Manhattan: The Gun Model First Watch

January 9, 2017 11:35 PM - Season 1, Episode 12

Akley becomes vulnerable when he tries to fix Thin Man's shortcomings.

Akley, nominally Charlie's boss, knows that Charlie has been using members of his team to perform calculations on the shockwave necessary to make implosion work for Winters' team. He appears at Charlie's house late in the night, toting a gun to emphasize that he feels he's been shot in the back. He's willing to forgive Charlie, he says, blaming Winter for manipulating Charlie. Thin Man is not dead, not by a long shot. The Tennessee reactor was just a pilot project, Akley explains. They're building a new reactor, designed by the legendary Enrico Fermi himself, whose product is going to be as pure as Walter White's blue meth. Frank, who has the same security clearance as Akley, should have known this, Akley argues. But now Winter has implicated Charlie in a conspiracy to sabotage the most expensive and secret project in military history. And the paper trail points back to only one man, Charlie Isaacs.

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Akley believes the plutonium produced at Site W will be pure enough for Thin Man to work. “Enrico Fermi personally designed the reactor,” he tells Charlie. “I have the fission rates on my desk. It’s as good as cyclotron plutonium. It’s as good as pure.” Charlie, who realizes his blunder, is extremely apologetic. After all, it’s his signature that appears on every requisition and order coopting resources from the Thin Man group for use on implosion.

Back on the Hill, the Los Alamos town council has decided to expand its committee as the town’s population rapidly grows. One of the candidates running is Liza Winter, who is determined to make changes on the Hill. “I don’t believe in keeping secrets anymore,” she says. “Now is the time for someone to explain precisely what rights we have when we live within these fences and what recourse we have if we feel those rights have been abridged.”

posted by the man of twists and turns