Friday, May 15, 2020

What I’m Watching: Billions


Billions: Season 5, Episode 2 “The Chris Rock Test” (B+)

This episode was actually a solid improvement from most of this show’s usual antics, and I appreciated the many movie and TV references the characters made, particularly Chuck trying to construct a code similar to that of Dexter Morgan, the protagonist from the book “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” and the popular Showtime TV adaptation “Dexter.” As he admitted to Kate, he certainly wasn’t holding to that code when he leaked the memo by Adam and then stepped in to carefully position him as the solicitor general so that he could help him argue in front of the Supreme Court. We didn’t see him interacting with Wendy at all, but freezing all of her money as she was about to buy a place cements him as an enemy she’s more than prepared to fight. Picking Lauren to be the face of the company when a client showed up unhappy that the top brass was all away was smart, though she made another enemy in the process who’s likely to go rogue, and that’s Sara, who feels like she no longer serves any purpose in the hybrid company. I suppose it’s good to finally give Dollar Bill some depth as Bonnie finds herself unable to deal with his inability to detach from work. Winston trying to con him and steal an “asshole tax” didn’t go too well, and he was right to return his money right away after Bill threatened to kill him. Axe tried to stay one step ahead of Mike on his turf and reveal him for the duplicitous operator he really is, and he almost won, until Mike pulled the rug out from under him by bringing in the shaman he had promised to deliver. Wags seeing his daughter on stage really rattled him, but being able to stop sucking up to the man who was talking in a demeaning way about her should help him get back on track and focus on his shared goal of domination with Axe.

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