Billions: Naming Rights

"Who’s more low key than me?"

Thank you for attending Bobby Axelrod: 101.

At first glance one might think that there are a lot of characters with a lot of different plotlines simmering together in this episode but take a closer look. Because, with only a very few minor exceptions, everything we see exists to tell you something about Bobby 'Axe' Axelrod.

Which is why the opening image of the episode is so well chosen.

We open this episode with him center of frame, standing in his underwear. We're presented with the stripped-down person that we met last time, ready to have layers of character added to him. By focusing the opening shot on him, front and center, we're being told in no uncertain terms that this episode is going to be doing the exact same thing.

So, let's walk through the episode and see what layers of Axe are revealed. Starting at the top with -

- Axe's relationship with Wags.

I kind of wish that they hadn't felt the need to actually mention Wags functioning as his valet in the dialogue, because it was a perfect visual cue as to what exactly their power dynamic is and saying it out loud felt clumsy. Traditionally, the valet is the most loyal, most trusted, closest person to the one in power. Seeing Wags act as Axe's valet while also talking about his role as Axe's COO at Axe Cap tells us everything we need to know about who they are to one another.

- Axe is capable of recognizing his errors and correcting.

I know I'm on record as saying that the whole 'bought a big, expensive house' thing doesn't really work for me, but conceding the show that there right on that point, they do a fascinating job of showing how Axe responds to the fallout. The main concern that we see is that large retirement funds are looking at pulling their money from Axe Cap due to the optics. We're given one example of this in the character of the southern-fried retirement fund trustee that Axe essentially smooths over through the time-tested combination of persuasive speech and hand jobs. But there's a much larger aspect to it, because -

- Axe works simultaneously on both the immediate problems and the larger picture.

Over the course of the episode we gradually come to understand that Axe is deliberately setting up rival hedge fund investor Steven Birch to get arrested for insider trading, so that that becomes the big story in the news and his home purchase will be overshadowed. But that's not all that's happening, because -

- Axe always has multiple outcomes in mind.

Getting Birch to become the big news story doesn't just get Axe out of the hot seat for the house. It's not immediately apparent, as a lot of the drama of this episode involves us watching Chuck figure it out, but Birch's arrest also has the knock-on effect that the DA's office completely sets aside their investigation of him to focus on Birch. And it almost works, until Chuck figures it out which Axe knows about because -

- Axe is willing to play dirty, but at only at arm's length.

Axe has two of what we might call 'utility players' at work in this one. Orrin Bach is the respectable face of Axe's legal team, but he also has Hall, who's much more sinister, setting up poor Tara Mohr to be blackmailed for cocaine fueled sex that he clearly arranged to happen, as we see her partner in the proceedings remove a hidden camera which she used to get the camera footage. All so that Axe can have a useful spy in Chuck's office.

- Axe will lie without hesitation to serve his needs.

He fakes the FBI raid on his own business just to see how people will react. He lies to Wendy about why he didn't tell her in advance. And good on her for calling him out on it. Which showed us -

- Axe will back down to Wendy when push comes to shove.

What's more, he acknowledges that he needs her to fix the possibly explosive situation with Victor. Because -

- Axe doesn't always think through the consequences of his actions.

Firing Victor in such a publicly humiliating way was a calculated move intended to send a message to the shareholders and to frighten the rest of the employees to toe the line. But he didn't think about what Victor's response to that would be. And again, he shows his ability to admit that he's made a mistake on that point and browbeats Wendy to fix the situation for him. Which she does, even though she hates herself for using her psychological insight into Victor from their sessions to manipulate him. Which we're shown as a bookend to the introduction of Wags as a bookend, underscoring that she's as loyal to Axe as Wags is.

Which leaves us with -

- Axe can hold a grudge for a hell of a long time.

I have to admit, I really enjoyed that final scene of Axe taking down the descendants of the petty asshole that got him fired from his caddy job when he was young and poor. But beyond the fun of watching a family of entitled dipshits get their ancestral legacy comprehensively shredded, this plot point exists for one simple reason. One of the early scenes establishes that Axe wants the name of Eads Hall changed, but we're not really given a reason why and move on from the moment. Then, at the end of the episode, we circle back to it, find out what his grudge is about, and see his complete, unfettered success. Because above all, there's one thing to learn about him -

- Bobby Axelrod wins.

Bits and Pieces:

- I do want to note one other very cleverly staged moment in the episode. When Axe Cap is having their pitch meeting, Axe is standing at the head of the table. And Wags is seated at his left hand. There's no way that that wasn't deliberate, and it adds a really lovely, sinister undertone to their loyalty to one another.

- It's only the second episode and they are still having trouble giving Lara anything to do. Here, she micromanages some gardeners and then makes a phone call to the University that Axe could easily have made. In fact, it's a little odd that it wasn't him who made the call.

- One of the few things that aren't tied back to telling us something about Axe is Bryan's unexpected depth of knowledge about Asian cuisine. That sets up something relatively minor way further down the road in season seven, now that I think about it.

- I like that Chuck makes the realization that the DA's office is being misled via an extended reference to the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

- The business at the ice cream truck with the guy Chuck had just gotten sentenced to prison felt a little forced. I get that we're supposed to see it as a set up for Chuck having a moment of conscience in wishing that his job allowed him to be a better person, but it didn't really land.

- Wendy and Chuck continue to be a wonderful parenting team. Particularly Chuck's observation that he was glad the kids had ratted him out about the ice cream as that meant that they always would know they could be honest with them.

- It's really a credit to Maggie Siff the way she invests Wendy with equally strong and yet very different dynamics with Chuck and Axe.

- The way that Axe befriended the one reporter in order to have him feed the Birch story to a different reporter was pleasingly Machiavellian. I also really enjoyed that Chick figured out the plot based on the true author's prose style. That's how they caught the Unibomber, you know.

- Axe’s Metallica t-shirt is such a power move at this meeting with the Eads. I love that for him.

Your moment of Wags:

Wags, on second chances:

"You see an opportunity like that again,
you grab it like it’s a horse cock and you’re Catherine the Great"

Quotes:

Axe: "Always put that lunatic through. One out of every 200 ideas he has is fucking brilliant."

Axe: "No man is a hero to his valet."
Wags: "That goes double for his COO. So, you are fucked with me either way."

Muphee: "That was a prom night promise."
FBI Agent: "And that means?"
Muphee: "Just the tip."

Wendy: "My files are confidential. You’re not seeing them. You can call the Attorney General if you want and tell her I say ‘Hi’ if you do. We had dinner last month. Otherwise, fuck off."

Wags: "We have to be more pure than the Virgin Mary before her first period."
Axe: "Fuck. Wags."

Victor: "You were the one who always told me to stand up for myself."
Wendy: "When you could win, yes."

Chuck: "Every once in a while, I wish that I could be more human."

FBI Terri: "Rookies. Always want to bring up Quantico."

Chuck: "But this was no ordinary posse. This was a super posse. THE Super posse. Mixed group of superheroes. A sheriff, a marshall, an Indian..."
Bryan: "Native American."
Chuck: "Sure."

So, who won today?

No question, the win this week goes to Axe. Yes, Chuck did figure out that he was being distracted eventually, but it worked for a while. And Axe still has his spy in the DA's office, Birch's name in all the papers to distract from his house, and a fun cameo from Penn and Teller.

Nine out of ten disgruntled former caddies.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, retired firefighter, and roughly 78% water. You can find more of his work at the 42nd Vizsla. If you'd like to see his raw notes for this and other reviews, you can find them at What Was Mikey Thinking.

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