Billions – Ball In Hand

By: Jay Smith

“I may be ruthless when it comes to dealmaking, but you’re as trigger happy as Machine Gun Kelly, spraying everyone in sight.” Bobby to Chuck

The day starts at 5:58am with Larry (Eric Bogosian) walking down a hall and into a car, a sleeping Lara (Malin Akerman) next to a wide awake Bobby (Damian Lewis), Chuck (Paul Giamatti) exercising, Wendy (Maggie Siff) awakening Eva, Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon) giving themselves a new haircut and Bryan (Toby Leonard Moore) getting out of a shower with a lady friend. Bobby is now sitting in a living room when there’s a knock at the door. It’s Larry, now a free man, and with a snarky tone he tells Bobby he’s getting arrested today and offers to hold his watch like Bobby did for him. Bobby slams the door and tells a now awakened Lara the news. Lara tells Bobby that she and the boys aren’t going to run with him like they originally have talked about and Bobby tells her he isn’t running. Chuck is in a church meeting Dake (Christopher Denham). Dake informs him he will not be allowing Chuck to be involved with the case. In order to take the backseat, Chuck wants a deal that Ice Juice doesn’t get traced backed to The Rhoades. Dake slightly denies this deal and tells Chuck he and his team will take down Bobby, but Chuck warns that he needs him or it will fail. Bobby tries to contact Hall and gets no response. Chuck calls Wendy and tells her he’s done with therapy and once the day is over they can talk to each other without a mediator if she decides to come home tonight. Bach (Glenn Fleshler) tells Bobby he hasn’t heard anything about an arrest, but once Bobby mentions there is no more Hall we see Bach gets a tad worried. Bobby gives instructions and promises to stay underground. Minchak (Mary-Louise Parker) barges into Chuck’s house and is mad he didn’t tell her about his Bobby plan. She tells him to convince her so Foley still backs him and Chuck promises to have a plan in motion that protects his family’s name and reputation but Sr. will take the hit if necessary.

Bobby is hiding in the bushes and once his security tells him it’s all clear, he heads to his office and instructs Deb (Ilfenesh Hadera) to get a burn bin. He goes through his wall safe and extracts a passport, dummy phones and documents. Some documents and his regular phones go into the bin and he tells Deb to torch it. Wags (David Costabile) asks if it’s really real and once Bobby confirms he goes straight into action mode. He gives Bobby a guideline of what they will do, but Bobby needs to appoint a CIO. He initially refuses, but comes to terms with the reality. He calls for Taylor and once Bobby gives them a real life hypothetical they go to draw up a solution. Wags gives the advice that Bobby should tell the boys the government is full of liars and they should punch anyone who disrespects Bobby’s name. Bobby gives a dummy phone to Wags and leaves the premises.

Kate (Condola Rashad) is in here office when Lonnie (Malachi Weir) plays a small game before breaking the news that Larry is free. They head to Bryan’s office and he abruptly gets off the phone with Bach who asks about a time line for Bobby’s arrest. All three head to Chuck’s office, but he’s not in. Chuck is having a sit down with Sr. (Jeffrey DeMunn) and Ira (Ben Shenkmen) and he finally opens up about Ice Juice. Sr. puts everything together and he and Ira are livid. Chuck tries to tell Ira that once he’s governor everything will be fine but Ira isn’t having that. Chuck turns to Sr. and gives him an affidavit to sign stating that he acted alone and dipped into the trust without Chuck’s knowledge. Sr. takes the documents with a disgusted look on his face and leaves the room. Wendy enters her office and after an awkward exchange Wags tells her Bobby is being arrested today and asks for her help to get Bobby to delegate leadership. The talk turns into a session and Wags opens up about not being completely ready to lead but Wendy promises to be by his side for the day as back up.

Lara is going through the house for passports and eventually makes her way to the basement and gets a suitcase full of cash. Bill is handling his dry cleaner business when Bobby wonders in. Bill goes straight into interview mode for the temp CIO position when Bobby halts that and asks for advice on what to do and expect when he gets booked. Lara arrives in Bach’s office asking for counsel, but he refuses because his loyalty is to Bobby. Lara tries to bribe him, but Bach doesn’t take the bait and informs Lara that her money is her money yet it will be frozen at first and she’ll get half because there is no prenup. Bobby drives up to a group of men standing on a corner and offers them his credit cards. Wags and Wendy are watching the employees do their jobs and Wendy suggests they have a sit down with personal leave if need be once they break they break the news about Bobby. Wags thinks the idea is admirable, but wants Wendy to be tough and keep them working in spite of the setback. Wendy gives Wags a compliment on him leading and Wags tells her he’s happy to be foxhole buddies with her. Chuck finally arrives in the office, but can’t talk to an angry and eager Bryan at the moment. Once Chuck enters his office Kate breaks the news about her leaving to go to another company. She’s doing this because she feels she’s being held back. Chuck asks her to hold off for a day before officially deciding to go. Dake is having a meeting with Bach and we see his phone is on do Bobby can listen in. Bach is suggesting ideas to please Bobby and once Dake shuts them down Bobby loudly on the other end of the phone tells Dake good luck finding him. Bach hangs up the phone and Dake informs him he’ll be reported to the bar association for this stunt. Taylor finally has the solution and they get Wags to give them the phone to contact Bobby to tell him their plan. They arrive on a dock and once they see Bobby they tell him their plan. They try to convey to him that they’re the choice for temp CIO and Bobby should focus on not remaining in jail for too long because they’re not done learning from him. Bobby finally releases power and gives the orders for them to stand by for his word.

Mo (Erinn Ruth) arrives in a dark parking lot and sees a smoking Lara. Lara takes Mo’s phone and tells her she has the money to fund their business and it’ll be in Mo’s name. Lara takes the suitcase of money out of her car and puts it into Mo’s. Bobby and Bach, separately, arrive in a pool hall and he surrenders his passport. He asks for advice on how to talk to the boys and Bach has no words besides telling them they know who he is in spite of what anyone says. Taylor, Wags and Wendy are in his office and Wags says everything is on them. Wendy tells Taylor that she thinks they are up for the job after they ask on her thoughts about them being temp CIO. Mafee (Dan Soder) knocks on the door asking for a signature until he comes clean about wanting to know what’s going on. Wags leaves the room with Mafee and we assume he tells him the truth so he can report it back to the office. Taylor tells Wendy the small bet they have on her staying and Wendy tells them the office will be great with or without her there.

Sr. gives Chuck the paperwork back and tells Chuck he’s done with him and as a parting gift he gives him pictures of Wendy with Craig Heidecker (James Wolk). Bobby finally has a talk with the boys at their school and after initially lying and not taking responsibility for his actions, he does and opens up about him not being perfect. He tells them he’s not giving up, to listen to Lara and kisses them before sending them back to their classes. Bobby texts Wendy and she looks at her phone pondering what to do next. Dake, with two agents, are listening to Bobby talk to Lara on Mo’s phone and says he’ll be home soon. Dake takes this information and orders a team to the Axelrod home to take Bobby in. The truck arrives to the house and its Ben (Daniel K. Isaac) is inside. FBI knocks on the door and after Lara says Bobby isn’t there they search the house because they have a warrant. They sweep through the house, destroying things without a care and break into the basement safe. The only thing left in it is a statue. An agent calls Dake to inform him that Bobby isn’t on the grounds and it clicks that Bobby knew he was going to do that. Dake sends out an order for them to search all the homes and the office. They ransack the office and a calm Wags just watches. Chuck has been waiting for Dake in his office and once Dake admits he needs his help, Chuck uses this opportunity to negotiate a better deal. Dake agrees and Chuck orders a cell pinging of Wendy’s phone.

At 3:57pm Chuck asks Bryan to take a walk with him and he tells him that Dake is indeed behind the take down of Bobby. Lara is sitting down with the boys and informs them that Bobby isn’t coming home and for them to go play. At the end of the walk, Chuck and Bryan see Wendy across an open area. Chuck tells Bryan to leave so he won’t be implemented since he’ll be the lead prosecutor in Bobby’s case. Bryan is excited for this job opportunity and before he leaves Chuck tells Bryan to Kate that she has the Chief of Crim job if she still wants it. Chuck sees Bobby walking up to Wendy and we see he’s a little mad. Bobby thanks Wendy for coming and he apologizes for everything he’s done to her. Wendy accepts the apology and the offer to help Bobby find his way back from all the wrong decisions he’s made. You can see the immense love he has for her. Squad vehicles come to the location and before he’s put in handcuffs, Bobby and Wendy hug each other goodbye. Wendy is heartbroken over this and Chuck sees the emotion on her face before he leaves the scene.

Wags walks into the open office and with Bill standing next to them he tells Taylor to pull the trigger on the plan. Bill thinks it’s a great idea for Taylor being temp CIO and offers to help and Taylor gives him orders. Wags silently sits in his office taking Bobby’s arrest in. Bobby is processed, led into a cell and then is greeted by Chuck. The two of course go toe to toe on this whole ordeal and by the end of the conversation Bobby threatens to take Chuck down with him and Chuck says it’ll be worth it. Chuck departs the cell leaving Bobby alone in it. Bryan tells Kate the news and she ecstatic about while Lonnie watches the interaction and then heads to his office to back his things. Taylor and the office are doing their part while Bobby is away and Wags watches from afar. Bobby gets his things and signs himself out. He takes in what has happened once he’s outside the gates. Lara and the boys are at the dinner table and we see Sr. sitting in a chair with one light on thinking. Lara snaps out of her trance and continues the board game her and the boys are playing. Chuck is walking home with a glum look on his face while Bobby finally arrives at his house. Chuck is at the house and his demeanor changes once he sees Wendy arriving at the same time. The Rhoades hold hands as they walk up the steps to their home.