Billions. It's Complicated

Summarizing the last two episodes of 'Billions' that I watched is difficult. It's complicated.

I'm a little behind, but not greatly. The first of the two was, 'The Deal.' And as you might expect by the title, the episode's theme was dominated by Chuck Rhoades searching his conscience on whether to offer Bobby Axelrod a deal and not prosecute, and Bobby trying to get the best deal possible. Everyone wants the best of all worlds.

Before we get to the back and forth of the posturing players as The Deal gets crafted, we have Bobby giving his troops a General George Patton-style speech about the resilience of the American people after the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.

The speech has been precipitated because the FBI has paraded in--naturally all outfitted with FBI blue vinyl windbreakers--and arrested "Dollar Bill Stearn" for insider trading. This is the "sneak attack" Bobby is responding to.

There is tension in the episode. Are we watching what might be the end of the series several episodes before the season is supposed to end, or will something else happen? Go with he latter.

Ego, arrogance, confidence, call it what you like, Bobby Axelrod and his crew have it. And his bunny toothed No. 2, "Wags," channels enough of it for the two of them. They can't help themselves. Contrite is not a word they know anything about. They would have to look it up in a dictionary to find out what it means.

Someone once commented years and years ago, that if you looked like a million dollars you looked like something no one has ever seen. But now of course billion is the new million, so we are treated to several looks at what a $1.9 billion fine looks like, in the form of a cashier's check with all the zeroes you'd expect there to be. There are many.

The check never changes hands though, so there will be more episodes. The aforementioned ego, arrogance, confidence, whatever you want to call it, that comes off Bobby and Wags like the aroma of an aftershave on a teenage boy, serves to scuttle the deal. As the meeting goes on, Chuck starts improvising more stringent terms that basically would prohibit Bobby from ever trading in securities again. Forever. Lifetime ban.

Bobby of course will not accept this, and tears the check up and throws it at Chuck. At that point you start to think he will also punch Chuck and wind up being arrested for assaulting a Federal attorney. Instead, he gets up and storms out of the conference room. Back to Square One. North and South, East and West, will still be glaring at each other across no man's land.

The next episode is more or less filled with segments that are not so tense.

Lara, Bobby's wife, wants to toughen up the boys. She first thinks dragging then to the water's edge and telling them how to clam with their toes is going to start them onto the path to toughness. As they wail and ask her how long do they need to do this, she tells them until the tide goes out. Actually, you start to clam an hour before low tide and try and keep at it until it comes back in, not out. Lara can be excused for this. She just wants toughness.

She also secures a placement for them on an overnight camping trip with a youth group. Some cellphones get confiscated, but not all. Before sunrise they are rescued by Dad who knows that by now they have been deprived enough, and comes and drives them away, accompanied by thunderous rock music.

But the big story line in the episode is given in the title: "The Punch." Bobby gets really worked up when it is revealed that one of the rich neighbors' Dad drove his kids home from the arcade after downing several beers. Nothing untoward happened, but Bobby goes ballistic. He races over to the neighbor who is having a bit of a pool party/barbecue and promptly sucker punches the guy a hard one on the nose and knocks him down. People, it's possible arrest and lawsuit time.

Bobby skates,but not until he's paid beaucoup bucks and obtained the complete cellphone video from a teenager at the pool, who of course aimed their phone and recorded the entire one-sided fight. This complete recording, once placed in the hands of the police, exonerates Bobby because there is verbal evidence coming from the neighbor that yeah, he had a few and Bobby therefore had a right to pop him. It's television, Jake.

A former South Hampton police chief, and naturally someone who Bobby has on speed dial, acts as a go between and gets the more complete video into the hands of the current police chief. Never mind that there has been a broken chain of custody here of the evidence, Bobby wins.

And where would an episode be if we didn't get some reference to Chuck and his dominatrix wife Wendy and their carnal desires? Wendy's hard slap to Chuck's cheek gets his Tinker Bell going. Chuck is headed for heaven. We only see the aftermath, and the implements that came into play that at least wore Wendy out, because it is she we see awake and groggy from the exertions. Chuck has been so energized he's let her sleep off the nirvana and has already headed to the office. Chuck is certainly a hard-charging U.S. Attorney in every regard.

There will be more. Bobby Axelrod is still in business.

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