S06.E01: Cannonade

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

Prince revamps the team in his image with mixed results, leading him to question if he wants to keep any of them at all. Chuck, clearing his head upstate, leads a crusade against a local blue blood. Meanwhile, Wags, Wendy and Taylor all try to wrap their heads around their new positions under Prince.

Original air date 2021.01.23

[SnapHappy]

So episode 1's surprise drop on Friday morning was......a surprise.  Annoys me when that happens, I had my Sunday arranged to accommodate my viewing, not my Saturday.  First world problems. 

Chuck in plaid flannel, on a tractor, is something I NEVER imagined seeing on this show.  I like his little farm.  And previous Chuck (McGill) faces off against current Chuck (Rhoades).  Nice.   And he loves a good fight.  Great showdown for the Bog Turtles!  

I'm crazy about Scooter. He's my fave so far.  And I want Bonnie to get hit by a bus, I absolutely hate her.  And she is NOT attractive. 

The Nimbus is very cool, Wags is lucky he had one and his new boss is completely Big Brother.  I'm glad he's staying. 

 Wendy is acting like a child, just like the rest.  Except Taylor's team. 

Prince is delicious.  I like his look, his voice, his vibe.  SO much better than Axe.  I wanted Axe to get hit by the same bus that takes out Bonnie. 

I really liked how Prince wound up the meeting.  Flipping the script was a great twist

I'm in

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by SnapHappy

[paigow]

All the movie quoting skipped over the obvious Jerry Maguire solution.

[chocolatine]

I wonder what was the meaning behind Taylor watching an old Bachelor In Paradise episode (the one where Ashley I. and Jared got engaged). It's a trashy reality show about cis-gender, mostly heterosexual people hooking up, hardly the demographic with which Taylor identifies.

I liked Wags's sly reference to Big's death by Peloton on And Just Like That. That's now two shows that I know of that had a character suffer a cardiac event during or immediately after a Peloton workout.

Why are the townspeople fooled by Chuck's anti-rich people posturing? Everyone knows that he's a trust fund baby.

I think Prince is just as morally bankrupt as Axe, he's just much better at pretending that he isn't. I want Taylor to take him down.

I hope we haven't seen the last of Dollar Bill and Mafee.

Edited January 23, 2022 by chocolatine

[paigow]

2 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Why are the townspeople fooled by Chuck's anti-rich people posturing? Every knows that he's a trust fund baby.

They hate the cannons more than any Chuck hypocrisy / shortcomings...

[SnapHappy]

6 hours ago, chocolatine said:

I wonder what was the meaning behind Taylor watching an old Bachelor In Paradise episode (the one where Ashley I. and Jared got engaged). It's a trashy reality show about cis-gender, mostly heterosexual people hooking up, hardly the demographic with which Taylor identifies.

She said last season that watching those shows let her turn her brain off & sleep.  *LOL*

Agree about Mafee, I loved him.  But I couldn't stand Bill, so he can stay gone with his 15 families. 

Also agree Prince is fundamentally as morally suspect as Axe, But we haven't seen all his moves yet, so he's a nice change from Axe, his predictable, knee-jerk, rage reactions and his invisible lips.  

[Broderbits]

13 hours ago, chocolatine said:

I think Prince is just as morally bankrupt as Axe, he's just much better at pretending that he isn't.

I don't think anyone could possibly be as morally bankrupt as Axe, but I don't think Prince is any kind of saint either. He's much more interesting to watch because the character is more nuanced and less "win at any cost" than Axe was written.

For me, it was a welcome relief to actually enjoy an episode without cringing. Looking forward to this season, at least until Chuck starts his bullshit again. And please less of Chuck Sr.! Jeffrey DeMunn is a wonderful actor but his character is too loathsome for words.

[paigow]

Prince lost his human shield by dumping Chuck Sr. Now Chuck Jr. can freely attack Prince.

[PsychoDrone]

Looking forward to see how this season plays out.  I do have to say one thing.  The IT/computer guy is a minor character, and he shows up minimally, but he looks absolutely ridiculous with that mustache.  It may be the point, but he looks like a teenager trying to make himself seem older or distinguished.  He's practically a stereotype and I can't take him seriously.

[txhorns79]

21 hours ago, chocolatine said:

I wonder what was the meaning behind Taylor watching an old Bachelor In Paradise episode (the one where Ashley I. and Jared got engaged). It's a trashy reality show about cis-gender, mostly heterosexual people hooking up, hardly the demographic with which Taylor identifies.

I just saw it as Taylor needing some mindless entertainment every now and then.

 

19 hours ago, paigow said:

They hate the cannons more than any Chuck hypocrisy / shortcomings...

Yeah, it's one of those "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" situations. 

[Starchild]

So they're going with an "eat the rich" / ESG theme this season?

The end was ridiculous, you just used the power of the people and the EPA to shut down the cannons, acted all superior about saving the bog turtles, and then...fired a cannon? Realistically, he should have been arrested for violating the TRO right there.

[Marley]

This show should’ve just ended last season. I found this so boring. Prince’s whole schtick is just too much. Seems so try hard.

Chuck? Meh who cares. Maybe he needs to actually investigate crimes instead of his usual bs.

I’m sure I’ll keep watching tho lol. Hate watching prob.

How often was that guy shooting off the cannons?

Edited January 25, 2022 by Marley

[dmc]

This episode was awful

also Chuck lost his purpose two seasons ago. Now he’s just an insecure person looking to screw anyone with more power than he perceives he has 

Prince is BORING.  Seriously he’s the most boring person alive 

Edited January 24, 2022 by dmc

[janeta]

7 hours ago, Marley said:

This show should’ve just ended last season. I found this so boring. Princes whole schtick just too much. Seems so try hard.

Chuck? Meh who cares. Maybe he needs to actually investigate crimes instead of his usual bs.

I’m sure I’ll keep watching tho tho lol. Hate watching prob.

How often was that guy shooting off the cannons?

Morning and evening. Every day.  Personally, if I'd bought a (no doubt) very expensive property next to someone like that, I'd have quietly put a contract out on him and been done with it.

[Carolina Girl]

Interesting that the compliance officer had a dozen of red flag trade boxes.  Uh, isn’t HE the guy who’s supposed to be the watchdog over that sort of thing?  

[ahpny]

20 minutes ago, Carolina Girl said:

Interesting that the compliance officer had a dozen of red flag trade boxes.  Uh, isn’t HE the guy who’s supposed to be the watchdog over that sort of thing?  

He's the guy who points out the problems, if and when asked, but he has no control over any real decisions. Others might deign to solicit his view on the sufficiency of some potential fix, but he would not decide whether or not to implement any particular fix. As Axe aptly pointed out back in the day, "Spiros has no game." Indeed, he's not a real player. Confusion might arise because he acts like he is a player. Of course, that he thinks he is a player when he actually isn't is the crux of numerous digs and jokes at his expense.

Edited January 24, 2022 by ahpny

[Joimiaroxeu]

Was that reference to Mr. Big a last minute addition? I noticed that they didn't show Wag's face when he said it. Poor widdle Peloton, getting piled on by all the shows. Maybe they flew too close to the sun. 😏

I was hoping the departure of Axe would also mean the end of Wendy's psychobabble. 😒 But at least Prince isn't lowkey panting after her like Axe was. Meanwhile, what was that foreshadowing at the beginning with her doing assembly line work? Does she have an "and other duties as assigned" line in her contract?

So Wags knows all the deep dirt about the staff. Big deal. If Prince fired them all then that knowledge would be worthless.

Dumping the investors seems like a fantasy move. Who would ever trust him again? Prince is really counting on the power of FOMO being greater than the power of simple greed.

Endangered bog turtles FTW. But it seems to me that guy could just find a way to introduce their natural predator into the environment.

[Broderbits]

2 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Dumping the investors seems like a fantasy move. Who would ever trust him again?

I don't think trust has much to do with it. At this level it's probably all past performance and having some leverage in case the hired help needs correction.

[dwmarch]

3 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Endangered bog turtles FTW. But it seems to me that guy could just find a way to introduce their natural predator into the environment.

The turtles were planted by Chuck and his friend who needed the research money. So even if he got rid of them Chuck would just drop more off.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

The turtles were planted by Chuck and his friend who needed the research money. So even if he got rid of them Chuck would just drop more off.

And the predators would eat them again. Seems to me whoever is in charge of such things could decide maybe that's not the particular place for bog turtles to be. Tigers are endangered too but I feel pretty confident that if they started showing up my town they'd be moved elsewhere or killed.

[Carolina Girl]

6 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Dumping the investors seems like a fantasy move. Who would ever trust him again? Prince is really counting on the power of FOMO being greater than the power of simple greed.

That's how Madoff hooked investors.  He'd tell them the "fund is full" and they'd chase after him, BEGGING him to take their money.  

[Marley]

9 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

I was hoping the departure of Axe would also mean the end of Wendy's psychobabble. 😒 But at least Prince isn't lowkey panting after her like Axe was. 

Oh just wait I’ll bet he starts having a crush on her any day now.

Altho who could tell if he did because the guy is so boring and just has annoying monotone exchanges with supposedly witty movie quotes inserted with his annoying sidekick all the time. Listening to them talk makes me wanna hit the hay lol.

[paigow]

10 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Was that reference to Mr. Big a last minute addition? I noticed that they didn't show Wag's face when he said it.

Yes. From NY Times

Billions filmed a scene involving a Peloton. But producers say they wrote and filmed their Peloton scene early last year, months before Mr. Big's onscreen death. The line of dialogue about Mr. Big was overdubbed only recently in postproduction.

[hoodooznoodooz]

I laughed at, “We were never strippers.”

[roughing it]

22 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Was that reference to Mr. Big a last minute addition?

What was the reference?  They throw out so many lines so quickly I always miss half of what is said.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

What was the reference?  They throw out so many lines so quickly I always miss half of what is said.

After the EMTs burst into his apartment and found him having a standing heart attack next to the Peloton, Wags later makes a triumphant reentry to the office after he's received treatment. He announces that he wasn't planning to go out like Mr. Big. There were some weird camera jumps away from his face as he said it and the line was clearly a voiceover.

Edited January 25, 2022 by Joimiaroxeu

[aghst]

Wags is probably worth high 8-figure or well into 9 figures.

So he's not going to have a personal trainer and some dedicated gym space?

They just plopped that big piece of exercise equipment into a regular living room looked like.

 

I think there would be low compliance with those rings.  People would take them off when not at work.  Even then it was suppose to be purely voluntary, though in some professions, a request for voluntary participation isn't really voluntary.  People read it as doing it so the boss doesn't notice that you didn't obey.

In any event, Prince and his right-hand man got nothing better to do than monitor the heart rates of employees?  They'd have some underling doing that and coming up with a nice executive summary of the data.

[chocolatine]

41 minutes ago, aghst said:

Wags is probably worth high 8-figure or well into 9 figures.

So he's not going to have a personal trainer and some dedicated gym space?

They just plopped that big piece of exercise equipment into a regular living room looked like.

Big on AJLT was similarly rich and had a Peloton in his walk-in closet. Peloton workouts can be streamed anytime, which is great for people with busy schedules. Even if someone has regularly scheduled personal training sessions a few times a week, the sessions on their own are not enough to stay fit, so there's always "homework" involved such as additional cardio. So the Peloton is (at least in theory) a good supplement to personal training (in practice it apparently causes heart attacks if premium cable shows are anything to go by).

[aghst]

OK good point, I've heard that Peloton people get addicted to the fad.

The other part of it is for the very rich to have privacy.  Don't they have cams showing their faces to others in the workout session?

 

[paigow]

On 1/24/2022 at 6:05 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

And the predators would eat them again. 

Chuck- game master- probably knows that the predator is also endangered. Checkmate.

[l star]

This had way too much Chuck on the farm bullshit. I’m admittedly not a Chuck fan but separating him into his own little kingdom did not help. The only part of it I liked was that Wendy refused to have any part in talking Chuck down. It’s bullshit that she even had to be asked. 

I’m optimistic about Prince. I liked him better here than I have yet. His right hand man is useless though. 

What was the point of the rings? Why did they care about everyone’s heart rate and quality of sleep?

I appreciated the animosity that Wendy and Taylor showed. Wendy in particular ended up in a really bad spot with all this. I wouldn’t want to be trapped working somewhere either, not to mention the emotional side of losing Axe. Taylor has a little more flexibility, but it’s still not great. It should take time for them to trust Prince. Wags too, but he’s in a different spot because he wants to be accepted. 

Prince’s big move certainly checked a lot of boxes. I don’t think it will mean much to the traders, but I don’t think he cares that much about them. On the other hand, it won points with Wendy, impressed Taylor’s crew, got rid of Senior and got the SEC off his back. It was risky, but that’s a lot of reward. 

I think my favorite moment was Wendy’s tiny freak out about Prince’s feet being on her couch and Prince trying to stay laying totally stretched out but hanging his feet off. 

[Lone Wolf]

On 1/25/2022 at 10:18 AM, roughing it said:

What was the reference?  They throw out so many lines so quickly I always miss half of what is said.

And even when you catch them, the writers are sometimes trying to be so tragically hip that that they're ridiculous, e.g., "Like Gere in 'Gent', I have no where else to go."  Classic Wags, but if I didn't watch TV with captions, that would've gone right over my head.  Not that it's Emmy-winning dialogue to being with...

White people problems, indeed.  I have a neighbor whose guests park in front of my house. I wonder how many drinks I'd need to buy and palms I could grease to get get my curb painted red.  There must be a Chuck somewhere in my town who can help me out.  Nice to see Saul Goodman's brother doing so well, but that plot line was silly, even for this show. The stereotypical angry mob had torches, but they forgot the pitchforks.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Lone Wolf

[paigow]

3 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

The stereotypical angry mob had torches, but they forgot the pitchforks.

Somebody had a scythe...

[AriAu]

Quote

Prince is BORING.  Seriously he’s the most boring person alive

I don't know about the most boring person alive, but the problem is that he is boring, which when you couple it with trading equities, which at it's core IS the most boring thing ever, the show is sometimes like watching paint dry.

The magic has been, beyond the incredible dialogue, that Bobby was an interesting character who somehow engendered great loyalty and respect and who had interesting business schemes beyond just trading equities like the pizza company. Prince has shown us none f that and the way he jagged around his own children, probably never will get that level of loyalty.

[paigow]

Prince has not tried to murder thousands of chickens or poison beverage factories yet... so he is boring

[The Solution]

Why didn't Chuck do proper research before buying a massive property like that to find out that the neighbor shot off cannons twice a day? What an entitled tittybaby. Die in a fire, Chuck!

[Ottis]

On 1/23/2022 at 1:24 AM, chocolatine said:

Why are the townspeople fooled by Chuck's anti-rich people posturing? Everyone knows that he's a trust fund baby.

Ok, this is the point that is rapidly souring me on the show. Does no one know who Chuck is? Did he buy that piece of land for his "sabbatical?" Couldn't have been cheap. He lives in fancy places in NYC, usually. Why is he suddenly a grass roots, anti-rich agitator?

Also? Simply having a billion dollars isn't a "crime against decency." How you got it, and what you do with it, determines that. The existence of a lot of money is not automatically unethical.

[Dianaofthehunt]

^ Nobody “simply” has a billion dollars. How did they get it? How many women did they underpay, how much wage-theft was committed by hoarding that amount of money?

This episode was, even visually, a breath of fresh air. So glad not to have to look at that red headed freak of nature. And Scooter’s pretty cool.

The scene with Prince and Chuck in rocking chairs on that country porch…a callback to Abe Lincoln and Gen. Grant in “Lincoln.”

Chuck McGill! The last time we saw him, he was engulfed in flames 🔥 

Edited August 8, 2023 by Dianaofthehunt

[Ottis]

18 hours ago, Dianaofthehunt said:

^ Nobody “simply” has a billion dollars. How did they get it? How many women did they underpay, how much wage-theft was committed by hoarding that amount of money?

Have to agree to disagree. The way you get a billion is, you first get a million. And you invest it. And you have a bull market. And you have emerging technologies, like the tech and internet boom. And you do research, and keep investing. And then people who know things start sharing what they know, legally if you want (it's not a crime to know public facts, the issue is most of the public doesn't know some facts are public). None of that means you did anything wrong. 

I don't know any billionaires (as far as I know), but I know people with a net worth over $100 million who are still investing. They didn't do anything wrong. They are smart, hard-working people.

On this show, there are characters who do bad things. Some of them seem to have started out more or less legit and then went bad. Others, like Prince, stole to get rich and now has to live with that. I get it. But to assume that people have done bad things just because they have a billion, no.

 

Edited August 9, 2023 by Ottis