I immediately thought of Allen Funt and "Candid Camera" when Judge Funt's name was plucked from the spinning drum. I wondered if that meant some hidden trick was about to be played on Chuck Rhoades, followed by a snappy "gotcha" phrase along the lines of "smile, you're on Candid Camera!"
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The "comically sinister duo" are almost surely an homage to the two agents who accompany Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith in The Matrix -- their choreographed sideways glances, stoic bearing, strong silent affect etc. I guess we'll get to see whether Axe is able to channel Neo & dodge bullets.
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I like to think that my son is Bryan. A 15 year AUSA, he has seen his share.
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Two hilarious bits. One, when the judge's full name is spoken. "Leonard Edward Funt". Anyone remember the Savage Steve Holland film, "How I Got Into College"? That exact name came up there in a prank involving a baby elephant. (L. E. Funt. Get it?) There was a scene in an episode last season set at the Yale Club, in which one character (I think Charles Rhoades Sr, Chuck’s father), uttered the line, “And she stepped on the ball”. That, of course, is from the classic film “Trading Places” as well as from the earlier film “Auntie Mame”.
The second funny bit was when Axe’s sons asked Wags if he was going to their baseball game. “Official Little League?” he asked, “Can’t. Banned for life.”
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Leonard Edward Funt: an Easter egg, on Easter?
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Earthquake in Mozambique? Well, Madagascar would certainly be in a world of tsunami hurt, but Brazil would get by unscathed. Did not one of the hundreds of people working on this show have a working knowledge of geography?
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A person after my own heart! I had the same thought.
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I also had to replay it to see if I’d read the text right — it is indeed amazing that no one caught that before they finished the episode.
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I appreciate the summary, especially for this episode. It's hard to keep all the parts in some narrative form as you're watching this (so good) show, especially for those of us un-billionaires who don't know the jargon.
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Great comment joann! I agree.
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No one speaks in my house! That would be me, the pup and the kitty! Great show!
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For some reason the map in my brain replaced Mozambique with Angola when I was watching, and I didn’t get that it was wrong until your comment. Weird.
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It seems entirely implausible that an earthquake in Mozambique could have triggered a tsunami in Brazil. Maybe Taylor demonstrated a better grasp of geography than of fiction.
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This show is so challenging and so rich, all at once. I love it when a show’s writing is so thick I need to rewind, listen again, rewind and/or stop and google vocabulary words (bwana = East African term for boss). The corps of astonishing actors, from Paul and Damien, and Maggie down to the one-line scene stealers make it heartbreaking and devastatingly real. I think the show has grown enormously and developed its basic premises from season one into an even more intriguing one.
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I also thought of the Sopranos near the end of this episode. In the Sopranos, we would be immersed in Tony's problems with Carmella and his kids, mental health issues, etc. and forget that he was a gangster. Every once and a while there would be a reminder that Tony was a brutal, remorseless person. For example, when he brutally beat the Congressman for dating Tony's ex-mistress.
This episode reminded me that Axe is also brutal and remorseless. Certainly not in terms of using physical violence but brutal nonetheless.
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The Maria Gonzales story line really was disturbing, because as you pointed out, Axe was happy when he heard the news the "problem" was solved.
Dropping poor Maria right in the middle of....wait for it...Rio De Janeiro in...wait for it...Brazil, a country that is suffering chaos on all fronts due to the tsunami and the financial wreck it's heading for... seems to have given Axe some sick symmetry.
Maria won't ever be traceable by Dake. Ever. Don't go lookin' in Guatemala, Dake. She ain't there.
And that's undoubtedly the point--when Axe enacts a fix he does it with bells on, closes the book, burns the book and throws the ashes in to the sea.
And the poor woman doesn't speak Portuguese, so she cannot even communicate with anyone there. It was a brutal reminder of where Axe is right now in his head--he's fighting for survival and doesn't care who gets destroyed.
QUESTION: Am I the only one who just figured out that this season even Wendy has decided to work against Axe while still pretending to work for him and maintain her Chinese Wall? She's clearly coaching Chuck with court stuff and other personnel strategies as well as ginning him up to go for the kill.
Why the change?
After Axe's entire life support system collapsed at the end of last year--wife, Hall, his childhood Pizza Guy, all his firm grounding slipped away and we've seen him in freefall--but Wendy now too? She's not just supporting Chuck by being there--she's coaching Axe's conviction!
Thoughts?
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She's coaching Chuck and Bobby, burning the candle at both ends. I'm not sure that she's rooting for either of them.
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Thanks! I actually watched the episode again, this morning because as a poster observed, the text can be very dense they do speak quickly! ha
It gelled for me on the second viewing--the scene by the river between Wendy and Chuck: They were discussing how they had to win the case against Axe because their own family could be destroyed if they didn't.
It made me recall how Wendy's name is in the trading list (she made a bundle didn't she?) on the Ice Juice deal and they are hoping to keep her out of it. And also, of course, his dad's role in the whole thing using Chuck's trust fund.
So this time perhaps Wendy's coaching Chuck because, as they said in the scene, this about their "own family" getting destroyed. So Wendy's playing against Axe now.
Wow. Second viewings are good. haha
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I think Wendy playing both sides (to benefit herself) is a major plot hole. I don’t believe a streetwise, wary man like Bobby would fall for that. Wendy is played as this cold, scheming Lady MacBeth character, and that works to a point. But I think the writers went too far with it.
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It's probably just me, but I can't get into this season of "Billions". The first season was incredible and the second season was spell bounding, but this year . . . not so much. Frankly, the only reason I'm staying with it is because I adore the acting of Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti. They play off each other so magnificently. Hopefully things will start to click and heat up, otherwise it will continue to be a long hour on Sunday evenings.
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Marge Kellelr -- yes yes I agree. In fact, I watched the first five minutes of the first episode of this season, and was so turned off, I had to wait till this next episode to jump on. Axe is such a dog.
I can (and I'm sure I'm not alone) do without the BDSM scenarios. They do nothing to move the storyline, and even less to develop the sick characters.
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The two most interesting story lines right now are Wendy and Taylor. Taylor is mentioned in passing and Wendy not at all.
Boys club? Yes sir, right here in this summary.
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Agreed, Jane. Wendy was the crutch everybody leaned on during episode 3...Axe, Chuck and Taylor all depended on her advice and confidence building mantras.
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The actress playing Taylor is great but the Taylor storyline continues to feel like a stunt.
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@ f/f, why a “stunt”? Because they are non-binary, or because they are played as a brainy, on-the-spectrum, precocious kind of prodigy? Neither of those character types is false, or necessarily a “stunt.” For the latter description, think of real-life Martin Shkreli. And as for the first, if that genderless identity seems false to you then that is your issue.
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