Axe Invites the Devil Into His House
by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | May 20, 2018

Source: Showtime
Icebreaker
At the outset of “Icebreaker,” Chuck is in a strange spot. He’s not fighting for his life in Southern, or working to bring charges against an enemy. Rather, he’s in West Texas in the middle of the night. He’s come to see the Attorney General about the case against Jose Lugo, the kid who was nearly beaten to death by a prison guard before killing him in self-defense. It’s a case Chuck didn’t want to take, but he had no choice but to prosecute the kid on instructions from Attorney General Waylon “Jock” Jeffcoat. Now, Chuck finds himself in the back of a pickup truck, shooting a coyote that’s bothering Jock’s cattle herd. Out of place indeed, but an apt visual metaphor for the kill or be killed nature of this episode.
“Icebreaker” is packed to the brim with important, weighty decisions that all boil down to that question of killing or being killed. It’s an episode filled with decisions that seem to have a monumental impact on the character arcs of the season, and it all begins when Axe decides to take a meeting with an advisor who works for Grigor Andolov (John Malkovich, deliciously creepy as always), a Russian oil baron and oligarch who’s also a very dangerous man. He’s the kind of man whose reputation of violence precedes him. But, he also has a ton of money and influence, and what Axe needs is an icebreaker, a first investment that gets him back in the game and tells other investors that it’s safe to start letting Axe play with their money.
Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: Entertainment Weekly – May 20, 2018