Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Showtime’s Billions is a ton of fun. Centering around the vengeful game of cat and mouse between U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and professional money enthusiast Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), the series found its creative footing in Season 2 by embracing its own unique, wonderfully insane combination of Entourage-style escapism and good old-fashioned vindictiveness. The blistering antipathy between Chuck and Axe is a blood feud of biblical proportions. They’re the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner of the 1% but instead of using Acme anvils and dynamite for combat, the duo utilize legal loopholes and cunning Machiavellian schemes as they march towards a path that in all likelihood will culminate in their mutually assured destruction.
But what if it doesn’t?
Like most of the Billions fandom, I relish whenever Chuck and Axe share a scene together. The intensity. The conflicting ideologies of outlaw vs establishment. The thinly-veiled contempt for one another. I applaud Brian Koppelman and the rest of the creative team’s “chess not checkers” restraint when it comes to unleashing their pair of theatrical aces. Limiting Chuck and Axe’s face-to-face showdowns adds a sense of gravitas to their clandestine battle of wits, but as much as I love their scorched-earth rivalry, a reluctant alliance between Chuck and Axe is inevitable.
And I am all for it.
One of the most captivating action movie tropes is when two enemies are forced to team-up to vanquish an even graver threat. Season 3 will once again revolve around Chuck and Axe’s battle for superiority, but if you’re looking to imbue the series with fresh storytelling for Season 4, a reluctant alliance between these two titans of industry is salivatingly perfect. This trope has been a (repeated) creative boon for the Fast and Furious franchise. Heck, even Rocky and Apollo joined forces to take down Mr. T! Can you imagine how much mileage the Billions creative team can mine from Chuck and Axe having to punt their pride and work together to save themselves (or perhaps Wendy Rhoades) from a dastardly foe?
Even Wags understands that Metallica and motorcycles don’t mix with the Yale Club and underground S&M parlors, which is exactly what makes the volatile partnership so intriguing.
But who could pose such a threat that it would prompt Chucky and the Axe Man to put their differences aside and focus on a common enemy? Lawrence Boyd (Eric Bogosian), Steven Birch (Jerry O’Connell), and Blackjack Foley (David Strathairn) are three options. These are powerful men who’ve yet to meet a line they don’t mind crossing. While Axe and Chuck have made innumerable enemies with their constant barrage of shady two-timing, the betting favorite would have to be the gender non-binary wunderkind Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon), who basically catapulted from intern to Axe’s second in command during Season 2. Taylor’s moral compass is already spinning wildly out of control, so turning against Axe two seasons from now certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Conflict drives plot and an Axe/Chuck partnership would be rife with conflict. I may not speak the esoteric language of finance, but I’m well-versed in the universal lingo of seething hatred. Axe and Chuck’s unquenchable rivalry transformed the two into irrational amalgamations of id and bravado. I have no idea how these two would react to a reluctant alliance, but I’d sure love to find out.
