Showtime's Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber traces the rise and fall of Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick and the poisonous culture of impropriety his employees indulged in while he was at the helm of the company. Despite the odious cutthroat nature in which Travis rose to the top, the show is littered with juicy monologues and cutting quotes that reinforce the nature of the key players in the story.
While many of the quotes are too meanspirited and downright profane to reprint, the ones that resonate the most tend to advance the plot while also unveiling something about the characters in the process.
Travis
"This Truncheon Of The Crooked Establishment, This Object Of Fear, I Want You To Know This Is Not Our Death Warrant, It's Our Goddamn Birth Certificate."
In the pilot, Travis (Joseph Gordon-Levitt in one of his most memorable roles) makes a rousing speech to his employees in the Uber office after the New York City Board of Transportation serves him a cease and desist letter. Rather than feeling afraid and stopping his actions, Travis proudly boasts he is moving forward with his grand plans for Uber.
The quote gives insight into Travis' immoral mindset as well as sets up the business ethos he will propagate throughout the series. To Travis, being restricted legally means they are on the right path to becoming rich, and consequences be damned.
Jeff Bezos
"You Are Going To Be Misunderstood. And That's Okay. People Not Comprehending Your Vision Is A Sign That Nobody Has Gone Where You're Going. It's Also A Sign Of Insanity..."
Early on in the beloved Showtime Original series, Travis takes business cues from Jeff Bezos while watching him giving advice on a YouTube video. The Amazon CEO makes a statement that further emboldens Travis, which keeps him going when most people around him question his mission statement and business practices.
The point of the quote, in the grand scheme, is that Travis takes the advice much too literally and heeds it for far too long, doing his best to toe the line between genius and insanity in ways that ultimately backfire horribly.
Bill Gurley
"Google Did It By Being Better, Not By Being Al Capone. Don't Be Evil Ring A Bell?"
While it may not seem all that dramatic on paper, the way Bill delivers the line with such gravity really stands out. However, it's Travis who gets the last laugh by quickly retorting with "tell that to Alta Vista," indicating that if he isn't as ruthless as Capone, Uber will soon be defunct.
Travis
"The Whole Worth Of Your Company Is Predicated On My Success. You're A Tapeworm. I'm The Host. You Need Me."
One of the most painfully awkward moments in the popular Showtime series comes when Travis cannot bite his tongue while meeting with Lyft CEO John Zimmer (John Magaro) to acquire the company. Against Bill's advice, Travis launches into an insolent, self-aggrandizing statement that reinforces his undiplomatic nature.
The quote is taken from a much lengthier screed in which Travis cannot help but put his foot in his mouth just as he's about to monopolize the ridesharing industry.
John Zimmer
"You Could Have Walked Out Of Here Tonight Owning The Entire Rideshare Space. Like Coke And Pepsi Got Hitched. But You're Not Smart Enough. No, That's Not It. You're Not Sophisticated Enough. Not Cultured Enough. F*ck, You're Not Human Enough."
Lyft CEO John Zimmer's direct retort to Travis' previous quote is too satisfying to omit, as it gets to the heart of Travis' ambitious downfall and craven character flaws. Had Travis simply shown a modicum of decency and humility in his business meeting, he could have walked away owning Lyft.
Instead, Zimmer launches into a spot-on description of Travis' Machiavellian ways and vows to keep Lyft in business as a means of revenge on Travis. A truly great rant.
Bill Gurley
"They Will Lowball You, They Will Bigfoot You. And You Will Be Screwed."
In one of the most informative monologues in the well-received Showtime drama, Bill explains to Travis how Google Ventures works. They limit their spending to $100 million on the first round so that other investors can't go beyond that. As such, Bill urges to find outside investment, which he eventually finds for more than double Google's price.
The line is delivered with such a weighted focus by Chandler, who continues to give sound business and even fatherly advice to Travis, who in turn ignores him every time and runs the show according to his own greedy desires.
Angie You
"I Guess I Was Just Your Seed Round."
While the best lines in Super Pumped tend to come from wildly colorful monologues, Angie You cuts to the heart of Travis' callousness with a short missive that shuts him up immediately. Travis dumped Angie to be with Gabi after spotting the latter one time, despite Angie genuinely caring for and knowing what's best for Travis personally and professionally.
When Travis Facetimes Angie post-breakup, she continues to be kind and gives him the advice he needs for Uber to grow. Things turn ugly, with Angie all but ending the conversation with a line that proves Travis is more interested in making money than finding true love, using Angie as a stepping stone to get where he wants.
Peter Fenton
"Otherwise, Everyone Will Find Out. You Will Be Publicly Humiliated And You Will Have A Very Hard Time Ever Raising Money For Anything Again."
At the end of the series, Travis' transgressions prove too much to stay aboard Uber as CEO. Breaking the news to him is fellow VC Peter Fenton (Ian Alda), one of Bill's top employees. Uttered with the lasting intensity of a jail sentence, the quote lays bare the consequences the disgraced CEO faces.
The look on Travis' face once Peter tells him the news is somewhere between teary and puzzled, leaving him no choice but to comply with the terms Fenton presented or else be ousted rather than allowed to resign.
Tim Cooke
"If Insults Determined Our Actions We'd Be Tossing Apps At The Lions Like Emperors. Nothing Personal With Me, But It Is Clear, Travis. Your Action And Those Of Your Company Have Led Us To One Conclusion. Uber Must Go."
When Apple CEO Tim Cooke speaks, people tend to lean in and listen closely. At the end of Super Pumped, Cooke (Hank Azaria) does a few verbal gymnastics before coming down hard on Travis. Somehow, the southern drawl makes the bad news easier to take (not for Travis, however).
The moral backbone of the series comes to roost at this moment, as Apple has been lauded for its privacy practices, ethical treatment of customers, and unwillingness to host predatory apps in their store. Even still, Travis tries to skirt Cooke's words and persist as Uber's CEO.
The Narrator
"Oh Look At That. Our Main Motherf*cker Would Love To Find A Lie That He Could Float."
An amusing addition to Super Pumped was the voiceover narration provided by Quentin Tarantino, who delivers the lines with humor and energy. While underutilized on the whole, there's one line at the end that is too funny to forget.