S04.E07: Infinite Games

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Axe and Wendy plan a new attack against Taylor. A favor Chuck did turns out to be a liability. Taylor makes a difficult choice for the good of their company.

Original air date 2019.04.28

[scrb]

Axe is kind to the old pizza guy, though of course he did take advantage of his poor nephew or grandson with that city.

But the pizza guy didn't complain so as long as they completely submit to Bobby ...

So Bobby, with Wendy's big role, succeeded in making Taylor break with their father.

Taylor didn't sacrifice the finances of the firm to keep daddy Mason's project alive.  He was mildly bitter, accused them of choosing money over their bond.

Taylor didn't seem too anguished, once she sniffed out Wendy's duplicity. 

Like she'd ever leave Axe Cap.

Meanwhile, Chuck's putting himself in legal jeopardy left and right, skirting the law more than Bobby these days, all to placate Rhoads Sr., whom he confides to Wendy was and is a sexist pig.

Kind of strange that he hasn't told her before but also can't be news to Wendy the professional therapist.  Or is it?

He tried to explain his BDSM compulsion to having a loathsome father but it didn't stop Wendy from putting the house up for sale, without Chuck getting to have a say.

Wendy seems to become melancholic when she runs by herself in the big city at night.

If it was about what she did to Taylor, that's more anguish than Taylor themselves seems to have.

[EtheltoTillie]

 I just couldn’t believe Chuck never told that story to Wendy before. Also too much of a stemwinder expository monologue. 

Chuck is turning into Don Corleone. He’s reminding people that they will owe him favors. 

[dwmarch]

I thought the dog plot was silly but it was good way to showcase Chuck's unconventional uses of his new powers. But how likely is it that a person would shoot the neighbor's dog and then call up the guy who hooked them up with the gun permit? "Hey Chuck, what did you give me this thing for? You knew it was a bad idea!"

I think Wendy feels partly responsible for Taylor going off on their own and after getting told off decided to embrace the villain role. But as we have seen, while it might be easy to dismiss Taylor's opinion (as they were always a bit of an outsider even when they were at Axe Cap), getting told off by Maffee really hurt.

While I'm glad Taylor is intuitive enough to be waiting for Wendy to slip up and reveal that her intentions in these heart-to-heart talks aren't pure, the idea that Wendy would never leave Axe Cap shouldn't have been what gave it away. Wendy did leave before when Axe was being a jerk (and threatening to out her BDSM activities) and she had her own successful business for a while. I am pretty sure she even slept with an astronaut during that time, something she seems to have conveniently forgotten about in her ongoing vendetta against Chuck.

I have never been to NYC but I hope to visit someday if only to see all the places I'm familiar with from all the TV shows that take place there. But it seems to me like the only time the path under the Brooklyn Bridge would be desolate except for a single runner is when a TV show is filming there.

[Joimiaroxeu]

What was with all the Michael Clayton references? They trying to get Clooney to do a guest shot?

Didn't Taylor know that potential investor was Axe's girlfriend? Is that not public knowledge?

And that idiot Hard Bob just set himself to be blackmailed the next time Axe needs a patent-related favor.

AFAIC, Wendy needs to fall and fall hard.

[Lemons]

I felt so sad for Taylor.  Why do they all have such shitty fathers?

 Wendy’s pretty sanctimonious given she’s no better than Chuck.  She knows exactly how unethical Axe is with his illegal and increasingly cruel acts against anyone in his way.  She contributes to it equally. 

[Chaos Theory]

With all the truly mean and nasty men in the show it’s easy to forget that Wendy isn’t a particularly good person either.  This episode went a long way to show why she works for Axe and what she is capable of. I really liked her scenes with Taylor.

Edited April 29, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[Starchild]

Thank goodness for Mafee, one of the only relatable (read: human) characters on this show.

Wendy, do you actually still have a soul in there? You want redemption? The only thing that will work for me is you helping to take down Bobby. We'll let Connerty worry about the Rhoadeses (pere et fils).

[riverheightsnancy]

I hate Wendy. As a licensed professional (I am one as well), she is making ethical violations everywhere, and she should feel remorse and guilt. As a therapist, she should be debriefing with others. She should know this. I don't feel sorry for her. She used private client information to use against Taylor.  That is a straight up violation in my opinion. She is lucky that she doesn't lose her license to practice. 

[grommit2]

Geez...the writers appear to be exorcising their demons, or just seeing how demonic their characters can behave.
Why, oh why, does Wendy go after Taylor?  Is Wendy so twisted by Chuck (get it...ha!) that she needs to attack someone else?  Does she somehow need to prove she is more macho than everyone else?   Or is this just Wendy's turn in the barrel of depraved behavior.

And Chuck just continues to wander away from whichever direction his moral compass is pointing. Clearly, the man needs to get a hobby.  

And now Axe/Wendy have clobbered Taylor.  Well, Taylor did grab the Fireman's investment fund. So now Axe has to knee-jerk decapitate them.

So, someone tell me, what are the writers going for here?  Are they just being really not so clever in pointing out how the pursuit of gobs of money is just plain evil?  Ahhh...bring back the good old story lines of Axe, or one of his traders, pulling off some insider deal and making bags full of cash.  Make it rain, Dollar Bill!

[Chaos Theory]

I think everyone is trying waaaaay too hard to find relatable characters on this show.  There are none.   I actually really enjoyed Wendy in this Not because she was good or relatable  but because it showed why she survived in Axe Capital for all these years.  She is just as manipulative as everyone else.  That is why I come to this show.

I think Chuck try’s to manipulate Wendy with abuse stories from his childhood.  He pulls out a new one every time he doesn’t get his way or needs to apologize.  

Edited April 29, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[scrb]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

I think everyone is trying waaaaay too hard to find relatable characters on this show.  There are none.   I actually really enjoyed Wendy in this Not because she was god or relatable  but because it showed why she survived in Axe Capital for all these years.  She is just as manipulative as everyone else.  That is why I come to this show.

I think Chuck try’s to manipulate Wendy with abuse stories from his childhood.  He pulls out a new one every time he doesn’t get his way or needs to apologize.  

I disagree that Wendy's been the same manipulative character that she has shown herself to be this season.

She was seen as sympathetic.  Sure her ultimate goal was to get everyone at Axe to maximize their earnings but  she let Axe and Wags be the bad cops.

That is why many Axe Cap employees, not just Mafee, came to trust her.  That was true of Taylor as well.

If she was manipulative, she wouldn't express her anguish at the end of this episode after being called out by Mafee.

She was one of the sympathetic characters on this show, who stood for some kind of integrity when Chuck looked at her session notes or when she got into a dispute with Bobby and was off on her own for awhile and Bobby had to court her to come back.

So they're definitely burning this character, make her cross a line she hadn't before.  Will they try to get her back across the line or she's already gone now?

[car54]

I find myself wondering about the fact that for years on the show, Wendy was willing to participate in Chuck's need for kink UNTIL it was public, and now seeing what he was doing to himself to be able to keep functioning without it--she shut it down.    I'm sure she did it to help him keep it safe and quiet.

I guess I wonder if he's any sicker or unacceptable now than before and I also wonder whether she has tried in the past to get him into therapy for it, or she just participated in it privately to keep him going.

It seems like she looked elsewhere more than once for sexual activity that was what she wanted.   I wonder if she ever tried to get him to get help so that they could have a more satisfying relationship in their marriage and he just refused?  Or did she just think he wouldn't do it.

Seems like for people who function as partners in public and in private in many ways, this part of their lives has been problematic for a long time.  I wonder if they were ever happy?

I also wonder if since Chuck's loss of status politically and having to re-build his power, he wants that punishment even more.    Sounds like Chuck Sr was a real dick to his wife and son.

My dad used to do something slightly less violent to my mother periodically and I remember how much I hated it....and him when he'd do it.

I also find it hard to imagine that in all their time together he never told her what his father used to do to them.

[Auntie Anxiety]

Since when has Stan Beeman been working for Axe? 

[Chaos Theory]

I think for Wendy the kink was just a little fun they had in the bedroom.  But for her it stayed there.   There was no earth shattering need for everyone to know her business and she resented Chuck telling everyone.   In essence for her it was like Chuck was bringing others into their bed without her consent.   A huge betrayal of trust for BDSM.

As for the pancake eater story I maintain that Chuck uses abuse stories as a way to manipulate Wendy.  It probably worked for a large portion of their marriage.   “look how bad my childhood was” as a way  to explain how big an asshole he was.  Look at the punchline of the story.  Dad says women needed to be dominant.  Which probably was a mistake in language for Chuck considering but also goes a long way in explaining why his father resents him.  Chuck often being submissive in the marriage and in sex.

[txhorns79]

On 4/28/2019 at 8:34 PM, Lemons said:

I felt so sad for Taylor.  Why do they all have such shitty fathers?

Seriously.  My heart did break a little for Taylor.  It's a horrible feeling to know that your parent is really only interested in having a relationship if they can get something out of it.  All the fathers on this show seem terrible. 

On 4/28/2019 at 2:53 PM, scrb said:

Meanwhile, Chuck's putting himself in legal jeopardy left and right, skirting the law more than Bobby these days, all to placate Rhoads Sr., whom he confides to Wendy was and is a sexist pig.

Isn't this a pattern with Chuck?  Didn't he and his father conspire to try to ruin Axe with that juice scandal in the second season?

[ladle]

I love the song "River" (and I'm glad they're finally using something by a female artist on this show!) but it seemed weirdly out of place to me in the context of this episode.  Is it supposed to be Christmastime in the world of the show? 

[grommit2]

On 4/30/2019 at 12:27 AM, Auntie Anxiety said:

Since when has Stan Beeman been working for Axe? 

Excellent question.  How did "The Americans" FBI agent become "family" with Axe? 
Agh...I'm so confused!

Ah Ha!  Noah Emmerich was in one 2016 episode in Season 1 as Freddie Aquafino.  This was the Metallica episode.  Was Noah/Freddy/Stan the guy who took a risk and got into deep financial doodoo?

Edited May 2, 2019 by grommit2

[Cutty]

So, Taylor’s fund was on the verge of collapse because the government was shutting down their dad’s side project? A $10B+ fund? How is that even remotely plausible? 

Pretty obvious that Chuck and Chuck Sr are playing Connerty with the wire tap. 

[grommit2]

I believe Taylor feared losing her biggest investor, the Firemen's pension fund.  Apparently that would have drained most of her fund's money.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 4/30/2019 at 12:27 AM, Auntie Anxiety said:

Since when has Stan Beeman been working for Axe? 

On 5/2/2019 at 12:19 AM, grommit2 said:

Excellent question.  How did "The Americans" FBI agent become "family" with Axe? 
Agh...I'm so confused!

Ah Ha!  Noah Emmerich was in one 2016 episode in Season 1 as Freddie Aquafino.  This was the Metallica episode.  Was Noah/Freddy/Stan the guy who took a risk and got into deep financial doodoo?

Not to mention Stan's boss, Agent Wolfe--losing his poor Belgian Malinois.

Peter Jacobson has also been appearing on NCIS: Los Angeles at the same time!

Now I'm getting nostalgic for my favorite show.  I wish The Americans could still be on and I had never seen it . . .

Edited May 3, 2019 by GussieK

[LibertarianSlut]

Is it an exercise in futility to ask why Chuck is not operating out of the state capitol in Albany?

And while I'm being crazy in thinking that someone might want to adhere to the real world, how did MaFie get onto the trading floor of Axe Cap?  Come on.  

Axe is so myopic and self-centered that he can't understand that an old man would want to retire to Florida just because Axe personally doesn't prefer that?  How did this man become a billionaire?  Bad writing.

If Mase Cap isn't going to serve a purpose other than being the moral yin to the immoral yang that is Axe Cap, I could do without it.  It has potential to be exhilarating with Samantha Mathis's character and the black woman (haven't learned their names yet), but it's been a non-starter so far for me, and there has been ample time for something to happen.

Are we actually done with Kevin Pollack and the family bullshit?  Oh, thank God.  I would rather have the Russian back, and I hate him.

For the first time, I'm not rooting for anyone on this show:  Axe, Wendy, Chuck, or Taylor.  I guess I want to see Sacker, Connerty and, to a lesser extent, Jeffcoat go down, but I don't care who goes down with them.

I guess I'll end on a positive note:  I'm starting to like Axe's girlfriend.  Like her a lot more than Lara.

[Lemons]

On 5/2/2019 at 12:30 AM, Cutty said:

So, Taylor’s fund was on the verge of collapse because the government was shutting down their dad’s side project? A $10B+ fund? How is that even remotely plausible? 

Pretty obvious that Chuck and Chuck Sr are playing Connerty with the wire tap. 

You think they're on to Connerty's wire tap?  I was thinking that Chuck would be brought down by it.