Thursday, May 31, 2018

What I’m Watching: Billions


Billions: Season 3, Episode 10 “Redemption” (B)

It’s episodes like these that make we wonder how much of this show is supposed to represent something that looks like reality and how much is purely exaggerated in an unbelievable way to make the plot the most entertaining possible. This show already has some superb characters without needing to amplify them with ridiculous plots, and this episode went a bit overboard on that front. Wendy’s job has never felt entirely authentic, especially since she often projects a cutthroat attitude that resembles Axe all too much and doesn’t track with most of what she does as a character in her personal life. Coaching Ben Kim to express himself seemed ill-advised from the start, and comically chasing after him while she was standing around not doing much before he performed his cringe-worthy dance routine in the elevator was laughable, and not in a good way. And somehow it managed to give him the confidence he needed to spit out his idea, which cemented his employment when I’m sure Axe and Wags were ready to fire him and torch his career. Similarly, the thought of working with the sleazy rich guy played by David Krumholtz was enough to compel Axe to go in a different direction that didn’t require him to give him any real autonomy and managed to impress Gregor enough to negate the loss he was supposed to suffer, and sadly Taylor’s relationship with Oscar seems to have been sacrificed for his financial prosperity. Chuck is going after something altogether more altruistic, and naturally he would be late home after getting a flat tire on the night that Jeffcoat invited himself over for a dinner that Wendy hired Axe’s chef to cook. There’s definitely something to be found where he’s digging, and he’s making decent progress in taking down a man who up until now has been completely untouchable.

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