From the Trader’s Desk: Billions S4E6 Maximum Recreational Depth – April 26, 2019

Trust No One

by Lady Trader | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | April 26, 2019

Yes I know the secret that’s within your mind
You think all the people who worship you are blind
You’re just like Big Brother, giving us your trust
And when you have played enough you’ll cast our souls into the dust
Who Are You? – Black Sabbath

Trust: firm belief in the reliability, truth or strength of someone or something

Happy Friday and it’s time for another view From the Trader’s Desk, and what this trader would short this week is trust. There is a lot of talk from this group of loyalty and trust – but that is all that it is, talk. And we all know that talk is cheap.

A little housekeeping before I get into my trust meter:

I have never heard of this organization Wags gets rejected from, Kappa Beta Phi so I have not a thing to add. It’s a secret society, so that explains it. However, I would love to see these titans of the financial world dressed in drag, because anyone who knows me knows that I love RuPaul’s Drag Race! I am anxious to see just how Wags gets his revenge! It will be one for the ages!

This week, everyone was double crossing, side-eyeing, or just plain Paranoid. Let’s rate our Big Three, shall we?

Taylor
Willing to Trust: 2 out of 5 (and will probably go to zero after Wendy’s plan is exposed!). Taylor wants to believe, but is more Scully than Mulder!

Trustworthy: 3 out of 5. Overall, I think Taylor is more true to their word than anyone else on Billions. That being said, devalue them, and watch your back!

Taylor wants to trust. Their Dad, Wendy, that man-boy Mafee (in Seasons 2 and 3, Axe). But, every time they do, it does not end well. It is most likely the reason they keep their emotions out of decisions. When your trust has been betrayed, it hurts. Taylor has been betrayed by people very close to them. People they let their guard down to. But instead of seeing the betrayal as a flaw in the person who perpetrated it, Taylor sees it as their flaw, and will compensate by leaving emotions out of things.

Taylor trusted Axe, so much so that they didn’t go to business school, so that Axe could be their mentor. They lied for Axe, was complicit in most of Axe’s schemes, and what did it get them? CIO in name only, and their relationship with Oscar used. Taylor realized that even though Axe had told them he trusted them in a way “I almost never trust anyone”, his actions were the exact opposite. Taylor does not trust Axe, but they do know him, and has been able to counter and/or predict his moves. In this case, not trusting Axe is actually an advantage to Taylor, as they will try and not get caught in his traps.

Taylor wants to trust their Dad, but if they really did, would they have gotten his old employee records? That shows the distrust in the relationship. The funding of his project is Taylor’s way of trying to bond with him, but it’s still a business transaction. Taylor won’t fund it, hence the need for partners. They don’t trust their Dad enough to go whole hog.

I think Taylor trusts Mafee and Sara. We know that trusting Mafee is a big mistake; not that he would purposely hurt Taylor, it’s just that he’s too naive, and too vulnerable to a woman batting her eyes at him. How he doesn’t get fired after this latest transgression, will be beyond me! Sara seems to have Taylor’s back at every turn. A true supporter and not just telling Taylor what they want to hear. But this is Billions, so sometimes things that look too good to be true, are.

Taylor and Wendy. Oh boy. These two could be such a great team together.

Read the rest of the original article at Fan Fun with Damian Lewis