S05.E09: Implosion

[PrincessPurrsALot]

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As Prince spirals in the wake of a scandal, Axe looks to take his attack to the next level, putting Taylor's business in the crossfire. Chuck reckons with his failures and his father's mortality. Tanner struggles to finish his paintings, while Wendy worries the money may be getting to him.

Original air data 2021.09.12

[chocolatine]

If this show is trying to make people not want to be rich and/or influential, it's succeeding. Everyone is miserable and only focused on sticking it to someone else. At least the early seasons had glimpses of the characters doing things that they enjoy.

I think despite more and more people teaming up against Axe, he'll be his own downfall in the end. He's spending all of his time on pet projects (pizza) and petty rivalries (Mike Prince, Tanner) and losing a ton of money in the process. It's only a matter of time before his investors figure it out and leave.

[sheetmoss]

Curious, I wonder if those 'made in Italy' pizzas   will come   back to bite Axe in the ass  for  fraud?

[Chaos Theory]

I think the huge problem is that Axe’s  only real enjoyment is screwing people over.    He is not happy unless he has an enemy to destroy.   I do think it was kind of clever to have it be Axe responsible for saving Chuck’s father’s life.  It plants someone solely on his side now that Chuck, Taylor and Prince are teaming against him.  

I understand why Taylor his pissed.   They had to swallow a lot of pride already but to realize that Axe had no intention of taking them seriously or caring if they lost money or face is something that Taylor can’t abide by.   Taylor doesn’t care about battles they just want to make money.

And yes Prince is essentially right about Axe.  He is ruled by his emotions.  Saving a pizza place because it was a source of happiness as a child was a decent thing for him to do.  The problem is he is not above using the pizza place to screw over his latest enemy.   Just like he is not above screwing over his friends.   How long before he goes after Wendy his oldest friend?   He has screwed her over before but he has also helped her.  But her impending divorce might put Axe in a position to reek havoc on her life just to screw with Chuck.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Chaos Theory

[Blueeyedgirl]

 I'm still watching, but didn't there used to be redeeming qualities about at least the main characters?  I care most about interesting characters, but I no longer seem to seem anything redeeming about them.

Axe loved Lara and his boys, and everything was done for them (remember the panic room and "go bag"?).  This season he doesn't seem to care about the boys, except for the time he intervened ridiculously at the boarding school.  But there wasn't any warmth indicating he really loved that boy.

Wendy used to love her husband and care about Axe. Now she just has a super power of "knowing what makes EVERYONE tick".  But there are never moments of warmth.

Chuck loved Wendy, his kids... Now he is just out to get Axe.  At least his loves his father, and found a little bit of a conscience when it came to buying the kidney from the immigrant girl.  Still... he just is amoral all around.

Now no one loves anyone.  No one has the ability to intervene and appeal to anyone else's better angels.

Is the POV of the show that money corrupts absolutely?  Ugh.

 

[dwmarch]

I think Chuck and his dad are running a long con on Axe. Chuck knew Axe could solve his dad's kidney problem and he probably got his dad to agree to it beforehand. And in the process, they also canary-trapped Wendy, feeding information back to Axe so he would think it was his own idea. Having said that, Axe is not dumb so he's not going to do anything too outrageous in plain sight.

Last week I had been wondering if Axe forgot about Wendy. No, turns out he was just momentarily distracted. This week he trashes her relationship (which you can tell by him saying he was "just trying to help", there is no such thing in Axe-land even for Wendy) and gets the art he wanted - a Tanner original that shows real emotion and more importantly, that sketch. All the while living into his whole "what's the point of having fuck you money...?" Boss. Also letting Taylor have a moment of happiness before crushing it and using Mafee as the blunt instrument to do so. Damn, that was cold.

I think the pizza oven thing was weird. So Prince was able to convince a cargo ship to do donuts in the North Atlantic, threatening Axe's big day. Axe is able to bypass this by buying up enough ovens in the States to hit the deadline in time regardless. So there are enough authentic Italian pizza ovens just lying in surplus somewhere for this to work? And no major logistical hurdles to overcome? Just plug them in and go?

[Dminches]

That episode was just awful.  I guess the Delaware AG has nothing to do so he can just take meetings from billionaires and other AGs who are just looking to screw other people.  There used to be some depth to the characters and dialog.  The is no evidence of that anymore.

Now that Chuck and Wendy are done as a couple they have nothing left for Wendy to do or say.  What she does say is just a repeat of the same lines she has been delivering for 5 seasons now.

 

[aghst]

Pizza plot doesn’t pass the smell test.  No way there would be a profit in making frozen pizzas in Italy and shipping it to the US.

If he wanted to help out the old man financially, why not just give him the $10 million for the ovens?  Or buy a few more restaurants?

Instead he’s going to rely on what’s his name from The Wired to go into the frozen pizza business?  Italian pizzas are different than NY pizzas and ovens are different but wood-fired ovens are not that unique while NY pizza is linked with charcoal ovens.  Also some NY pizzerias tout the water.

In any event, seems ridiculous, hedge fund titans fighting over gourmet frozen pizza, which has to be a pretty small business relatively speaking.

I haven’t seen Frank Grillo in anything else but I just heard him interviewed where he talked about his diet and exercise regimen.  Seems to be the thing he’s known for, being ripped.

So he seems to be more of an actor  Bro than an actor.  Fitting because the Tanner character is kind of a painter Bro.  And Bobby and Rags are hedge fund Bros and the creators are producer or showrunner Bros.

If not for Wendy and Taylor, his show would be overpoweringly Bro-ish, though Wendy is also boss lady Bro at times.

And it appears Taylor is going to go vengeance Bro on Axe.  Connerty tried so hard to flip Taylor, he must be cursing in prison.

Of course they’re never going to take down Bobby, since he’s at least a co-lead if not the lead of the show.  But they have to build up for a big showdown among several main characters.

This isn’t the first time Axe has pissed people off or made enemies.  Why should this time be any different as he gets richer and richer, usually at other people’s expense?

Are we suppose to believe that Wendy carried that sketch Tanner did of her with her all times?  Unfolded?  Now the scrunched up sketch is a trophy for Bobby since he caused them to break up.  Because apparently, hunky fake Jackson Pollock is not the choice for Wendy if it’s between him and Bobby.

 

[l star]

The Delaware AG- nice to finally see someone with a sane reaction to Chuck's bullshit. Everyone should see him coming at this point and lock the door.

I finally liked Prince listening to him go off at that investor. I was just glad to see something finally get to him. I get that he's supposed to be good but characters need more than that. I appreciated the personality.

The mother was wrong- Prince is definitely better than Axe.

It's weird watching Wendy and Axe talk about Tanner. It's so awkward. It's weird seeing Axe seemingly genuinely try to help someone even though I know he has ulterior motives. I suppose it's mainly just the slightest bit of subtlety that seems so out of character for Axe.

How is Prince rationalizing this alliance with Chuck? How is this not lowering himself to Axe's level? I don't get his motivation unless it is as it seems- he wants revenge. But that doesn't exactly suit his saintly persona.

Chuck's speeches were really grating this ep.

Thank god Wendy finally came to her senses. Tanner should never have been more than a rebound. The line about needing a girl was perfect. Because he's not on your level, Wendy.

Getting Senior a kidney was a genius move. I'm surprised it took this long.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Axe is pals with Jay Z and calls him Shawn. Oh please.

That speech Prince made to the guy trying to pull his investment money was amazing. It was like the verbal equivalent of a shock wave.

Meh, I don't know what Prince hoped to accomplish by visiting his dead ex-partner's mother. If she's already thrown him under the bus she's already proven she gives no fcuks about him or his feelings. His doe eyes were for naught.

Way to go, Wendy. Tanner would've been better off if he'd never met you. No man will ever be good enough as long as you're using them as a substitute for Axe.

Taylor throwing in with Chuck and Prince. Okay, this might have some promise though Taylor's track record in that regard isn't great.

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I haven’t seen Frank Grillo in anything else but I just heard him interviewed where he talked about his diet and exercise regimen.  Seems to be the thing he’s known for, being ripped.

Yeah while everyone pretends not to notice how height-challenged he is. Nothing wrong with not being tall but when I see guys like him I tend to think they're overcompensating. Whatever, I've enjoyed the camera angle tricks this show was doing to try to make his shortness less noticeable.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Joimiaroxeu

[Dianaofthehunt]

I HATE ‘bros of any stripe. Bayonet them in the ‘nads, I say.

The bro-nads.