This week on Billions, Axe and his bros go to Quebec to watch a Metallica concert, an automatic rifle is shot at some deer that only "eat, move, and shit", the worst corporate spy of all time reaches a critical moment, and Chuck hunts for bad intel on Axe but instead has some "quality time" with Chuck Sr. after a crappy business endeavor. Read my recap and thoughts after the jump.
This was a very fast paced episode of Billions. Axe finally got to explore a little more of a high profile life by taking his buddies to Quebec to be backstage VIPs at a Metallica concert. This was a really cool cameo for the iconic band and their performance of "Master of Puppets" as Axe gets a phone call from work was an inspired moment in subtle writing. It seems like Axe cannot leave his life of bad dealings and business even for a moment as the most critical moments in his acquisitions seem to happen at the worst times. One of his buddies Freddy turned out to be the guy who screwed him over by overhearing his shorting plans and jumping onto it without asking about it. Freddy waking up the morning after the concert bright and happy after being bailed out by Axe only to find that his group had abandoned him was a legitimately sad moment that has some interesting implications for future decisions that Axe may make further down the road that could affect those closest to him. I do not have very high hopes for his employee (who had a really bad morning at the beginning of the episode when he got arrested after taking out his rage on some poor little deer in his yard) having much longevity at the company.
The best scene this week in my opinion was when Axe had a particularly flirtatious encounter with another woman over drinks after the concert. She had sung a pretty rendition of Ratt's "Round and Round" earlier and she was rather irresistible in her charm. However, Axelrod turned down her advances and stayed loyal to his wife back home, which was a very lovely moment for his character. The cliche would be that he is a bit of a wandering soul who would have a one night stand and then feel bad about it. Instead, he turns it down respectfully without even considering it. Bobby Axelrod may have a bit of a skewed moral compass, but this was a great sympathetic moment for him, especially in contrast with his later parting with Freddy (which was a great cameo by Noah Emmerich by the way).
Chuck Rhoades did not get too much of screen time this week as it mainly focused on Axe and his trouble with his trades while on his little getaway, but there were still some particularly juicy moments with him, notably after learning about Axe's constituent and wanting to "put him on a rock and stretch him". His final confrontation with his father after he discovers that he had made some illegal trades in regards to that infamous stock everyone is obsessing over was rightfully tense and uncomfortable and it will be interesting to see how this relationship goes after this critical moment. I am thinking that Chuck Sr.'s infidelity is going to come back to haunt him next very very soon.
All in all, this was an entertaining episode that gave us a lot of insight into Bobby Axelrod and it left us on an interesting cliffhanger moment where it is not quite sure if Axe in going to continue in some of his shady business directions. I am hoping that Chuck and Wendy get some more screen time next week as I missed her especially this week. I am really enjoying this show though and I cannot wait to see where this all leads this season.
Grade: B
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