Billion paves the way for late-season fireworks

Money never sleeps, as an ill-founded sequel to Wall Street informed us, and of course he never takes a vacation either. True to its title, the "New Year" takes place on the first day of January, traditionally reserved for hangover brunches and university bowl games. It is unusually specific for Billions, where the time goes by and the number of days, weeks or months since the last episode is never quite clear. (Have we missed Christmas? Thanksgiving? Where does this snow come from?) Such concerns do not make sense here; time is money, and there is never enough for these characters.

The episode begins on what I hope will be an intentionally hilarious note, with Bono singing "All is quiet on New Year's Day," while Chuck arranges a meeting with Todd Krakow that day because " it will be calm. to be a wishful vow on many fronts. The FBI listens to Chuck's calls and Connerty now knows that something is getting ready with Krakow, prompting him to request an extension of Chuck and Senior's supervision. A judge approves the request to insist on their residence, but makes it very clear that they must stop listening if the conversation is not relevant or if a lawyer is present. This information will be reviewed throughout the episode! It will probably be important!

Before meeting with Krakow, Chuck must attend a pre-hearing session to review Wendy's medical license. The strategy is to make clear that Ax Cap employees advised by Wendy were clients and not patients. As a result, she was not acting as a doctor and there was no problem of confidentiality. The role play of this session offers another opportunity for Spyros to get caught wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope, but Chuck is eager to follow the procedure both because he has other tasks to be settled and that he has already concluded an agreement. behind Wendy's back. She can serve a six-month suspension and have her file deleted two years later. Furious that Chuck presumes to make a deal more advantageous for herself than for her, Wendy does not intend to go back.

These are just Chuck's latest actions that prompted Wendy to change her marriage to her relationship with Ax, who shortened the holidays with her children to attend the session. Chuck can not wait to leave. Billions Temporarily puts plots and conspiracies in place for a long conversation between Ax and Wendy about their common past, especially the moment that followed the attacks of September 11, 2001, when Ax realized that he had found a professional partner on which he could count in the long run. It's a breathing scene, giving Damian Lewis and Maggie Siff the opportunity to dig deeper into their characters than the fast-paced rhythm usually allows. And it's a sharp contrast to a later scene in which Wendy asks Chuck to remember when he knew he had to marry her. Chuck has nothing; There is no specific formative moment for their relationship in her mind, and Wendy gets the message loud and clear. When the time comes for Chuck and Ax to get on their head (as they are already starting to do at the strategy meeting), it will not be a surprise if her loyalty is not to her husband.

In seeking a way out of this dilemma that does not imply Chuck's agreement, Ax suggests tackling the problem directly by approaching Taylor to ask for forgiveness and promising him not to appear in court. board hearing. Taylor thinks the excuses are not real, "just transactional", which describes 95% of human interactions on this series. Taylor agrees to jump the audience making sure to do it in the most condescending and hurtful way possible, but it's not just a demonstration of generosity from them. share. Taylor also has something to protect by avoiding cross-examinations as well, as their extracurricular activities with Lauren are no secret of the state.

As for Chuck's relationship with Senior and Krakow, everything is staged to warn us that Connerty is being put in place. This may be too obvious, and the writers have a double backhand reserve, but the final scene this week suggests the opposite. We meet another brother of Connerty, Jackie, played by Michael Raymond-James of warren and True blood. Given that we meet him in a brawl in an Irish pub, after which Bryan recruits him for a safe mission, it is safe to say that Jackie is a problem. The introduction of the character is the name capper an hour that ignites the heat on a number of simmering conflicts that should spill over into the last two episodes of the season.

Observations lost

• Wendy is a "professional cuddler" who hugs him until he cries loudly enough for the entire office to hear. I do not think I have anything to say about this subplot. It speaks for itself.
• A subplot on a delivery of valuable artwork to Ax Cap reintroduces another face of the past: Danny Margolis, who has left everything lying by the pool, to the chagrin of Connerty. Here, it offers Ax a "free port" on which to store art in a state of perpetual transit, thus avoiding a tax impact. I feel that there is another shoe to drop here.
• Irish on the inside, Irish on the outside. The time starts with U2 and ends with the Pogues.