“Billions” thoughts, Season Three, Episode Eight: “All the Wilburys”

The dust has settled, but “Billions” has not. After last week’s tour de force put an end to two and a half seasons’ worth of warfare between Bobby Axelrod and Chuck Rhoades, you might expect the show to settle into what remains of its status quo: Chuck’s run for governor, for example, or Bobby’s relatively cautious relationship with his company. But by the time the closing credits roll on this week’s episode, all that has been torn to pieces too.

Written by two of the show’s creators, Brian Koppelman and David Levien, and directed with minimal flash by Mike Binder, this week’s installment tosses the seven-dimensional chessboard out the window in favor of a series of direct confrontations. Characters get together, face off, and verbally pound away at one another until only the strongest remain standing. No room for stealth mode here: It’s vulgar displays of power all the way down.

Now that Chuck, Bobby and Wendy have won, are they going to press their advantages against their rivals? To continue my “Breaking Bad” comparison from last week, “You’re goddamn right,” as Walter White would say.

I reviewed last night’s very good episode of Billions for the New Yokr Times

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