Billions recap: All is fair in love, politics, and war
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There's quite a bit of uncertainty in the air at Mike Prince Capital when this week's episode, "Succession," begins. There's two reasons for all the bad vibes going around. Firstly, Wendy (Maggie Siff) has dropped a copy of her book manuscript on everyone's desk. No one knew she was writing this book, titled "Rewards of the Ruthless: How I Make Wall Street Killers," so to see themselves as "characters" in her book is shocking and troubling. They all worry what this will mean for them should it be published, and they feel betrayed by Wendy, who they thought they could trust with some of their more intimate thoughts.
Secondly, Mike Prince (Corey Stoll) has suggested that he's looking to hold a meeting where he will announce a successor to take over Mike Prince Capital, rendering an official decision should the need for a successor ever arise. Everyone starts to wonder who it might be — Spyros, of course, assumes he's the guy to get the gig, despite Scooter (Daniel Breaker) and Prince definitively telling him he has no chance — and Prince lets the tension rise for a while. Then, he makes it clear. It will be either Philip (Toney Goins) or Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon), and that announcement only ignites their already long-simmering feud.
While Taylor and Philip pitch their respective visions for MPC to their colleagues, Taylor taking a clinical, data-driven approach while Philip tries to woo them with a night out, Prince once again finds himself in Chuck's (Paul Giamatti) crosshairs. In the aftermath of Chuck's ouster as the New York Attorney General, Scooter and Prince attempt to smooth things over, coming to Chuck with a binder full of jobs he can choose to take, all of them within one of Prince's many companies. He has no interest in going gently into the night though, not when Prince is involved. Instead, Chuck picks himself up and launches another attack.
Christopher Saunders/SHOWTIME
This time, Chuck goes after Prince's reputation and hypocrisy. He manages to get a truck parked outside of Prince's house. It's one of those trucks with a giant LED display on the side, and this one includes a ticker that counts, in real time, Prince's net worth. Insisting you're a man of the people fighting for Americans who are really struggling is a little difficult to do when there's a truck parked outside your house detailing your more than $16 billion in net worth.
This move by Chuck is meant to derail one of Prince's next moves, which is instituting a universal basic income (he wants to call it Mike's Money) throughout New York. Once again, Dave (Sakina Jaffrey) doesn't initially see why fighting this is a good idea, but Chuck eventually convinces her that it's obscene to allow a man of Prince's wealth to parade around like some sort of modern day Robin Hood. Sure, UBI is nice, but that doesn't get to the root of the problem, which is a system that allows men like Prince to amass such wealth in the first place.
In the end, Prince actually doesn't seem to care that much about Mike Money being sabotaged. He's thinking further ahead. He meets with representatives of the Chinese government to discuss an infrastructure deal that Wags (David Constabile) has set up ("free money," he guarantees), but rather than take the deal he makes a big show of refusing to work with a government that engages in human rights abuses.
That encounter is leaked to the media, and it gets Chuck, Dave, and everyone at MPC wondering just what Mike Prince is planning. Why start looking for a successor now? Why is he floating ideas like Mike Money and calling in to get support from Andrew Yang? Why make a public display of insulting the Chinese government? Why does Prince own companies, some of them clearly unprofitable, all over the country?
Then, it all clicks. Dave and Chuck realize what's going on, and Wags, livid about the China situation, is brought into Prince's inner circle along with Scooter. Mike Prince is gearing up to run for President of the United States in 2028. The man who only recently admitted to Wendy that he craved power is now gunning for the most powerful position in the country, and Chuck is completely aghast. Billions is clearly going bigger and bolder with the season finale around the corner, and Chuck and Prince are far from being done with each other.
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