Is there a point when traditions become too traditional?
While they can give people a sense of security or peace, they reach a point where the world has moved on too much for what they were predicated on to be relevant.
A crisis occurs when they try to catch up with the world, but other people have formed other traditions.
We will discuss everything that happened on Billions Season 7 Episode 8, so if you’re yet to get caught up, beware of spoilers.
Events of the hour were set almost exclusively in a retreat for influential people. The Owl was a regular gathering where men (until recently, and women) would let the animal in them roam free where no rules of proper society existed.
And if you hear somewhere where there are no rules, or they are barely enforced, you can always count on Chuck Senior to have some stake in it.
It was worth noting that none of our central characters were interested in the event since they rightfully deemed it archaic.
Chuck was comfortable fighting his fights in the forest of concrete, while Prince could not be bothered.
Life has a way of forcing someone’s hand, and it did so for Prince. Even if he was an independent candidate, there were some people Prince needed to get on his side, not because he wanted to, but because he needed to.
Bradford: Dunlop’s burning up the track ahead of us.
Prince: I’ll catch her in the National before that happens.
Bradford: You will. But if she gets the endorsement of George Pike the 4th, you won’t. Getting FaceTime with 4th is harder than following Bernie Mac at the Apollo.
Otherwise, they would go to his biggest competitor.
And like a shark who has smelled blood, Chuck was in pursuit despite showing no interest in the event earlier.
The Owl was … fascinating. From the moment Chuck Senior teased it, I knew it wouldn’t be your regular camp where rich men try an alternate lifestyle for a few days and then return to the comforts of their air-conditioned cars and houses with modern plumbing.
It was the opposite of what Ira expected. To take a piss in the bushes like a dog? Who does that?
One must admire Prince’s ability to multitask even when the tasks are not easy.
It takes a certain kind of man to put their feelings aside and help their wife (technically) save their risk-loving lovers right on the doors of the Chinese government.
Few people have a hold on Prince like Andy does. Andy was right there to pick up the pieces when Wendy destroyed Prince through anonymous feedback on Billions Season 7 Episode 6.
And if she can pick up the pieces, she can quite break him. When it comes to Andy, Prince has blinders. It is made worse by the fact that he needs her. He needs her badly.
The hallmark of the retreat was the debate between Dunlop and Prince, and the topic was nuclear weapons.
I’m sorry, but could the topic have been less juvenile? Seeing two grown and influential people discuss if they would “shoot it” as if they were in a philosophy class was ridiculous.
If a hostile nation-state were going to initiate, we knew they had planned to launch. I would be open to launching first to shut them down to save further carnage.
Prince
No wonder Prince was not interested in the event. It was almost humiliating to watch.
That whole event reeked of hypocrisy. Even The Fourth’s verbal diarrhea about democracy and how the people’s will was absent in politics sounded a bunch of nonsense.
What exactly were they doing in that place in the middle of nowhere? They were more or less choosing who the next president would be. Was that the will of the people? What is the obsession with the people’s will when the people usually make the worst choices?
Chuck left the retreat without enjoying a second of it. He didn’t play a fun game or convince The Fourth to throw away his support for Prince.
Yet another day passed with Prince raking in wins and Chuck leaving with his tail tucked behind his legs.
Chuck might never admit defeat to anyone, but accepting that he had no legal avenues to beat Prince was the closest he would ever come to doing it.
Paul Giamatti can have chemistry with a literal tree, but the scene with him and Corey Stoll outdoors while Chuck and Prince were taking a piss while potentially freezing their nuts off was powerful.
They say acting is reacting, and everyone shines with a great scene partner like Paul.
No progress was made in that short interaction. No minds were changed, and no stances were softened. It was one final payment of respect before the war came on full-fledged.
They said words to each other that they would never say in an office or public for fear that they would never live down the shame if someone heard.
Intrusive thoughts
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I purposely ignored the Wags’ plot point because what in the literal hell? I never expected Billions to nod in the direction of something like that fetish. I hope they plan to make a point with this because there’s no way.
Chelsea: I get it. I get you. It’s just so obvious; I’m surprised you didn’t catch up before.
Wags: Catch what?
Chelsea: Wendy says. It’s plain coprophagia. It’s all about debasement and feelings of being unworthy, grotesque, and then needing to be loved anyway. And for you, love needs to be expressed sexually with that kind of abandon. Almost as if I am absolutely out of control with lust. That I love you so much that even your shit tastes like chocolate to me. Because your shit is you, and I love you.
Wags: Fuck. That explanation just took me from javelin to overcooked macaroni noodle.
Chelsea: What?
Wags: Nothing ruins a magic trick more than knowing how it works.
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Did you wonder why they needed a whole new tree to carve the owl before you saw what happens to the owl after every retreat? Burning man? Talk about burning owl. It still seemed like a waste of a good tree that took decades to mature for it to be destroyed in a fraction of that time.
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Bradford is a pleasure to watch. He expresses fears and disappointment in a way that makes the intended recipient feel it.
Scooter: Thing of beauty.
Prince: I tell you the coverage of what I said at Teresa; I couldn’t have written it better myself.
Bradford: Sure, but guys, we can’t be handing out gold stars for some article that gets us a one-point increase.
The Owl was not a typical episode of Billions. It was neither good nor bad. Maybe more of one or the other.
I was unsure what to think of it, so I would love to hear your thoughts.
What do you think Chuck will do with the losses he’s sustained?
Hit the comments section with your theory.
Denis Kimathi is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on X.