S07.E07: DMV

[paigow]

Prince's latest play promises to enhance his political platform but puts Philip in a tough position. Chuck and Wendy face a family crisis as a consequence of Senior's poor judgement. Wags and Scooter team up to boost employee morale at Prince Cap.

[paigow]

Ben Kim WTF???!!! How could his risk tolerance become 0%????

[EtheltoTillie]

This was the best Billions episode in a long time!  Lots going on and it made sense.   I did not know who Douglas Coupland was and had to look it up.

Edited September 23, 2023 by EtheltoTillie

[aghst]

16 hours ago, paigow said:

Ben Kim WTF???!!! How could his risk tolerance become 0%????

Yeah OTOH, it’s dumb that they would extrapolate their trading strategies of employees who’ve been working in their jobs for years based on a single casino night.

Presumably they’d have evaluated them when MPC took over Axe’s company and decided which ones to keep.  Also they’d have fairly easy way to measure their job performances since they could easily see the results of all their trades.

I’m not sure I believe the self-healing concrete plot.  First of all, Prince buying all the patents to prevent the product from reaching market, usually patent suits happen after a product reaches market and has become successful.  No reason to bother unless something makes real money.

Also don’t think the govt. can confiscate or classify a privately-owned asset.  What is the national security implications of magical concrete?  Let’s say it was some sci-fi technology like something out of the movies.  Govt. can buy it from a private party but to just take it away?

Still the main point may be that this is Prince being evil, to get the money or because he thought it would help his candidacy.  He’s a shark and he’s strong arming the professor, a little guy who just wants to give a revolutionary product to mankind and also get richly compensated.

Yet it’s Wendy who sends Philip to Chuck who gets the govt. to confiscate the technology so she’s screwing over the professor just to deny Prince.

Nobody other than the professor or Philip understands the technology since they’re not scientists.  So how does Sacker know about the magical bacteria or Prince knows which patents to buy up?

Plus as rich as Prince is, they don’t know that this self-healing concrete will do everything the professor says.  Maybe when it’s used widely, it doesn’t work like the way it does in the lab.  So it would be speculative for Prince to buy up all those patents.

The story doesn’t pass the smell test.

The DMV plot, it’s not a surprise that Chuck and Wendy are lousy parents.  But the show never really featured their family life, mostly showed the kids as props.  So this story about Rhoads Sr. trying to bribe the DMV guy allowed these secondary characters to have some screen time, not just Rhoads Sr. with his dumb smirking face but Davey and the NYC DA whom Chuck has had dealings with previously.

[Dianaofthehunt]

I have no problem with kids as props. That’s as true of this show as it was for “Mad Men” or “Secession.” 

I watch adult television for the adults that are in it.

[ahpny]

On 9/24/2023 at 4:19 AM, aghst said:

Also don’t think the govt. can confiscate or classify a privately-owned asset.

They got much wrong about the patent stuff. A lot wrong.

First, its hard to see how better concrete can be a national security concern. That's the only basis for the US Government to take an interest in a patent application. see  https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/35/181.

Second, here, the guy seemingly already has his patent - though that's not completely clear. The government interest provision of the patent law largely speaks to taking over the application, so it's never published, never made public and never issues as a patent. Here, not only does it appear that the guy has one or more issued patents, but he boasts about making the information public outside of the patent process. This makes no sense and is inconsistent with the "national security" plot point.

Third, buying up closely related patents is indeed done by competing companies, but the degree of success of that enterprise is largely dependent on the strength and breath of the target patent(s). If this guy's patent(s) are strong, that type of effort could easily fail and not result in years-long litigation that would wreck his company.

[Bulldog]

I’ll admit I didn’t fully understand the concrete ploy. Chuck didn’t think either Prince or the professor should have the patent because they were focused on profit instead of using it for the good of mankind. So, he tips off the government who classifies it, making sure it is just sat on and not used for the good of mankind. 

[paigow]

11 hours ago, Bulldog said:

I’ll admit I didn’t fully understand the concrete ploy.

More like Chuck preventing Prince from using the concrete as an election promise.

[Joimiaroxeu]

I don't who this Rick Mahorn guy is Grandpa Attempted Bribery was talking about but Phi Slama Jama was the nickname given to the University of Houston's basketball team during the 1983 and 1984 seasons. Best I've been able to determine by some quick googling, Mahorn did not attend U of H; play for any pro, college, or high school basketball team in Houston; and, was not from Houston or any part of TX. So I'm at a loss to understand why the writers used his name instead of, say, Clyde Drexler. Cougars respresent! 😏

I'm not ready to call him evil but Prince is problematic to say the least. His whole mindset is that if he can afford to do or buy something then nothing should stop him no matter how unethical or immoral his motives are. Ugh.

[AAEBoiler]

Glad this show is ending. I hate every single person on this show. The only thing that would make this remotely pleasurable would be a "Family Guy" style cutaway for every inane pop culture/music/sports reference.