‘Billions’ Recap Reality Index: Season 4, Episode 12 (“Extreme Sandbox”)

The recap is back! Welcome back to the Billions Recap Reality Index, where every week we tally a list of events from each episode 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.

This week we provide you with due diligence on Billions Season 4 finale: “Extreme Sandbox.”

Here we are! The end of Season 4 of Billions is coming in hot, with lots of cliffhangers and season long stories reaching their conclusion. When we last saw Axe, he was more than a little displeased that Rebecca had secured a peace agreement with Taylor to end the hostility towards Saler’s. Wendy had just confessed her sins at the medical board hearing and awaited news of her fate. Meanwhile, Connerty just about had all the pieces of the puzzle he needed to finally bring the sword down on Chuck and his father. So will Chuck finally get caught and face consequences for all his scheming? Will Axe let Rebecca’s deal with Taylor be water under the bridge? Will Chuck and Wendy’s marriage survive the turbulence from this season? Let’s get to the numbers.

REALER THAN A FUND MANAGER LIQUIDATING A COMPANY OVER A PERSONAL BEEF

• Axe entices Sandy to a meeting by asking him if he likes a good breakfast which Sandy enthusiastically agrees to because breakfast is the favorite meal of most billionaires, and breakfast meetings are where power brokers cut deals.
  PLUS 1
• Mark Cuban cameo! Always good for a…
  PLUS 1
• When discussing how to set up Taylor, Chuck advises Axe to try and find a corrupt associate, a weak former employee, someone who can offer them a life preserver when they’re drowning. This is a tactic that the feds have used to catch a bunch of white collar criminals.
  PLUS 1
• Rebecca flexing on the dudes at the bar asking if she’s had too many to drive, by having her chopper waiting outside, is a power move.
  PLUS 1
• Axe flies in Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli to prepare breakfast for him and Sandy. Billions continues its unprecedented streak of famous chef and restauranteur cameos.
  PLUS 1
• Axe calls out Rebecca for falling victim to the worst possible mistake in private equity- caring too much about the company. Brutal, but true.
  PLUS 1
• Axe moving Saler’s property into a REIT he and Sandy control, chopping up Saler’s brands to sell off to PE shops, and saddling Kling with Saler’s debt is the realest shit ever.
  PLUS 1
• The sequence where Axe explains to Rebecca why he shredded Saler’s is incredible, but the highlight is when he says he could not have waited to strike Taylor because by then Taylor would be rich and safe from his wrath. Perfection.
  PLUS 1
• Maffee’s suggestion of going full Doug Flutie and going heavy into a couple positions for a 50/50 shot at survival is pure lacrosse bro fund trader in action.
  PLUS 1
• What Connerty pulls, tampering with evidence and trying to cover it up is completely insane. And he gets in a shitload of trouble for it.
  PLUS 1
• Axe: “I didn’t make you cook the books, though, that was all you.” Taylor: “I figured a quarter or two without redemptions or disruptions and I could make a comeback.” Axe: “Eh, we always think we can.” Absolutely perfect exchange.
  PLUS 1
• After Taylor agrees to Axe’s arrangement, they ask Lauren to go to Axe Capital with them. Finally! Axe Capital has an IR employee!
  PLUS 1
• When we see Axe pull up Rebecca’s contact info on the phone we see she has a place in the west village. She would.
  PLUS 1
• When Wendy drops by Axe’s place to crash, he’s shocked the maids left the guest room untidy, and art is piled up in all the other rooms. Total fund manager problems.
  PLUS 1

TOTAL POINTS FOR REAL:PLUS 14

FAKER THAN $330,000 BEING ENOUGH TO SECURE A BOARD SEAT OF A MAJOR RETAILER

• At the Saler’s board meeting Axe tells a board member his 33,000 shares went from being valued at $330,000 to being worth $33,000,000. There are some geniuses in PE, but unlocking 100x value by chopping and flipping a shop is wild.
  MINUS 2
• Axe destroying Kling vaporizes 75% of Taylor Mason Capital’s AUM? How the hell did they get into that concentrated of a position, not even Ackman was that wild with his investment in Valeant.
  MINUS 2

TOTAL POINTS FOR FAKE: MINUS 4

OVERALL SCORE FOR BILLIONS SEASON 4 EPISODE 12 (“EXTREME SANDBOX”): PLUS 10

OVERALL SCORE FOR BILLIONS SEASON 4: PLUS 67

PLUS 10!!! That’s a monster finish for the season! The entire season, Connerty going off the rails was unrealistic, but in a surprising twist, he pays the price this episode, with the feds putting an end to his quest for revenge. Also, what a surprise twist from Axe! Him not being able to move on from Rebecca making peace with Taylor, knowing it would fester, and deciding to pull the ripcord and burn it all to the ground is very believable, and it’s a credit to the writers that (unlike Game of Thrones, cough cough) we could actually SEE Axe’s character changing over time.

I HIGHLY suggest rewatching this episode from the start to catch all the hints and clues that you may have missed the first time through, and Damian Lewis also deserves credit for being able to say so much with just a look towards Rebecca when she’s taking the elevator down from his condo. A season full of strong writing and acting reached a satisfying end, as well as opening up possibilities for next season with Taylor back at Axe Capital, and Axe and Chuck back at each other’s throats. Billions has kept its bull run going, and we can not wait to see what comes next.

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.

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