On this week’s The Drill Down podcast, Australia’s elections are hacked, a Saudi app that tracks women’s movements, Samsung unveils a foldable phone, the perils of AI and machine learning … and much, much more.

Flight
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Starring Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, Nadine Velazquz, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood, Garcelle Beauvais and Justin Martin
Release Date: November 2, 2012

A mystical and unflagging perseverance allows airline pilot Captain Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) to crash-land a malfunctioning airline jet in an open field. It is evidenced that he is talented as a pilot. It is his calmness, though, that is most glaring and jarring. Remaining unshaken by the catastrophe he finds himself in, Whitaker is not self-deluding when he projects a demeanor that is reminiscent of a great Greek God. He constantly signals out demands that he needs from his crew, all of whom respond but with immense dread. But he remains calm, almost as if he knows he is not going to die. Each of the 102 people onboard his plane are all thrown into an uncontrolled panic as well. All of them are expecting death and six of them eventually will die. As the plane continues its descent, Whitaker becomes more resilient, more inspired and cockier, almost as if he is scoffing at imminent death.

Flight
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Written by John Gatins
Starring Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood, Melissa Leo
Paramount Pictures
Rated R | 139 Minutes
Release Date: November 2nd, 2012

Airline captain William “Whip” Whitaker (Denzel Washington) wakes up in a hotel room with flight attendant Katerina Marquez (Nadine Velazquez, FX’s The League).

Amidst a landfill of empty glass bottles and crushed aluminum cans, Whip smokes a joint and downs the half-empty bottle of beer on his nightstand.

Katerina navigates the wreckage, casually searching for her clothes. Her perfect nude form tip-toes around the room as Whip gets his bearings. Hungover from a sleepless night of sex, drugs, and reckless room service abuse, the still-drunk Whip opens his bloodshot eyes, rolls up a $100 bill, and snorts a couple lines of coke to shake the cobwebs.

Seconds later, Whitaker is a sharp-dressed man in his pilot uniform, strutting through the airport. Scheduled to commandeer a commercial aircraft from Orlando to Atlanta this morning, the captain takes his seat behind the controls with rookie copilot Ken Evans (Brian Geraghty). Whip chases black coffee and aspirin discreetly with vodka and orange juice and lets Evans fly the plane while he takes a nap.

Near Atlanta, the plane enters a steep dive, jolting Whip awake. After exhausting all other options, the liquored-up Whip rolls the plane into an inverted position (flying upside-down) to bring it out of the nosedive, then maneuvers the plane right-side up just before crash-landing in a field. The media hails Whitaker as a hero (reminiscent of Capt. Sully Sullenberger), but there’s the troubling matter of a toxicology report that, if made public, could ruin Whitaker’s heroic reputation.