Michael Clayton Trivia Quiz

Answer: U/North

United Northfield (U/North) was a manufacturer of agricultural products, namely a weed-killer called Culcitate, which had been responsible for a number of deaths. The company had retained Kenner Bach to defend them in a class-action, $3 billion lawsuit involving hundreds of plaintiffs.

Answer: Tim

Michael had used his "walk-away" money to start a bar with his brother, Tim, so he would have something to fall back on. Tim was an irresponsible alcoholic who had gone upstate after the business failed, leaving Michael to attend the auction of the bar's equipment and furnishings.

After being told that they'd still be $75,000 short, Michael said he would take responsibility for the debt even though his brother's name was on the books.

Answer: At a deposition

Arthur was the senior litigator on the U/North case and had been working on it for six years nonstop. He was also a manic-depressive who Michael rightly guessed had stopped taking his medications. Arthur had stripped naked during depositions because, as he later explained to Michael, he wanted to cleanse himself of the poison which had gotten into him during the years he had been working on the case.

He was consumed by guilt because he'd been defending a company which had knowingly sold products that killed people.

When Arthur referred to himself as an accomplice, Michael said he was a manic-depressive. Arthur responded that he was Shiva, the god of death.

Answer: Briefcase

Karen wasn't confident in Michael's ability to keep Arthur under control after finding out that Arthur should've been on medication. After searching through Arthur's briefcase and finding a copy of U/North's Internal Research Memorandum #229, which clearly stated that Culcitate was known to cause cancer, Karen placed a call to a "specialist", Mr. Verne. Mr. Verne and Mr. Iker broke into Arthur's loft, tapped his phone and kept track of his movements. Karen later took the memo to Marty who realized that Arthur could ruin their entire case.

Answer: True

Michael told Gabe, the associate for the loan shark, that he could only have part of the money the next day, but was told that wasn't enough. Gabe said he had a week, so Michael went to Marty's house to ask for a loan. Marty was going through papers from Arthur's office and told Michael that Arthur had actually been building a case against U/North. Marty assumed that Michael needed the money for gambling debts, but Michael said it was for the bar business. Michael explained that he had gone into the business with his brother so he'd have a way out because he was tired of being a "janitor".

He even reminded Marty that he'd asked to be put on a litigation team, but Marty had refused. Marty said that Michael was known as a "fixer", something he wanted Michael to keep doing.

Answer: Michael's son, Henry

Henry had tried to call his dad in Milwaukee, but ended up talking to Arthur. He explained his favorite fantasy book, "Realm and Conquest" to Arthur, who seemed to relate to a chapter Henry described wherein the characters all had a dream that they should go to this one place. The characters all thought they were going crazy, but Arthur understood that they weren't crazy, that it was real. Arthur said that they were summoned, and Henry said that was the name of the chapter, "Summons to Conquest". In addition to using the chapter title, Arthur also had the memos bound in red, just like the "Realm and Conquest" book.

After seeing the memo, Michael realized that Arthur wasn't mad, he was right about U/North. Arthur knew that he wasn't crazy and had been asking Michael to trust him all along, starting with the message he had left for Michael on the hotel room wall before he left, "make believe it's not just madness".

Answer: False

Marty wasn't surprised that U/North could be guilty, he told Michael that the whole case was rotten from the start. But he wasn't about to do anything to jeopardize the settlement Kenner Bach was just about to complete. Marty also told Michael that U/North could sue them for legal malpractice, ruining Kenner Bach's pending merger with a London law firm. Marty gave Michael the check for $80,000 he'd asked for, but it came with strings attached. Michael would have a three-year contract and a retroactive confidentiality agreement, which made Michael feel like he was selling out Arthur. Having spoken with Anna and having seen the memo, Michael knew that Arthur had been killed.

Answer: Hit a pedestrian

Michael took the extra $5,000 he had borrowed and entered a card game even though he hadn't been gambling for some time. When he left he spoke with a Kenner Bach associate named Walter who was on vacation. Walter told Michael that a client had been involved in a hit and run and needed some help cleaning things up. Michael drove to Westchester and told the man he would give him the names of local trial attorneys.

The man became irate, saying that Walter had promised him a miracle worker. Fed up with what he did for a living, Michael told the man that he was only a "janitor".

Answer: Horses on a hill

Michael wasn't happy with the work he was doing, or that he wasn't involved in his son's life as much as he wanted. When he found the "Realm and Conquest" book in Arthur's loft, he flipped through the pages, seeing a drawing of a horse on a hill standing by some trees. Driving through Westchester he pulled over when he saw a similar sight, the three horses standing on a hill between some trees. Michael got out and walked up the hill to the horses, looking at them in a moment of clarity, the same kind of moment Arthur had. Arthur realized that he couldn't keep covering up bad things that were being done anymore, but his willingness to stand up for justice and truth had gotten him killed.

As Michael contemplated what his life was about, he was stunned when his car blew up.

Answer: Nothing

Shocked to see Michael alive since she had asked Mr. Verne to take care of him, Karen became even more nervous when she saw that Michael had a copy of Memorandum #229. She said that the settlement was about to be agreed on by U/North's directors, but Michael pointed out that no checks had been signed so the memo could still hurt them. Michael said he would take $5 million to forget about Arthur, and another $5 million to forget about the 468 people they had knocked off with their weed killer. Karen agreed to transfer the money to Michael's account, but Michael revealed that he had a cell phone through which the police had heard their entire conversation.

When Don Jefferies came out to get Karen, he saw Michael and asked who he was. As he was walking away, Michael said, "I'm Shiva, the god of death", echoing Arthur's earlier statement.