'Billions' Season 5: Why the Axelrod vs Chuck rivalry must stay despite the consequences and casualties
Some rivalries are here to stay — Michael Jordan vs Isiah Thomas, Marvel vs DC, Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed, Maverick vs Iceman. Goku vs Vegeta, and the debate about a clear winner rages on. And then there's Bobby f***ng Axelrod (Damian Lewis) and Chuck (Paul Giamatti) the man Rhoades. In the complex, yet a classy world of Showtime's 'Billions', the duo have had a rivalry that just doesn't seem to end. It's a classic. The emotions, raw and rage-filled, the mutual hate, the snicker when one gets one over the other, it's a battle of doing whatever it takes to win.
Axe has always been a tough customer and he's slick and smooth as ice. Axe Capital might be one of those places where he makes his moolah, but he's one of those people adept at covering his tracks and he does so without so much as leaving a paper trail. However, in Season 5, the man comes close to getting caught for tax fraud. It takes some last-minute engineered genius to get him out of trouble and Chuck, for all the frustration has to bow out.
Note that their rivalry comes with a heavy list of casualties. In the case of Season 5, it happens to be both people and profit. Starting off with Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff), perhaps the biggest casualty for being on Axe's side. And her problems are far from over. Her relationship with Nico Tanner (Frank Grillo) is on rough waters and well, that's to that. For Axe, the pummeling with Chuck cost him his personal life. Lara (Malin Akerman) was lied to and she's gone.
With Mike Prince (Corey Stoll) in the picture, Axe's adversary list had addition and the latter suffered a blow in the mid-season finale, 'The Limitless Sh*t'. Vigilantrix is a drug that dials senses to eleven and increases human productivity by leaps and bounds. Every member of Axe Cap and Taylor Mason Carbon pop a few and commit some intense and insane moves on trading that an already-high-on-the-red-pill Axe approves without a second thought. The move starts bleeding the money.
It does eventually take Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon) to knock some sense into Axe as he calls off the drug-driven move to make more money. Taylor salvages enough but gets on Axe's bad side after revealing the plan to work with Mike Prince on the tin project which has become a cause of stress across the Supply Chain honchos. Mike plays the longer game by putting an end to the operations and that drives Axe mad. So there it is, rage-filled rivalry coming with another blow— this time, from Mike and it's just more money.
Quite simply, this is one of those shows where taking sides is hard and the lines between good and bad are blurred. The casualties list is just set to grow over time. We won't be surprised if this costs one of them their sanity. At one stage in the seasons so far, the two bury the hatchet, albeit briefly, but that move saw mixed opinions from fans.
Ultimately, the point is the two are rivals and are as different as chalk and cheese. While some may say the two clubbed would be a powerhouse, the persona and the will to win without caring for the consequences make the rivalry fantastic and interesting. To sum up, the Axe vs Chuck rivalry is an integral part of 'Billions' and despite the consequences and the casualties, their fight is here to stay.
'Billions' Season 5 is available for streaming on the Showtime app.