‘Cupertino’ Reveals the Tragic Reason Michael Hates His Dad

It has been clear since the beginning of Cupertino that Michael Price (Mike Colter) simply cannot stand his father, Bayard Diamond (Joe Morton). What hasn’t been so obvious is why. Sure, his dad is a high-powered entertainment lawyer whose name is so well known that everyone automatically assumes Michael’s career is a case study in successful nepotism and Michael desperately wants to avoid any appearance of coattail-riding on that front. But that doesn’t exactly explain the visible seething Michael does whenever the very subject of his dad comes up. On Thursday’s (November 12) new episode, “YUNGWOOD,” though, we finally find out the cause of this father-son fury, and it is a deeply upsetting revelation. Warning: Spoilers for Cupertino Episode 7, “YUNGWOOD,” ahead!

The case of the day involves a successful rapper named YUNGWOOD (guest star Method Man), who wants to sue an AI music company called Gas for plagiarizing his songs. Olivia Siffre (Rachel Keller) and Natalia Boutella (Busy Philipps) are not convinced they should take the case, since it could involve protracted litigation, and they don’t have the resources for such a momentous legal battle. However, Michael insists upon it.

It isn’t just that “Booty Bass” is his favorite of YUNGWOOD’s songs or that the client is clearly being ripped off by the company; he has a more personal reason for taking the case… two, actually. First, his father is opposing counsel, which means he gets a rare chance to go toe to toe with the old man. Plus, there’s a picture of his sister, Anna, with YUNGWOOD in happier times. So the case is about getting some semblance of justice for her just as much as for their enthusiastic emcee and sticking it to his dad.

As the lawyers battle it out in court for injunctive relief against Gas for its “Bass Booty” slop song by day, Michael reveals his gutting history to Olivia at night: Anna jumped off of a balcony one day because, Michael says, “She never felt like she was enough. Dad wanted her to be a lawyer. He pushed her. She started using to keep up… Dad tried tough love, but I couldn’t. That last week, she was so happy. It was like we were kids again. She’d already decided. She didn’t want to bother us. So she went off to an airport hotel, ordered room service breakfast, and stepped off the balcony. I was in court when I heard.” With that, we now have an answer to the question of why Michael has had such a deep resentment of his dad and why his dad can’t do anything about it.

Elizabeth Fisher / CBS

The case of the day, of course, ends in Price, Siffre & Associates’ favor. After proving that AI slop is taking over the algorithm in collusion with a major music streamer, Noisement, the judge is personally incensed by the scheme (his own Jimmy Buffett feed is being polluted with digital copycats), and Bayard has no choice but to cave with a chunky cash settlement and removal of the YUNGWOOD knockoff songs.

Elsewhere in the episode, Olivia deals with a bit of a family crisis of her own, as her brother is being scammed by a Polish hacker who steals thousands of dollars from him and is going after their parents’ account, too. Olivia, trying to help, also gets pulled into the same scam by a fake bank rep who has her this close to downloading malware, until she calls Vik (Nik Dodani) for guidance. After that, Vik turns the tables on the scammer, gets her brother’s money back, and sends the entire Polish scam unit into panic mode by locking up their systems.

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If those wins aren’t enough, Olivia decides to go out on a date with Vik, and the two end up dancing at a club to the real “Booty Bass.” It’s a match made in non-AI heaven.

Cupertino, Thursdays, 10/9c, ABC