Season 2 of 20 · 1980–1988

Syntax

Adolescence as a program he debugs badly, then better, while planning an exit.

BASIC, bullying shown only in aftermath, a sister's play, and a child's refusal of a sorting system. The suitcase is still imaginary until the last minute.

Place

South Africa

The work

Code, model rockets, backups

Pressure

Cruelty, isolation, and a country he will not inherit

• BASIC
• Model rockets

18 episodes available · 30:00

1. 01Midnight BASICHe teaches himself to make the machine answer, and is useless at breakfast small talk.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
2. 02Blinds DownCoding until dawn becomes a personality. Maye opens the curtains anyway.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
3. 03The Game That ThinksA dungeon game is a system he would rather live in than the hallway at school.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
4. 04Prize DayHe wins a school honor and cannot find his face in the applause.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
5. 05Errol's MinesStories of stone and money. The boy hears geology and appetite and files them separately.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
6. 06After the BoysAnother bullying aftermath, kept quiet: a doctor, Maye's hands, and the decision to return because the lab is there.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
7. 07Kimbal at the WheelA brother with more ease in his body ferries him through a city that still feels hostile.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
8. 08Letter NorthHe writes relatives in a country that will one day take him. The spelling wobbles. The aim does not.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
9. 09Field RocketA model rocket goes up badly. He is delighted. Failure is data.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
10. 10Two SundaysThe divorced calendar. He brings books to both houses and warmth to one.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
11. 11Tosca's CurtainHe builds a pulley for her play and accidentally learns audiences.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
12. 12Apartheid WeatherHe sees a system that sorts people and decides he will not belong to it. A child's recognition, not a speech.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
13. 13Friends in a LoopA classmate who understands code becomes a temporary country.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
14. 14The Broken DiskHe loses a day of work and learns backups, which is to say he learns to hate single points of failure.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
15. 15Maye's CameraShe poses for work. He poses badly. They laugh, and the series treats that as treasure.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
16. 16Seventeen QuestionsHe starts a list of problems large enough for a life: energy, space, the way information moves.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
17. 17The Gate in His HeadPassport stamps he does not have yet, rehearsed like lines.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra
18. 18Leaving PracticeHe and Kimbal pack an imaginary suitcase every night. Mim says the next one will be real.Available · 30:00 · Bloopers extra

Cast: Elon Musk, Mim, Maye Musk, Kimbal Musk, Tosca Musk, Errol Musk