Sunday, April 23, 2017

What I’m Watching: Billions


Billions: Season 2, Episode 9 “Sic Transit Imperium” (B+)

What’s most incredible to me about this show is not the grandeur of the undertakings that Chuck and Axe begin on an episodic basis but the quickness with which they give them up because of newly-introduced factors. Chuck made a big show of visiting Sandicott and pretending not to want press, and then he found a way to be finally able to take down Axe and score himself a big political win. But all it took was a short conversation with Jack Foley to learn that this wasn’t something he approved of, and by episode’s end, he was ready to throw in the towel completely and not going after Axe at all anymore. Letting his father meddle around with his blind trust probably isn’t a smart idea, and while you’d think that Chuck Sr. would know what he was doing, the soon-to-be-candidate shouldn’t be knowingly entering into any potential conflicts of interest, lest he become like his number one target. Axe did his due diligence to make sure that Dollar Bill’s birthday tip was legitimate, and he also just blew $500,000 on an effort to look charitable. While he’s managed to convince Taylor to take their first steps towards becoming more like him and enjoying the luxury, he’s just lost his number one supporter who’s far more stable than Wags will ever be. I liked the fact that Lara called and ended up talking to Chuck to convince Wendy to come to the party, and it was inevitable that she would end up finding out that it was Wendy who set the boundaries between them, revealing Axe to be a manipulative liar. That look on her face at the end of the episode was so telling, and Axe has no idea what’s in store for him now that she’s no longer in his corner.

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