First things first. Thank you Xfinity Watchaton Billions Watch Party for an amazing evening at Classic Car Club of Manhattan! Lady Trader and I felt like billionaires as we sipped Champagne on Axe’s plane, ate quail-masquerading-as-ortolan with napkins on our heads, played Black Jack like there is no tomorrow, enjoyed a Q&A with show creators and cast members followed by an early screening of the crazy good Episode 4, and, hey, we got to hang out with these two! Kelly and Toby, you guys rock!
Credible threats? Check. Ultimate sabotage? Check. Unparalleled favors? Check. Shocking twists and turns? Check. Taking care of business at all costs? Check. We are in a “World Gone Wrong” exactly like in Dylan’s song opening and closing the episode and Billions is on fire this week!
Primary Day / 5 hours until the opening bell
It is 4:30 am in the morning and the Burke brothers are “bright fucking yellow like you’re in Kill Bill” and busy at a school bus parking lot making sure the buses will be out of commission this morning. Huh?
2:18 hours until the opening bell
It all becomes clear when Axe gets into Chuck’s office – without a knock! We find out when he was a kid, Axe once lost a $100 that he did not have in a carnival game. He was too young to figure out the business model: He thought the game was about knocking the pins down while it was all about having people pay to try to knock the pins down 😀
And while Chuck’s opponent is thinking there is an election going on in NY state, the primary is as rigged as the carnival game! Axe has made sure that the state will have its lowest turnout especially in districts where Chuck’s opponent is doing well. School buses are broken so parents need to drive their kids to school this morning rather than go vote. And a good number of voters are now taking a free day trip to Atlantic City 😀 Since it is the primary that really counts, Chuck will have it by the end of the day. But, hey, why is Chuck not making the happy dance?
Chuck spills the beans: Even the lowest turnout in the city may not save his campaign at this point. Chuck Senior has not been able to convince Foley to green light Chuck for the State AG seat. While Senior has tried his best to tell Foley that if he shoots, his son will shoot back, and both will die. On the other hand, if no one shoots, everyone will survive. But Black Jack does not yield. Instead, he gives an ultimatum: Chuck should withdraw his candidacy by 5pm tomorrow or Foley is going public with what he knows.
We all know what Foley has on Chuck and I think Axe can make an educated guess, too. It is beyond hilarious to see Axe wearing his performance coach hat that he used to advise Wendy last season. It seems Axe wants Chuck to be the State AG even more than Chuck himself does. This should have something to do about the favor he will name after the election, no?
He quotes Walter Mosley’s book:
“Always outnumbered, always outgunned.”
That is the state of the world guys like Axe and Chuck always find themselves in. Axe knows Chuck can fight this because he was the most formidable enemy he ever had.
“My chest was out, sure, but inside it, my heart was racing, when I knew that you were coming for me.”
Who knew Axe would open his heart to Chuck? Besides, he reminds Chuck he is only a phone call away if he needs him! It is official. These two are BFFs 😀
The moment Axe leaves Chuck’s office, Chuck tasks Karl Allerd with finding out why Black Jack prefers everyone dying to everyone surviving, a lose-lose situation. It turns out Foley is completely rational: He is dying of liver cancer. He does not have anything to lose and is committed to stop Chuck from being NY’s next AG.
We see “great man’s final move” as Foley passes a piece of paper to Jeffcoat in return for immunity for his heirs. The AG covering a real crime that threatens public safety in return for information about Chuck’s unusual sex life – which is NOT a crime – makes my stomach turn. I am sure Jeffcoat thinks he is getting rid of Chuck Rhoades for good.
Not too fast, Jock!
1:33 hours to opening bell
Axe is doing a Mercedes AMG GT Coupe test drive with Rebecca sitting next to him. She is leaving for Houston shortly for the zero-gravity flight she has booked for $165K and will have the entire aircraft to herself. She asks Axe whether he wants to join her but he has no time for “Vomit Comet” today.
Axe needs to make sure the CEO of the “Noon to Night” who could not turn any real profit go away. He owns 11% of the company shares and he is meeting Chris Sacca who has agreed to back Axe with his own shares in a coup to overthrow the CEO.
But first things first: Axe likes the ride and buys two $132K each.
“What color do you want?”
I do not know about Rebecca, but I want the metallic silver! The funny thing is I am driving a silver Mercedes Coupe, too, with the major difference being mine is 2008 model and I only paid $13K for it 😀
37 minutes to the opening bell
Axe’s day takes a drastic turn as he gets a shocking phone call from Baton Rouge.
One of the LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals at the port has a perforation nobody has noticed until it was too late and the tank will explode. No one else knows about it yet and Axe has 3-4 hours until the whole world finds out.
Well, it seems storming the castle is not in the cards for Axe today because he needs to protect his own castle. He calls Dollar Bill to tell him to get out of all positions in natural gas NOW and runs for his life!
1 minute to the opening bell
Axe is in the office ready to get out of all positions in natural gas using “dark pools” where they can sell large blocks of securities without showing their hands to others and thus avoiding immediate market impact .
But what the fuck?
The computer system is off and the IT guy cannot figure out more than the fact that they are hacked! Well, what goes around comes around, doesn’t it? Axe has sabotaged the elections and now someone else has sabotaged his company’s computer systems. Axe knows it is Andolov way before Hall confirms it is a Russian made circuitry that hacked the system.
Knowing he will not make it to his meeting with Sacca, Axe calls someone he trusts: Rebecca. If she can go and do this huge favor for him, he will re-book the “Vomit Comet” experience for the two of them!
They first ride Ben Kim as their “Justify” and use Ben’s personal computer connected to his hot spot to do the trades but his computer is frozen after the first two trades. So are all direct links to trading desks. Now what?
I love this scene mostly because it demonstrates how dependent we all are on our machines right now. I used to know people’s phone numbers, and birthdays. I used to study a location I would drive to. I now just rely on my phone for everything and the phone going out of battery feels like the end of the world. Oh well.
I remember Taylor talking about “young lungs” to Axe in Season 3 Finale. But you sometimes need older lungs to know about both Reebok Blacktops and voice trades! Axe, Wags, and Dollar Bill get out the old phones and a dusty files with phone numbers. They call the CEO of every prime broker and offer them carrots (5 cents rather than 3 cents per share for getting Axe Capital out of Natural Gas plus an invitation to Axe’s box at Arthur Ashe) and sticks (“I’m a good friend, but a bad fuckin’ enemy”) to get out of their positions quietly like in Le Samourai.
I cannot help give a little Damian Lewis trivia here: His character Milo Shakespeare in The Baker (aka Assassin in Love) is kind of a tribute to Alain Delon’s Jeff Castello in Le Samourai. They are both professional hit men living with a little bird in a cage and both films open with a long shot of the main character lying in bed! 😀
The young Axe Capital employees are watching the theatrical performance Axe and Wags are giving in front of their very eyes. These kids have never done a “voice trade” before, they simply do not know how to do it. And when the big dogs deliver with the company incurring only 10% of the losses they would otherwise do, no one says it better than the one and only Ari Spyros:
“All Hail our lords and saviors, Robert of Axelrod and Michael of Wagner.”
And don’t forget Dollar Bill, who, with a little help from his friend at Toronto Stock Exchange, has been able to get out of $70M worth positions. It is good to see Bill has left the traumatic experience in Chickentown behind! 😀
The two Chucks visit a development area in Green Point that Senior trusts his son to expedite the permits so he can build his “Elysian Fields” and make it his legacy. And while he is shaken by the news that Foley has a cancer moving through him like a race car on Bonneville Salt Flats, Senior does not have any intention to give up on his dream. His advice for Chuck is to face whatever Foley wants to say and deny it. The issue is Chuck knows he can take the public shame but does not know if Wendy can.
Chuck meets his wife at Madison Square Park to talk things over. You can feel that he expects Wendy to tell him to keep fighting even when he tells her he needs to withdraw his candidacy because otherwise Foley is going public about their sex life.
Honestly, I find Wendy’s reaction very much out of character. Yes, we have seen Wendy getting more emotional, more human if you will, over the last few episodes but again she is the one who told Chuck – when he was hesitating to run and considering to teach at university – that he needs to keep going in Episode 1. She is the one who called the New York AG seat Chuck’s calling while packing for their trip to the casino in Episode 3.
Wendy is a rational person who knows this will be the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads forever. And the only way to get rid of it is to face it publicly – Jeff Bezos style – and tell the people who believe they can control you to go and fuck themselves. If Chuck were my husband, I would tell him go and own it.
Wendy does not. She thinks their sexual behavior is outside the Overton Window – acceptable behavior in public discourse. And if Chuck makes their sex life public, he will not only lose but also will make them e a laughing stock. And while Wendy knows Chuck can take the humiliation, she actually thinks he partly needs it, she cannot live with it. Chuck will need to walk away from the race.
Cook lets Sara know Axe Capital is under some cyber attack. And once Mafee finds out about the “panic yard sale” Taylor decides to sell their natural gas positions to drive prices down and bleed Axe Capital. After their “virtual group high-five” later in the day, Sara asks Taylor the Russian word for God. They both know who is pulling the strings behind the cyber attack and creating an opportunity for them.
Checking their dad’s Untitled Lattice Fin Project, which we saw Douglas giving to Taylor earlier in the day, puts a smile on Taylor’s face. They want to raise capital for the project. Who knows maybe they need some old lungs to generate more revenue for TMC!
When Chris Sacca tells Rebecca he cannot back Axe since he dumped his shares in “Noon to Night” Rebecca has to “kill” the CEO on her own. And, man, she does it seamlessly! The CEO does not seem be intimidated first when Rebecca tells him Axe wants him gone. Axe is the Al Capone of Wall Street and does not have the credibility to convince the board. Oh, but how about Axe signing over his 11% to Rebecca who promises to use all her connections and credibility to get him out of his seat? Game over. The CEO agrees to step down with a $13M exit payment, Rebecca brings back 3 board seats to Axe one of which she is getting for herself and they can re-book their zero-gravity flight for 6 months later. And if these two are not soul mates who are? 😀 And is it me or it feels like a de javu hearing Rebecca say “you’re damn right, I am.” Axe certainly has a “type.”
Chuck is in the kitchen of Franceus Tavern, a historical tavern George Washington is known to have bid his troops farewell. And today Chuck will have the press here to bid them farewell and disappear from the political scene forever. Or not.
Chuck may be bending over for his own pleasure but he will not bend over for Foley’s. Instead he chooses to add to the history of the Tavern with his own historical speech. He starts with Churcill:
“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”
A prosecutor’s job is to dig deep and find what is under all darkness and Chuck will start now with shining light on his own darkness: He practices BDSM with his consenting wife. Bondage, dominance, whips, ropes, masks, pinches punches, what have you.
Chuck trusts his constituency can handle it. And while it would be great if they still voted for him, it would be the best if they told someone today about who they really are and felt more comfortable in their own skin.
My vote is for Chuck of Rhoades! As a voter, I think if this guy can tell people who want to control him to go fuck themselves now, he will tell them to go fuck themselves while in office.
Who else do you think is voting for Chuck?
It may be surprising for you all since I have always been Team Wendy but I am 100% with Chuck on this one. What Chuck and Wendy do in their bedroom is their business. And nobody, and especially someone as self-righteous as Foley, should be able to threaten Chuck for his consensual, if unusual, sex life.
And may I just say those Billions writers should be prophets or something? The embassy incident. Bezos. They wrote the scripts MONTHS before all these things happened. Now I cannot wait for the next Billions prophecy.
Wendy crashes the party as Chuck celebrates his exit poll numbers with his campaign team and she cannot take more Churchill. Chuck can shove Churchill up his ass and she believes he will fit 😀 Wendy is extremely concerned about what her colleagues, her friends, her parents and her kids will think of her. I am surprised that the woman who teaches everyone how to be thick-skinned does not seem to have the thick skin I thought she had.
On the other hand, Chuck’s new BFF is very happy with Chuck’s victory! And he delivers the most hilarious line of the episode:
“She’s gonna beat your ass for it.”
Well, Chuck already knows his marriage is in trouble but what he is curious about right now is the favor Axe will name.
As she deals with the shock, Wendy gets a Skype call from Taylor. Taylor, who knows what it means to be under public scrutiny because of who they are, is there to talk if Wendy is up for it. Will Wendy call Taylor back? Could this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship? Time will tell.
30 days later
The New York born and bred Chuck Rhoades is the new AG of New York. Alas, he does not have his wife standing beside him.
And when we find out about Chuck’s first order of business as the state AG we know why Axe wanted Chuck to win this office maybe more than Chuck himself did.
Andolov, whose funds Chuck seems to have frozen, tries to seduce the state AG with a potentially fruitful friendship. But Chuck is not interested in a real life “Lestat and Louis” with Andolov. His office has detected Andolov’s close relations with blacklisted governments and he now has 12 hours to leave town.
As Andolov and his family are boarding the plane that will take them to Russia, Axe shows up to give him a parting gift: Andolov’s funds in TMC will be unfrozen and given to him upon his landing in Russia.
Axe tells Andolov he should keep in mind that Axe can be scared but he cannot be scared off. And in case Andolov wants to settle further score with him, he will understand how isolated, protected, and a strong man Axe is. There is nothing he cannot do to defend what is his. Is it too good to be true or Andolov will really leave Axe alone if he stirs shit only in America? And if he will, now that Taylor’s guardian angel is gone, what is next?
Oh, and if you want to see the episode script written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, Koppelman shared a link on Twitter. ENJOY!
Teleplay for Overton Window (Billions 404) https://t.co/Ho1ZFVdkXF
— Brian Koppelman (@briankoppelman) April 12, 2019
I honestly think Chuck and Wendy’s marriage is over. The BDSM aspect of their relationship obviously extended beyond the bedroom. Wendy had control and power over Chuck. She told his father that last season when she talked him out of running. Now it seems like his father knew Chuck better than she did. It also seems like the one thing Chuck needs more than Wendy is a career in public service. She could cheat on him and go back to work for Axe but she couldn’t tell him to what to do when it came to his career. He’s really his father’s son. It will be interesting to see where Wendy goes from here now that she can’t control Chuck and his career gives him more fulfillment than his marriage. When Wendy was in that position, Chuck stayed. I wonder if Wendy will bail.
I like this show but I think tidy up or abandon major storylines too quickly. I doubt Grigor would have just left so quickly. Maybe he’ll come back but I think they rushed through that Chuck wins and helps Axe beat Grigor storyline. Also, are they going to go back to Lara and the kids? Are they just forgotten? What about Axe’s mother? They introduce her then act like she doesn’t exist anymore. I wish they would stop doing this.
I think it’s weird that Rebecca and Wendy haven’t interacted yet. She frequently comes and goes but has never met Wendy.
Thank you for reading!
I personally think Chuck and Wendy’s marriage is strong and can endure this. And, Chuck, who has typically listened to Wendy has gone ahead and done his own thing, exhibited a dominant side of him to her. Who knows maybe he can change in the bedroom as well now? I am serious. Chuck may try to do this to save the marriage. They are equals in their relationship but yes, you are right, Wendy has a certain power over him – she was critical for Chuck to give up on the governor’s race and Wendy did it to get revenge from Senior, but it was also the right thing to do, because Chuck really really loved being the strongest active law man in the state of NY. But I don’t think his career gives Chuck more fulfillment than his marriage to Wendy. It is just that he did not want to live under constant threat and killed it. Which, in my personal opinion, was the right thing to do. And I am hoping Wendy will come around when she gives it a bit of thought.
I am thinking that Andolov leaving the country may be too good to be true. But he has got his money back from Taylor Mason Capital so this means he does not have any incentive to protect Taylor any more which leaves Taylor unprotected, a relatively easy target for Axe.
Showtime announced that Malin Akerman, who is playing Lara, will not be a regular character on the show anymore. I have been rooting for her and Axe to get back together, but it now seems it is a long shot, and it will most probably not happen. But I really like Rebecca – Axe really has a “type” doesn’t he? 🙂 And, yes, we have not seen her having an interaction with Wendy yet. I am sure we will at some point. It is inevitable.
I really want Axe’s relationship with mom to be explained at some point, too. She appeared in the end of Season 3 all of a sudden, they are certainly estranged, and we have no idea why!
Thank you for letting me tag along at the screening! It was an amazing night, and so much FUN!
As always, thank you for all the references, as I did get about 20% this week as opposed to 0 the week before!
I’m going to guess the debate of Team Chuck vs Team Wendy is going on all over the Billions fan base right now. Twitter was hot last night. And, we talked about it Friday night.
“I am surprised that the woman who teaches everyone how to be thick-skinned does not seem to have the thick skin I thought she had.” This is why I had not been Team Wendy in the past: I always thought she was a do as I say, not as I do person.
I don’t know it’s all going to work out, but I’m not hating the idea of TeamWendyTaylor! Those two getting back at the men who used them would be delicious!
Thank you for reading!
These writers are amazing. What did they do to us? We found ourselves on Twitter last night debating about Chuck and Wendy and you were defending Wendy?!?! And I, who has always been on Team Wendy, was defending Chuck?!?! Brilliant writing there pressing people’s sensitive buttons left and right! I am so curious how this story will play out!
I find Wendy’s reaction very much out of character because I have always thought she was strong, confident, rational, someone totally comfortable in her own skin. She has always been telling everyone to do it, and to win it at all costs. And you all know I have always loved Wendy. I could identify with her. But she probably has never been in a situation where the cost was herself 🙂 This should certainly be a plot point that would help start kicking off another storyline so I am wondering, too, if this will kick off a new and friendly relationship between Taylor and Wendy. Could it help Wendy to be a bridge between Axe and Taylor, or could it be that she can approach Taylor like a friend but use them like they used her in the past, or could it be that Wendy and Taylor can form a block against the men? That would be fun! But why would Wendy go against Axe? But maybe something can happen along the way that may alienate Wendy from Axe? Questions, questions, questions! 🙂
Absolutely Chuck and Wendy stay together. You can tell by how angry she was. “We are gonna break up before we make up” is a hardy perennial in dramas. From a simple structural viewpoint, you cannot ruin everything by having a Chuck-Wendy split after the Axe-Malin Ackerman split.
This was a high revved episode number four, and this is why the preview party was held that our lovely reviewers went to.
I really like how Rebecca Cantu is panning out. The writers and show runners are inserting a cognitive dissonance here. She has a wide face which connotes innocence and home cooking, domesticity, which she is the opposite of, but still very nice and a “good sport” with Axe.
What color did Axe get?
Honestly, I also think Chuck and Wendy will stay together. For starters, she did not tell him not to come home or anything, she just told him she would probably send the kids to her parents. But she was not there standing next to Chuck when he won the state AG seat. So we do not know where they stand a month after what happened.
I do not think the party was specifically organized for this episode, because it was not a Showtime event, but an Xfinity event, but I completely agree with you that this is the right episode for a screening party. Even if it is coincidence, it worked pretty well. I think this is one of the best episodes in the show’s history and I would put Chuck’s speech up there as one of the golden moments of TV history.
I love Nina Arianda, she is such a natural actress, she makes it look so easy, but I am torn about Rebecca. She is so much like Lara in ways that I first think about Axe having a “type” and then thinking — and I am not into conspiracy theories at all — whether someone that studied his “type” has sent Rebecca his way.
Good question. What color did Axe take? Not yellow or green 😀 Maybe some shade of dark grey/blue? I checked their website they have so many different shades. I know I would have gone with metallic silver.
With you here D. Wendy has to sort out her angry emotions and stand by her man. And this positive is is what will happen. What an amazing speech by Chuck but I knew (along w millions of others) that he was going to ball up Ira’s piece of paper speech and toss it. WELL DONE Chuck Jr.! The display of faces and reactions was the best.
Meanwhile Androlov wore out his welcome, so got brutally flushed down the toilet and I knew he was gone soon by the new phony spouted beard.
Thank you for reading!
I would not expect Wendy, or any woman, for that matter, to stand by her man under all conditions. But Wendy knows how much Chuck wants this, she has been the one always pushing him to go further. So, in some ways, Wendy has created Chuck we have today as much as his father. And as a smart and rational woman, there is no way Wendy does not know this threat will hang over their heads forever. Which means there will be no further political/ legal adventure for Chuck even though Wendy tells Chuck that they will find the next one together. I of course understand Wendy’s heart being broken since her husband did not tell her he would reveal their secret but I still think what Chuck did was brave, honest and necessary and it will be good for them both. You cannot let anyone, especially someone as self-righteous as Foley to stop you from pursuing your dreams.
I think this storyline helps bring Taylor into Wendy’s life again. I wonder if this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Time will tell and I cannot wait to see how it will all play out.
Do you think Andolov is gone for good? I think it is too good to be true but yeah I do not think he can come back under the circumstances.
Andolov is definitely gone for good. Maybe a few very quickie flashbacks. John Malkovich is a “prestige” actor to get in your movie or TV series. At age 65 he is cynically (like an oligarch) collecting his (retirement) money and then he is gone. Especially- with that beard he had because he was filming another project. I have nothing against Malkovich but his very stereotyped evil murderous Russ Oligarch …….. Androlov got so stupid boring that in my second viewing of episodes I fast forwarded
Hmmm… I just thought his departure happened just too fast and so maybe too good to be true. Yes, we sometimes need to take real life into consideration. Maybe he could only commit to 4 episodes this season and they so had to figure out a way to get him out of the show on time. And it was epic. I loved it that even the Russian oligarch has to bow in front of the law knowing that the US is in contrast to his is still a country where law is above everyone.
“So, in some ways, Wendy has created Chuck we have today as much as his father. And as a smart and rational woman, there is no way Wendy does not know this threat will hang over their heads forever.”
Indeed. Wendy has an investment in Chuck Jr. _________He is her long term project, as in two children. She will never split. Why should she when she has moved from being the shrink at Axe Cap to the trading floor, as a combination cheerleader and disciplinarian. I see W doing more of same unto the Axe organization.
Offshoot– Curly locks genius Bonnie had a cameo. It is very tough to get face time on fast moving Billions.
I have seen both seasons of Goliath at Amazon. _Damianista says-“I love Nina Arianda”_
She does great in Goliath. I vastly prefer these B? .. B-ish? TV series to the Hollywood movies of today. You get more character development for the marquee actors and for the supporting actors. Like Chuck Senior!
I have never seen Goliath. I haven’t known Nina Arianda since I saw her in Billions – she has such naturalness in her acting, I really love her. Hope to see her other work.
I am not a Hollywood movie fan, either 🙂
Chuck Senior is such a remarkable character and Jeffrey DeMunn is an amazing actor. In the Q&A at the recent Xfinity event, Koppelman and Levien said that everyone stops whatever they are doing at that moment and just watch Mr. DeMunn when he reads at the show’s table reads.
Hello,
This was a great episode. Foley had the devil knock on Chuck’s door which he opened and gave him carfare back home. I have much more respect for people/politicians who don’t try to hide and lie what is perceived as human frailties or mistakes, instead just admit the problem thereby taking the thunder away from your opponents. I feel most of us are willing to forgive a person for the truth but not for the lies and coverup. Great Job, Chuck.
As for the always wonderful Nina Arianda, she was amazing and devoured the stage at the CSC in the production on Venus in Furs (saw her 2x & 1x on B’way) which put her on the map. She was in Broadway production as well. The intimacy of the smaller venue at CSC contributed to a more intense production and performance. I hope she stays around in the series.
Having some knowledge of the playground Wendy and Chuck engage. I did not put any realistic stock in her believe that a part of Chuck wants to humiliate himself by going forward. I felt that is a common cheap psychological understand of BdSm. Church might enjoy humiliation in their personal play time but doesn’t want to subconsciously humiliate himself any more than Chuck Sr. slapping him around will create feelings of arousal. The power exchange that happens between partners is so varied and complicated and power shifts happen in all relationships. Could be this the turn into Wendy’s switching roles now that Chuck has “damned the torpedoes” and went full steam ahead.
Thank you for reading!
I agree about Chuck. And, as a voter, I would think a guy that would not bend over to threats like that before the election would not bend over to them while in office? His revelation creates trust for such a politician — which we saw happening in the episode.
It is true that Chuck enjoys humiliation, but as you say, he enjoys it in his private life, not in his public life. He likes a challenge, and probably plotting to get out of trouble gives him pleasure, but not public humiliation. So it was not the easiest thing to do for him, either. However, you can’t really let such a threat hang over you forever. I think Chuck’s revelation is good for Wendy in the long-run as well. I understand her embarrassment, but I am also surprised about Wendy’s reaction — I thought she would support him in this. I know I would. Yeah, I am also curious to see how this story will play out in their sex life 😀