…or no deal?
Without breaking eye contact, she does.
So lets slow down a little bit and take a step back.
Credit: Jeff Neumann/Showtime
How exactly did we get here?
Lets start 72 hours earlier.
I suspect that may also have something to do with it.
(I like this thread theyve been weaving all season, Dollar Bills scrupulousness.)
Chuck tries to flip Dollar Bill, threatening him with jail if he doesnt turn on Axe.
Dollar Bill just stares Rhoades down.
That, after all, is how they nailed Pete Decker with his connection to his parents.
But seeing Rhoades brimming with anger also clues us in to the extent of his motivation.
Skilling got fourteen years for Enron, he tells Connerty.
Im going to beat that.
And by this office, Chuck Rhoades really means Chuck Rhoades.
It doesnt go well.
Theyre a nice break from all the snarling and frowning that dominates the hour.
He has a second family.
Only he doesnt he doubles down by sending an email to his wife that tells her everything.
Im Keyser Soze, motherfer, he tells Rhoades.
Later, Rhoades takes a meeting from a friend from the Attorney Generals office down in D.C. Theyre not telling him tonotgo through with his action theyre just telling to check that he gets it right.
So Chucks getting it from all sides.
Even his father, whoreallyhates Axelrod, takes Wendys side and tells Chuck to take a settlement with Axe.
Finally, Wendy sits him down and tries totherapyRhoades into settling.
He considers it but tells her that they have to come to him.
Thats the only way to move forward on the matter.
Behind closed doors, though, Axe is a sweaty, panicky mess.
Were fed, he tells Wendy in his office.
She, of course, is calmer and tries to talk him down from the ledge.
But what Axelrod is really questioning is Wendy herself, not her money.
So she replies in the most badass way that can only be handled by an actress like Maggie Siff.
You two just sniffed each other one day and decided you didnt like the smell.
So now you think you have to do this thing, but you dont.
It was an all-time great moment for both Wendy the character and for Siff the actress.
This only angers Axelrod even more.
This isnt about the law anymore Axe wants the moral victory.
He doesnt care about winning as much as he cares about Rhoadesnotwinning.
Lara has already awkwardly found out that her kids werent invited to another childs birthday party in Montauk.
But Axelrod wont budge.
I dont get on bended knee, Axe says.
Replies Lara, Thats fing stupid.
The Pool
And now, were back to Axe and Wendy in the water, naked.
So, with everyones attention in her possession, Wendy lays it all out for us.
Shes not there for Chuck, and shes not there for Axe.
Axe hears her and empathizes.
He doesnt want to see if fall apart, either.
After some thought, he decides to give in and take the deal.
Plus, a plea of guilt to conspiracy.
Basically, hed be a neutered dog but at least hed still be able to walk.
Interestingly, the same goes for Rhoades.
Hes not winning; hes just not losing.
Its like a scene written with Sorkin-Scorsese-Mamet-Fincher levels of masculine in there.
Chests start puffing, peacocks start peacocking.
The gloves are off now.
Only theres a twist: Rhoades finally decides that he will recuse himself from the case.
Its a daring move and a dangerous one.
If he gets caught, itll behisname that gets dragged through the mud, not Axelrods.
