In fact, in some ways those men have more than he does.
Then theres Chuck, who may have the grandest prize of all: Wendy.
Optimal Play sees Axe reckoning with both of those seemingly unreachable symbols of achievement.
Credit: Jeff Neumann/SHOWTIME
He wantsmore, ad infinitum.
He asks his dad to make vows to him, including never leaving him and getting Mommy back.
Wendy and Chuck are clearly in two different places right now, and I dont mean physically.
But back to the Alpha Cup, which is the major through line of this episode.
In fact, its a nice change of pace to seeBillionsfocused largely on a single set piece.
Here, the team has secured the help of a flight attendant to get some dirt on Boyd.
Oh yeah, thats the good stuff were looking for.
Thats all well and good, but any confrontation with Boyd seems a long way off.
For now, the focus is the Alpha Cup.
While Taylor reluctantly shows up to compete, Krakow comes with an ace up his sleeve: Wendy.
Sure enough, the ploy works.
Before long Axe has gone all in, losing to Krakow on a bold move that doesnt pan out.
Of course, Axe is neverreallydown and out.
Axe isnt so sure, though.
He sees something in Taylor.
All this posturing leads to one hell of a sequence to close out the game.
Its come down to Taylor and Krakow, and the latter thinks he has it in the bag.
Hes been on all night and thinks that Taylor is no match for him.
Wendy advises him against it, but he doesnt listen.
In that moment, Wendy realizes she herself was being played.
Krakow didnt care about her advice; he only brought her on to mess with Axe.
Its a huge mistake for Krakow.
Taylor confronts Axe, and here theres a parallel drawn between them and Wendy.
Taylor believes they were used, as Axe only wanted to break Krakow and show his weakness to Wendy.
For now, thats all this is: one big dick-swinging game.
Of course, Chuck is about to come for Boyd.
This is all a game for now, but it looks like things are about to get realverysoon.
