'Billions' Season 5 Episode 12 Ending Explained: Bobby Axelrod's finally met his match

Will there be a new company in the offing from Axe? Or is there a new foe over the horizon?

PUBLISHED OCT 4, 2021

Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti in 'Billions' (Showtime)

This article contains spoilers for 'Billions' Season 5 Episode 12: 'No Direction Home'

'Billions' Season 5 came to a mute end of sorts and saw the downfall of Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) as he walked off with a win, but with still the sour taste of defeat in his mouth. The win was his freedom. The loss was just about everything else. 'No Direction Home' throws a major surprise by handing a defeat to Axe. And although he evades the arrest, he does lose the one person who was supposed to start life anew with him — Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff)

Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) was supposed to have the last laugh, but the smirk disappeared as quickly as it came. There was no Axe to arrest, and there was no AxeCap to shut down. Mike Prince (Corey Stoll) saw a perfect way out where he won. It was always a win-win suggestion for the tycoon and the fact that he took everything from Axe in exchange for his freedom made his win a lot sweeter.

'Billions' Season 5 Episode 8: Paul Giamatti's dramatic weight loss surprises fans

Dan Soder as Mafee, Kelly AuCoin as "Dollar" Bill Stearn, Sarah Stiles as Bonnie Barella and Louis Cancelmi as Victor in 'Billions' (Showtime)

'Billions' Season 5 Ending Explained

In a nutshell, Axe is a free man and is all set to start fresh again in Switzerland. AxeCap and everything he owns on the work front now belongs to Prince and he intends to run it the way he wants it to. Wendy and Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon) will presumably work with him, as does Wags (David Costabile). Dollar Bill Stern (Kelly AuCoin) and Mafee (Dan Soder) quit and intend to start their own gig, while the rest of the team stays back. Chuck realizes that it was Prince who leaked news of Axe's arrest and had a scheme up his sleeve that would just cuff the AG's hands.

From the storyline perspective, it's hard to see where the story goes. By the looks of it, we can expect Axe to bounce back stronger and harder, and perhaps have a competitor-cum-ally of sorts in Mike Prince, while Rhoades will surely find a loophole where he can hamstring Prince for what he considers to be a double-crossing move. Wendy's relationship with Axe looks complicated. Only time will tell if she indeed leaves this all behind and moves to Switzerland to be with him.

Mike Prince might have his hands full dealing with Wags and Scooter. The latter might be his trusted number two, but in Wags, he has an equally dependable fixer. How the two of them get along can perhaps be the other plotline in the upcoming season. The relationship between Chuck and his father might just get better with the old man finally telling his daughter that his son was a great man. The bigger question however is what of Axe? Will there be a new company in the offing? Or is there a new foe over the horizon?

'Billions' will return with Season 6 on Showtime.