‘Billions’ Season 6, Episode 11: I Like Mike


“Michael [expletive] The prince is running for president.”

Here it is, as Chuck summed up in his usual verbally flamboyant demeanor. After a season filled with indirect references and high-pitched cues, Mike Prince’s grand plan beyond all other big plans is revealed with a bumper sticker that reads “LIKE MIKE 2028.” Behind the takeover of Ax Cap, behind the creation of the Prince List, behind the extraordinary game for a New York Olympic Games, behind this episode’s introduction of universal basic income in the form of Prince-funded “Mike money”, behind every hard-hitting right-hand man Scooter and his wife Here it is to parse the interaction with Andy. Billionaire Mike Prince wants to be President of the United States Mike Prince.

You can feel the shock waves shaking the characters who fit this plan in real time. For starters, there are Wags, who bring Prince a plum deal with the Chinese government just to watch the boss blow this up as publicly as possible for human rights abuses, and wonder why Prince offered Chuck Rhoades a job out of all people. This move against China is an attempt to chart a path as an ethical billionaire; A job offer is an attempt to remove an enemy from the board for good.

Then there are the characters Taylor and Philip, who theoretically call this episode “Succession.” (I’m inclined to believe it’s a brazen reference to television’s other story about the lifestyles of the rich and the shameless; memes of two Spider-Man pointing at each other.) They spend most of the episode jockeying for the position that appears to be Prince’s heir, but they also don’t quite understand why he chose to choose a successor.

Taylor’s talk includes her famous “move fast and break things” approach. Philip’s approach is more methodical. But when things settle down, both of these great breeds realize it’s better to present themselves as a team of two, and the strengths of one complement the other. This seems to make room in their brains to finally solve the puzzle. why Prince’s maneuver and this why Comes adorned with the presidential seal.

Finally, there’s Chuck and Dave. Rhoades set up shop in an old office straight out of the movie “Mad Men” – along with an aging secretary who is said to be one of the boss’s sexual conquests – kept by his father for tax purposes. When her latest move against Prince — a digital billboard displaying her personal wealth outside Prince’s home — becomes a viral sensation, here she is. This is where Scooter and Kate Sacker come to encourage Chuck to join Prince’s team, which he predictably declines.

When Prince’s “Mike money” plan is put into action, apparently with the Brooklyn borough mayor (played by Joanna P. Adler) on board, Chuck encourages Dave to pull the plug by repurchasing all the land Prince had bought for his Olympic bid. Due to the fact that the games are no longer played, on the grounds that he violated the contract with which he bought the parcels.

This should be a hit as Prince relies on using the land and private-public partnership to fund his universal basic income plan. But then Prince makes a non-billionaire move, promising to fully fund the “Mike money” venture. When Dave and Chuck put their heads together to figure out why he could go this far, there’s only one conclusion they can draw, and that comes on the soundtrack of “Hail to the Chief.”

In parallel with all this, the surprise story series that we came across last week: Wendy Rhoades’ book. It turned out to be some kind of nonfiction effort: “Rewards of the Ruthless: How I Make Wall Street Killers,” which chronicles Ax/Prince Cap’s tenure as performance coach. The book contains subtly disguised versions of all your favorite traders, from the timid Tom (an analogue of Tuk) to the highly charged Lance (totally Victor).

Wendy tries to soften the blow of the book’s existence by giving almost everyone a copy in advance so they can weigh their portraits. The idea is to essentially involve them as co-conspirators—effectively encouraging them to libel lawsuits, rather than spreading the book on them after the truth.

But Wendy eventually puts the kibosh on the book herself and burns it with the Buddhist monk by her side. He is aware that this is not an attempt to empty his bile, but to serve his ego. “In the end,” she says, “a journey that just leads to needing more, which is exactly what I’m doing. do not do that need.” I wish any other character on this show had done the same.

Change:

  • To the usual “Billions” soundtrack staples – Bruce Springsteen’s “Badlands” and the like – this episode adds “Chaise Longue,” the playfully sensual tune by British indie-rock lovers Wet Leg. Open it folks.

  • “A man in your position can’t afford to look ridiculous,” Wendy quotes Ben Kim, Tuk, and Bonnie when confronted with anger about her book. “I wasn’t going to quote you from The Godfather,” Ben replies, but he has to admit he was right. point to Nino Route.

  • Chuck refers to Prince as “Greg Stillson”.[The] ‘The Dead Zone’ is a reference to the Stephen King book in which a psychic sets out to stop a wildly dangerous presidential candidate by that name. The Prince may be fictional, but take a look at the political landscape: something this country still manages to produce in bumper crops, says Greg Stillsons.

  • Am I the only one wondering why Victor, Prince Cap’s most intimidating trader, doesn’t have a successor alongside Taylor and Philip? It’s weird to see him in bands like Ben Kim and Tuk instead of alphas.

  • However, when the crew confronted Wendy about her book, I was glad to see Sarah Stiles return as Bonnie, another Type A trader. I still hold out hope that Mafee and Dollar Bill will join the companies they left.

  • Heilemann also takes a wrestling reference in this episode where Prince compares himself to the chrome-domed monster George Steele, also known as Animal. Unfortunately, Heilemann doesn’t seem to have a green tongue from eating stretch filler like Animal does.

  • Prince’s hatred of obscenity is very evident in this episode – his exclamations include “Wow!” and “Mother jester!” – When you refer to Chuck as “that boy’s son” [expletive]“It finally has a real impact. Does this personally prevent me from always dropping f-bombs in polite conversations? Probably not, but it’s something to think about.



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