Billions Series Finale Recap: In Axe vs. Prince, Who Came Out On Top? Plus, Grade It!
We’ve finally come to it, Billions fans: The point teased at the start of the season, when we had no real clue why Mike Prince would huck a printer through a glass wall just because he knew Wendy Rhoades was sitting on the other side.
The Showtime series’ finale laid out exactly how Bobby Axelrod & Co. teamed up to take down Prince’s company and his presidential campaign — and it gave longtime viewers some satisfying goodbyes, as well. In a moment, we’ll want to hear what you thought of the series-ender, as well as the season as a whole. But first, read on for the highlights of “Admirals Fund.”
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LET’S GET IT STARTED | The hour unfolds via a bunch of flashbacks, but to keep things moving, I’m going to lay out the action more or less in chronological order. Bobby, Taylor, Wags, Chuck and Wendy are enjoying a breakfast of cardamom buns at Axe Capital when Kate walks in. “Well, game day, huh?” she says. Not long after, Philip joins them. We learn that Kate figured out the mutiny and gave Taylor, Wendy and Wags a chance to explain themselves; they were successful. Meanwhile, Wendy found Philip in a bar, lamenting how “Professor Rouloff didn’t deserve” the way Price annihilated him. Knowing that he was primed for defection, she brought him in.
DUNLOP IS PART OF THE PLAN! | OK, back to the present. Scooter and Bradford accompany Prince to Camp David; as is policy, they surrender their phones at the front gate. And ladies, gentlemen and nonbinary friends, THIS was the whole point of Gov. Dunlop agreeing to be on Prince’s ticket in the previous episode: To elevate him to frontrunner, which would get him the Camp David briefing, which would separate him and his devices for a number of hours. Genius!
In a flashback to the Rao’s dinner, we hear Dunlop tell Axe she could never be Prince’s vice-president “because I never want him to be president, not after what he said about nukes.” But Bobby counters that she should join his ticket now, because “when he topples, you’ll move up.” (More on this in a moment.)
EVERYONE PLAYS THEIR PART | So, here’s how it all unfolds. While Prince is getting briefed in Maryland, everyone springs into action in New York. Chuck lets it be known that his office is investigating malfeasance and collusion in the energy sector, and warns that there better not be any leaks to the press… which immediately leads to leaks to the press, as he hoped. That intel causes energy stocks to tank, which hits Prince Capital hard.
And remember how Kate had the algorithm zhushed a while back? She was in on the plan by then, so, as Taylor tells Bobby, the algo now zigs where it’s supposed to zag. Bottom line: The system that was supposed to keep Prince’s firm at the top of the heap is now actively digging it into a hole. And because Philip is in charge — and the only one authorized to make any real moves — he insists that they stay the course and wait until everything rights itself, despite everyone at Prince Capital losing their damn minds.
WHILE YOU WERE GONE | Prince returns from his briefing (“pretty g.d. cool,” he coos) to a call from Axe. “Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life,” Bobby says, while Scooter shows his boss the bad news on his phone: Their entire portfolio is wiped out. What’s more, Prince is locked out of his account. Time to get back to the city!
In the time it takes the freaked-out billionaire to return to Manhattan, Wendy and Taylor share a nice moment where they thank each other for being their co-pilots in this bumpy ride. And Chuck sends Dave Mahar over to the Securities and Exchange Commission to make sure that none of the days trades get held or reversed.
PRINCE LOSES HIS CROWN (AND MORE)| Prince barrels into his office like a bull on ‘roids, demanding “Find me Wendy f—king Rhoades!” When he learns she’s sitting in her former office, he throws the printer and IT’S ON.
“What is so f—king wrong about me that you’re sure I shouldn’t be f—king president?” he yells. “Why don’t we start with how you act when things don’t go your f—king way. Now multiply that by a factor of your finger on the trigger,” she replies. He snarls and growls and doesn’t care that everyone — including Axe — is listening to him rant… until Gov. Dunlop enters the picture. Then, he immediately changes his tone. And when she thanks Axe for his “counsel,” Prince knows he’s in real trouble.
Dunlop announces that she’s off Prince’s ticket and will reaffirm her own candidacy. And that’s when Bradford Luke decides it’s time for him to skedaddle, too. “You were the self-made, rich candidate, and now you’re not. There’s no coming back from this, not in this election cycle, anyway,” he tells Prince matter-of-factly. But because Wendy put in a good word for him with the governor, she hires him on the spot.
SCOOTER, OUT | Just then, Scooter arrives, making Prince’s day worse by announcing that the S.E.C. won’t play ball and that Dave was there. Translation: Mike knows Chuck was behind this. He turns to Philip to find out how bad things really are. Answer? Really bad! They’re in negative equity. Philip would’ve done something, he says, but the risk-management algorithm set the priorities, and Prince said to follow it. “And we never disobey,” he adds.
Just then, Chuck holds a press conference to announce that the natural gas collusion rumors were just that: rumors. Everything will rebound… but because Philip did what the (jacked-up) algorithm said to and sold them all off, Prince is broke. Still, it’s not long before he’s telling Scooter that they’ll rebuild. Except this time, Scooter’s not on board. “I failed to help you steer, and this is where we’ve landed: broke and broken,” he says. Prince sputters about where he will end up. “In a reflective place, after the swelling does down,” Scooter says sadly.
AXE SAVES THE DAY | But wait, there’s so much more! Ben and Tuk are summoned, and Chuck arrives, just in time to hear Axe say he wants to take over Prince’s loan for the office. Prince threatens to sue; Bobby doesn’t seem worried. And remember: Prince still has about $100 million in Black-owned banks, so he’s not bereft. “This country’s built on second acts,” Prince says just before he angrily presses the elevator button and exits for good. “And when you see mine, you’d better duck and f—king cover.”
Once Mike is gone, Axe wonders why everyone still looks so beat-down. Dollar Bill points out that all of their cash went down with Prince, too. “Did it?” Bobby wonders.
Flashback to three days before, when Axe brought up the idea of making everyone else really rich as a result of Prince’s downfall. He mentioned a quasi-legal fallow account he created — the admirals fund — back in the day. “We’re going to siphon the employee money into the admiral’s fund, and when they basket of stocks hits rock bottom, we’re going to buy them,” he said. So that’s what he did. And that’s good news for everyone — including Ben, Tuk, Dollar Bill, Victor and even Ari — because it means they are loaded. And when Phillip goes upstairs to talk to his uncle, he softens the blow of everything that’s gone down by letting Scooter know that he was included in the fund, as well.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES | So where does everyone end up? Axe gives Chuck back the drive containing all of his misdeeds, and they part on collegial terms. Chuck does warns him, though: “I’m going back to doing what I do, so you best run this place right.” Taylor is leaving Axe Capital for good, and Bobby gives them the other office — complete with branding — from which to run the Taylor Mason Foundation.
Axe asks Wendy to stay on as performance coach and head of human resources, but she chooses instead to stay at Mental. “I’m going to help a lot of people from there,” she says, suggesting Dr. Mayer as her replacement. He says he doesn’t want to say goodbye to her again, but she points out they don’t have to. So they agree to stay in touch, they hug, and that’s that.
Wags swings by Bobby’s office to say that he’ll happily help get the company running again, but then he’ll probably seek out other adventures. Then they gather Tuk, Philip, Dollar Bill, Ben, Mafee and Victor to hear Axe’s rallying cry: “Let’s make some f—king money!”
Downstairs, Wendy exits the building to find Chuck waiting. “I hoped you’d be here,” she says. “I’m always here,” he says, smiling. He invites her to dinner with him and the kids and she happily goes. The last scene of the show is the Rhoades family, having a delightful meal at a hibachi restaurant, served by Bryan Connerty — whom Kate and Chuck got reinstated as a lawyer earlier in the episode.
Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the finale? Grade it, and the season as a whole, via the polls below. Then hit the comments with all of your thoughts!
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