9 Thoughts on Billions Season 4 Finale

Billions’ fourth season came to a conclusion on Sunday night, and while this season was choppy in terms of many of its arcs it was a satisfying finale. These are my thoughts on it and what may come next (WARNING: This post contains spoilers):

1. The two best sequences in the show, in my opinion, have come when Chuck Rhoades’ schemes have reached their culmination and they take us backwards into everything that happened. This happened in Season 2 when Chuck sought to trap Bobby Axelrod sabotaging the Ice Juice IPO, and it happened again when he laid a perfect ambush for his former protege Bryan Connerty.

Connerty being the “idiot” on the wire tap that Chuck knew he wouldn’t be able to resist tampering on was slightly reminiscent of when Vince McMahon shouted at Steve Austin that he was the higher power all along.

2. Just because it seems like Connerty and Jock Jeffcoat are dead to rights now does not make it so. The characters in Billions all have a particular set of skills that enables them to slither out of seemingly impossible situations. After all, Axe didn’t wind up going down over Ice Juice. Something tells me Connerty and Jeffcoat aren’t quite dead yet.

3. That being said, the set of cuff-links that Connerty’s brother stole from Rhoades Sr.’s safe are surely going to come into play at some point, right?

4. When I did this exercise after Season 2, I predicted Wendy Rhoades would wind up with Axe. My timing was a bit off but that sure appears to be a big plot of Season 5.

5. Billions co-creator Brian Koppelman appeared on Bomani Jones’ podcast before the season and one of the things they discussed was how he brought Taylor Mason into the show knowing they’d be a future adversary for Axe. Under that lens, it was profoundly obvious that this would wind up being the fate of Rebecca Cantu, whom Axe could not forgive for making a deal with his sworn enemy Taylor.

6. Thus far in the show, Axe has had lots of little enemies but he’s only really had two major ones: Chuck and Taylor. The way the plot cycled, they were enemies at separate times. In Season 5, he will have both of them as enemies at the same time and be scrapping it up with Rebecca. It’s going to be a real mud fight for him.

7. If — and if the show goes on long enough, it’ll assuredly be a when — the day ever comes where Axe and Wendy are in a full-fledged battle with each other, watch the heck out.

8. Taylor Mason holds the keys to the next round of the Chuck vs. Axe war, and they know it. Taylor says they will stand by waiting for Chuck and Axe to draw guns at each other, but there will be no way to stay totally above the fray. One would think Taylor would ultimately side with Chuck in this cold war given that Axe just crushed their independent fund with his maneuvering, but perhaps Axe sees this coming and it’s part of an ornate trap of his own.

9. It’s unclear how right now, but Kate Sacker is going to have a lot to do with what ultimately happens in this renewed war as well. I’m very interested to see what Chuck’s make-good will be for her in helping to knock off Connerty and Jeffcoat, as well as what their revenge for her will be.