Billions: Season 3, Episode 1 “Tie Goes to the Runner” (B+)
What a premiere! There’s so much going on here, and I actually feel that it might be less over-the-top than usual. That’s mostly because Chuck is actually not involved in the case against Axe, and he’s having freer conversations than before instead of literally hiding in the shadows to manipulate events. While he’s not busy tormenting himself with stories of Wendy sleeping with other men as punishment for his behavior, Chuck is making productive moves, covering his bases with Ira, who’s going to hate him forever, and cutting his father out of his life by aligning himself with Jack Foley against him. It’s a strange situation he’s in protecting Wendy from everything while she’s become an official lieutenant at Axe Capital, holding down the fort along with Taylor and Wags, who actually work together a lot better than they originally might have and than Dollar Bill reports. Axe is also not in nearly as bad shape as his end-of-season arrest would indicate, still spouting off lines like “Lots of guys like Bruce Lee movies, that doesn’t mean you can do karate” and very deliberately giving up his ability to trade based on Wendy’s recommendation. Taylor was in full control of that idea room at the end of the episode, and I’m very excited to see what comes next on this genuinely enthralling show, which is still going strong despite the relative lack of interaction between its two main rivals, who are each on their own quests now to hold on to whatever power they think they can still attain. I’m also happy to see the addition of the dependable Clancy Brown from “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Carnivale” as the new attorney general.
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