‘Billions’ Recap Reality Index: Season 3, Episode 11 (“Kompenso”)

By Comfortably Smug @ComfortablySmug
Published June 4, 2018, 11:30 a.m. ET

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The recap is back! Welcome back to the Billions Recap Reality Index. This week, we provide you with due diligence for Billions Season 3, Episode 11 (“Kompenso”), a tally of events that we found to be either too real to fail or as fake as a toxic asset’s triple A rating, scored on our completely subjective point system.

When we last saw Axe and the gang in Billions Season 3 Episode 10 (“Redemption”), Axe was scrambling to pull off a massive cap raise, and got a sizable chunk of change from a shady Russian oligarch (is there any other kind?). Meanwhile, Connerty has been fired from SDNY and hired by the FBI with Kate taking his place at Chuck’s side. Taylor had a VC love interest and Chuck’s new focus was squarely on taking out an overbearing Attorney General. So what happened this week? Will Axe Capital pull off a $20 billion capital raise? Will Chuck’s latest scheme take root? And will Ben Kim replace Dollar Bill as Axe Capital’s king of fleece vests? Let’s break it down.

THE BILLIONS RECAP REALITY INDEX

REALER THAN EVERYONE ACTING PISSED OFF AFTER THEY GET THEIR BONUS NUMBERS, EVEN IF THEY DID WELL

    • Salt bae cameo! Is there a restaurateur BILLIONS can’t snag this season?
      PLUS 1
    • Axe rolls up to the Loews Regency, home of the most prestigious power breakfast in the world (and gets greeted personally by Jonathan Tisch!) Power move.
      PLUS 1
    • When Wags arrives at Axe Capital, we see multiple bros rocking a fleece vest, including of course, Dollar Bill.
      PLUS 1
    • Wendy drops a reference from Trading Places, arguably the greatest finance film of all time.
      PLUS 1
    • The Attorney General is mostly concerned about some “deep state bullshit” and leaks to the press. Too real.
      PLUS 1
    • Of course Ira’s gold digging, truffle loving, 20 years younger bride, Taiga, ends up being Sharon Stone from Casino.
      PLUS 1
    • Lol at Axe and Wags enjoying themselves hazing a guy from compliance, letting him know back office doesn’t get to wet their beak.
      PLUS 1
    • Chuck does a solid job letting the James Woods wannabe know exactly what kind of hell a federal case entails.
      PLUS 1
    • Chuck asks Charles Sr if he can use the apartment to meet with a woman, Charles replies saying it’s smart not to use a hotel for the job. Classic.
      PLUS 1

    TOTAL POINTS FOR REAL: PLUS 9

    FAKER THAN A GOLD DIGGER WITH NO PRENUP WALKING AWAY FOR ONLY $50K

    • Taylor gives the one remaining quant a project to write an algorithm that can take $20 billion and return over 8%, and the quant says no sweat! If he could do that, he’d be at Ren Tech making millions, not slaving away in a dungeon.
      MINUS 2
    • Chuck offers, Pete Decker, a man he got convicted the opportunity to help him out and in return he’ll wipe his record clean. There’s no such thing in federal criminal law, expungement doesn’t exist.
      MINUS 1
    • Taylor’s promise from earlier this season that no one at Axe Capital would make less than the previous year is still completely insane.
      MINUS 1

    • Taiga has no prenup so there’s no way she settles for only $50k as her nuisance value to get lost.
      MINUS 1
    • Chuck’s entire plan to take down the Attorney General is… have the State AG build a case off useless evidence, and hope the Attorney General obstructs justice…. That’s just a wee bit far fetched.
      MINUS 1
    • Taylor’s plan is to use the magic algorithm their quant cooked up to start a fund behind Axe’s back seeded by money from one of Axe Capital’s biggest investors; the sketchy Russian. No chance in hell.
      MINUS 2

    TOTAL POINTS FOR FAKE: MINUS 8

    OVERALL SCORE FOR “KOMPENSO”: PLUS 1

    OVERALL SCORE FOR BILLIONS SEASON 3: PLUS 46

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    Another week at PLUS 1, we’re treading water into the finish line for Billions Season 3 as the show is mostly sticking to reality (except for the dramatic storylines of Chuck going after the Attorney General and Taylor launching their own fund). With one episode left this season, there are a lot of balls in the air: the cap raise, the Attorney General, John Malkovich, and don’t forget Connerty bringing back Dake for his revenge plot against Chuck. I have no doubt we’re in for a cliffhanger finish leaving much of this unresolved.

    So, with only ONE EPISODE left this season, where do we go next week? Will Taylor Mason Capital become the new Bridgewater? Will Axe be able to pull off the capital raise? Will Ben Kim instantly crash and burn as a portfolio manager? We’ll try to get to the bottom of all this when we return with next week’s recap of Billions.

    Comfortably Smug is a government relations professional with a focus on the financial services industry. He can be found on Twitter with his musings on all things finance and politics at @ComfortablySmug