05x09 - Implosion

[bunniefuu]

[WENDY] Previously on Billions...

Are you here to tell me
that you found me a donor?

[WENDY] He's gonna die
unless he gets a kidney.

- So I thought I...
- [AXE] You should've come to me.

[TAYLOR] If you work with me,

I need your blood because
that is what I give.

You want to own me.

And that's not cool.

[AXE] The mythical incorruptible artist,

impervious to temptation.

[WENDY] When we met,
you acted like money is like chains.

It's just that now that I
have a little bit of it...

it's startin' to feel like freedom.

My favorite artist isn't
getting paid enough.

What do you got in mind?

The freezer section.

Michael Prince is ready

to be confirmed Ambassador Extraordinary

and Plenipotentiary to Denmark.

You're in a battle with Bobby Axelrod.

Help me to help you b*at him.

You can look as long and
hard as you want at my life,

past or present.

He's got a secret.

f*cking find it.

It's been brutal, really,

to watch the world celebrate this man

and know the truth about
what he did to my son.

Found some neighborhood
folks that got fleeced

by a payday lender.

Company's called Plaintif-Full.

[CHUCK] I am in the mood
to take someone down.

[VICTOR] He went for the lure.

- And he got hooked.
- f*ck yeah!

Why would Axe care about buying up

a marginal shitbag operation?

The way they got away
with a bunch of their

unethical lending is doing it in-house.

They have a bank charter.

We just delivered Axe his bank.

[CHUCK] This one?

Keep scrolling.

We can do this a month from now.

No, no. Time is stalking me down.

- It's inexorable.
- No, Dad.

None of that. You're gonna outlast...

Now listen, you keep
your g*dd*mn emotional lid on

during the service.

I'm everything to you, your whole world.

I know this.

And I gotta make this clear to you now,

or you'll get the waterworks going

like Iguazu Falls.

No, sir. No, I will comport myself

as you have taught me...

with dry eyes

and an ass clenched tighter than

Steve Reeves on a busman's holiday.

Oh! [CHUCKLES]

That's something.

Are you burying me,
or parading me through

the streets with the Hibernians?

You may be demonstrating a failure

to show appreciation
of what I'm goin' through here.

I have to lie in it.

I think that's appreciation enough.

Pesci? The Irishman?

No? I was just looking for a moment

of levity in the darkness.

Now, I don't need that

or Martin f*cking Scorsese

to explain the process of aging

and physical destruction to me.

Especially not at four
hours running time...

when lack of time

is the immediate problem I'm facing.

You have got things in your life

worth stayin' around for, Dad.

Roxanne, the baby, my kids.

Me.

Let's quit the optimistic bullshit.

I've got a couple of
rock-hard peach pits

for kidneys.

We're buyin' a casket here.

[SIGHS] I am.

As in I'm paying.

Wouldn't give you the satisfaction.

Well, my credit card's already
on file at Frank E. Campbell.

And I told them I'd be the one around

to bother them if they
f*cked with me on this.

I guess it is what it is, huh?

Yeah.

What you have in front of you...

is a perfect expression of pizza.

[SNIFFS]

Ingredients locally sourced in Italy,
flash frozen there.

When it comes out of the oven,
it's as good

as anything at the restaurant.

So you say.

I'll be the judge, yeah?

[CHEWS]

[LAUGHS]

Holy sh*t. Kid,

you did it.

He did it.

I just wrote the checks.

[CHUCKLES]

[UNINTELLIGIBLE MUTTERING]

You had me worried.
We got a , of these things

on a container ship
headed for our shores.

Congratulations.

- Is Bobby taking care of you?
- Yeah.

Of course I am.
We got private equity circling already.

And once we choose
who gets to take these

fine gentlemen to the prom,

Anthony will be liquid.

Yes, he will.

To Genio Della Pizza.

The next global food brand.

One week to launch.

- Cent'anni.
- Cent'anni.

[SPEAKING IN DANISH]_

[EXHALES]

They'll never find anyone better,

more committed.

But you're not fighting back.

- I'm in the wrong.
- Who cares?

It's time to rise up and...

My hawk-like instincts are telling me

to leave it there for now.

Savvy read.

[SLAPS KNEES]

[EXHALES]

- [INDISTINCT STREET CHATTER]
- [TRAFFIC SOUNDS]

- [WHISPERING] It's Jay-Z.
- Hmm.

Distance yourself.

You and I can do more good
by letting The Mike fold

and then raising something
new from the ashes.

We're good at that.

Yeah, Shawn. You too.

Get me to see Taleb.

Gotta make sure this thing's
a real black swan event.

High priest.

There's no profit at the
end of this call sheet.

No money to be made.

My one job is to help you do your job.

- And right now...
- I have three cell numbers

for this guy.

Can I talk to you like you talk to me?

I'm gonna talk to you
like you talk to me.

This is to what? Refocus my lens?

That it is.

We got a bank charter hours ago,

and instead of setting up a boardroom

and printing stationery, I'm searching

"hashtag The Mike."

You've been giving
away majority ownership

in this pizza company.

What I'm really searching for
is a pattern in the madness.

But all I'm seein' is the madness.

Hmm. The reason I can talk like that...

Well, there are myriad reasons,

none of which you'd understand.

As you don't understand
why my moves right now

are the very acme of sanity.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Now do my bidding.

And get me Taleb. Let's go.

[PRINCE] No, no, I... I understand.

But I still think I'm the best choice

to lead "Shake the Quake."

Of course. Uh...

Well, let's find you a new public face.

I'd be happy to make some calls.

Goodbye.

Where are we on The Mike?

- Cancellations are piling up.
- [CLOSES LAPTOP]

Principals are willing
to send their juniors,

some VPs from the big firms.

A second-tier event
might as well not exist.

Cancel it.

It's your legacy.

The Mike is bigger...

Cancel... the darned...

event.

[TOSSES PHONE]

The Mike is toast.

Charities are abandoning him.

Let's ratchet up to personal life.

I have to go with this one more time.

I am here for whatever you need.

[SCOFFS] And I'm always up

for a bloody vanquishing.

But Prince is done. He's bled out.

And you're calling in favors for what?

So you can f*ck a dead guy's skull?

Michael Douglas only talked
about it in The Bible.

He didn't do it. Besides,

skullfuckery is not even fun to watch.

Okay. That part is a lie.

He's not dead till I say he's dead.

[PAINT SPLATTERING]

Did you work all night?

Yeah.

I'm headed into the office.

What do you think?

- It's intense.
- Yeah, but is it...

- You know...[SIGHS]
- Finished?

What do you think?

They used to talk to me.

Refuse the paint when I was done.

And now?

There's a lot of other noise.

I know.

Penthouse walls

"echo with the sound of salesmen."

That guy was an artist, right?

- Neil Peart.
- Yeah. You are, too.

You have to remind yourself
why you're painting it.

You know,
there's a piece of land in Vermont

that I could buy.

Beautiful spread.
It's got trees, and a lake.

Vermont's nice,
but you can't let that be your reason.

Oh, there are worse ones.

You know that collector Lisa?

I mean, she buys one painting
that's a down payment.

[CELLPHONE VIBRATING]

Hello?

Yeah, hold on one second.

Uh, this is the, uh,

collector that I had dinner
with the other night.

- I want to take this.
- Okay.

My man, you found me.

Yeah, you got a long reach, player.

I know it.

Yeah. [CHUCKLES]

[CHUCK] Mr. Moody, the power we wield

as attorneys general

is akin to a V- engine
in an Italian sports car.

You can drive the speed
limit most of the time,

but once in a while, you gotta
take that power out and g*n it.

And who would you like me
to run down on the Autobahn?

Go to court and get an injunction

blocking Bobby Axelrod's
acquisition of Plaintif-Full

and the bank charter inside.

That individual is
not fit to own a bank.

It's a Delaware corporation.

So, you're the man to talk to.

[CHUCK] The man with his hand
on the switch of Ol' Sparky,

who can send this deal to Valhalla.

Well, do I have a race car

or an electric chair at my disposal?

Both.

It would have been real good of you

to ask hours ago,

before you took a wrecking
ball to Plaintif-Full.

All without a call to me, by the way.

In too much of a hurry to
hand-deliver Axe a bank,

I guess.

You started this thing.

And you did it without
seeing the consequences.

Now you want me to fix it?

I'm asking you to take
down a larger thr*at.

My mistake doesn't have to
snowball into our mistake.

There's no legal basis for this...

No. It would be a favor.

Which we tend to repay.

No, not tend to.

Always will, and always have.

Favors are not asked lightly
and will not be ignored.

You think this is the state that

Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours built,

with the cousin marrying
and the wrestler murdering

and all that French
aristocracy nonsense?

The glass shards on top of the wall,

keep the lesser family out?

No.

This is the state that
was built on corporations

getting what they need,

which is freedom from
the yoke of tax burden.

I don't believe corporations are people.

They're better than people,
because they don't f*ck up

when they get so obsessed with one thing

they can't see reality.

[SIGHING] So no,

I'm not gonna participate
in your agenda,

while mine is part of a bigger economy.

- [SLAPS ARMRESTS]
- [SIGHS]

But do consider shopping for some

tax-free, high-end
electronics before you go.

[SCOFFS]

I was in my Tiara ,

throttle open,
shakin' on the chop so hard,

my d*ck chafed. [CHUCKLES]

And suddenly I realized

I was the menace.

I wasn't in the world,

I was hurting it.

And that was my moment of clarity.

I didn't want to be that guy.
And I called you.

I remember.

Hmm. And you got me here.

[SCOFFS]

Made me the man I wanted to be.

Made me money doin' it.
And that's not nothin'.

We shared values.

We still share values.

[SIGHING] I don't know.

I know what's in your head,

and it's ancient history.

What I did to David showed
a lack of morality on my part,

and I have to live with it.

It's a heck of a heavy load.

Yeah. It's yours to carry.

It is.

But who do you want in your corner?

Someone who's never put
money before humanity?

Or do you want someone
who knows the cost

of putting humanity aside,
and how it'll break you?

Without my past,

how would I have known

how to lead you from that gas guzzling,

ear shattering, overcompensating Tiara

to a sailboat

and to the present moment?

[SCOFFS, SIGHS]

Perfect people don't exist.

But flawed people...

who have taken a walk through
their own wounded psyche,

reforged themselves

and come out stronger?

We're the great hope for the species.

I still think I have to pull my money.

Fair enough. More than fair.

Get up. Let me walk you out.

Yeah.

It's your money.

You can take it right now,

and you could walk out this door.

Leave while I'm down.

Tell yourself and everyone

you did it because you're Matt Allen

and you don't consort with my kind.

Because you, Matt Allen,

will not be associated with someone

who could do something like this.

But power is atomic.

And eventually, this moment,

this moment where one electron

is slightly out of whack, will end,

the world will right itself again.

I'll be on top again.

And the curious thing

is that I will have forgotten your name.

I don't believe in enemies.
It's not that I don't have them,

it's that when you become my enemy,

my next move,

my only move,

is to continue to rise.

While you will eddy.

Sink.

Not by my hand

but by your lack of connection to me.

So walk out with your money.

It's yours.

But you won't be done with me.

As the song goes:

"On every wall in place

"my fearsome name will be heard.

I'm the atomic punk."

I will remain so.

And you, Matt,

will simply evaporate.

[SIGHS]

You know what? I... I think...

Mike, sure,

I'll stay. For now.

Give it a quarter or two,
see how this shakes out.

Good call.

I'm not doing that again.

The save or the b*at down?

Because it was gorgeous.

Big Cat Ernie Ladd level.

How do you even know who that is?

You don't watch wrestling.

I'd have said like,
Fafner clubbing Fasol

to death in Das Rheingold,
but I need you in the gutter,

not the heavens.

How do you even come up with it?

I just start talking
and magic comes out.

Same with what I just saw you do.

That was a Michael Thomas Aquinas Prince

who I can help.

That was the M-Tap
I've been waiting for.

I feel dirty.

This shirt feels dirty.
I want to change.

This isn't who I am.

What I built.

You did build it.

And now you have to defend it.

That's who we have to be right now.

You got hurt, we hurt back.

You need to make Axe suffer.

How?

I figured out what
the devil cares about.

Pizza.

First he overspent on
a joint in Yonkers.

But now he's invested in a new company

that's getting buzzy.

But the deal is way too
favorable for his partners.

And?

Axe giving favorable terms?

That means it matters to him.

So, now we take it away.

Painfully.

I see the appeal. I really do.

But this isn't the path for me.

So, you exorcise your demons
however you want.

I need to face mine.

[EXHALES] Okay, I gave you the
entire trip back from Delaware

and the car ride
from Penn Station to get over it.

And now I need to know:
what is the plan,

or the next move in the plan,

or the next step in
the move of the plan?

Well, there is no plan. [SLAPS THIGH]

Despite your enthusiasm,
there's no move.

No, Moody is right.

I made this sh*t soup,
and now I have to sip it.

Fine. You want to act existential,

does not mean that I have to.

No act. No, this right here,

is what my alienist
would call Anhedonia.

The kind of paralysis that can only come

when every move you make hurts.

Wendy's gone.

Her successor, also gone.

Meanwhile, my enemies thrive.

If we can pause with
the Freudian analysis...

Ribot came up with the concept.

Freud got all the glory.

So the least we can do
is give ol' Theodule

- his credit where it's due.
- Okay,

back from Europe to here in NYC.

What if we pull the charter
and get someone from the FDIC

or OCC to review it
for minor infractions?

They're not gonna block this
over a punctuation error.

And Axe can resubmit
a clean charter if they do.

- We could...
- Stop.

I can't. And neither should you.

We could thr*aten the board of the bank

with investigations
into personal misdeeds.

Send them running.

And give Axe a chance to form a board

even more amenable to his goals?

- No.
- Okay, so...

let's figure out what
Moody really wants.

I'm done.

You're done. Go home.

Stock up on canned goods
for the coming plague.

It all f*cking blows.

This is about your father. All of this.

The dulled eyes, the defeated attitude,

the backstroking through
French psychology.

But the fight must go on, Chuck.

You have to go on.

It's what he'd expect.

So you say.

So they say. So it is said.

And so it is written.

Doesn't mean it's true.

- [CRICKETS CHIRPING]
- [DOGS BARKING]

- Thank you for seeing me.
- [GLASSES CLINKS]

If you're here about the NDA,
I know I broke it.

I don't care.

This isn't like before when
I had no one on my side.

I've got people helping me now.

So whatever thr*at or lawsuit

or blackmail you think
you might have over me,

you can forget it.

I don't go looking for fights.

Can't say the same for Bobby Axelrod.

He's bankrolling your legal defense.

He's making sure that I don't go broke

for telling the truth.

But you don't know the truth.

Not the whole thing, at least.

You only know what happened after.

And now so does everyone else.

Do you want to know about that night?

With David?

[SWALLOWS]

After I showed him the plane ticket

and the cashier's check,
we went out for pancakes.

I... I don't know why pancakes,
it's what he wanted.

Uh, maybe it was to sober up.

Or maybe it was all he could think of.

Or maybe it was all he could eat

because of all the dr*gs and the booze.

We talked about the trip
we were taking to Rio,

the girls we would meet there,

about the company we would start next.

David wanted to replace
modems and routers

with something more secure.

It was brilliant, his idea,

but scattered, and I really wish
I could remember it.

Because I bet it would change the world.

But I can't.

Because that whole time eating pancakes,

the only thing I could think of was

how I had to get him on that plane.

[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

He was so happy in that moment...

and funny.

You know how he could get a joke going,

and keep it going
way longer than anybody else.

Well, he was going and going.

And all I had was the cold,

hollow excitement of knowing
that I was stealing from him.

I told myself that it was
because he wouldn't be able

to handle the new situation

or that he'd blow our deal.

That it'd be too much for him.

But deep down, I knew.

I still know.

I wanted it all for myself.

You shouldn't have come.

Please. I... I understand that
I can't get your forgiveness.

Because what I did was unforgivable.

But if there's...

anything that I can do for you,

anything at all,

that will heal this thing between us.

Or maybe just make us both feel better.

Because I'm tired of hurting.

Aren't you?

Yeah, I am.

But the funny thing is,

it's decades later,

and sometimes I can't
picture David's face

without looking at a photograph.

You know, it's been so long.

But the same thing keeps happening.

People want me to tell them
how to make them feel better.

You want me to do your work for you,

but I'm not going to.

I've worked hard enough
to get through this.

So, if you're looking for absolution,

you're gonna have to
find it on your own.

I want a path back to goodness.

A way to be a force for good again.

Yeah, I know you do, Michael.

[SCOFFS] You do?

Yeah.

But I can't be the subject of that,
or the object,

or the road map.

I mean, I can point you
in the right direction.

Stop ruining good people

because you think
you're better than them.

You're not better than anyone.

You blanked me this afternoon.

Oh, you really had me running
for those Philadelphias, though.

[CHUCKLES]

Almost took the second game.

No, you're just being kind.

But there is another
kindness you can do me.

What do you need?

Write my father's eulogy for me.

Last time I wrote you a speech,
you basically tore it up on TV.

[CHUCKLES]

I'll give it.

I believe I can do that much,

get through the thing. But, uh...

no, I can't bare the writing.

These are my notes.

Such as they are, the pertinent details.

Whoa, Chuck.

Let me just absorb this for a minute.

No, yeah, sure, of course, natch.

Do what you gotta.

Chew it over with your burnt ends.

I mean, the whole thing is ironic too,

because of this persistent
fantasy I used to have.

About?

Me, as a younger man,

standing tall at his funeral.

Strong arm around my grieving mother,

all of New York in attendance

as I delivered a profound
and stirring eulogy.

[CHUCKLES]

But in my fantasy, see,

my father was also somehow alive...

- Hmm.
- ...and witnessed the speech

with all the pride and approval

you can imagine.

Strange as it is,
it somehow makes sense.

Yeah. Stopped having it
when I became US attorney.

Well, reaching that height,
that achievement,

puts you beyond the
need for his approval.

Maybe.

Now, though, I've got
this persistent sense of guilt,

as if my reverie somehow...

caused his current condition.

You'll feel worse if you
don't write it yourself.

[INDISTINCT OFFICE CHATTER]

So, you spilled
your pint of blood. Great.

Nothing wrong with
appeasing the old gods.

I need a list of all the companies

whose reputation and balance sheet

are being hurt by their association

with my name.

All the good people who don't deserve

to be collateral damage to my mistakes.

So you can...

Free them. Sell them off.

It went that badly with the mother?

She butchered me,
like one of those buffaloes

at the end of Apocalypse Now.

We can't take a billion dollar plus loss

so you can assuage
your guilt over something

you can't go back and change.

Right now, this company
is the house built on

a Native American burial ground.

It doesn't matter how good the house is.

We have to start from scratch.

Um, shark in the water,
shark in the water.

Meaning?

There's a selloff happening.

So I was trying to
make it sound exciting.

See? And it's all in the same sector.

It's not a sector.
It's a person. Mike Prince.

We should be buying this. All of it.

We'd own big swaths
of the green energy market;

- more than that.
- How much to buy it all?

More than we have on hand.

I mean, I think more than we have.

So how do we get it?

sh*t. Right.

You have to ask Axe.

Like an advance on your allowance.

It's outside our guidance.

I mean, it sucks to have to ask.

But it will suck a f*ck of a lot less

when we own all of Prince's stuff.

Which is exactly how I'm
going to sell this to Axe.

Buying Prince's companies
feeds into his need

to destroy Mike Prince.

Go feed the need.

Thank you. I think I will.

Hey, I need to ask you something.

Oh, yeah. Hold on a sec.

[INDISTINCT OFFICE CHATTER]

Trying to connect with Axe.

I'm on with him now.

You seeing it?

Mike Prince spiraling out,
hemorrhaging money?

It's quaint. And also very satisfying.

Beyond satisfying,
it gives us an advantage.

He's driving down the cost
by flooding the market.

He's selling just to sell,
which means we can buy it all.

- I just need the leverage.
- That's a splashy move

and publicly humiliating for him.

Yeah...

No. I am not helping Prince
cleanse his conscience.

We'll never get this chance again.

I know.

Which is why I'm thinking
I'd rather that you

dump everything you have
that coincides with him.

Actually, dump everything that you have

that shares even the tiniest overlap

of Venn diagram with Mike Prince
and his ideology.

What?

Well, like you said,

he's driving the price down.

Now I want you to make
those companies worthless.

Unproductive. This is insane.

What? Kicking Prince when he's down?

I'd say nothing could be saner.

- Bobby.
- This isn't profitable.

You're going to ruin industries

to prove a point you've already proven.

Plus, the Mase Carbon
balance sheet will take a hit,

which will drive down the value
of the associated companies.

Our P and L will look like a mine shaft.

You know Taylor's right.
I can see it in your eyes.

[SIGHS]

Okay.

No, you're right. He's done.

So Mase Carb can buy up
Prince's positions?

Yes. I'll give you the leverage
outside the guidance.

Thank you. I'll let you know

how much we're able to scoop up.

[DOOR CLOSES]

So that's how my
resident genius is doing.

How's our painter doing?

Fine.

Fine, like I'll be seeing paintings

for the big empty walls
I have waiting for them?

What did you like about
his work when you saw it?

[INHALES]

Well, the power, the strength.

Not many out there who can make art

that feels like it's breathing.

Wait a minute. Why are you asking?

Should I be worried?

I don't know.

He's off.

No, no, that...
that's too strong. He's...

He's painting for other people.

He's got collectors and
commissions in his head.

And that real estate is only for you?

You know, he's actually
got real estate there, too.

For what it's worth,

Tanner was always supposed to be this.

Successful, sought after.

And he's lucky to have you
to keep his head in the game.

I'm glad for you.

Thank you.

But, I could, you know,
if you wanted me to,

take some pressure off, uh,

give him some room to think.

Maybe call Lisa, give her two of mine

and then take my other two later.

Oh, it would be f*cking with
another man's cash flow but,

you know, if that's
what you think he needs.

But the most important thing is
he gets back on track, right?

Right.

So I'll make the call?

Maybe just leave it.

Sure.

I'm just trying to help.

I know.

- [ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
- [INDISTINCT OFFICE CHATTER]

We got a problem.

We got a problem.

The pizza freighter broke
down in the Atlantic.

We're gonna miss our delivery window.

- sh*t.
- Bad luck,

you know, something like that.

We need to call the distributor,

the product guy, and let them know
we're gonna be late.

We show up late,

we're gonna miss our launch with goPuff.

They're gonna blow this 'za out.

We won't get that momentum
back for a year, maybe ever.

There's no such thing
as bad f*cking luck,

not when money's involved.

Where exactly is this freighter?

Okay, this is a satellite
snapshot of every ship at sea,

updated every minutes.

So where the f*ck are our pizzas?

Forty-four degrees,
minutes, . seconds North

by degrees, seven minutes,
. seconds West.

North Atlantic Ocean.

The ship carrying your pizzas

broke down two hours ago.

So now what? They rot at sea?

Maybe we could find
someone to fix the ship.

Why did you say "broke down" like that?

Because something is off.

A dead ship, one without power,

will drop anchor and put
out a distress signal.

Even if the ship drifted
onto the anchor line,

it would have drifted
East along the wave path,

and your boat has moved North.

Somebody is f*cking
around with your boat.

[CELL PHONE VIBRATING]

Check your IB.

[MOUSE CLICKING]

sh*t, Axe, really?

You're an executing trader.

You got a problem executing?

No, Axe.

But I have a problem trading
these particular names

without Taylor.

I hired you.

You quit. I hired you back.

Let you walk back in here

despite your lack of loyalty.

Because I knew, one day there would be

a moment of truth, a reckoning.

What I would see if
you were still the kid

that I pulled out of Aurora,
sat in front of a bank

of screens and gave
the secrets of the world.

And enough money to move your mom

out of a trailer into a house.

This is that reckoning.

f*ck.

[SIGHS]

[THUNDER RUMBLES]

You proud of putting good
companies out of business?

- I'm sorry. I'm not sure...
- Is this what you wanted?

To destroy the progress we both made?

To set impact investing back?

Every company you sold off
today will likely fold,

and that market share will go
right back to the polluters,

the child labor employers,

the people we committed to taking down.

Are you proud?

Jesus.

You didn't know.

He did it without telling you.

Well, I guess we all know just how much

that shingle of yours is worth.

Are you okay?

No.

What happened?

Axe.

Are you kidding me?

So what, you were just following
orders and that makes it okay?

It does not make it okay.

Explain yourself, Mafee.

Axe. That's it.

That's the explanation.

What the f*ck did we think would happen

when we walked back in here?

The fallout from this is cataclysmic.

[WINSTON] You're damn right.

This completely messes up our bonuses.

[RIAN] Not what I meant.

Well, it's what I meant.

Enough. I will fix this.

Not as long as we're
still reporting to...

Not now, Rian.

I spent my whole life
building something additive.

- Not your whole life.
- Um-hmm.

Some would argue that by virtue

of just how much money you have,

you have by definition done much wrong.

So because I'm so rich,
I'm inherently guilty?

It's what I built a good
chunk of my career on.

Probably what drove me to that career.

But I do believe you just
said it better than I did.

Wealth is always going to exist.

Power along with it.

People are so consumed with the idea

that money buys freedom
that they can't demand

better of the powerful...

or themselves.

As soon as they gain
some power of their own,

they forget about better
and just want to be rich.

So the powerful have to
demand it of ourselves.

That's what I was trying to do.

I can't save the world,

but I was gonna leave it
a lot better than I found it.

And now I'm sucked into
chaos by Bobby Axelrod.

I can't arrest him because he's screwing

with your savior complex.

Would that I could.

Bobby Axelrod has to be wiped
off the face of the Earth.

You're right.

So do you want my help?

No.

- Hold on.
- You came to me...

He came to me and said
he needed my help.

Now I'm ready.

I came to you when I needed you.

And the getting was good.

But you thought you were above me.

And, now, Axe got a bank.

f*ck, I gave him a bank.

Me and her.

And now that he's coming for you,
[SCOFFS]

you want me to what?
Get hit with more shrapnel

so you can campaign for a Nobel?

No. f*ck no.

Every time I move,

I make his life better and mine worse.

I even tried my luck
with the Delaware AG

only to be rolled into
the street like a bum.

So I've come to a halt.

No, I can't lose
any more of myself to this.

You go figure it out.

I'm offering titanic resources.

Then what do you need us for?

"That cupcake makes a mess,
we got a case again."

Well,

it worked for Bobby D,
I figured it was worth a sh*t.

[CHUCKLES]

Okay, we can remake the
order in Italy and reship.

But that's two extra weeks.

And then we lose the supermarket chains.

Prince Company's got their mitts
on the shipping line anyway.

[SIGHS]

All right, look, I'm gonna tell
Axe to forget the whole deal.

Give my cousin back his company.

Anthony keeps banging
out top-quality pies.

At least he has two shops.

That's more than what he was planning.

No, you're not.

Axe believes your cousin
should be big-time.

I have been charged with
delivering your pizza empire,

so to speak,
and deliver it I f*cking will,

on time.

How?

Now tell me. Why Italy?

The ovens.

Il Duce.

We have a move we can make.

A warehouse filled with ovens
and a small army of workers.

It's gonna cost close
to million to do it.

Keep it on schedule.

And keep it quiet.

It's money you won't
recoup for a long time.

Ten million to not let
Mike Prince win a round?

Consider the money spent.

Go get those f*ckin' ovens.

We have hundreds of LLCs in Delaware.

And lots of associates with more.

I've been considering Wyoming instead.

I've got a , -acre spread there

and it's the original home of the LLC.

The American Bar Association
just released a white paper

on the Delaware pitfalls.

Seems like a good time to take
a billion out of the state.

Is it only a billion?

- A few.
- Hmm.

Well, that would be unfortunate.

Taking out a cowboy-sized
chunk of the LLCs

in Delaware is "unfortunate"?

I'd imagined the unemployment filings

of registered agents alone
would put a nice dent

in anyone's reelection hopes.

Or...

Or?

You can do me a favor,

and I'll stay in Delaware

and protect the LLC
farms from litigation.

Especially from a very
eager New York State AG.

You told me to figure it out.
That's what I did.

And?

Moody was persuaded
to get the court to name

a special trustee to Axe's bank.

An Irving Picard-like son of a g*n.

The guy who got back the Madoff money.

[PRINCE] One penny at a time.

Clawing every cent from the estate sale,

finding every mattress
they hid it under.

Unrelenting.

Well, Axe will hate that.

[PRINCE] Someone who'll ride
herd over the institution

from the inside.

Clock its every move.

Report it all back.

Block what he can.

Okay, we're in.

You knew.

When you told me to blow,

you knew I'd come back with something.

I've seen Cop Land.

Did I?

I thought I meant it at the time.

But we're here now.

Yeah.

Yeah, we'll need someone
who's served on a bank board.

Someone who's known for being
tough on the institutions

they're a board member of,
not a yes man.

Someone who won't care
if they get booted

a few months in due to politics.

Someone who will go down swinging.

Oh, I have just the guy.

[MACHINE BEEPS SOFTLY]

Dad?

[SNORES]

Hey.

It's the son who can't
seem to come through.

Well, it is true.

I can't get you a kidney by any moral

or legal means.

But, [SIGHS]

what if I could give
you a reason to live?

Huh.

You mean other than my wife and child?

Positive reinforcement

never has been your raison d'être.

No, you love power via destruction,

a motivation you have handed down to me

and could bestow on your daughter

if you live long enough.

Oh, she's meant for something better.

Oh, I have no doubt.

But the chance to be in the game,

to f*ck with someone else's power

and take it for yourself,

you can't deny that would feel good.

Especially if that power was
coming from Bobby Axelrod.

I would enjoy seeing him squirm.

Better yet, you would be the reason

for said squirming.

He just got himself a bank.

And the bank requires a trustee.

Someone with the power
to t*rture his every decision,

to turn the thing he wants so badly

into a cilice

that he can't take off.

Someone with experience in banking,

committed to making
Axelrod so uncomfortable

he rips at his own skin.

That's a job for a fighter.

Man with something left in the t*nk.

I could yank his puppet strings.

Oh, yes, you could.

[HORNS HONKING]

Scooter.

I just happened to be in
your neighborhood grocer.

That's hard to believe.

Nothing is hard to believe

if you have the will to make it happen.

Wait, that's not one of...

Yes. It certainly is.

I'm wondering if we can
file the insurance claim

on the spoiled merchandise
directly with Prince.

You know, since you tools

bought into that shipping company.

Oh, you should try one of these.

f*cking delicious.

Freezer case is full of 'em.

Your LLC office in Delaware
is a literal post office box.

Our bank is real, though.

I imagine you want it to be.

[INHALES] What's the problem

that brought you all this way north?

Some things have changed.

In my honest assessment of your past,

I've come to believe that
you require oversight.

A trustee to look after
consumer finance protection.

Someone you'll need
to run every move by.

Every move?

Pretty much.

And if we refuse?

I cancel your certificate of formation.

Do we get to see a shortlist?

[CLICKS TONGUE, INHALES]

[SCOFFS]

That is a short f*cking list.

Charles Rhoades Senior has
been selected and approved.

We'll appeal this decision.
I'll sue you.

Oh, I imagine you will.

[INHALES] Well,
I guess I will see you across

a courtroom to hash this out...

in months to two years,

when the case finally
comes up for trial.

In the meantime,

please see that Mr. Rhoades is welcome.

Gentlemen.

[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES]

I need Wendy's research,

what she was working on
in the employee records

when Spyros ratted her out.

You reorienting where you work?

Reorienting.

That's a word for it.

Another word for it is
shutting it the f*ck down.

Try using a word or two
that'll make sense to me.

Axe. Used his black magic to
get my commission squashed.

One thing I can't stand
is getting f*cked with.

Is it all bad though?

Give you back your freedom.

You can just paint like you used to.

Yeah, I had that for a long time.

This was something new.

- I kind of liked it.
- You think you did.

But I saw the look in your eye
when you were painting that

and it lit me up.

Because that was you in it for yourself.

Did you know Axe was gonna do this?

Oh, wait a minute.

Was... Was this your f*ckin' idea?

No.

Not my suggestion.

But we did have a conversation about it

and he thought it'd be... helpful.

Wow. sh*t.

You trying to help me,

or are you trying to help me stay broke?

You have a personal relationship
with every painting.

A f*cking love affair.

Or you do with the good ones.

Oh, good ones.

And you know the difference?

I know the difference in you.

I saw the way you were looking at me

when I was makin' that painting.

It was like a f*cking show pony.

Like an artist.

Yeah. [SCOFFS]

Your idea of an artist.

Someone that you can control

because he has no resources of his own.

That's the last thing I want to do.

Good. Because after emptying my pockets,

Axe has no more control over me.

Because this is the last
painting that I owe him.

Well then I helped you
get free, didn't I?

Nah. No, you didn't.

You helped me realize
that I was never free.

I'm a grown man. I decide what I need.

I decide when I need it.

- If you say so.
- Yeah, I do.

I also need a girl who says,

"Of course you do," when I say,

"I don't know if I'm done."

Not some f*ckin' seminar.

Yeah.

Your problem is you need a girl.

[CANVAS RIPS]

[TANNER GRUNTS]

In case you're still not sure
when something's finished,

this f*ckin' is.

♪ In the summer that I was baptized ♪

♪ My father held me to his side ♪

♪ As they put me to the water ♪

♪ He said how on that day I cried ♪

♪ We were prisoners of love ♪

♪ A love in chains ♪

♪ He was standin' in the door ♪

♪ I was standin' in the rain ♪

♪ With the same hot blood ♪

♪ Burning in our veins ♪

♪ Adam raised a Cain ♪

♪ Adam raised a Cain... ♪

The security guys say he left
an hour after Wendy did.

They heard shouting and banging

and when they checked it out,
this is what they found.

You get the place cleaned up
so I can sell it.

We gonna list it as the former
art studio of Nico Tanner?

[SCOFFS] I don't give a sh*t.

Have that packed,
brought to the office and hung.

As what? A cautionary tale?

That's a real Tanner original.

Filled with raw emotion.

♪ They fit you with position ♪

♪ And the keys
to your daddy's Cadillac ♪

♪ In the darkness of your room ♪

♪ Your mother calls you
by your true name ♪

♪ You remember the faces ♪

♪ The places, the names ♪

♪ You know it's never over ♪

♪ It's relentless as the rain ♪

♪ Adam raised a Cain ♪

♪ Adam raised a Cain ♪

♪ Adam raised a Cain ♪

♪ Adam raised a Cain ♪

Hi.

Hello.

This is, um,
a laptops closed sort of thing.

Okay.

We keep doing this.

I think this might be the last time

if that makes you feel any better.

I get the sense that it won't.

I spent all night doing the math

on the amount of money we lost.

It was wildly stupid.

Worse, we damaged entire sectors,

companies that were going to

spin off into petrochemical disruptors,

that were going to create
new battery technology.

I told you there'd be sacrifices.

Yeah, but I'm not sure
I can keep doing that.

Rian, give me some time.

I know how to fix this.

How?

I can't say right now. Just trust me.

If I see myself in you then
you see yourself in me, right?

And you know you would
be able to solve this.

Yeah, I guess I follow that.

So trust me.

Okay.

For now.

Okay.

[KNOCKS]

Hmm.

We have successfully
gotten my father named

the new trustee of Axe's bank.

He will have oversight,

full control to hold up
anything and everything

they want to do with the bank.

Access to every transaction.

A man on the inside.

Right.

We got what we wanted.

Except we didn't.

[CELL PHONE VIBRATING]

Roxanne?

Okay, okay, slow down.

That's great.

You get there as soon
as you can get back to the city.

I'm on my way.

Dad.

I just talked to Roxanne.

She says to give you a kiss for luck.

Ooh, give him a wet one. [CHUCKLES]

Nothing to worry about though.
Simple procedure.

I'd do it myself if I hadn't
lost my privileges here.

Yeah, see? I told you.

Now you get to live and
be my man on the inside.

[SENIOR] Uh-huh. That's true, Sonny.

But it may not work out
the way you think.

What do you mean, Dad?

Nice f*cking job
getting him up the list.

One month from now, these hospitals,

they're gonna be overrun
with that damn Chinese bug.

How'd you do it?

Me?

I was about to ask how you did it.

Dad? Dad.

He's been sedated.

[ORDERLY] Excuse me.

Wait a minute. You're the donor?

- But you're Axe's...
- Yes, I am.

His museum curator.

Heard from a friend
your pop was in need.

I signed right up. Looking to do

all my good deeds for a year

- right here.
- Sure you are.

[CHUCK] Axe stymied us
smooth as Bobby Jones,

and Senior's not our man anymore.

Axe delivered my father
something that at this moment

transcends even my familial bond.

He gave him life.

And so he became the son I couldn't be.

[SCOFFS]

My father is owned by him now.

Axe claims he's not an emotional player,

but he's all emotion.

I saw how much he was willing
to pour into a pizza business,

and that was just
for sentimental reasons.

He dumped his positions
in impact companies

just to hurt me,

even though he cost himself
maybe more than he cost me.

When he wants something,

he's blind to everything else.

And right now Axe wants
to gloat over my failures.

And probably make me fail some more.

We need to use that against him.

He has a new toy. A bank.

And now, thanks to us,
no speed limit on it,

nothing to stop him
from making mistakes.

Fatal ones.

The kind that put a man in prison.

I'm the bait,

and the bank is the trap.

[KNOCK AT DOOR]

How are we taking down Bobby Axelrod?

♪ I am a victim of the science age ♪

♪ A child of the storm ♪

♪ Whoa yes ♪

♪ I can't remember when I was your age ♪

♪ For me ♪

♪ Time's no more ♪

♪ No more ♪

♪ Nobody rules these
streets at night but me ♪

♪ The atomic punk! ♪

♪ Whoa yeah ♪

♪ Wow! ♪

♪ I am the ruler of these netherworlds ♪

♪ The underground ♪

♪ Whoa yes ♪

♪ On every wall and place
my fearsome name is heard ♪

♪ Just look around ♪

♪ Whoa yes ♪

♪ Nobody rules these
streets at night but me ♪

♪ The atomic punk! ♪

♪ Whoa yeah ♪

♪ Wow! ♪