ODB DOLLA DOLLA BILYALL....
don't forget this subplot: the FBI is sitting on Taylor, as she gets on the plane.
7
Whoa! What about the looming crisis in Axe's marriage. Lara doesn't take fibs lightly. I'm expecting some serious retaliation. Axe, put some security guards around your high end motorcycles.
3
This show just gets better and better, can watch multiple times and still pick out new stuff and nuance I missed the first time through.
The Sandicot plot arc perfectly embodies the yin and yang of the nominally competing sides surrounding the transaction, and makes you question the philosophy and morality of each side due to the unquestionable corruption of both.
Good and evil are pretty hard to sort out, sometimes, aren't they?
As in most things, people need to draw their own lines in life, but in the case of Axe and Chuck, neither one ever seems to be able to hold those lines, probably because if they were ever there to begin with, they were fairly imaginary all along.
The Sandicot plot arc perfectly embodies the yin and yang of the nominally competing sides surrounding the transaction, and makes you question the philosophy and morality of each side due to the unquestionable corruption of both.
Good and evil are pretty hard to sort out, sometimes, aren't they?
As in most things, people need to draw their own lines in life, but in the case of Axe and Chuck, neither one ever seems to be able to hold those lines, probably because if they were ever there to begin with, they were fairly imaginary all along.
5
Oh Scott, how can you not mention the situation with Lara?!
6
To me the moral of this story line is the old adage that power corrupts. Chuck may see himself as a paragon of virtue in an amoral world, but at the end of the day, he's just as corrupt as Axe. The difference is that Axe does't pretend to be moral. Axe can hurt a lot of people, but he's swimming with the sharks and they know the risk. But Chuck's swimming in a larger pool and a lot of innocent people get hurt, just because they are in the way of his ambition. Neither is better than the other.
9
Hats off to the cinematographer for this beautifully shot episode. Minor gripe is the scene where Chuck confronts the shonky property developer at the top of the dirt pile at the construction site. This felt contrived. But I suppose I get it. Although he is happy playing in the dirt, and glady flings it around, Chuck's thinks he is above it all and none of it will ever stick to him..probably.
What I thought was interesting about that is that Thayer came out on top anyway (he's building in Kingsford instead of Sandicot, but either way, he gets his casino).
2
THere needs to be a little better clarification on how Axe earned his money...
Previously, I recall him bemoaning the many calls he spent at "the desk" as a junior trying to make sales.....
Next thing we know he is recounting being ushered onto the commodities floor where he can instantly read the tape.
Did Axe work his way to the top making the right call time and again outlaying his own personal fortune against all odds eventually becoming partner to a firm that he himself took over after many of its members died on 9/11?
Or is Axe a gifted "tape reader" spending 64K of his own money to get started on the commodities floor? Which would beg the question why he isn't in commodities any more.....
Bearish divergence.....
Previously, I recall him bemoaning the many calls he spent at "the desk" as a junior trying to make sales.....
Next thing we know he is recounting being ushered onto the commodities floor where he can instantly read the tape.
Did Axe work his way to the top making the right call time and again outlaying his own personal fortune against all odds eventually becoming partner to a firm that he himself took over after many of its members died on 9/11?
Or is Axe a gifted "tape reader" spending 64K of his own money to get started on the commodities floor? Which would beg the question why he isn't in commodities any more.....
Bearish divergence.....
1
Both can be true. The way I understand it is that Axe had a feel for the markets and made good with his commodities seat (for a couple of years I had a seat on the commodities/futures exchange in NYC). He built a firm and it was his firm that was struck during 9/11. On Wall Street, one can have a meteoric rise if you're talented and lucky. I know someone who made partner at a prestigious firm in almost no time. He made the firm a lot of money.
The power struggle between Lara and Wendy that you didn't mention--how important is it to their husbands? Anybody's guess which way the writers will land on this issue. Taylor figures in there too, right?
11
I believe John Galt has been mentioned several times before this episode as well.
The baseball prospect scheme didn't make much sense. A star signing for a prospect has a 'slot value,' most recently for the top is about $6 million. So figuring years of coaching for multiple prospects and other expenses, 10-20 percent doesn't represent much of a payoff, especially considering the time involved. Certainly not the huge 'ROI' presented in the show.
For some reason, the luxury bunker was styled as 'Arque' on my captions.
It's not Chuck that wants to do the investment, it's his father, although Chuck did messenger it over after figuring he'd need money for his campaign
Did she tell her to follow her conscience or that her conscience wasn't a good fit for her current job?
Was anyone confused about the conversation with Taylor? I thought the idea Axe gave him was that he needn't be limited by commercial airlines and go to the party and then hire a private jet to go to the wedding; but he just took the jet to the wedding (with some people I'm assuming are family? friends?).
The baseball prospect scheme didn't make much sense. A star signing for a prospect has a 'slot value,' most recently for the top is about $6 million. So figuring years of coaching for multiple prospects and other expenses, 10-20 percent doesn't represent much of a payoff, especially considering the time involved. Certainly not the huge 'ROI' presented in the show.
For some reason, the luxury bunker was styled as 'Arque' on my captions.
It's not Chuck that wants to do the investment, it's his father, although Chuck did messenger it over after figuring he'd need money for his campaign
Did she tell her to follow her conscience or that her conscience wasn't a good fit for her current job?
Was anyone confused about the conversation with Taylor? I thought the idea Axe gave him was that he needn't be limited by commercial airlines and go to the party and then hire a private jet to go to the wedding; but he just took the jet to the wedding (with some people I'm assuming are family? friends?).
1
Regarding Taylor: they was at the party and than flew with his own crowd somewhere.
1
Taylor was at the party? I must have missed that. The way they cut it, it seemed like Taylor was flying, while the party was going on.
Taylor is a woman.
1
I find some of the characters sloppily written this season and the plot is not barreling to some great season finale, but just about drifting along.
Example - the exchange between Wendy and Axe's Wife at the party. Wendy would never be so blind to the subtext ans insinuations - therefor she would not give up the info that she asked not to counsel Axe.
Example - the exchange between Wendy and Axe's Wife at the party. Wendy would never be so blind to the subtext ans insinuations - therefor she would not give up the info that she asked not to counsel Axe.
3
I didn't think Wendy was blind to it at all. I thought she very deliberately revealed that nugget of news to Lara.
6
The Wendy / Lara conversation at the party was not mentioned. It's major. It sets up a whole new story line since Lara now knows that Axe did not initiate the agreement to stay away from Wendy. Also the Ice Juice deal is clearly a way to entrap Axe ( and maybe Chuck's father). You seemed to have missed that aspect as well.
19
That Ice Juice deal may doom Chuck too if he's not careful.
The blind trust reference was a nice one - perhaps reflective of a certain currently prominent politician's ignorance (deliberate I'm sure in the second case) of its significance ...
The blind trust reference was a nice one - perhaps reflective of a certain currently prominent politician's ignorance (deliberate I'm sure in the second case) of its significance ...
6
Thank you Richard, I also saw Ice Juice as a clear attempt by Chuck to entrap Axe. The main conflict for Chuck here being he would be using his own father and their own money to do this -- stone cold if you asked me
I'm really enjoying this season but Axe's lie to Lara about him promising not to see Wendy was a rare writers' mistake in my opinion. Not only was it unnecessary, it was totally out of character for Axe. Sure he's a shark but he also goes out of his way to tell the truth and leverage the truth in almost every situation. What he did here was just plain dumb - a 5 year old's application of lying
I'm really enjoying this season but Axe's lie to Lara about him promising not to see Wendy was a rare writers' mistake in my opinion. Not only was it unnecessary, it was totally out of character for Axe. Sure he's a shark but he also goes out of his way to tell the truth and leverage the truth in almost every situation. What he did here was just plain dumb - a 5 year old's application of lying
1
As others have noticed, the women in this show are not mere flaccid appendages, though the reporter has suggested in the past, especially regarding Wendy, but protagonists of their own power agendas. 1) Wendy, figuring out the young associate's oh-so-obvious ploy of mentioning her minister (oh, please!) and her so-called conscience in strategizing about how to get an investor relations position, and when the associate reported to Axe her lack of success in duping Wendy, tried to put Wendy's advice to her in action with Axe, only to be slammed shut by her Svengali ("...don't internalize, it was just a script...); 2) same associate in the future maybe plotting how to throw Axe under a bus, with Wendy's help; 3) the growing-more-odious Lara plotting how to screw over Axe at some point; and, 4) if the previews are any indication, the vetter who's assigned to draw out Chuck's secrets is played by Mary Louise Parker, not usually cast as anything but a power player in her own right.
7
"so shady, the Polyphonic Spree could picnic under it"? yikes! the year 2000 called and wants this terrible analogy back.
6
Love this show. Fun, interesting, great acting, keeps the tension going throughout, and enough connection to reality (ie. politics, the law, the stock market) to be believable.
9
Axe's weakness is maintaining power over Wendy. Chuck's weakness is simply power. And S&M.
5
No mention of the interaction between Wendy and Lara? It struck me as strange that the near-omniscient shrink failed to intuit that Lara assumed Axe had instituted the no-contact rule. Or was that her intention?
21
I think Wendy thought that Lara was trying throw in her face that Axe imposed the condition in deference to Lara, and Wendy reclaimed her power by telling Lara that it was, in fact, her stipulation for going back to work there. I thought that was a miscalculation on Wendy's part - she would've had that much more leverage over Axe if she'd kept that detail to herself. It was also a bit cruel to Lara, who really was trying to extend an olive branch as part of her commitment to marital harmony. Lara could be Axe's undoing in the end.
19
I thought similarly SCDC (your first part), although I think Wendy was taken aback that Lara didn't already know about the situation so she didn't think strategically as you describe. I don't think it was cruel, because as you say, Lara was throwing it in her face so there wasn't a commitment so much as a turning of the knife.
I'm not sure why Lara was that upset. The end result was that Wendy and Axe were separated. Axe did the natural thing and made lemons out of lemonade by agreeing to the stipulation and then spinning it to Lara. He should simply have said that they 'mutually agreed' not to have sessions together.
I'm not sure why Lara was that upset. The end result was that Wendy and Axe were separated. Axe did the natural thing and made lemons out of lemonade by agreeing to the stipulation and then spinning it to Lara. He should simply have said that they 'mutually agreed' not to have sessions together.
13
yeah i figured wendy just slipped that one out there, to mess with lara's head and get her wheels turning. wendy doesn't say ANYTHING accidentally, imho.
2
No Victor? No Wendy? You fall asleep during the second half?
10
Umm you left out what may be the most important development. Lara just discovered that Axe lied to her about why he wouldn't be having sessions with Wendy anymore. You can see the wheels turning in her head and long-term this could be very very bad for Axe since Lara knows everything...
28
Gaping hole here: no mention of Lara learning she's been had by Axe re Wendy.
8
I got the impression that Chuck is breaking his trust to set a trap for Axe. He is willing to sacrifice his father, best friend, and maybe even himself in the process.
11
Same here, Michael. It seemed like a proverbial light bulb went on over Chuck's head. My guess is he wants to feed, discretely and very indirectly, some sort of inside information about the IPO to Axe and then nail Axe for trading on it.
7
Somehow I knew that this recap would fail to get the significance of "Visions of Johanna": it's a song about thinking about a woman other than the one you're with. I was having trouble following last night's episode because the show is getting repetitive and boring, but "Visions of Johanna" piqued my interest.
10
I agree the show has declined. I think the Dylan song also refers to being an outlaw. Sticking to your vision without bothering to please others. Vision in art vs objectivism; makes the latter even more bankrupt.
1
in addition to Springsteen being name-checked, his old friends Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes were seen performing "I Don't Wanna Go Home" at Axe's party.
18
Good observation about Southside Johnny...surprised there was no mention in the recap, but Southside was a great NJ coast attraction for so many years. Too bad they had such a small piece of the show.
2