Attorneys Plan Jewelry Heist to Stop Axe’s Banking Aspirations on ‘Billions’

May 31st, 2020 11:52 PM

Attorney General Chuck Rhoades, Jr. will stop at nothing to stop his enemy Bobby “Axe” Axelrod, including committing robbery.

On Sunday, Chuck and his assistant Kate Sacker try to convince banking official Leah Calder to stall and then deny Axe a state banking charter. She is initially resistant, until they offer to help get back an heirloom engagement ring from her son’s ex-fiancee. 

“That would give you a very special place in my heart,” Calder says. 

“Drag your feet on the approval and give me a chance,” Chuck replies.

Of course, as attorneys they initially planned to use the law to get the family ring back for Calder. When that fails, they resort to crime. Chuck schemes to have Jackie Connerty, a known but rarely caught thief, steal it back for them and plant it in Calder’s own safe. Chuck buys Connerty off by offering to move his imprisoned brother Bryan to a better facility, give him more visitation and a possible recommendation to his parole board.

After Calder stalls Axe on the banking charter, he sends his Axe Capital team after the only bank in the same district to figure out how to take them down. By posing as customers they learn the bank is committing fraud and discriminatory lending by offering white people far lower interest rates than minorities or gay people. Later, they leak the proof to the press which causes a run on the bank and its likely demise. They rejoice over killing off their competitor.

Axe confronts Calder when she denies him the banking charter and asks who got to her. She plays dumb and says if he has any proof of collusion to take it to the oversight committee.

Throughout the episode Axe also battles a potential PR nightmare in his Yonkers hometown. In a prior episode, Axe used the single mom and son living in the home he grew up in as a photo op and press opportunity. He even hyped his plan to join them for a family dinner there. But unable to face down his childhood demons, Axe bailed. 

When a local reporter plans to break the story Axe tries to buy off the teen, Savion. Savion knows he’s being used, calls “bullshit” and rejects the offer, but doesn’t end up speaking to the reporter. Later, still trying to ensure Savion’s silence, Axe buys the house from them and buys them a place to live in Scarsdale. 

Also this week, Taylor Mason and Wendy Rhoades' plan to turn Taylor Mason Capital into an “impact” investing fund becomes reality. They plan to have the firm divest from fossil fuels, and promote “positive,” socially conscious investments like renewable energies. They rename the company Taylor Mason Carbon.