S02.E01: Risk Management

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

In the aftermath of their Season One confrontation, U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades and hedge fund king Bobby Axelrod are digging out of the wreckage. Chuck faces scrutiny from within his office and from the Attorney General. Axe refortifies Axe Capital, and weighs his options for retaliation. The fund wrestles with a precarious economic landscape that threatens the very existence of Axe Cap. Wendy entertains an offer from a rival hedge fund manager. Lara intervenes in an emergency at her children’s school.

[Marley]

I watched this ep a few days ago cause I randomly saw it in the on demand section. 

Anyways I liked the ep because I hate Rhodes and wanna see him go down. He just seems like such an entitled prick. 

It wasn't the most exciting ep tho. I wanna see some more Axe being rich and having fun. More excitement please!

Edited February 20, 2017 by Marley

[Chaos Theory]

I thought this was a good start to the season.  It's interesting that I like Axe a lot more then I like Rhodes but I think my favorite charcter is Wendy.  She deserves better then both these two assholes.  

[dwmarch]

I love this show, glad to have it back.

Wheels within wheels were glorious today. There is so much going on all over the place.

It pains me to have to ask and I'm afraid it might be true but... has it actually happened where school staff have refused to give a seizing student an epi pen because there was no nurse there? I assume this would be for liability reasons?

Although there was little to no action (in a show that has previously had fairly explicit sex and violence) I loved seeing the characters in action. Axe's monologue at the end was fun. I've made Homeland jokes before but in all honesty Damien Lewis does not remind me of Brody at all in this role and all in all I will probably remember the character of Axe far more than the character of Brody.

[truecrystal]

7 hours ago, dwmarch said:

It pains me to have to ask and I'm afraid it might be true but... has it actually happened where school staff have refused to give a seizing student an epi pen because there was no nurse there? I assume this would be for liability reasons?

Yes and yes. It's not uncommon for school districts to prohibit non-medical staff to administer drugs. I'm not as outraged by that as I am the fact that 1)school nurses are now the exception rather than the rule in schools; and 2)many school districts don't/can't even make epi-pens available.

On to the show, I'm only watching for Wendy and Axe and both Siff and Lewis returned to their previous fantastic forms. Giamatti also does a great job portraying Rhodes, but the character really just falls flat to me. I think I'm supposed to feel like he's complicated and edgy when really he's every smart entitled prick I've ever encountered. What makes PG's portrayal so good is that he totally leans into Rhodes' barely contained urge to literally whip it out to show he's got the biggest dick in the room.

I also still think that Malin Ackerman was woefully miscast, unfortunately.

[jvr]

3 minutes ago, truecrystal said:

I also still think that Malin Ackerman was woefully miscast, unfortunately.

I find myself wondering in all of her scenes whether the writers want me to like her or... ? I just don't get where she is coming from or what the character is really thinking. But you are right, it's not the writing... it's the acting.

[Bubbles1967]

1 hour ago, truecrystal said:

Yes and yes. It's not uncommon for school districts to prohibit non-medical staff to administer drugs. I'm not as outraged by that as I am the fact that 1)school nurses are now the exception rather than the rule in schools; and 2)many school districts don't/can't even make epi-pens available.

On to the show, I'm only watching for Wendy and Axe and both Siff and Lewis returned to their previous fantastic forms. Giamatti also does a great job portraying Rhodes, but the character really just falls flat to me. I think I'm supposed to feel like he's complicated and edgy when really he's every smart entitled prick I've ever encountered. What makes PG's portrayal so good is that he totally leans into Rhodes' barely contained urge to literally whip it out to show he's got the biggest dick in the room.

I also still think that Malin Ackerman was woefully miscast, unfortunately.

I agree with you about the characters. Love Axes and Wendy's interactions. I think somewhere along the he's going to get her to start treating him again on the sly. It's too good to stop.

i don't like Lara. She bugs me.

You knew Axe was going to go for the jugular with Chuck. It's going to be a blood bath.

The investigator makes my skin crawl but he's good, very good. I miss something though. What did he say to the other guy in the DAs office (can't remember his name) at the very end when they were outside? Something about making a call. To whom and for what? Looks like color drained from his face.

[roughing it]

2 hours ago, truecrystal said:

2)many school districts don't/can't even make epi-pens available

Lara got the epi-pen from the girl's backpack.

[jvr]

1 hour ago, roughing it said:

Lara got the epi-pen from the girl's backpack.

We know where she got the epi-pen from, @truecrystal is saying schools don't stock them. I saw a video once that talked about the controversy around epi-pens, I think there is one distributor (patent issue or something) that has jacked up the price sky high when it should cost pennies. Or that people are pushing buying them from this one distributor when you can get the same thing at pennies on the dollar from other providers, saw it a long time ago.

2 hours ago, Bubbles1967 said:

The investigator makes my skin crawl but he's good, very good. I miss something though. What did he say to the other guy in the DAs office (can't remember his name) at the very end when they were outside? Something about making a call. To whom and for what? Looks like color drained from his face.

He mentioned the Yonkers pizzeria where he (Bryan) had that meeting with Axe earlier. And then when confronting him later on the street he said the tip his office received to start the investigation on Rhoades came from Yonkers around the time of that meeting. He accused him of being the rat in the office, of knowing more than he is letting on.

2 hours ago, Bubbles1967 said:

Love Axes and Wendy's interactions. I think somewhere along the he's going to get her to start treating him again on the sly. It's too good to stop.

I love the relationship and interaction too but Wendy would be dumb to trust him, he showed her his true self, that he would turn on her in a second and ruin her life. 

What are we supposed to think about how the frat assholes treat that asian guy (Ben)? Is it a pecking order thing? Are they threatened by him? Or do they think he is a wimp and so they can mistreat him?

Edited February 20, 2017 by jvr

[Auntie Anxiety]

6 hours ago, jvr said:

I love the relationship and interaction too but Wendy would be dumb to trust him, he showed her his true self, that he would turn on her in a second and ruin her life. 

Binge watched the first season and the start of the second over the weekend and I think it's a fun cat and mouse type show (or Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote--I'm awaiting the Acme anvil). In any event, I never bought the Rhoades' marriage. Just can't see what would attract Wendy to Chuck. No matter how smart or accomplished he might be, underneath he's still a buffoon. Sort of brilliant, however, that the writer named her "Wendy," since she's had to take care of the lost boys (Bobby and Chuck).

[jvr]

8 minutes ago, Auntie Anxiety said:

In any event, I never bought the Rhoades' marriage. Just can't see what would attract Wendy to Chuck. No matter how smart or accomplished he might be, underneath he's still a buffoon.

We don't know how Wendy and Rhoades met right? Maybe it was mentioned and I missed it. Maybe they met at a fetish bdsm club, meaning the reason they got together and married was because of their shared sexual interest? The very first scene we get of them is them playing one of their dominatrix scenes. Of course basing an entire relationship around a fetish probably wont work, you actually have to like each other and have hared interest outside of the bedroom.

Edited February 21, 2017 by jvr

[Auntie Anxiety]

She's written to be a very smart psychiatrist who is self-aware to some degree (except for staying with Axe and his questionable practices all those years), so I would hope that she would need more than a mutual interest in S&M as a basis for marriage, although we really haven't been shown anything else. Regardless of one's opinion of Lara, at least she and Axe seem to enjoy each other's company.

[dwmarch]

1 hour ago, Auntie Anxiety said:

She's written to be a very smart psychiatrist who is self-aware to some degree (except for staying with Axe and his questionable practices all those years), so I would hope that she would need more than a mutual interest in S&M as a basis for marriage, although we really haven't been shown anything else. Regardless of one's opinion of Lara, at least she and Axe seem to enjoy each other's company.

Well FWIW and as I pointed out in one of the S1 episodes, letting someone put cigarettes out on your bare chest and walk all over you in spike heels... now that's love.

[CarolMK]

I read on the FB news feed about the new character Taylor, who identifies as neither male nor female. (Non-binary, I think is what is said). This character also says so directly to the first time they meet Axe, should be interesting. Wondering if Rhoades and Wendy will get back together, I'm rooting for them. And this time around I find Axe to be more intriguing and sympathetic than I did last season. Lara is great but the writers need to do a bit more with her character.

[StevedeMena]

14 hours ago, jvr said:

We know where she got the epi-pen from, @truecrystal is saying schools don't stock them. I saw a video once that talked about the controversy around epi-pens, I think there is one distributor (patent issue or something) that has jacked up the price sky high when it should cost pennies. Or that people are pushing buying them from this one distributor when you can get the same thing at pennies on the dollar from other providers, saw it a long time ago.

 

 

I wouldn't expect schools to stock prescription drugs. 

My 16 year old nephew has a severe peanut allergy (which travels through air).  He carries epi-pens with him (you use two, 15 minutes apart, and still call 911) as any kid should. They also brought a set to the school office & arranged for the cafeteria to be peanut free and for kids not to bring items from home with peanuts in them  

[StevedeMena]

I talked to my brother.  A severe allergy like this falls under federal Section 504 laws  

http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/section-504-2/

My bro:  "His epipen is in his backpack. All school staff trained...and it is in his Section 504 that any and all staff can do use it. His 504 requires all staff trained. Each school year I train teachers and Principal....they train rest of staff. But the hope is if needed he can do it himself."

[MV007]

The Axe/Wendy relationship is really great.  However, I'm always left wondering what the sexual dynamic is between them.  Have they fucked?  Are they going to fuck?  Trust me, I want nothing to do with an Axe/Wendy romantic relationship but clearly they have some sexual chemistry going on and I don't know if I want that thirst to be quenched or not.  With that said, I also kind of liked Axe's devotion to his wife, but she's also a witch so I don't care much about her or any potential aftermath his cheating would have.

I'm also interested in seeing Axe interact with the Androgynous genius.

Edited February 21, 2017 by MV007

[roughing it]

So it looks like Wags is going to go off the rails this season...???

[roughing it]

Quote

I want nothing to do with an Axe/Wendy romantic relationship but clearly they have some sexual chemistry going on

Clearly, Wendy is Axe's "work wife".  Their closeness is a little too close for a typical "working" relationship - Lara knows this and is uneasy with it.  Remember the "naked in the pool scene" last season.  I probably wouldn't be naked in a pool with my supervisor.  Just sayin.  I really hope they don't go there with Axe and Wendy either, but you can tell that Axe is having a hard time without Wendy there.

[Auntie Anxiety]

1 hour ago, roughing it said:

  Remember the "naked in the pool scene" last season.  I probably wouldn't be naked in a pool with my supervisor. 

I thought that Wendy was naked in the pool because Axe wanted to make sure she wasn't wearing a wire and she needed to prove to him that he could trust her. That's just how I read it but I've been known to be wrong before.

[roughing it]

Quote

I thought that Wendy was naked in the pool because Axe wanted to make sure she wasn't wearing a wire and she needed to prove to him that he could trust her.

Aw, come on, guys use that line all the time! ;) 

[Lemons]

On February 19, 2017 at 11:50 PM, Chaos Theory said:

I thought this was a good start to the season.  It's interesting that I like Axe a lot more then I like Rhodes but I think my favorite charcter is Wendy.  She deserves better then both these two assholes.  

I'm the exact opposite!  I like Rhodes and his staff. The Axle character is such a cliche of every Wall st character, even though they are in boring Westport, ct.  

Wendy is a miserable unhappy bitch. I hate the character. I wish they didn't make her character an MD. All I can think of is what a waste of a degree, especially when there is a shortage of psychiatrists in NYC.  I know it's just a show but it still bugs me.  

I know they are using a current thing in the news where a billionaire bankrolls a lawsuit to bring someone down for their own personal reasons,  but it is inconceivable that they would have close to that many legitimate complaints on Rhodes personally.   Did they say 128 of them?  

[roughing it]

I'm not a fan of Wendy either.  Or Chuck or Axe.  Or Lara.  Hmm, going to have to think about this.

[dmc]

On 2/21/2017 at 10:30 PM, Lemons said:

I'm the exact opposite!  I like Rhodes and his staff. The Axle character is such a cliche of every Wall st character, even though they are in boring Westport, ct.  

Wendy is a miserable unhappy bitch. I hate the character. I wish they didn't make her character an MD. All I can think of is what a waste of a degree, especially when there is a shortage of psychiatrists in NYC.  I know it's just a show but it still bugs me.  

I know they are using a current thing in the news where a billionaire bankrolls a lawsuit to bring someone down for their own personal reasons,  but it is inconceivable that they would have close to that many legitimate complaints on Rhodes personally.   Did they say 128 of them?  

its a class action suit...so other plaintiffs can join like that linked in suit

[Lemons]

3 minutes ago, dmc said:

its a class action suit...so other plaintiffs can join like that linked in suit

But they have to have similar complaints or they can't be joined.  I don't get what all those people think that Rhoades did to them.  Rhoades is a stand up guy for the most part. 

[dmc]

Just now, Lemons said:

But they have to have similar complaints or they can't be joined.  I don't get what all those people think that Rhoades did to them.  Rhoades is a stand up guy for the most part. 

yes similar complaints but doesn't mean they are true.  The point isn't the verdict but tarnishing Rhodes so the AG will let him go because they don't want to deal with it

[auntiemel]

On 2/20/2017 at 5:32 PM, jvr said:

We don't know how Wendy and Rhoades met right? Maybe it was mentioned and I missed it. Maybe they met at a fetish bdsm club, meaning the reason they got together and married was because of their shared sexual interest? The very first scene we get of them is them playing one of their dominatrix scenes. Of course basing an entire relationship around a fetish probably wont work, you actually have to like each other and have hared interest outside of the bedroom.

I don't remember if they've ever said how they met, but I do remember a piece of dialogue from Season 1 where it was mentioned that they jointly got into the S&M stuff to help keep Chuck "present" during the encounters. So....first came love, then came marriage, then came...cigarettes  and water sports? Yeah. With these two, I buy it. LOL.

[ShadowHunter]

I watched this show last season but found I didn't like some of the main characters.  I had to decide if I wanted to continue. Wendy is my favorite though.  Rhodes and Lara are the two I dislike the most. Axe is not a great person but I found myself rooting for him to beat Rhodes lol and I am not sure if that is the right reaction.

Rhodes is just so smug to me in many ways so is Axe but it just bothers me more with Rhodes and I am glad Wendy left and hope she doesn't go back to him. Lara is a great example of an actress being a miscast.

The Axe/Wendy relationship is really great though. The interactions between them have been the best thing about the show for me so far.  Axe to me is a an example of a patient who got attached to their therapist.  The show will probably not go that deep but still I am interested to see how things play out between them.

Edited February 26, 2017 by ShadowHunter

[auntiemel]

I think the thing about Lara is that I don't really buy her blue collar roots...and I somehow also don't buy her high-class-lady current situation? I just don't buy her, period. She somehow manages to embody neither of the things she's supposed to be balancing.

[PBSLover]

On 2/20/2017 at 10:52 AM, jvr said:

I love the relationship and interaction too but Wendy would be dumb to trust him, he showed her his true self, that he would turn on her in a second and ruin her life. 

I don’t think Axe would ruin Wendy.  I think he loves her.  Their conversation in her office showed what the two of them are really about.  He trusts her like no one else.  She knows everything about him and doesn’t judge...until she was forced to by her husband.  It does surprise me though that she still wants to work in hedge funds when she knows that most are probably walking a thin line of the law or even crossing it so....it's complicated!

On 2/20/2017 at 10:13 PM, CarolMK said:

Wondering if Rhoades and Wendy will get back together, I'm rooting for them.

I saw an interview with Maggie Siff and she made it sound like the marriage is done.

Edited March 5, 2017 by PBSLover

[jvr]

On 3/3/2017 at 4:59 PM, PBSLover said:

I don’t think Axe would ruin Wendy.  I think he loves her.

Last season, when he thought Wendy had betrayed him (when it was Rhoades that had betrayed his wife), his behavior looked a lot like 'I'm about to destroy everything you hold dear' to me.

[PBSLover]

2 hours ago, jvr said:

Last season, when he thought Wendy had betrayed him (when it was Rhoades that had betrayed his wife), his behavior looked a lot like 'I'm about to destroy everything you hold dear' to me.

Yes, but that was then.  Now that he knows that she wouldn’t/didn’t betray him he realizes what she is to him: the only senior colleague in his “office” he can truly trust. She knows him better than Wags, maybe even his wife.  He’s told her everything.

He betrayed her, not the other way around.

[ribboninthesky1]

On 2/21/2017 at 10:30 PM, Lemons said:

I'm the exact opposite!  I like Rhodes and his staff. The Axle character is such a cliche of every Wall st character, even though they are in boring Westport, ct.  

Way late, as I'm catching up on season 2, but same.  I don't think Paul Giamatti is a "likable" actor, but I tend to have a lot more sympathy for Chuck and his staff.  He may be arrogant, and going after Axlerod is almost entirely personal, but he's still on the right side of the law for me.  And he's also bound by the law in a way that Axe is not.  So I root for Chuck.  Plus, even though they're both leads, it's very evident that Axe is the protagonist, and in this context, it makes me want to see Chuck (or at least his office) win even more.  

As for Wendy and Chuck, I think the writers made a misstep with their marriage.  She was barely tolerant of him before the Danzig thing, and it felt to me she was looking for an excuse to end the marriage and save face.  Axe was as much her work hubby as she was his work wife, if not more so.  She's completely hostile to Chuck compared to Axe, despite the fact that Axe was willing to burn her to the ground when he thought she betrayed him.  It's pretty obvious that she never gave much of a damn about the criminal and unethical activities of Axe or the firm, but I thought Axe's ruthlessness towards her might have been a wake-up call.  But nope, she's still all, "I won't kick you out, just respect my wishes" while being pissy at Chuck calling her on the $5 million dollar "bonus" and implying he was mostly responsible for their marriage dissolution.  She's an utter fool for Axe, but the show is capitalizing on the actors' chemistry.              

[PBSLover]

4 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

Way late, as I'm catching up on season 2, but same.  I don't think Paul Giamatti is a "likable" actor, but I tend to have a lot more sympathy for Chuck and his staff.  He may be arrogant, and going after Axlerod is almost entirely personal, but he's still on the right side of the law for me.  And he's also bound by the law in a way that Axe is not.  So I root for Chuck.  Plus, even though they're both leads, it's very evident that Axe is the protagonist, and in this context, it makes me want to see Chuck (or at least his office) win even more.  

As for Wendy and Chuck, I think the writers made a misstep with their marriage.  She was barely tolerant of him before the Danzig thing, and it felt to me she was looking for an excuse to end the marriage and save face.  Axe was as much her work hubby as she was his work wife, if not more so.  She's completely hostile to Chuck compared to Axe, despite the fact that Axe was willing to burn her to the ground when he thought she betrayed him.  It's pretty obvious that she never gave much of a damn about the criminal and unethical activities of Axe or the firm, but I thought Axe's ruthlessness towards her might have been a wake-up call.  But nope, she's still all, "I won't kick you out, just respect my wishes" while being pissy at Chuck calling her on the $5 million dollar "bonus" and implying he was mostly responsible for their marriage dissolution.  She's an utter fool for Axe, but the show is capitalizing on the actors' chemistry.

Chuck has proved himself to be single-mindedly blinded by his hatred of Axe.  He was so in season 1 but has taken it to a new level this season.  I’m kind of no one’s side but, really?

[ribboninthesky1]

I can't speak for the rest of the season, so I was commenting on this episode.  Not sure what the "really?" is about. 

[PBSLover]

5 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

Not sure what the "really?" is about. 

I won’t comment until you watch the rest of the season.