Billions (2016) s02e05 Episode Script
Currency
1 [Gus.]
Previously on Billions Yee! [snorts.]
Ah, it's a road bottle.
How do you get up and go to work? Patient concierge Fixes me up with a room and an I.
V.
Forty-five minutes, and I rebound like an undergrad.
[Bobby.]
I'm sending you somewhere.
Please, not rehab.
No.
I need help.
Sandicot's downtown is ripe for redevelopment.
Why would I ever put any of my money in your corner of the state? I don't expect you to do this deal as a favor to my uncle.
I expect you to do it because of the casino.
Look, I don't think I'm gonna be able to help you get Boyd.
I want to, but Am I going to have to wear a wire? Mr.
McKinnon, you're gonna be a hero.
[Bobby.]
Steven Birch? [Hall.]
It's either him or you.
You do an autopsy on the deal, you'll find yourself a Pulitzer in the carcass.
[Chuck.]
The federal sentencing guidelines call for you to serve 11 years.
I don't want to go to jail.
Wise choice, Mr.
Birch.
[Lawrence.]
I want to get out from under this immediately.
Then what can you give me now? There are a few mid-level guys.
What if I sacrifice them? I have another source I can check to be sure it's legit.
I'll be careful.
You better be.
But not everyone out there's a savage.
Rhoades opened his eyes to the bigger picture.
[Bobby.]
I don't like the idea of Boyd going down.
Doesn't Doesn't sit right with me.
You never give anyone your playbook, no matter how much you're rooting for them to win.
[ dramatic music .]
If heartaches brought fame In love's crazy game I'd be a legend In my time I'll move the car for you, Mr.
Wagner.
You will leave it right there.
I and it will be gone before long.
I'd be a legend - In my time - [woman.]
Look, it's Wags.
- Hey, Wags, how - [woman whispers.]
It's Wags.
If they gave gold statuettes [man.]
Wags, where you been? [woman.]
Wags, I've been calling you.
For tears and regrets - [door closes.]
- Call you back.
I'd be a legend In my time You haven't been drinking.
Your eyes are clear.
Let me see.
It's not shaking.
I want to get this out.
When I started here, I made a promise to you, and you to me.
We've kept that promise no matter what.
Well, with a windup like that, I'm sure whatever you have to say must be important.
It is.
Momentous even.
Yeah.
Ah, thing is, it's not your turn to speak.
Why's that? Because while you have been out there learning the Yaqui Way or how to run like the Tarahumara, I have been in here fighting the battle of fucking Thermopylae! [ slow country music .]
- - [applause.]
If heartaches brought fame and love's crazy game Hell of a job, Sung.
Corporate was going on about how we'd never make delivery on the Sapphire Super-Thin.
I was like, shit, you don't know Sung.
[laughter.]
gold statuettes For tears and regret I'd be a legend In my time But they don't give awards And there's no praise or fame For hearts that are broken For love that's in vain [body thuds.]
[horns honking, screaming.]
[ suspenseful music .]
Axe, we're fucked! [laughter.]
Gordie, say hi to Mr.
Pawlowski.
Fuck that.
It's Nicky, kid.
- Nicky.
- Hello.
You know, I owe everything to your dad.
You know that? We were getting killed out here, couldn't make a dime.
And then your dad figures out how we could come away with $50k a race on the triple.
- You see you real - [Bobby.]
All right, all right, we'll give him the full education another time.
He already knows the most important part.
Who makes a bet if they don't know how it's gonna turn out? Suckers.
[laughs.]
Go take some pictures, yeah? My phone's dead.
Here you go.
You didn't come up here for a tip on a race? You heard anything about a new casino coming to upstate New York? Whispers, yeah.
I heard whispers.
It's important I find out where exactly it's going.
The town's unclear.
But I did hear this big casino guy, Donald Thayer, he's getting ready to get busy building upstate.
I know Thayer.
Mm.
'Course you do.
Dad, your phone is, like, blowing up.
Oh, yeah? [ dramatic music .]
[cellphone vibrating.]
Calling to tell me Sansomic's fucked? I just got word.
Yeah, they're gonna stiff delivery on 400,000 Celestial phones.
Their glass supplier beefed on the new super-thin screens.
They crack under the heat gun during adhesion.
Some guy in Korea took a mickey over it.
But that's only half the reason why I'm calling.
What? Sam Brandt Street Scoop Out hunting.
She knows you're lugging the stock and you're facing your first down quarter because of it.
She wants you to be a talking head on her show.
Shit! Can you spike it? No, but if you say you'll go on, you can buy yourself the last three days of the month.
[Bobby sighs.]
All right, I'll do it.
Thanks for the heads up.
[.]
[sighs.]
Fuck.
So, we're still talking about this? We are.
Huh.
It's beneath us.
Petty.
Let's not judge in that way.
Wendy.
I ask him not to overdress for dinner.
Eight people on a patio, he says he won't, then he shows up in that suit.
I was coming from the office.
Erica lives three blocks from us.
Oh, okay.
So, I wanted to wear the suit.
You know, we weren't white-water rafting down the Colorado, we were having bisque for fuck's sake.
Oh, on a courtyard outside a $7 million townhouse.
Wendy can you tell Chuck why it bothered you so much that he wore that suit? Yeah.
He can't for a second let anyone forget he is the "United States Attorney for the Southern District.
" So, the suit.
It's not enough for him to think his profession is is a calling while everyone else merely has a job.
He needs to prove it at all times Do you think I can't tell the way people look at us? [sighs.]
[sighs.]
Don't you think that I know that you can do better than me? [exhales sharply.]
Maybe I want to wear something that won't make them look at us and wonder, "Gee, what is she doing with him?" I had no idea you felt that way.
[Bobby.]
If the quarter ended today, we'd be underwater like Crimson fucking Tide.
Sansomic has pulled us down to negative 2.
3%.
But we have three days to turn that around.
So, what do you have for me? I'm peeling back the skin on Territory Petroleum.
They're sitting on good numbers.
If they come out, it'll bump seven It's too late.
When the numbers come out, we're a dead man walking.
Aren't you supposed to be on the Sandicot muni-bond deal? Why are you even here? I thought it was an all-hands situation, urgent.
Yes, it is.
But the greats never sacrifice the important for the urgent.
They handle the immediate problem and still make sure to secure the future.
Ferguson? [Ferguson.]
Rip our illiquid longs.
I've got a few positions on my book that are ready for juicing.
And we could add some classy names to the investor letter That's fucking window dressing.
Graff? [Graff.]
We flee to quality.
Blue-chip time.
It may not be fast, but at least we'll be able to show our investors Do you think I don't understand what the fuck is going on? You are all playing it safe for the quarter so you have a shot of personally being up on the year.
You are all selfish motherfuckers! Looking to mitigate your downsides and protect your bonuses.
The only currency that this firm has that any firm has these days is its winning streak.
The Kevlar of "knowing the answer.
" You break that, you break the whole thing.
[ dramatic music .]
Nobody leaves here until you hand me an idea that I can shock the world with in a few days time.
[.]
Fuck this.
Finally someone has something.
The way I see it, we need a quick fix in a non-quick-fix market.
Yeah.
I have an idea.
I was talking to Victor.
Why were you talking to Victor? You know why.
She have to be here? Sure as shit.
Changes what I can pitch.
By design.
Well, you may have solved one problem, but you made the crucial one much harder to solve.
So you got nothing.
No, I have just what you need.
But apparently, I can't give it to you.
You're allowed, you know.
You are not an algorithm, you are not a machine, you're human.
You are allowed to have a down quarter.
All hedge funds do, eventually.
Trust can be built on fallibility.
There have been studies.
You said you were determined to never come close to the line.
Those are the terms under which I'm here, so you have to be prepared for results like these.
You have to be, if not okay with them, then at least accepting.
I want some privacy.
And where the fuck is Wags? Find him.
[ dramatic music .]
[door opens.]
Mr.
Watley, hold up, please.
I have a meeting very important.
Uh, I'll make myself available to you first opening in my Filofax.
I've seen your calendar.
Make an opening.
Or I will.
[ dramatic music .]
Deb, you found Wags? No.
I have an idea.
- You do? - Part of one.
It's not mine.
I overheard it from Mafee last night.
Ah.
But he can't know it's from me.
It's sensitive.
He's hiding from you.
Is this where you do your best thinking? I was just [exhales.]
finishing up.
I know you, Mafee.
I know when you're holding out.
There's no one else but us.
You should share.
There's this currency play.
Are you transmitting me the details telepathically? [sighs.]
Okay, just There's this guy Everett Wright.
We're bros.
From college.
Played lax together.
Fucking Eveready, he was always better than me.
He trades currency over at Richards.
Started crushing it right out of school.
Thing is, he's a great guy.
I love him.
When I landed my job here, I thought, "Damn, I finally crept ahead.
" But if I tell you what he's got, you'll love him.
Mafee, no one could take your place in my heart.
You don't know Eveready.
You'll bring him in.
He'll meet Deb.
[sighs deeply.]
Shit.
I wanted to talk next steps in the Lawrence Boyd investigation.
Now that we have McKinnon back on a wire, shouldn't we be proactive? Have you ever been hunting, Sacker? Uh, no, I'm black.
I didn't realize that was a thing.
It is.
[chuckles.]
Well, uh, before I started high school, my father took me up to Canada to hunt wolves.
Something about making a man of me.
Oh, it was awful.
I remember we tried everything to bag one.
Tracking.
He left deer meat.
Howling.
He blew into a caller that was supposed to sound like a dying rabbit.
And all the while, we didn't see a single blessed wolf.
Well, after three brutal days of this, we came across a hunter, old guy He was probably too old to be out there And he gave us some advice.
The next day, we saw three wolves and bagged one.
What did he say? He told my father to use the only trap that can't be avoided by man or beast or Lawrence Boyd.
He told him to McKinnon called me.
- Hey.
- Hey.
Chef Ryan has everything set up for your new friend.
He's outside.
A little home court hospitality? I need you to do something for me.
I want to take the business to the next level.
To raise capital.
You never even have to ask me before writing a check.
No, I don't want to just take it from you.
I want the business to have outside validation.
An actual cap raise.
You sure you're ready? 'Cause what you're asking, if you're not ready I'm ready.
Okay.
I'll call Boyd.
And he'll have the right guy at Spartan-Ives sit with you about expanding.
Lobster? Yeah, to impress you.
You impressed? So, Mafee tells me that you're not happy over at Richards.
Oh, Mafee.
That boy's something else.
I'd get fired just for having this meeting.
Yeah, well, if this meeting goes well, that's not gonna be a big concern for you.
Right.
They're leaving a lot of money on the table at my firm.
And I just have a philosophical problem with that.
Yeah, so what opportunities are they scared to pursue? It's not a one-firm play.
You need all five families going in to make it work.
I'm listening.
The Nigerian government is gonna devalue their currency.
You know that? The Central Bank Governor told me.
Really? The Nigerian oil industry is weaker than numbers suggest.
Much weaker.
A strong gust of wind could blow it over.
They have to devalue.
And when are they gonna do it? That's the tricky part.
Could be a month from now.
And with the right pressure, could be tomorrow, if somebody takes a massive short position against it.
E-mail me your research Encrypt it as soon as we finish lunch.
If I like what I see, this won't be the last lobster we crush together.
[shell cracks.]
[ dramatic music .]
[man.]
I got a beautiful wool silk twill to show you.
Come pick your lining when you're ready.
[ classical music plays .]
So, I've read his research.
It's strong, but it's a big play.
It's way out of my risk parameters.
Come in on it for three billion.
It'll be a huge score.
I can't, Bobby.
I deal with Nigeria all the time.
Same with all the primes.
Their sovereign wealth fund.
None of us can be seen taking down a government.
Look, if it's weak enough to go, it's nobody's fault.
All the same.
What about levering up? No, if I go to the banks, word will get out, they'll crack my position.
Of course.
You need to go to others like you who are free to operate in the margins.
Big players.
Cash heavy.
Krakow, Malverne, even Birch.
His family office had a nice year.
This could really work for him.
Yeah, I'm not sure they'll come and play on my behalf.
I know about your histories.
But if I tell them where the gold is, they'll show up with their shovels.
Want a tie? No, maybe next time.
I'll be expecting to hear from you.
[ dramatic music .]
[Wags.]
It's Wags.
Don't be boring.
[sighs.]
Oh, come Wags, where the fuck are you? [.]
I almost blew it already.
Standing in the men's room babbling to Michael Arendt.
Partner Managing Director of Fixed Income.
It was bad.
[ suspenseful music .]
Hey, Mike, hey.
Mind giving me a little space here, Tom? Yeah, sure.
Did you catch the Knicks game last night, Mike? There wasn't a Knicks game last night.
I-I mean Mets.
[urinal flushes.]
We should catch a game sometime, you know, talk about how we truss up the Treasury market like it's a Thanksgiving turkey.
What the hell, man? I got a lot of work to do.
See ya.
[.]
I'm sorry.
Here, give it to me.
Come on.
[sighs.]
Well, this has all been a lot for you.
And I'm sorry we haven't all had more success.
Should we go after him? [door closes.]
Let it eat at him.
He'll beg me to get this back.
When the guys see me training to climb the Col du Tourmalet, it'll inspire them to great heights, too.
I'll skip the cooldown.
No need.
This'll be quick, and then you can get back at it.
Nope.
You're in here.
Let's be here.
Together.
Well, I-I just want to know if you've heard from Wags.
No.
I had heard he's M.
I.
A.
and that the guys here miss him, which surprised me.
What, that he's off the grid or that they miss him? Anyone could see that he was driving towards a wall like Dale Earnhardt at Daytona.
And what did you do to stop it? No.
No, sir.
If a crash is coming, I say you bring it.
It's the only way to get to the other side.
If you survive.
Look, you hired me to help you maximize results, not to coddle the staff.
He hired you.
I sort of rubber-stamped it.
And you listen to all of his suggestions? You said you were surprised that they missed him? Well, they talk about him like they hate his fucking guts most of the time.
That way they don't hate me.
He's willing to put himself in that spot.
So it's his loyalty that matters to you.
This isn't about me.
You didn't have to walk down here to see if I knew where Wags was, boyo.
You could've just called.
You came in here because you want it to be about you.
Because you need it to be about you.
And I am here for exactly that purpose.
Really? Let me into that kitchen.
What specific role does Wags serve for you? He's my personal bullshit detector.
And he makes me laugh.
Well, I can fill that role.
You'll be my bullshit detector? Absolutely.
Like a double shot of Skin Bracer across the chops.
Well, let me do the same for you.
One the only way you are ever getting in my kitchen is if my chef takes the weekend off.
Two I'd never trust anyone who'd undercut the man who got him a job.
Three when the guys look in here and see you training for the Tour de France in your underwear in Wendy Rhoades' office, they're not inspired.
They're just wondering why the hell she isn't here anymore.
[ dramatic music .]
[door closes.]
[chuckles.]
[bones crack.]
Tight pitch.
Cool business.
Thanks.
Why do you really want the money? We need to outflank competitors now.
Grow our market share fast and fat and chase them out of the fields.
We're paying retail for the drugs.
We need to buy in bulk, increase our margins.
We see college campuses as our next frontier.
Hangover central, you know? And since we can show that our product enhances performance, the fitness industry is logical, too.
I could put you guys in front of the money for a round of meetings.
They are going to lap you two up.
Mm.
Well, thank you for your time.
We'll, um, be in touch to schedule.
Hey, anything for Lawrence Boyd.
It was a personal ask from him.
And anything for your husband.
Thanks.
[door closes.]
Bryan.
I'm sorry.
Gimme a sec.
Okay.
I heard you were in here.
Is this Go club? Yeah.
My night to host, and my apartment's too small.
I tried you.
Oh, we put them in the basket before we play, because, you know Because Go players didn't have cellphones in ancient times.
Okay.
Got it.
And do you take a vow of celibacy, as well? No, it's just the end result.
[chuckles.]
McKinnon just sent word.
He and his wife are having dinner with Boyd and his wife tomorrow night.
That was quick.
You were right.
Private table at Ai Fiori.
[scoffs.]
Cozy.
Coordinate with FBI to set up surveillance.
We're gonna be there.
Yes, sir.
Oh, I almost forgot, you better block that monkey jump at the bottom.
[slow-tempo music playing on stereo.]
I don't walk in the fucking door without it being Lawrence Boyd asking.
Why are we here? Hi.
What can I get you? Could you get them three lumberjacks, please? Sure.
Nigeria is gonna devalue its currency.
Get the hell out of here.
How could you know that? Because we're gonna make it happen.
Jesus fuck.
I have all the research for you.
Currency plays are all about timing.
You get in too late, there's nothing there.
But you get in too early, they raise interest rates and bleed you out of your position.
Agreed.
Being early is the same as being wrong.
That's why I'm here.
But if each of us take a monster position against the Naira, we dictate the timing.
I have traders shorting it in Australasia as we speak, and I have orders teed up all across Europe.
I stand to make a huge kill on my own.
So you just felt the urge to share? Bullshit.
You don't have enough ammo to do this on your own.
You need us.
We have calendars, too.
You got wacked by Sansomic.
I bet this deal's all that stands between mighty Axe Capital taking a down quarter.
All we have to do is flush.
All right, you got me.
This deal only works if we're all in it together.
The threshold is five billion.
I'm in it for two.
That leaves one each for you three.
So, which is the more powerful driver boning me, or your own self-interest? Fuck.
In.
Yep.
This is Everett.
He's gonna run you through the research.
My treat.
[.]
Is Mommy coming home to take us to school? No, sweetheart.
Remember, I told you.
Mommy and Daddy are spending some time apart for awhile.
So, I'm home now, and Mommy will be home tonight.
Mom doesn't even want to come home.
That is not true, Kevin.
Look at me.
I don't ever want to hear you say that again.
It's Daddy's fault that Mommy and Daddy aren't together right now.
When you're a kid your age, you think that your parents know everything.
But we don't.
We're not perfect.
You know, we're just two people trying and often failing to figure out the best way to be.
And I made some mistakes along the way.
Mistakes that we're all paying for.
So if you want to blame somebody, blame me, not your mother.
[sighs.]
European auto manufactures use a ton of zinc.
[cellphone vibrates.]
Not a literal ton, just a hyperbole for how much zinc can be found Good morning.
[Lawrence.]
Not for you, Bobby.
Someone leaked.
The banks know, and they've made Nigeria aware.
They're fighting back.
They're gonna raise rates and prop up their dog-shit currency? Looks like it.
Thought you should know.
[ dramatic music .]
[cellphone vibrates.]
Bobby! [Bobby.]
Birch! Naira's fucked, huh? But I don't hear panic in your voice.
Come on.
All the panic got shook out of me about a year ago when Chuck Rhoades came calling.
Yeah, I imagine it did.
You know, for the longest time, I couldn't synthesize it.
How that story came out in the paper, how there was just enough in that article to bait the U.
S.
Attorney's Office.
Yeah, it was a bad beat, no doubt.
Well, since then, I've had a lot of time to just sit and think, and slowly, it dawned If I lost, someone else must've gained.
So I ran a thousand simulations a day in my head.
And over and over again, Bobby, it came back the same.
I was your stalking horse.
You did the transaction.
You left the opening.
It's funny.
I was just about to say the same thing to you.
You left me the opening.
You cost me my business.
Now you're gonna throw me some deal as an apology? No.
I'm not that easy.
So instead of betting against the Naira, I went the other way.
And I let a few other folks know what was going down.
Strong move.
Might have done the same in your spot.
[laughs.]
I know you would've, Bobby.
[.]
[exhales deeply.]
Deb! Yes? You found me Wags, yet? Not yet.
Just so we're communicating, you know I mean the guy who works across the hall, right? Michael Wagner? Wags? Yeah.
I'm sorry.
I'm trying.
[cellphone slams on desk.]
I know my research was right.
I also know it doesn't matter now, 'cause the game has changed.
How strong is Nigeria defending? It's their version of the Alamo.
Krakow and Malverne are gonna be looking to pull out.
You should, too.
I don't want my second day here ending with you personally exposed five billion.
Okay, let's say I manage to keep it together.
Then you're looking at a global cockfight.
And you're gonna need people betting on your bird.
I'm gonna need to get word out wide.
Yeah, can't just be you.
It's gonna have to be somebody vaunted, an economist somebody objective, trusted.
That'll say they have to devalue.
Someone like Lawrence Boyd? Right.
Yeah, that'll do it.
[ dramatic music .]
I don't want you to worry about being too tough on me.
All right? [deep exhale.]
[grunts.]
[breathing heavily.]
Posture up, posture up.
[breathing heavily.]
I'm sorry, but is that a Swiss accent? Stop it.
No one guesses correctly.
Most people just assume I'm German.
Oh, most people didn't spend the summer in Zurich during law school.
Oh! That explains the suit.
You're a lawyer.
She said with an undertone of derision.
[chuckles.]
And what do you do that's so amazing? At the moment, you could call me a sculptor.
Oh! Well, I'd like to see your work.
One day I'll show you.
Yes.
Axe, I didn't walk into that diner so that I could lose a billion bucks.
You want out? I'll take on your positions.
Right now.
I already bought up what was supposed to be Birch's.
Now I'll buy up both of you.
You just say the word.
You'd be risking half your net worth for the one play? That's insane.
I am dug the fuck in.
No third-world nation hinged on a dying industry and a propped-up currency is gonna ride me out of my position.
I will drive them into the goddamn ground.
Without Birch.
Without either of you.
Wow.
The intensity.
I actually believe you.
So? Fuck it.
I'm sticking.
[exhales sharply.]
Me too.
But, Axe, if this is some move, some game you're playing, we'll hunt you in a pack until we're gnawing on your fucking bones.
Hello, Mr.
Allerd.
Here? [Oliver.]
None of them come here, believe me.
[Karl.]
Lay out what you have.
The office is a fiefdom run on fear, ambition, and advancement.
Probably why it's been so effective.
Loyalties are fading.
Cracks starting to show.
I've interviewed almost everyone but Rhoades at this point.
I'll get to him last.
This has been It's been a fascinating one.
There are those who are weak but don't have it, and those who have it but are strong.
I've isolated the one who has it and will give it Watley.
He's been running an avoidance play, but that's at its end.
I'll push for a suspension if that's what it takes to sit him down.
There's plenty of support out there.
The AG wants this, and soon.
You'll have it.
I will if you say I will.
Thank you, sir.
Something I learned when I was working under Mondale take a little piece of yourself, tuck it away in the basement.
You can give the rest to the job, but keep a small piece.
I speak from experience.
Noted.
[door opens, closes.]
I find myself thinking in your words sometimes.
The two that just came to me are "shit hole.
" Sandicot.
If they don't get the casino, then we have to pass on it.
Even if all that urban revitalization bullshit comes into effect? That'll make incremental change, but not fast enough and not big enough.
Without that casino, it goes from something to consider to something to never think about again.
I see that.
Fuck.
[rock music plays from restaurant stereo.]
I'm gonna carpet-bomb you guys with so much fucking food, you'll be reeling.
Thanks, David.
Don't thank me.
Just be there for us when Fugu goes public.
Absolutely.
I know when someone's working me.
What's your play here? The bond.
If your casino is going to the town I need it to.
And because we're friends, I'm gonna come across with that info? I was hoping.
A '69 Dodge Challenger.
The one I outbid you for at Barrett Jackson last summer? It's parked outside.
Here.
[.]
The car is a cute gesture.
And I'll take it.
But it alone, it's not getting you what you want.
My casino's gonna make that town, so I'm your partner on the muni-play.
On a no-risk basis to me.
5% off the books.
Done.
I just need to know where.
Sandicot.
Still waiting on the official decision to come out of committee, but they gave me the high sign, so I know it's a done deal.
[chuckles.]
You casino guys are all old-line crooks.
At least we wear it with pride.
Move forward with the bond.
The casino is coming to Sandicot.
I'm sure now.
We are committing to this play.
[sighs.]
[door closes.]
You have to tell me how it is.
You want a bite? Well, one bite would be like drowning in a puddle.
I'm sure the kitchen would do one up for you.
Well, he's eating clean.
[door closes.]
McKinnon's coming up.
[clears throat.]
Hey.
Right.
You feeling ready, Tom? Yeah, yeah, I'm good.
Probably should get back down to the bar.
They're about to seat us.
We only get one shot at this.
[scoffs, inhales deeply.]
Now, remember any chance you get to have a private conversation with Boyd, take it.
Express concerns about the bid rigging.
Make it clear that you know it's going on, and you're worried that Mike Arendt is bringing heat on the firm.
That should be enough to get him to calm your fears.
I might go across the table at that motherfucker.
[Chuck.]
Steady, Tom.
This'll hurt him a lot worse and a lot longer than a punch in the mouth.
Use it well.
How's the feed? Good to go.
Okay.
[door opens, closes.]
[Lawrence.]
Forty-five dollars for a tuna sandwich.
[Lawrence.]
Somebody bring the drinks.
Two at the bar.
That's his third.
[Lawrence.]
It's lemony.
It's an island.
Everything has to be brought on by boat.
I know Mustique is an island.
[chuckles.]
Okay.
[Shayleen.]
So what'd you do, Larry? [Lawrence.]
I said, "What do you charge for the lemons? I'll squeeze them myself.
Either that, or I'll fly in a load of gold bullion.
" [laughter.]
Larry, Larry, don't don't cry poor.
How much you take in this year so far? Come on.
Tell us.
Twenty-three, $24 million? Maybe you've had enough, huh, Tom? Can we get Tom a cup of black coffee, please? [laughter.]
I don't want a cup of fucking coffee.
He's drunk.
We should pull him.
We've got an agent posing as a waiter.
We can pull him right now with minimal damage.
We'll hold.
[ dramatic music .]
With Thai massage, you're wearing clothes.
[scoffs.]
What's the fun in that? [laughter.]
Exactly.
Larry.
Larry, you fuck.
- Oh.
- Sh shh [Lawrence.]
It's probably going to stain that.
Uh, bad to fucking worse.
Honey, take her to the ladies'.
Yeah, why don't you freshen up? Tom, get your shit together.
You're embarrassing yourself.
You think I don't know what's going on here? [scoffs.]
What's that, Tom? [ suspenseful music .]
Arendt is putting us all in danger.
The Treasury bonds He's gonna send us all to prison.
The ten-years.
That's what this is about.
[Lawrence.]
Mike's putting the band back together again, just like I told him to.
Fuck, you told him to? I thought he was free-balling.
Conditions are right to get going again.
We'll tail the shit out of the auction.
The fucking Feds can spare the 15 bips.
Then we can talk about the 26-weeks.
We have to get some volume going now.
So relax.
That'll do it.
[Wags.]
When I started here, I made a promise to you, and you to me.
And we've kept that promise no matter what.
Thing is, it's not your turn to speak.
Why's that? Because while you have been out there learning the Yaqui Way or how run like the Tarahumara, I have been here fighting the battle of fucking Thermopylae! I was in sessions with Wendy, doing deep work.
Oh.
Well, that I do want to hear about.
[sighs softly.]
Best I can put it together [ distorted country music .]
Wags, wake up.
Get up.
Oh, baby, no! No, not baby.
It's Wendy.
Get up! [groaning.]
Why? Because you begged me for an appointment, and then you didn't show up.
[door beeps, opens.]
Oh, you're still here.
No, I'm not.
I'm here, but not like that.
Okay.
Mr.
Wagner, I can come back at 11:30 or two or after five.
She has a key? Why not? You have a goddamned I.
V.
stand living in your hotel room.
Turns out you have the day off.
With pay.
[Wendy.]
This is your third divorce, but your first ass tattoo.
[Wendy.]
Any ideas? My idea was the drinking, women, and drugs in perfect balance.
An infinite Zen garden.
Simplicity, harmony between the elements, purity, that's what makes it a Zen garden.
I think you're confusing it with the AVN Awards.
Okay.
Couple ways this can go We do, like, intense psychotherapy for two years, five days a week, break down your walls, push past your rationalizations and defenses.
Or you can tell me what the fuck is going on.
How? Isn't the point of analysis that we don't know? Which is why I'm not in that racket.
We don't have that kind of fucking time.
Not anymore.
Fucking right we don't.
I got a goddamned I.
V.
stand living in my hotel room.
Good.
Now, whatever caused this didn't make you retreat.
You didn't become depressive.
You chose distraction.
I'm sad, lonely.
Give me an immediate answer.
I mean, it doesn't have to be right, just just blurt it.
When did this feeling first land? [sighs.]
I was in the bathroom.
[Wags.]
I was in this club on the Lower East Side.
I just overpaid for what were supposed to be actual quaaludes.
[Wendy.]
What were you doing on the Lower East Side? Drinking with this prick I worked with years ago.
God, I hated that prick.
I hated him when we worked together.
I hated him even more that night.
Why did you agree to drink with a guy you hate? I drink with pricks I hate all the time.
It's the job.
It's the ones who aren't that stand out like giants.
Holy shit.
Holy shit.
Phil.
I can't believe I missed this.
Phil? Phillip Carroll.
Another prick? No.
No, the opposite.
Guy was my mentor.
Back when I started at Lehman.
He was the Wilt fucking Chamberlain of Wall Street.
Paid for the whole group's vacations when he killed it.
Didn't even close his door when he got crushed.
[Wags.]
I saw him on the street.
Hey, Phil! [Wags.]
He looked at me, and I waved.
[Wags.]
He walked right past me.
[Wags.]
Fucking DK'd me like I was a ghost.
[Wags.]
Turns out, he has early-onset Alzheimer's.
[Wags.]
Can't even go out by himself now.
[talking indistinctly.]
[Wags.]
His wife left him.
His kids don't come around.
[Wags.]
It was fucked.
[Wags.]
He was there, but he wasn't there [Wags.]
a carcass with no further purpose.
What you saw would have brought up issues of mortality and diminished utility for anyone.
You saw your hero, a man you deemed better than you, laid low.
That's empathy.
Why did his plight cut you so deep? What made you so vulnerable to this idea of fading away? Axe hired a fucking Chief of Staff.
Her name is Steph Reed.
Oh.
So now he doesn't need you anymore.
And if he doesn't need you anymore, no one does.
You have outlived your utility.
There is nothing left for you to do but die.
[exhales deeply.]
But you're not dead.
Which means it is time to pivot.
To evolve into what it is you'll become next.
Wendy reassembled me, piece by piece, on that bench.
[Bobby.]
That's what she does.
And I decided I had to give you the chance to make the change here you need to.
To modernize.
Optimize.
To put this old horse out to pasture.
Yeah, well, I'm sorry about Phil, but this place doesn't fucking run without you.
I do need you.
Especially since I just let Steph Reed go.
You did? You were wrong.
I'm not human.
I am a machine.
I'm a fucking Terminator.
So, your resignation is rejected.
Get some coffee.
We are barely hanging on here.
I just pulled the trigger on the muni-bond in Sandicot, and I got one move left to get us into the black for this quarter.
[ dramatic music .]
Coffee! Hey, Jeff.
You never finished your story.
What trap did you and your father use to finally get that wolf? Oh.
[chuckles.]
Yeah, it was, uh, time, Sacker.
We stayed in the same location all day.
The trap was time.
[keys jingling.]
[Lara moans.]
Oh.
Late night? Yeah.
And I'm on the move.
Got television in the city in a couple hours.
On your way in, give Lawrence Boyd a call for me.
I'll be with him.
What's up? Tell him the woman he set me up with wasted my fucking time.
I'm sorry? It was a bullshit meeting.
You're a businesswoman, right? That's how you went in there? Damn right.
Well, then, was the woman discourteous? Was she rude? No.
It wasn't She treated me like I was just the wife, like my business wasn't ready.
[scoffs.]
I tried to tell you.
Yeah, you weren't ready, but you wouldn't hear it from me.
You put me in touch with Spartan-Ives.
- You said to go ahead.
- Don't.
Don't.
I don't have time to have this conversation the way you need me to.
You weren't ready.
Leave it there.
Why the fuck not? What is it that you do that you're the best in the world at? You offer a service you didn't invent, a formula you didn't invent, a delivery method you didn't invent.
Nothing about what you do is patentable or a unique user experience.
You haven't identified an isolated market segment, haven't truly branded your concept.
You need me to go on? So, why would an investment bank put serious money into it? I all but told you ahead of time, but you wouldn't listen.
Now you've heard it, but it's too late.
You weren't ready.
Now, I gotta go into New York to try and save my fucking quarter.
[exhales sharply.]
[knock on door.]
[woman.]
Mr.
Axelrod, I'll be in to get you in two minutes to go on the air.
[Bobby.]
Thank you.
And thank you, Larry.
You locked in on how you want to do it? Yeah.
When I follow you on, I'll back whatever you said.
[cellphone vibrating.]
[Orrin.]
Former teaching assistant of mine clerks for a federal judge now.
Uh-huh? She just told me that her judge signed an arrest warrant for Lawrence Boyd.
[ dramatic music .]
They are coming for him.
He'll be in cuffs within the hour.
Thank you.
Ready? Yeah.
Go get 'em.
I will.
[.]
Axe.
Let's do dinner again soon with Savannah and Mike.
Huh? When we're on, I have to get into all the action against you on the Nigerian play.
You okay? Yeah.
Will you ask me about my bracelet? Fun way in.
We're pleased to welcome Bobby Axelrod, the principal and founder of Axe Capital.
Bobby, it's a pleasure to have you here.
It's a pleasure to be here, Sam.
Before we get started, I have to ask You're wearing a very unique bracelet.
What's the significance? Oh, this? I wear this Yoruba bracelet in solidarity with the people of Nigeria.
I have seen the hope and purpose these people have, and today I'm worried for them, Sam.
Their economy is on the verge of collapse.
Their oil reserves are severely overvalued.
In short, their currency is in jeopardy.
[.]
And so, yes, there is no doubt in my mind that my good friend, Bobby Axelrod, has this one right.
The Nigerian currency, the Naira, is facing certain devaluation.
It's their only choice, no matter how much it hurts the people.
I can see that.
[elevator bell dings.]
[.]
[indistinct conversations.]
We nailed that.
The old Malachi Crunch.
The market is shifting already.
It is done.
Yes, it is.
Larry in a few moments, the FBI are gonna come walking through that door and they're going to arrest you.
You can't run.
There's no time.
[.]
Rhoades fucked me like you thought he would.
And you got the call before you went on, didn't you? Your whole manner changed.
You didn't even warn me.
I couldn't.
Because you needed me to go on the air to corroborate your story, get your message out, save your quarter.
I get it.
It was smart.
[chuckles.]
This is some fucked-up universe we've decided to live in.
How can I help now? Hold this for me.
And I need you to get word to my lawyer.
And Linda? Make sure she tells the kids before they find out from the news.
Done.
[.]
Larry.
I know.
Lawrence Boyd? You're under arrest.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
[handcuffs clicking.]
I thought you were ready to take the next step.
I thought you understood the goddamn game.
Oh, I believe I do, sir.
I believe I do.
Hello, Bob.
I don't put any stock in omens or fortune tellers, but this must feel a little like your future foretold, huh? You mean watching you arrest other people while I walk right out the door? Yeah.
Kinda does.
[.]
[ slow-tempo music .]
If heartaches brought fame In love's crazy game I'd be a legend In my time If they gave gold statuettes For tears and regret I'd be a legend In my time But they don't give awards And there's no praise or fame For hearts that are broken For love that's in vain If loneliness meant world acclaim
Previously on Billions Yee! [snorts.]
Ah, it's a road bottle.
How do you get up and go to work? Patient concierge Fixes me up with a room and an I.
V.
Forty-five minutes, and I rebound like an undergrad.
[Bobby.]
I'm sending you somewhere.
Please, not rehab.
No.
I need help.
Sandicot's downtown is ripe for redevelopment.
Why would I ever put any of my money in your corner of the state? I don't expect you to do this deal as a favor to my uncle.
I expect you to do it because of the casino.
Look, I don't think I'm gonna be able to help you get Boyd.
I want to, but Am I going to have to wear a wire? Mr.
McKinnon, you're gonna be a hero.
[Bobby.]
Steven Birch? [Hall.]
It's either him or you.
You do an autopsy on the deal, you'll find yourself a Pulitzer in the carcass.
[Chuck.]
The federal sentencing guidelines call for you to serve 11 years.
I don't want to go to jail.
Wise choice, Mr.
Birch.
[Lawrence.]
I want to get out from under this immediately.
Then what can you give me now? There are a few mid-level guys.
What if I sacrifice them? I have another source I can check to be sure it's legit.
I'll be careful.
You better be.
But not everyone out there's a savage.
Rhoades opened his eyes to the bigger picture.
[Bobby.]
I don't like the idea of Boyd going down.
Doesn't Doesn't sit right with me.
You never give anyone your playbook, no matter how much you're rooting for them to win.
[ dramatic music .]
If heartaches brought fame In love's crazy game I'd be a legend In my time I'll move the car for you, Mr.
Wagner.
You will leave it right there.
I and it will be gone before long.
I'd be a legend - In my time - [woman.]
Look, it's Wags.
- Hey, Wags, how - [woman whispers.]
It's Wags.
If they gave gold statuettes [man.]
Wags, where you been? [woman.]
Wags, I've been calling you.
For tears and regrets - [door closes.]
- Call you back.
I'd be a legend In my time You haven't been drinking.
Your eyes are clear.
Let me see.
It's not shaking.
I want to get this out.
When I started here, I made a promise to you, and you to me.
We've kept that promise no matter what.
Well, with a windup like that, I'm sure whatever you have to say must be important.
It is.
Momentous even.
Yeah.
Ah, thing is, it's not your turn to speak.
Why's that? Because while you have been out there learning the Yaqui Way or how to run like the Tarahumara, I have been in here fighting the battle of fucking Thermopylae! [ slow country music .]
- - [applause.]
If heartaches brought fame and love's crazy game Hell of a job, Sung.
Corporate was going on about how we'd never make delivery on the Sapphire Super-Thin.
I was like, shit, you don't know Sung.
[laughter.]
gold statuettes For tears and regret I'd be a legend In my time But they don't give awards And there's no praise or fame For hearts that are broken For love that's in vain [body thuds.]
[horns honking, screaming.]
[ suspenseful music .]
Axe, we're fucked! [laughter.]
Gordie, say hi to Mr.
Pawlowski.
Fuck that.
It's Nicky, kid.
- Nicky.
- Hello.
You know, I owe everything to your dad.
You know that? We were getting killed out here, couldn't make a dime.
And then your dad figures out how we could come away with $50k a race on the triple.
- You see you real - [Bobby.]
All right, all right, we'll give him the full education another time.
He already knows the most important part.
Who makes a bet if they don't know how it's gonna turn out? Suckers.
[laughs.]
Go take some pictures, yeah? My phone's dead.
Here you go.
You didn't come up here for a tip on a race? You heard anything about a new casino coming to upstate New York? Whispers, yeah.
I heard whispers.
It's important I find out where exactly it's going.
The town's unclear.
But I did hear this big casino guy, Donald Thayer, he's getting ready to get busy building upstate.
I know Thayer.
Mm.
'Course you do.
Dad, your phone is, like, blowing up.
Oh, yeah? [ dramatic music .]
[cellphone vibrating.]
Calling to tell me Sansomic's fucked? I just got word.
Yeah, they're gonna stiff delivery on 400,000 Celestial phones.
Their glass supplier beefed on the new super-thin screens.
They crack under the heat gun during adhesion.
Some guy in Korea took a mickey over it.
But that's only half the reason why I'm calling.
What? Sam Brandt Street Scoop Out hunting.
She knows you're lugging the stock and you're facing your first down quarter because of it.
She wants you to be a talking head on her show.
Shit! Can you spike it? No, but if you say you'll go on, you can buy yourself the last three days of the month.
[Bobby sighs.]
All right, I'll do it.
Thanks for the heads up.
[.]
[sighs.]
Fuck.
So, we're still talking about this? We are.
Huh.
It's beneath us.
Petty.
Let's not judge in that way.
Wendy.
I ask him not to overdress for dinner.
Eight people on a patio, he says he won't, then he shows up in that suit.
I was coming from the office.
Erica lives three blocks from us.
Oh, okay.
So, I wanted to wear the suit.
You know, we weren't white-water rafting down the Colorado, we were having bisque for fuck's sake.
Oh, on a courtyard outside a $7 million townhouse.
Wendy can you tell Chuck why it bothered you so much that he wore that suit? Yeah.
He can't for a second let anyone forget he is the "United States Attorney for the Southern District.
" So, the suit.
It's not enough for him to think his profession is is a calling while everyone else merely has a job.
He needs to prove it at all times Do you think I can't tell the way people look at us? [sighs.]
[sighs.]
Don't you think that I know that you can do better than me? [exhales sharply.]
Maybe I want to wear something that won't make them look at us and wonder, "Gee, what is she doing with him?" I had no idea you felt that way.
[Bobby.]
If the quarter ended today, we'd be underwater like Crimson fucking Tide.
Sansomic has pulled us down to negative 2.
3%.
But we have three days to turn that around.
So, what do you have for me? I'm peeling back the skin on Territory Petroleum.
They're sitting on good numbers.
If they come out, it'll bump seven It's too late.
When the numbers come out, we're a dead man walking.
Aren't you supposed to be on the Sandicot muni-bond deal? Why are you even here? I thought it was an all-hands situation, urgent.
Yes, it is.
But the greats never sacrifice the important for the urgent.
They handle the immediate problem and still make sure to secure the future.
Ferguson? [Ferguson.]
Rip our illiquid longs.
I've got a few positions on my book that are ready for juicing.
And we could add some classy names to the investor letter That's fucking window dressing.
Graff? [Graff.]
We flee to quality.
Blue-chip time.
It may not be fast, but at least we'll be able to show our investors Do you think I don't understand what the fuck is going on? You are all playing it safe for the quarter so you have a shot of personally being up on the year.
You are all selfish motherfuckers! Looking to mitigate your downsides and protect your bonuses.
The only currency that this firm has that any firm has these days is its winning streak.
The Kevlar of "knowing the answer.
" You break that, you break the whole thing.
[ dramatic music .]
Nobody leaves here until you hand me an idea that I can shock the world with in a few days time.
[.]
Fuck this.
Finally someone has something.
The way I see it, we need a quick fix in a non-quick-fix market.
Yeah.
I have an idea.
I was talking to Victor.
Why were you talking to Victor? You know why.
She have to be here? Sure as shit.
Changes what I can pitch.
By design.
Well, you may have solved one problem, but you made the crucial one much harder to solve.
So you got nothing.
No, I have just what you need.
But apparently, I can't give it to you.
You're allowed, you know.
You are not an algorithm, you are not a machine, you're human.
You are allowed to have a down quarter.
All hedge funds do, eventually.
Trust can be built on fallibility.
There have been studies.
You said you were determined to never come close to the line.
Those are the terms under which I'm here, so you have to be prepared for results like these.
You have to be, if not okay with them, then at least accepting.
I want some privacy.
And where the fuck is Wags? Find him.
[ dramatic music .]
[door opens.]
Mr.
Watley, hold up, please.
I have a meeting very important.
Uh, I'll make myself available to you first opening in my Filofax.
I've seen your calendar.
Make an opening.
Or I will.
[ dramatic music .]
Deb, you found Wags? No.
I have an idea.
- You do? - Part of one.
It's not mine.
I overheard it from Mafee last night.
Ah.
But he can't know it's from me.
It's sensitive.
He's hiding from you.
Is this where you do your best thinking? I was just [exhales.]
finishing up.
I know you, Mafee.
I know when you're holding out.
There's no one else but us.
You should share.
There's this currency play.
Are you transmitting me the details telepathically? [sighs.]
Okay, just There's this guy Everett Wright.
We're bros.
From college.
Played lax together.
Fucking Eveready, he was always better than me.
He trades currency over at Richards.
Started crushing it right out of school.
Thing is, he's a great guy.
I love him.
When I landed my job here, I thought, "Damn, I finally crept ahead.
" But if I tell you what he's got, you'll love him.
Mafee, no one could take your place in my heart.
You don't know Eveready.
You'll bring him in.
He'll meet Deb.
[sighs deeply.]
Shit.
I wanted to talk next steps in the Lawrence Boyd investigation.
Now that we have McKinnon back on a wire, shouldn't we be proactive? Have you ever been hunting, Sacker? Uh, no, I'm black.
I didn't realize that was a thing.
It is.
[chuckles.]
Well, uh, before I started high school, my father took me up to Canada to hunt wolves.
Something about making a man of me.
Oh, it was awful.
I remember we tried everything to bag one.
Tracking.
He left deer meat.
Howling.
He blew into a caller that was supposed to sound like a dying rabbit.
And all the while, we didn't see a single blessed wolf.
Well, after three brutal days of this, we came across a hunter, old guy He was probably too old to be out there And he gave us some advice.
The next day, we saw three wolves and bagged one.
What did he say? He told my father to use the only trap that can't be avoided by man or beast or Lawrence Boyd.
He told him to McKinnon called me.
- Hey.
- Hey.
Chef Ryan has everything set up for your new friend.
He's outside.
A little home court hospitality? I need you to do something for me.
I want to take the business to the next level.
To raise capital.
You never even have to ask me before writing a check.
No, I don't want to just take it from you.
I want the business to have outside validation.
An actual cap raise.
You sure you're ready? 'Cause what you're asking, if you're not ready I'm ready.
Okay.
I'll call Boyd.
And he'll have the right guy at Spartan-Ives sit with you about expanding.
Lobster? Yeah, to impress you.
You impressed? So, Mafee tells me that you're not happy over at Richards.
Oh, Mafee.
That boy's something else.
I'd get fired just for having this meeting.
Yeah, well, if this meeting goes well, that's not gonna be a big concern for you.
Right.
They're leaving a lot of money on the table at my firm.
And I just have a philosophical problem with that.
Yeah, so what opportunities are they scared to pursue? It's not a one-firm play.
You need all five families going in to make it work.
I'm listening.
The Nigerian government is gonna devalue their currency.
You know that? The Central Bank Governor told me.
Really? The Nigerian oil industry is weaker than numbers suggest.
Much weaker.
A strong gust of wind could blow it over.
They have to devalue.
And when are they gonna do it? That's the tricky part.
Could be a month from now.
And with the right pressure, could be tomorrow, if somebody takes a massive short position against it.
E-mail me your research Encrypt it as soon as we finish lunch.
If I like what I see, this won't be the last lobster we crush together.
[shell cracks.]
[ dramatic music .]
[man.]
I got a beautiful wool silk twill to show you.
Come pick your lining when you're ready.
[ classical music plays .]
So, I've read his research.
It's strong, but it's a big play.
It's way out of my risk parameters.
Come in on it for three billion.
It'll be a huge score.
I can't, Bobby.
I deal with Nigeria all the time.
Same with all the primes.
Their sovereign wealth fund.
None of us can be seen taking down a government.
Look, if it's weak enough to go, it's nobody's fault.
All the same.
What about levering up? No, if I go to the banks, word will get out, they'll crack my position.
Of course.
You need to go to others like you who are free to operate in the margins.
Big players.
Cash heavy.
Krakow, Malverne, even Birch.
His family office had a nice year.
This could really work for him.
Yeah, I'm not sure they'll come and play on my behalf.
I know about your histories.
But if I tell them where the gold is, they'll show up with their shovels.
Want a tie? No, maybe next time.
I'll be expecting to hear from you.
[ dramatic music .]
[Wags.]
It's Wags.
Don't be boring.
[sighs.]
Oh, come Wags, where the fuck are you? [.]
I almost blew it already.
Standing in the men's room babbling to Michael Arendt.
Partner Managing Director of Fixed Income.
It was bad.
[ suspenseful music .]
Hey, Mike, hey.
Mind giving me a little space here, Tom? Yeah, sure.
Did you catch the Knicks game last night, Mike? There wasn't a Knicks game last night.
I-I mean Mets.
[urinal flushes.]
We should catch a game sometime, you know, talk about how we truss up the Treasury market like it's a Thanksgiving turkey.
What the hell, man? I got a lot of work to do.
See ya.
[.]
I'm sorry.
Here, give it to me.
Come on.
[sighs.]
Well, this has all been a lot for you.
And I'm sorry we haven't all had more success.
Should we go after him? [door closes.]
Let it eat at him.
He'll beg me to get this back.
When the guys see me training to climb the Col du Tourmalet, it'll inspire them to great heights, too.
I'll skip the cooldown.
No need.
This'll be quick, and then you can get back at it.
Nope.
You're in here.
Let's be here.
Together.
Well, I-I just want to know if you've heard from Wags.
No.
I had heard he's M.
I.
A.
and that the guys here miss him, which surprised me.
What, that he's off the grid or that they miss him? Anyone could see that he was driving towards a wall like Dale Earnhardt at Daytona.
And what did you do to stop it? No.
No, sir.
If a crash is coming, I say you bring it.
It's the only way to get to the other side.
If you survive.
Look, you hired me to help you maximize results, not to coddle the staff.
He hired you.
I sort of rubber-stamped it.
And you listen to all of his suggestions? You said you were surprised that they missed him? Well, they talk about him like they hate his fucking guts most of the time.
That way they don't hate me.
He's willing to put himself in that spot.
So it's his loyalty that matters to you.
This isn't about me.
You didn't have to walk down here to see if I knew where Wags was, boyo.
You could've just called.
You came in here because you want it to be about you.
Because you need it to be about you.
And I am here for exactly that purpose.
Really? Let me into that kitchen.
What specific role does Wags serve for you? He's my personal bullshit detector.
And he makes me laugh.
Well, I can fill that role.
You'll be my bullshit detector? Absolutely.
Like a double shot of Skin Bracer across the chops.
Well, let me do the same for you.
One the only way you are ever getting in my kitchen is if my chef takes the weekend off.
Two I'd never trust anyone who'd undercut the man who got him a job.
Three when the guys look in here and see you training for the Tour de France in your underwear in Wendy Rhoades' office, they're not inspired.
They're just wondering why the hell she isn't here anymore.
[ dramatic music .]
[door closes.]
[chuckles.]
[bones crack.]
Tight pitch.
Cool business.
Thanks.
Why do you really want the money? We need to outflank competitors now.
Grow our market share fast and fat and chase them out of the fields.
We're paying retail for the drugs.
We need to buy in bulk, increase our margins.
We see college campuses as our next frontier.
Hangover central, you know? And since we can show that our product enhances performance, the fitness industry is logical, too.
I could put you guys in front of the money for a round of meetings.
They are going to lap you two up.
Mm.
Well, thank you for your time.
We'll, um, be in touch to schedule.
Hey, anything for Lawrence Boyd.
It was a personal ask from him.
And anything for your husband.
Thanks.
[door closes.]
Bryan.
I'm sorry.
Gimme a sec.
Okay.
I heard you were in here.
Is this Go club? Yeah.
My night to host, and my apartment's too small.
I tried you.
Oh, we put them in the basket before we play, because, you know Because Go players didn't have cellphones in ancient times.
Okay.
Got it.
And do you take a vow of celibacy, as well? No, it's just the end result.
[chuckles.]
McKinnon just sent word.
He and his wife are having dinner with Boyd and his wife tomorrow night.
That was quick.
You were right.
Private table at Ai Fiori.
[scoffs.]
Cozy.
Coordinate with FBI to set up surveillance.
We're gonna be there.
Yes, sir.
Oh, I almost forgot, you better block that monkey jump at the bottom.
[slow-tempo music playing on stereo.]
I don't walk in the fucking door without it being Lawrence Boyd asking.
Why are we here? Hi.
What can I get you? Could you get them three lumberjacks, please? Sure.
Nigeria is gonna devalue its currency.
Get the hell out of here.
How could you know that? Because we're gonna make it happen.
Jesus fuck.
I have all the research for you.
Currency plays are all about timing.
You get in too late, there's nothing there.
But you get in too early, they raise interest rates and bleed you out of your position.
Agreed.
Being early is the same as being wrong.
That's why I'm here.
But if each of us take a monster position against the Naira, we dictate the timing.
I have traders shorting it in Australasia as we speak, and I have orders teed up all across Europe.
I stand to make a huge kill on my own.
So you just felt the urge to share? Bullshit.
You don't have enough ammo to do this on your own.
You need us.
We have calendars, too.
You got wacked by Sansomic.
I bet this deal's all that stands between mighty Axe Capital taking a down quarter.
All we have to do is flush.
All right, you got me.
This deal only works if we're all in it together.
The threshold is five billion.
I'm in it for two.
That leaves one each for you three.
So, which is the more powerful driver boning me, or your own self-interest? Fuck.
In.
Yep.
This is Everett.
He's gonna run you through the research.
My treat.
[.]
Is Mommy coming home to take us to school? No, sweetheart.
Remember, I told you.
Mommy and Daddy are spending some time apart for awhile.
So, I'm home now, and Mommy will be home tonight.
Mom doesn't even want to come home.
That is not true, Kevin.
Look at me.
I don't ever want to hear you say that again.
It's Daddy's fault that Mommy and Daddy aren't together right now.
When you're a kid your age, you think that your parents know everything.
But we don't.
We're not perfect.
You know, we're just two people trying and often failing to figure out the best way to be.
And I made some mistakes along the way.
Mistakes that we're all paying for.
So if you want to blame somebody, blame me, not your mother.
[sighs.]
European auto manufactures use a ton of zinc.
[cellphone vibrates.]
Not a literal ton, just a hyperbole for how much zinc can be found Good morning.
[Lawrence.]
Not for you, Bobby.
Someone leaked.
The banks know, and they've made Nigeria aware.
They're fighting back.
They're gonna raise rates and prop up their dog-shit currency? Looks like it.
Thought you should know.
[ dramatic music .]
[cellphone vibrates.]
Bobby! [Bobby.]
Birch! Naira's fucked, huh? But I don't hear panic in your voice.
Come on.
All the panic got shook out of me about a year ago when Chuck Rhoades came calling.
Yeah, I imagine it did.
You know, for the longest time, I couldn't synthesize it.
How that story came out in the paper, how there was just enough in that article to bait the U.
S.
Attorney's Office.
Yeah, it was a bad beat, no doubt.
Well, since then, I've had a lot of time to just sit and think, and slowly, it dawned If I lost, someone else must've gained.
So I ran a thousand simulations a day in my head.
And over and over again, Bobby, it came back the same.
I was your stalking horse.
You did the transaction.
You left the opening.
It's funny.
I was just about to say the same thing to you.
You left me the opening.
You cost me my business.
Now you're gonna throw me some deal as an apology? No.
I'm not that easy.
So instead of betting against the Naira, I went the other way.
And I let a few other folks know what was going down.
Strong move.
Might have done the same in your spot.
[laughs.]
I know you would've, Bobby.
[.]
[exhales deeply.]
Deb! Yes? You found me Wags, yet? Not yet.
Just so we're communicating, you know I mean the guy who works across the hall, right? Michael Wagner? Wags? Yeah.
I'm sorry.
I'm trying.
[cellphone slams on desk.]
I know my research was right.
I also know it doesn't matter now, 'cause the game has changed.
How strong is Nigeria defending? It's their version of the Alamo.
Krakow and Malverne are gonna be looking to pull out.
You should, too.
I don't want my second day here ending with you personally exposed five billion.
Okay, let's say I manage to keep it together.
Then you're looking at a global cockfight.
And you're gonna need people betting on your bird.
I'm gonna need to get word out wide.
Yeah, can't just be you.
It's gonna have to be somebody vaunted, an economist somebody objective, trusted.
That'll say they have to devalue.
Someone like Lawrence Boyd? Right.
Yeah, that'll do it.
[ dramatic music .]
I don't want you to worry about being too tough on me.
All right? [deep exhale.]
[grunts.]
[breathing heavily.]
Posture up, posture up.
[breathing heavily.]
I'm sorry, but is that a Swiss accent? Stop it.
No one guesses correctly.
Most people just assume I'm German.
Oh, most people didn't spend the summer in Zurich during law school.
Oh! That explains the suit.
You're a lawyer.
She said with an undertone of derision.
[chuckles.]
And what do you do that's so amazing? At the moment, you could call me a sculptor.
Oh! Well, I'd like to see your work.
One day I'll show you.
Yes.
Axe, I didn't walk into that diner so that I could lose a billion bucks.
You want out? I'll take on your positions.
Right now.
I already bought up what was supposed to be Birch's.
Now I'll buy up both of you.
You just say the word.
You'd be risking half your net worth for the one play? That's insane.
I am dug the fuck in.
No third-world nation hinged on a dying industry and a propped-up currency is gonna ride me out of my position.
I will drive them into the goddamn ground.
Without Birch.
Without either of you.
Wow.
The intensity.
I actually believe you.
So? Fuck it.
I'm sticking.
[exhales sharply.]
Me too.
But, Axe, if this is some move, some game you're playing, we'll hunt you in a pack until we're gnawing on your fucking bones.
Hello, Mr.
Allerd.
Here? [Oliver.]
None of them come here, believe me.
[Karl.]
Lay out what you have.
The office is a fiefdom run on fear, ambition, and advancement.
Probably why it's been so effective.
Loyalties are fading.
Cracks starting to show.
I've interviewed almost everyone but Rhoades at this point.
I'll get to him last.
This has been It's been a fascinating one.
There are those who are weak but don't have it, and those who have it but are strong.
I've isolated the one who has it and will give it Watley.
He's been running an avoidance play, but that's at its end.
I'll push for a suspension if that's what it takes to sit him down.
There's plenty of support out there.
The AG wants this, and soon.
You'll have it.
I will if you say I will.
Thank you, sir.
Something I learned when I was working under Mondale take a little piece of yourself, tuck it away in the basement.
You can give the rest to the job, but keep a small piece.
I speak from experience.
Noted.
[door opens, closes.]
I find myself thinking in your words sometimes.
The two that just came to me are "shit hole.
" Sandicot.
If they don't get the casino, then we have to pass on it.
Even if all that urban revitalization bullshit comes into effect? That'll make incremental change, but not fast enough and not big enough.
Without that casino, it goes from something to consider to something to never think about again.
I see that.
Fuck.
[rock music plays from restaurant stereo.]
I'm gonna carpet-bomb you guys with so much fucking food, you'll be reeling.
Thanks, David.
Don't thank me.
Just be there for us when Fugu goes public.
Absolutely.
I know when someone's working me.
What's your play here? The bond.
If your casino is going to the town I need it to.
And because we're friends, I'm gonna come across with that info? I was hoping.
A '69 Dodge Challenger.
The one I outbid you for at Barrett Jackson last summer? It's parked outside.
Here.
[.]
The car is a cute gesture.
And I'll take it.
But it alone, it's not getting you what you want.
My casino's gonna make that town, so I'm your partner on the muni-play.
On a no-risk basis to me.
5% off the books.
Done.
I just need to know where.
Sandicot.
Still waiting on the official decision to come out of committee, but they gave me the high sign, so I know it's a done deal.
[chuckles.]
You casino guys are all old-line crooks.
At least we wear it with pride.
Move forward with the bond.
The casino is coming to Sandicot.
I'm sure now.
We are committing to this play.
[sighs.]
[door closes.]
You have to tell me how it is.
You want a bite? Well, one bite would be like drowning in a puddle.
I'm sure the kitchen would do one up for you.
Well, he's eating clean.
[door closes.]
McKinnon's coming up.
[clears throat.]
Hey.
Right.
You feeling ready, Tom? Yeah, yeah, I'm good.
Probably should get back down to the bar.
They're about to seat us.
We only get one shot at this.
[scoffs, inhales deeply.]
Now, remember any chance you get to have a private conversation with Boyd, take it.
Express concerns about the bid rigging.
Make it clear that you know it's going on, and you're worried that Mike Arendt is bringing heat on the firm.
That should be enough to get him to calm your fears.
I might go across the table at that motherfucker.
[Chuck.]
Steady, Tom.
This'll hurt him a lot worse and a lot longer than a punch in the mouth.
Use it well.
How's the feed? Good to go.
Okay.
[door opens, closes.]
[Lawrence.]
Forty-five dollars for a tuna sandwich.
[Lawrence.]
Somebody bring the drinks.
Two at the bar.
That's his third.
[Lawrence.]
It's lemony.
It's an island.
Everything has to be brought on by boat.
I know Mustique is an island.
[chuckles.]
Okay.
[Shayleen.]
So what'd you do, Larry? [Lawrence.]
I said, "What do you charge for the lemons? I'll squeeze them myself.
Either that, or I'll fly in a load of gold bullion.
" [laughter.]
Larry, Larry, don't don't cry poor.
How much you take in this year so far? Come on.
Tell us.
Twenty-three, $24 million? Maybe you've had enough, huh, Tom? Can we get Tom a cup of black coffee, please? [laughter.]
I don't want a cup of fucking coffee.
He's drunk.
We should pull him.
We've got an agent posing as a waiter.
We can pull him right now with minimal damage.
We'll hold.
[ dramatic music .]
With Thai massage, you're wearing clothes.
[scoffs.]
What's the fun in that? [laughter.]
Exactly.
Larry.
Larry, you fuck.
- Oh.
- Sh shh [Lawrence.]
It's probably going to stain that.
Uh, bad to fucking worse.
Honey, take her to the ladies'.
Yeah, why don't you freshen up? Tom, get your shit together.
You're embarrassing yourself.
You think I don't know what's going on here? [scoffs.]
What's that, Tom? [ suspenseful music .]
Arendt is putting us all in danger.
The Treasury bonds He's gonna send us all to prison.
The ten-years.
That's what this is about.
[Lawrence.]
Mike's putting the band back together again, just like I told him to.
Fuck, you told him to? I thought he was free-balling.
Conditions are right to get going again.
We'll tail the shit out of the auction.
The fucking Feds can spare the 15 bips.
Then we can talk about the 26-weeks.
We have to get some volume going now.
So relax.
That'll do it.
[Wags.]
When I started here, I made a promise to you, and you to me.
And we've kept that promise no matter what.
Thing is, it's not your turn to speak.
Why's that? Because while you have been out there learning the Yaqui Way or how run like the Tarahumara, I have been here fighting the battle of fucking Thermopylae! I was in sessions with Wendy, doing deep work.
Oh.
Well, that I do want to hear about.
[sighs softly.]
Best I can put it together [ distorted country music .]
Wags, wake up.
Get up.
Oh, baby, no! No, not baby.
It's Wendy.
Get up! [groaning.]
Why? Because you begged me for an appointment, and then you didn't show up.
[door beeps, opens.]
Oh, you're still here.
No, I'm not.
I'm here, but not like that.
Okay.
Mr.
Wagner, I can come back at 11:30 or two or after five.
She has a key? Why not? You have a goddamned I.
V.
stand living in your hotel room.
Turns out you have the day off.
With pay.
[Wendy.]
This is your third divorce, but your first ass tattoo.
[Wendy.]
Any ideas? My idea was the drinking, women, and drugs in perfect balance.
An infinite Zen garden.
Simplicity, harmony between the elements, purity, that's what makes it a Zen garden.
I think you're confusing it with the AVN Awards.
Okay.
Couple ways this can go We do, like, intense psychotherapy for two years, five days a week, break down your walls, push past your rationalizations and defenses.
Or you can tell me what the fuck is going on.
How? Isn't the point of analysis that we don't know? Which is why I'm not in that racket.
We don't have that kind of fucking time.
Not anymore.
Fucking right we don't.
I got a goddamned I.
V.
stand living in my hotel room.
Good.
Now, whatever caused this didn't make you retreat.
You didn't become depressive.
You chose distraction.
I'm sad, lonely.
Give me an immediate answer.
I mean, it doesn't have to be right, just just blurt it.
When did this feeling first land? [sighs.]
I was in the bathroom.
[Wags.]
I was in this club on the Lower East Side.
I just overpaid for what were supposed to be actual quaaludes.
[Wendy.]
What were you doing on the Lower East Side? Drinking with this prick I worked with years ago.
God, I hated that prick.
I hated him when we worked together.
I hated him even more that night.
Why did you agree to drink with a guy you hate? I drink with pricks I hate all the time.
It's the job.
It's the ones who aren't that stand out like giants.
Holy shit.
Holy shit.
Phil.
I can't believe I missed this.
Phil? Phillip Carroll.
Another prick? No.
No, the opposite.
Guy was my mentor.
Back when I started at Lehman.
He was the Wilt fucking Chamberlain of Wall Street.
Paid for the whole group's vacations when he killed it.
Didn't even close his door when he got crushed.
[Wags.]
I saw him on the street.
Hey, Phil! [Wags.]
He looked at me, and I waved.
[Wags.]
He walked right past me.
[Wags.]
Fucking DK'd me like I was a ghost.
[Wags.]
Turns out, he has early-onset Alzheimer's.
[Wags.]
Can't even go out by himself now.
[talking indistinctly.]
[Wags.]
His wife left him.
His kids don't come around.
[Wags.]
It was fucked.
[Wags.]
He was there, but he wasn't there [Wags.]
a carcass with no further purpose.
What you saw would have brought up issues of mortality and diminished utility for anyone.
You saw your hero, a man you deemed better than you, laid low.
That's empathy.
Why did his plight cut you so deep? What made you so vulnerable to this idea of fading away? Axe hired a fucking Chief of Staff.
Her name is Steph Reed.
Oh.
So now he doesn't need you anymore.
And if he doesn't need you anymore, no one does.
You have outlived your utility.
There is nothing left for you to do but die.
[exhales deeply.]
But you're not dead.
Which means it is time to pivot.
To evolve into what it is you'll become next.
Wendy reassembled me, piece by piece, on that bench.
[Bobby.]
That's what she does.
And I decided I had to give you the chance to make the change here you need to.
To modernize.
Optimize.
To put this old horse out to pasture.
Yeah, well, I'm sorry about Phil, but this place doesn't fucking run without you.
I do need you.
Especially since I just let Steph Reed go.
You did? You were wrong.
I'm not human.
I am a machine.
I'm a fucking Terminator.
So, your resignation is rejected.
Get some coffee.
We are barely hanging on here.
I just pulled the trigger on the muni-bond in Sandicot, and I got one move left to get us into the black for this quarter.
[ dramatic music .]
Coffee! Hey, Jeff.
You never finished your story.
What trap did you and your father use to finally get that wolf? Oh.
[chuckles.]
Yeah, it was, uh, time, Sacker.
We stayed in the same location all day.
The trap was time.
[keys jingling.]
[Lara moans.]
Oh.
Late night? Yeah.
And I'm on the move.
Got television in the city in a couple hours.
On your way in, give Lawrence Boyd a call for me.
I'll be with him.
What's up? Tell him the woman he set me up with wasted my fucking time.
I'm sorry? It was a bullshit meeting.
You're a businesswoman, right? That's how you went in there? Damn right.
Well, then, was the woman discourteous? Was she rude? No.
It wasn't She treated me like I was just the wife, like my business wasn't ready.
[scoffs.]
I tried to tell you.
Yeah, you weren't ready, but you wouldn't hear it from me.
You put me in touch with Spartan-Ives.
- You said to go ahead.
- Don't.
Don't.
I don't have time to have this conversation the way you need me to.
You weren't ready.
Leave it there.
Why the fuck not? What is it that you do that you're the best in the world at? You offer a service you didn't invent, a formula you didn't invent, a delivery method you didn't invent.
Nothing about what you do is patentable or a unique user experience.
You haven't identified an isolated market segment, haven't truly branded your concept.
You need me to go on? So, why would an investment bank put serious money into it? I all but told you ahead of time, but you wouldn't listen.
Now you've heard it, but it's too late.
You weren't ready.
Now, I gotta go into New York to try and save my fucking quarter.
[exhales sharply.]
[knock on door.]
[woman.]
Mr.
Axelrod, I'll be in to get you in two minutes to go on the air.
[Bobby.]
Thank you.
And thank you, Larry.
You locked in on how you want to do it? Yeah.
When I follow you on, I'll back whatever you said.
[cellphone vibrating.]
[Orrin.]
Former teaching assistant of mine clerks for a federal judge now.
Uh-huh? She just told me that her judge signed an arrest warrant for Lawrence Boyd.
[ dramatic music .]
They are coming for him.
He'll be in cuffs within the hour.
Thank you.
Ready? Yeah.
Go get 'em.
I will.
[.]
Axe.
Let's do dinner again soon with Savannah and Mike.
Huh? When we're on, I have to get into all the action against you on the Nigerian play.
You okay? Yeah.
Will you ask me about my bracelet? Fun way in.
We're pleased to welcome Bobby Axelrod, the principal and founder of Axe Capital.
Bobby, it's a pleasure to have you here.
It's a pleasure to be here, Sam.
Before we get started, I have to ask You're wearing a very unique bracelet.
What's the significance? Oh, this? I wear this Yoruba bracelet in solidarity with the people of Nigeria.
I have seen the hope and purpose these people have, and today I'm worried for them, Sam.
Their economy is on the verge of collapse.
Their oil reserves are severely overvalued.
In short, their currency is in jeopardy.
[.]
And so, yes, there is no doubt in my mind that my good friend, Bobby Axelrod, has this one right.
The Nigerian currency, the Naira, is facing certain devaluation.
It's their only choice, no matter how much it hurts the people.
I can see that.
[elevator bell dings.]
[.]
[indistinct conversations.]
We nailed that.
The old Malachi Crunch.
The market is shifting already.
It is done.
Yes, it is.
Larry in a few moments, the FBI are gonna come walking through that door and they're going to arrest you.
You can't run.
There's no time.
[.]
Rhoades fucked me like you thought he would.
And you got the call before you went on, didn't you? Your whole manner changed.
You didn't even warn me.
I couldn't.
Because you needed me to go on the air to corroborate your story, get your message out, save your quarter.
I get it.
It was smart.
[chuckles.]
This is some fucked-up universe we've decided to live in.
How can I help now? Hold this for me.
And I need you to get word to my lawyer.
And Linda? Make sure she tells the kids before they find out from the news.
Done.
[.]
Larry.
I know.
Lawrence Boyd? You're under arrest.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
[handcuffs clicking.]
I thought you were ready to take the next step.
I thought you understood the goddamn game.
Oh, I believe I do, sir.
I believe I do.
Hello, Bob.
I don't put any stock in omens or fortune tellers, but this must feel a little like your future foretold, huh? You mean watching you arrest other people while I walk right out the door? Yeah.
Kinda does.
[.]
[ slow-tempo music .]
If heartaches brought fame In love's crazy game I'd be a legend In my time If they gave gold statuettes For tears and regret I'd be a legend In my time But they don't give awards And there's no praise or fame For hearts that are broken For love that's in vain If loneliness meant world acclaim