy, JoAnne doubles down on her insider trading side hustle. In fact, treating her patients has become entirely secondary to not so subtly pulling potentially profitable intel from them.

Upon scoring such details on a patient's husband's doomed DNA-collecting business, she immediately logs into her secret Cayman Islands bank account and goes to work. Of course, Duncan gets wind of what she's up to and demands he be cut in on the deal, resulting in JoAnne reluctantly sharing the scoop on her patient's spouse's failed business venture. Duncan is quick to remind his therapist that she's making money off the stake he gifted her, and that they're still "partners."

Back at his home office, Park has Harper (Jess McLeod) and a handful of tech minions testing the waters on his new privacy-exploiting company P.I.N.A.T.A. But it seems the only potential clients not outraged by the idea of everyone's intimate details being shared are a small group of online incels who are literally drooling with enthusiasm. Harper warns Duncan how hated he'll become if he continues with this ill-informed business initiative.

Undeterred, Duncan continues down his delusional, self-absorbed path of destruction, and locates the soon-to-be-bankrupt husband (John Emmet Tracy) of JoAnne's patient. He corners him at a remote Buddhist temple, where the troubled man's clearly trying to get some clarity and sort his spiraling financial situation. But Duncan swoops in with an easy solution. He buys the desperate businessman out, taking ownership of millions of biological blueprints he can potentially profit from.

Meanwhile, Anushka has occupied JoAnne's therapy couch. She spills all the details on Alexander's misfire, and how she's now tasked with convincing her too sensitive husband to put on his big boy pants and mature the AI so it can viably help veterans. Anushka also shares that she's considering backing out of an upcoming tech expo, where a live demonstration of the therapy bot is to take center stage. JoAnne gives her a pep talk, strongly advising she move forward with the demo. Immediately following the session, she opens her laptop and ponders what to do with her Hypergnosis' shares.

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It wouldn't be a proper episode of the tech bubble dramedy without checking in with its dysfunctional kids. Starting with Tess (Thailey Roberge), the kleptomaniac teen tells Gary she's giving up — she's no longer going to be rebellious, but rather succumb to being just another Silicon Valley rich kid. Upon leaving her session, she's confronted by Orson (Everett Blunck), who forcefully grabs her arm when she rebuffs his apology and tries to flee. Gary soon intervenes, leading to his stepson violently pushing him to the ground.

Tess (Thailey Roberge) and Orson (Everett Blunck) on 'The Audacity'.

That night, while Orson attends a dress rehearsal for his school's winter gala, Gary searches the boy's room, ultimately collecting some of his unflushed urine. Duncan's also at the school under the guise of supporting daughter Jamison (Ava Marie Telek), but he's really there to brag to JoAnne — who's in attendance for Orson — about all the "human assets" he now owns thanks to the DNA deal.

The next day, Gary talks to Orson in his office. He calls him out for stealing his credit card to buy more of the magic tincture that's turned his life around. But having tested Orson's pee, Gary also apologizes for bringing him to the holistic quack that prescribed the solution. It seems the medicine's packed with steroids, the likely cause of Orson's recent aggressive behavior. Gary writes him a script to help ween him off the snake oil, prompting the teen to angrily call him a "cuck."

Tom (Rob Corddry) on 'The Audacity'.

Back at Hypergnosis, Tom is celebrating with his massive staff of data uploaders, as they've finally completed — after 40 days — the gargantuan task of digitizing all of the VA files. Meanwhile, Martin's sulking and playing with a fidget spinner when Carl arrives with a bottle of pricey bourbon and two glasses. The two bond over their days being bullied as college nerds, before Bardolph convinces Martin to reimagine Xander as a more mature AI capable of actually helping people.

When Carl leaves, Martin has one last emotional exchange with his bot-child before deleting it and beginning a fresh upload. The difficult decision ultimately repairs his relationship with Anushka, who comforts him and waits with him all night while the new and improved therapy bot fully uploads and integrates with the algorithm.

Martin (Simon Helberg) and Anushka (Meaghan Rath) on 'The Audacity'.

When Xander 2.0 finally comes online, Tom and Martin immediately test it out on an especially fragile patient. They call the struggling veteran — who Gnodin has flagged as being a threat to himself and others — and let the AI do all the talking. It handles the conversation like a champ, talking the initially verbally abusive man down and promising to get him all the help he needs.

Overjoyed with the results, they excitedly report back to Anushka, who immediately decides to demo the now-deeper-voiced Xander at the tech expo. But it seems the AI therapist won't be the only new tech at the event, as Duncan's just received a call from the same reporter that he's been avoiding all season. She's heard P.I.N.A.T.A. has been generating some buzz, and she wants to give Park a prime interview slot at the expo.

Duncan accepts the invite, but both he and Harper agree he'll be brutally grilled during the interview, with the outcome likely leading to the audience wanting to violently disembowel him. Scared the audience would be well within their rights given his new company's brazen, morally bankrupt approach to sharing private data, he wakes up his soon-to-be-ex-wife Lili (Lucy Punch) looking for support.

But as the two temporarily reunite and share a "power couple kiss" to boost his confidence, Duncan gets a call. It's Little Tim (Curtis Lum) from Cupertino. He too has heard what Park's up to and wants to meet with him before he takes P.I.N.A.T.A. public at the expo. As Little Tim was responsible for shutting down the original Hypergnosis acquisition deal, however, the resentful Duncan relishes the opportunity to refuse his offer and hang up the phone.

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*The Audacity's *seventh episode ends like so many others, with Duncan and JoAnne arguing in her office. But this encounter's a bit different, as he's not there for his regular therapy session, but on an unexpected invite from her. She tries to warn him about the firing line he'll no doubt find himself in front of when he details his new company's privacy-exploiting business plan.

JoAnne pleads with Park, telling him that peoples' genetic makeups aren't just private and personal, but sacred. He argues data is bigger than life: "Data is immortal."

While he tries to convince her — and himself — that he can't back out of the expo, he starts aggressively sniffing the pillow he's clutching. Like a narcotics K-9, he picks up a familiar scent. He smells Anushka… and an ulterior motive.

She begs him to at least take a pause and give the risky move more thought, but he just takes her picture with his phone, then begins furiously typing on the device. He hands it to her and kindly asks her to press "play," which reveals a vulgar AI video he's *just* made of the two of them.

Duncan (Billy Magnussen) on 'The Audacity'.

"That's you f---ing me in the a--!" he yells.

As Gary enters the home, their argument escalates to a screaming match. Beyond disgusted by the video, JoAnne whips the phone at Duncan. She then goes for her gun, but it's missing from her desk drawer. He demands answers, while she screams — within Gary's earshot — "You are not my partner!"

Park flees, and Gary peeks between the curtains to watch his hasty exit. But before Duncan leaves the property, he pauses, waves an angry finger at the home, and exclaims, "And it's my house!"

As Gary attempts to digest this unsettling detail, the screen goes black

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Source: “EW TV”