In our ‘Billions’ recap, Axe Capital faces an attack at the worst possible time and Chuck makes a stunning decision in his race to become state attorney general…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Chuck Rhoades is not a good loser.
Much like his constant need to sink Bobby Axelrod when they were still enemies while he was serving as the U.S. District Attorney in New York, he’s carrying that same kind of attitude into his race to become the new New York State Attorney General.
That’s why the threat of exposure from his old pal Jack Foley nearly scares Chuck off from running for office until he realizes that bowing out of the race would be letting his opponent win and he just can’t do it.
So much like he did with the Ice Juice IPO scheme used to trap Axe a couple of seasons ago, Chuck is willing to torpedo his entire life in order to get what he wants.
Meanwhile, Axe has his own problems to deal with this week when a hacker invades Axe Capital and stops them from unloading a boat load of investments in natural gas just before a huge explosion is expected to sink the stock.
With that said, let’s get to our top 10 moments from the latest episode of ‘Billions’ titled ‘Overton Window’…
1 ) The Happy Dance
“Always outnumbered, always outgunned. As Mosely said it best. That’s the state of play for guys like us. That’s what we need to get us up with the sun. You can’t quit”
~ Bobby Axelrod
Despite Axe pulling all sorts of strings to ensure a low voter turnout, virtually locking up the primary win for Chuck, it appears his run at state attorney general is over before it begins.
Thanks to the damning evidence against him from Jack Foley — he busted Chuck and Wendy doing the S&M dance last season — he can’t peak his head out any further into the public spotlight without the guillotine blade swinging down on his neck.
Axe believes it’s time to do the happy dance but Chuck feels like he has no other choice but to bow out of the race. To make matters worse, Chuck soon discovers that Foley is 100-percent committed because he’s got terminal cancer and with only weeks left to live, he’s going all in to make sure that state attorney general’s race goes to anybody but Mr. Rhoades.
One more note, the song that plays throughout much of this episode is ‘World Gone Wrong’ by Bob Dylan
2 ) Ka-Boom
“It’s gonna go up like a bullfrog with an M-80 in its ass”
Before the opening bell on the stock exchange, Axe gets a call from a contact in the natural gas industry with some stunning news — an explosion is about to rock the world and with that the prices surrounding those stocks are going to drop faster than Howard Dean’s presidential campaign after the infamous scream.
That information means Axe has to rush back to the office to get his team assembled because as soon as the stock markets open, he’s got to get out of natural gas at the current rates before the prices fall after the explosion.
3 ) Hot Fire
Axe Capital goes into Defcon 1 after their entire system shuts down thanks to a hacking attack at the worst possible time as they begin dumping shares of natural gas stock.
Thankfully, Ben Kim has a laptop and a hotspot so he’s able to jump online to make a few trades and Wags promises to ride him to the finish line like Justify. As Axe and Wags get closer and closer to Ben while giving him orders, he can’t help but notice that they are ‘literally’ breathing down his neck.
“Say literally again and I will light you on fire like a dragon of yore”
~ Wags
4 ) Frozen
“I’m jammed up like I ate a pint of rice”
~ Bonnie
Sadly the attack on Axe Cap’s systems also extends to everybody’s cell phones and that’s when Bonnie drops this gem of a line. Meanwhile, ‘Dollar’ Bill is about ready to draw blood from the IT guy who keeps telling everybody what’s happening yet isn’t exactly offering any kind of solution on how to fix it.
That forces Axe and Wags to go old school — trading stocks over the phone like they were Gordon Gecko in ‘Wall Street’.
5 ) Let’s Go to War
When Axe can’t make it to a meeting for a company called ‘Noon to Night’ due to the emergency at Axe Capital, he’s forced to ask Rebecca to pinch hit for him in an effort to obliterate the CEO and force him out.
It turns out Rebecca is just as ruthless as Axe because she gets vengeful after Axe’s original plan falls short and she decides to take it upon herself to get the job done.
When she finally confronts the CEO, he proclaims that he will gladly go to war with Bobby Axelrod over his job. That’s when Rebecca shares the bad news with him.
“You won’t be going with him. You’ll be going to war with me”
~ Rebecca
6 ) Fucking Take It
The last of the shares of the natural gas stocks are sold off thanks to Wags essentially shoving it down someone’s throat while simultaneously burning a bridge with another business partner but at the end of the day, the deed gets done.
“I don’t care if you have to jam it in your grandmother’s goddamn IRA account. I need you to take it. Take it. Fucking take it. Right fucking now or suffer my wrath forever.”
~ Wags
When it’s all said and done, Axe Capital lost about $48 million but saved a lot more by getting out before everybody else.
They also figure out that the person responsible for the hack wasn’t some college kid with too much time on his hands. It was a targeted attack done by remote after someone left a module behind at Axe Capital that helped launch the hack — and they used Russian hardware, which means only one person could be responsible.
7 ) Virtual High Five
#TeamTaylor is here to win. #Billions #Showtime pic.twitter.com/9BVWMQK1KB
— BILLIONS (@SHO_Billions) April 9, 2019
Taylor is able to get her firm out of natural gas as well after figuring out what Axe was doing by dumping all of his shares. She also managed to sink the cost during the fire sale, which meant Axe took bigger losses overall during the trading day.
When it’s all over, Taylor suggests a ‘virtual high five’ with her team, which involves a nod and a head bob but no actual physical contact. Gonna have to keep this one in the back pocket for future use when somebody insists on a handshake or a high five.
After that win, Taylor ends up deciding to go into business with her father, who had pitched her on an idea he had for a new project earlier in the day.
Following a dive into the research for the project, Taylor decides it’s a good idea and she also wants to help her father achieve his dreams at the same time.
So she agrees to partner with him raising capital and building this business from the ground up.
8 ) Coming Clean
When your private life becomes public, jaws are bound to drop.
Whose side are you on? #TeamChuck or #TeamWendy? #Billions #Showtime pic.twitter.com/RnGcpvywHv
— BILLIONS (@SHO_Billions) April 11, 2019
Despite an agreement with his wife not to stay in the race, Chuck not only pushes forward in the primary to become state attorney general but he actually reveals that he practices sadomasochism in the bedroom. In fact, Chuck goes as far as telling the entire world that he needs to be beaten in order to get off.
The revelation sends shockwaves throughout New York, particularly in the Axe Capital main office where Wendy was surrounded by friends and co-workers when Chuck decided to give his speech.
It’s safe to say she was not pleased as evidenced by her visit to Chuck’s office later that day after he won the election and essentially assured his spot as the next state attorney general.
She walks in, everybody goes silent and she asks for the room and Ira responds by moving everybody to the outer office. Unfortunately even at that distance with a wall between them, Wendy’s words are still going to be heard by everybody.
“That’s not going to be far enough”
~ Wendy
9 ) Absolute Power
In his first act as Attorney General, Chuck follows through on his favor to Axe by going after Grigor Andolov
“My first act as Attorney General of New York State, even before I’m sworn in, was to freeze your funds in the United States. My second act is inviting you to leave our sunny shores”
Chuck makes it clear that Grigor has two choices — leave the United States and never return or risk the full brunt of the prosecution that will come crashing down on his head as an enemy of the state thanks to business dealings he has with several black listed countries.
It doesn’t take long to figure out who behind Chuck swinging that mighty sword at him but despite his best efforts to sway the new Attorney General, Grigor has no choice but to get out of town.
In 12 hours, he will either be gone or he will hunted down and put into prison.
10 ) Parting Gift
As Grigor and his family board a private jet back to Russia, Axe stops by to enjoy his spoils of war while giving his ‘old friend’ some valuable advice along with a parting gift.
Once Grigor lands at home in Russia, his accounts will be unfrozen and the few billion he had stashed with Taylor Mason Capital will be returned to him.
Axe also gives Grigor a stern warning that just because he wouldn’t allow the powerful Russian to wipe out one of his enemies last season doesn’t mean he’s not capable of pulling the trigger when the time or the situation is right.
“Sure it’s true, I didn’t have you do my killing for me but don’t let that trick you into thinking that I don’t have the will or the ability to do it under different circumstances. Like when I’m threatened. You send someone after me here, they’re going to find that I’m a very insulated, protected and powerful man in these fucking parts and there is nothing that I won’t do to defend what’s mine”
~ Axe
Rather than wage on a blood feud, Grigor agrees to the truce so long as Axe stays away from Russia or any of its territories because if that happens, all bets are off.
With that, Grigor returns to Russia and Axe finally gets rid of the biggest enemy standing in front of him without a single drop of blood being shed. He also took away a huge chuck of money from Taylor, which means his long term plans to sink their firm is still in full effect.
‘Billions’ returns next Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime.
