Axe and Chuck cant get out of their own way in an unexpectedly consequential mid-season episode
ThisBillionsreview contains spoilers.
Billions Season 1 Episode 6
Billionsisnt the most structurally ambitious show ever made and thats fine.
Its not trying to be.
It would rather tell its story linearly and with litter interrupting.
The structural decision that doesnt work out comes in the very first scene.
It begins with a flash-forward in which Wendy meets Axe in some creepy bathhouse.
We then get the chyron that every right-thinking audience member dreads: 72 Hours Earlier.
Ad content continues below
Booooooo!
Were supposed to feel curious and scandalized that Wendy would step into a pool naked with Axe.
But thats just a waste of a plot unit.
NAKEY PEOPLE IN POOLZZZ!
Anyone can figure out a decent beginning and a decent ending but its the middles that often get ignored.
Making that solid decision wouldnt mean much if the content of the scene didnt actually deliver.
The entire episode plays with the audiences perception of what Axe would and wouldnt accept in any deal.
Anyone of us could be next!
he cries to the crowd.
*
*Damian Lewis is a truly great actor and has made a living playing some aggressively Murican characters.
But when he has to yell a line, you might hear some of the Britishness seep in.
Im Keyser Soze, motherfucker, he says.
She tells Axe she has a vested interest in him saving the company because she helped build it.
Shes proud of it.
That alone seems untenable but Axe is happy to go along with it.
Then Chuck adds another tenet for the deal: Axe must admit guilt.
Figure that shit out, Showtime.
Axe and Wags brag about how they can make that money back within six months.
Innocent people would never make a deal like that, Chuck says.
Its like Batman and Jokers interrogation inThe Dark Knight, with the exact same amount of British actors involved.
Rating:
3.5 out of 5
