‘Billions’ Recap Reality Index: Season 3, Episode 10 (“Redemption”)

The recap is back! Welcome back to the Billions Recap Reality Index. This week, we provide you with due diligence for Billions Season 3, Episode 10 (“Redemption), a tally of events that we found to be either too real to fail or as fake as a toxic asset’s triple A rating, scored on our completely subjective point system.

When we last saw Axe and the gang in Billions Season 3 Episode 9 (“Icebreaker”), Axe was scrambling to pull off a massive cap raise, and got a sizable chunk of change from a shady Russian Oligarch (is there any other kind). Meanwhile, Connerty has been fired from SDNY and hired by the FBI with Kate taking his place at Chuck’s side. Taylor had a VC love interest and Chuck’s new focus was squarely on taking out an overbearing Attorney General. So what happened this week? Will Axe Capital pull off a $20 billion capital raise? Will Chuck’s latest scheme take root? And will Ben Kim replace Dollar Bill as Axe Capital’s king of fleece vests? Let’s break it down.

THE BILLIONS RECAP REALITY INDEX

REALER THAN A FUND MANAGER HAVING WILL GUIDARA ON SPEED DIAL AND IVAN ORKIN PERSONALLY WHIPPING UP RAMEN

• I thought I was going to ding Billions for Axe’s new Russian investor wanting to pull his money out so soon, but then Axe dropped knowledge about quarterly gates.
  PLUS 2
• A member of the new administration keeps using the word “Shithole”.
  PLUS 1
• The new Attorney General gives Chuck a heads up that prosecuting dime bag amounts in housing projects is going to become a top priority. Sounds familiar.
  PLUS 1
• An Ivan Orkin of Ivan Ramen fame cameo. The restaurateurs are really flocking to the show this season.
  PLUS 1
• Axe hooking Taylor up with a res at Nomad is a nice touch. No point in having billions in AUM if you can’t get a table at any hotspot in town.
  PLUS 2
• Solid shoutout from Chuck to the King of Camp Butner, Bernie Madoff.
  PLUS 1
• Ben Kim with the fleece vest. He’s really giving Dollar Bill a run for the crown of top fleece bro at the fund.
  PLUS 1

TOTAL POINTS FOR REAL: PLUS 9

FAKER THAN A MULTIBILLION AUM FUND TRYING TO DO A $20 BILLION CAP RAISE WITH THE HELP OF SOME SKETCHY GRIFTER

• I can’t get over the insanity of Chuck and his crew somehow secretly building a case against the Attorney General of the United States.
  MINUS 2
• A hedge fund named Cutler Wealth Management? Not Cutler Capital or Cutler LP or hell, Cutlerbridge?
  MINUS 1
• I don’t care how desperate Axe is, there’s no way he would agree to the deal with this piker and show up at his conference in Tulsa and kiss the ring
  MINUS 1
• Axe then agrees to offer this guy a 40% premium to buy out his stake after a year. What the hell kind of returns is he expecting to generate when the average fund returned 11% last year and rockstar managers returned 20%?
  MINUS 1
• How does Cutler, the guy ostensibly managing the crooked church’s money, know how they made their ill-gotten gains? It’s not like criminals explain to their money managers how their schemes work.
  MINUS 1
• Taylor is giving the standard investment spiel to the pension from Kansas City but yet again we are left wondering why is no one from Axe Capital’s investor relations sitting in on this meeting?
  MINUS 1
• What the fuck is Ben Kim doing performing a Nelly song in the elevator with Axe and potential institutional investors? He would get fired or checked into Bellevue or both.
  MINUS 1

TOTAL POINTS FOR FAKE: MINUS 8

OVERALL SCORE FOR “REDEMPTION”: PLUS 1

OVERALL SCORE FOR BILLIONS SEASON 3: PLUS 45

PLUS 1, barely above water for this episode of Billions! As we near the end of the season, it’s going to become a real struggle to maintain a realistic storyline while building up towards something dramatic for a TV show, but the writers have been up to the task so far this season. While the Chuck vs AG plotline seems a bit farfetched, bringing up quarterly gates and a fund getting hit by redemptions being quickly sniffed out by everyone on the street show they’ve done their homework. Also the more Malkovich the better, so we’re going to maintain a buy rating for this season of Billions.

So, with only two episodes left this season where do we go next week? Has Axe finally pushed Taylor too far? Will Chuck get enough dirt on the AG to take him out once and for all? And what the hell happened to Taylor’s quant desk? We’ll try to get to the bottom of all this when we return with next week’s recap of Billions.

Comfortably Smug is a government relations professional with a focus on the financial services industry. He can be found on Twitter with his musings on all things finance and politics at @ComfortablySmug

Watch Billions Season 3 Episode 9 ("Redemption") on Showtime Anytime