Flashback to "Billions": Everything is allowed in love, politics and war (2023)

There's quite a bit of uncertainty in the air at Mike Prince Capital as this week's episode "Succession" begins. There are two reasons for all the bad vibes going around. First, Wendy (Maggie Siff) left a copy of her book manuscript on every desk. No one knew she wrote that book called Rewards of the Ruthless: How I Make Wall Street Killers, so it's shocking and unsettling to see herself as a "character" in her book. They all worry about what this would mean for them should it be released, and they feel betrayed by Wendy, who they thought they could confide in with some of their more intimate thoughts.

Second, Mike Prince (Corey Stoll) has proposed holding a meeting at which he will announce a successor to take over Mike Prince Capital and make an official decision if a successor is ever needed. Everyone is starting to wonder who it could be - Spyros, of course, assumes he's the guy who gets the gig, although Scooter (Daniel Breaker) and Prince definitely tell him he doesn't stand a chance - and Prince lets them Tension rise for a while. Then he makes it clear. It will be either Philip (Toney Goins) or Taylor (Asian Kate Dillon), and this announcement only inflames their already long-simmering feud.

As Taylor and Philip share their respective visions for MPC with their peers, Taylor takes a clinical, data-driven approach while Philip tries to woo her with an evening out, Prince once again finds himself in Chucks (Paul Giamatti) Crosshairs. After Chuck's removal as New York Attorney General, Scooter and Prince try to smooth things over and come to Chuck with a folder full of jobs he can take, all at one of Prince's many companies. However, he has no interest in going soft into the night, not when Prince is involved. Instead, Chuck picks himself up and launches another attack.

This time, Chuck is about Prince's reputation and hypocrisy. He manages to park a truck in front of Prince's house. It's one of those trucks with a huge LED display on the side, and it has a ticker that counts Prince's fortune in real time. Insisting that you're a man of the people fighting for Americans who are really struggling is a little difficult when there's a truck parked in front of your house listing your fortune of more than $16 billion .

This move by Chuck is intended to derail one of Prince's next moves, which is to implement a universal basic income (he wants to call it Mike's Money) across New York. Once again, Dave (Sakina Jaffrey) doesn't see why it's a good idea to fight this at first, but Chuck eventually convinces her that allowing a man of Prince's wealth to walk around like some sort of modern-day Robin Hood is obscene. Sure, UBI is nice, but that doesn't get to the root of the problem, which is a system that allows men like Prince to amass such wealth in the first place.

In the end, Prince doesn't really seem to care that much about Mike Money being sabotaged. He keeps thinking ahead. He meets with Chinese government officials to discuss an infrastructure deal Wags (David Constabile) has drafted ("free money," he guarantees), but instead of accepting the deal, he flatly refuses to work with any government complicit in human rights abuses.

This encounter is leaked to the media and Chuck, Dave and everyone at MPC wonder what Mike Prince is up to. Why look for a successor now? Why is he spreading ideas like Mike Money and calling for support from Andrew Yang? Why publicly display insulting the Chinese government? Why does Prince own companies across the country, some of which are clearly unprofitable?

Then everything clicks. Dave and Chuck realize what's going on, and Wags, angry about the situation in China, is brought into Prince's inner circle along with Scooter. Mike Prince is preparing to run for President of the United States in 2028. The man who recently admitted to Wendy that he craves power is now aiming for the most powerful position in the country, and Chuck is horrified.billionis clearly getting bigger and bolder with the season finale around the corner, and Chuck and Prince are far from done with each other.

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