Billions

Previously on "Billions"...

You know those poison-tip arrows

that go through one guy and kill another?

As long as it doesn't come from you.

You get someone else to ask her.

Won't track back to me.

You come through for me, I'll pay off your house.

People are getting sick on Ice Juice.

Freezing the assets?

Now, that's an Ivan Koloff bear hug you're putting on the man.

You're squeezing the breath out of him.

But now you owe me.

A favor to be named later.

Back channeling, patronage. I lost my taste for it.

Just don't forget, it was the back channels and deal-making

that put you in that position.

Remind me again, and it's the last meal we share.

It is still Axe Capital,

no matter who's making the day-to-day decisions.

Are you sure?

I know it's Axe's faith that confers value on me

until I have a track record of my own.

Unless it becomes necessary, I will not leave.

I'm holding in my hand Robert Axelrod's signature

relinquishing his ability to trade securities.

Well...

ol' Samson got a real buzz cut.

Hold on.-

Bobby. Are you okay?

I went down to the crossroads.

What?

I made a mistake.

The deal. I can't do it... not trade.

I've worked my entire life

putting myself in a position where I would be truly free...

no limits, nothing I couldn't do.

And with one signature,

I've stripped myself of all of that.

It wasn't the signature that did it.

It was the living like there were no rules.

That's what made the signature necessary.

Wendy

Yeah. Don't wake up the kids.

I'll be right up.

I can't do this now.

Realize that limits,

constraints, they can be useful.

Letting someone else run Axe Capital gives you

a chance to realign who you are.

To get good at letting go. Which is a different

kind of freedom. A more powerful kind of freedom.

Now go to sleep.

Even if it were a good idea, which it's not,

there is nothing you can do to regain control at this hour.

We need to meet.

These fuckers can take away my ability to trade

but not my ability to see.

Insightful guy like you, how you gonna turn it off?

I'm not. I can't. I don't want to.

If you can't trade on the insights, who can?

Only those who I have reason to trust absolutely.

- And that's me. - It better be.

Because no one can know I'm behind any of these trades.

Well, our doors wouldn't be open if it wasn't for your,

um, let's say goodwill.

And when we're done, those doors are gonna open

on to a much bigger shop.

Been hoping to hear from you.

I've been wanting to expand,

but I've never been great at the raise.

That'll no longer be a problem for Old Oaks Investments.

Your money is always good here.

You can't direct funds, so how's this work?

Let's dive the fuck in.

I'll be in touch.

So, this is the way it's done?

Yeah.

And there's really nothing we can do but...

Hope the wheel of fate favors us.

Welcome to old New York, where judicial assignment's

still determined by the spin of a wheel.

Hey, it beats having Chief Judge Morgenstern

make 'em after a long night of gin at the goulash joint.

- Drinking or playing? - Both.

For the United States v. Robert Axelrod...

Judge Leonard Funt.

Do I have to say it?

You really don't.

You just got Funted.

Ha!

How bad is this?

Funt is a true believer in the power of a free market.

Old school Libertarian.

He's the best friend Bobby Axelrod

could have on the bench.

Well, if Connerty builds the case right,

the judge doesn't matter.

Wrong.

You need to find a way to get Funt off the case.

So the wheel spits out another name?

No. Only one spin,

then it's up to Chief Judge Morgenstern.

The other judges lobby him, depending on if they want

on or off. So you need to stunt that process.

That is tampering twice over.

No. It's finesse.

I don't break promises, so our unappetizing deal holds.

- Mm. - But it will not expand.

Fate has dealt our hand.

Now we play it.

Chuck.

What couldn't be talked about on the phone?

We got judge-fucked in the Axelrod case.

And, uh, I don't mean "We, the people," I mean...

We. Our family.

- Fuck. - Yeah.

We need a judge who believes that the rich

have gotten away with too much for too long.

And one who won't allow Axelrod to create a distraction

by alleging I set up a roach motel and lured him in.

Axe can't do that without essentially admitting his guilt.

I know.

That's one of the things keeping me up at night.

You know what I risked... what I gave up... to get him.

What would he give to get me?

Everything.

Well, the judge we drew is Leonard Edward Funt.

Isn't that good news? Doesn't he owe you...

Yes, there is a debt.

I once did him a kindness. But back then, during a case,

I tried to allude to the favor in conference,

and that man hammered me for even hinting at it.

Seemed to grow larger as he talked,

the way some men can when they're not pretending

to dignity and honor but they're actually made of the stuff.

You withdrew the request?

I did.

And I fear it would be even worse today.

See, if he wouldn't return a favor back when it was fresh,

why would he do so now?

But that's not what happened, is it?

He didn't actually refuse. He didn't say no.

Not in so many words.

Spare himself the question

by putting a tougher one to you.

It's about will, Chuck.

Impose your will on him until he does what

he needs to and repays the debt.

Why, you are a marvel.

Go.

Do what you have to do.

I've recently invested nine billion of Axe Cap's money

back into the market. In phases. And now when it's time

for the next phase, another two billion...

You can't.

Why?

There's a velvet rope around it. So to speak.

What's actually around it?

A directive from Axe that the money remain untouched.

Is he considering moving the funds

or deploying them elsewhere?

Never mind. You don't know.

Don't I?

Maybe Axe is hedging.

Against the main fund?

Against you.

Ah. The two billion.

Velvet rope.

Spoken like a man who's still mad he never got into Xenon.

I'm on it, Taylor.

This is clean. And it does what you need,

how you need. Tracks it all in real time.

We've also swept the apartment.

There are no listening devices, no visual recording devices,

no compromising devices of any kind.

But guests leave eyes and ears, so we should sweep often.

- Who else visits? - The women.

Wand them.

He will.

So, this is the Counter Intel team, the new Halls.

I don't think they care for that.

Why should I trust you to do anything other than

point me to the nearest avocado toast?

For whom have you worked?

Is this just a walk on the wild side

to spice up the b-school essays?

How much you doing this for the money?

You can answer him.

In re bona fides, John built the code for

four successful startups in high school then Stanford,

then was asked to travel to 71 countries for DARPA

and Other Government Agency,

all which he did without complaint.

And Timmy Dones has a military background.

What fucking war were you in?

Mr. Hall fought the wars you've heard of.

I fought the ones you haven't.

As for your other questions. It's none of your business,

smashed spring pea toast is the new avocado toast,

and 70 percent.