Short Squeeze

**Short Squeeze** is the name of the fourth episode of the Season 1 of *Billions*. The episode was written by Young Il Kim and directed by James Foley.

## Plot Summary

Axe takes a spontaneous trip to see Metallica with his childhood friends and meets a woman who makes him face the limits of his own freedom. He also must fend off a short squeeze - an attack on one of his important holdings - led by Chuck's father. Back in New York, Chuck learns about the inner workings of Axe Capital, but he must also take action against his father for stock manipulation. Plus, Axe reckons with a betrayal and upon his return makes a momentous decision about the direction of his firm.

## Plot

Axe wakes up the middle of the night to come to the rescue of Mick Danzig who the police pickup for walking around outside visably drunk carrying an open bottle and an automatic weapon. Mick tells Axe he feels devoid of emotion nowadays and that he is struggling to find satisfaction in his job or anything. Axe warns Mick that while there won't be any record of his arrest, he will remember, and that he expects Mick to get it together now. At the same time, Wendy is dropping off Chuck to work and notices that Pete Decker, one of Axe Capital's former employees is heading into the Attorney General's office. Chuck makes no comment.

Inside, Bryan lays out details of the plea deal; Decker is to come clean on all illegal activities he and others engaged in as they relate to the securities industry and Axe Capital and in exchange he will get a felony 5k letter-reducing sentence. Decker lays out a flurry of information about Axe's persona, way of thinking, and how he acquires information. While others quickly become disinterested in hearing Decker sing this man's praises, Chuck pushes to hear more and desires to understand his enemy thoroughly.

Axe receives a call about an impromptu Metallica concert taking place in Quebec. He leaves Wags in charge and arranges a private jet to take him and some of his high school buddies (Eric, Ike, and Freddie) with him to enjoy the show and relive their glory days. While waiting at the tarmac for their last friend Freddie to show up, Pouch intercepts Axe and explains how he needs to get out of the Cross-Co position. Pouch is concerned about the appearance of a conflict of interest given that Axe has short positions on a distribution company that is strong and has a contract with YumTime. Now that Axe is on the board of YumTime, suddenly there are rumors that Cross-Co will lose their contract with YumTime, which is their biggest client. Axe says there is no paper trail and his position on the board comes with no explicit powers to influence such a deal. As Freddie arrives, Axe assures Pouch that they are both covered and will make a lot of money. With that, Axe leaves with Freddie and his other friends onto the private jet.

Chuck Sr. meets with Quincy while doing a round of golf. While Quincy is in Chuck Sr.'s pocket, he gets the benefits of learning what Farraday, who is in Bobby Axelrod's pocket, knows. Quincy tells Chuck Sr. that he has learned from his man Farraday that Bobby Axelrod is exposed on a short position with respect to a trucking company called Cross-Co. Salivating over this information, Chuck Sr. places a call to ready an attack.

Pouch tells Wags he just got off the phone with Roytan and they are upgrading Cross-Co. Trucking and CXC to a "strongbuy". With the stock now being speculated at a valuation of $90/share, Wags gets an alert that the companies are recalling shares to initiate a "buyback". Wags notifies Axe, who recognizes that the timing of it all means a "short squeeze" and that someone must have discovered their position. While Wags suggests cutting losses, Axelrod orders him to stay the course and to get Farraday on the phone. Bobby threatens Farraday over what will be a "$100-million-dollar fuck-up", but Farraday says his hands are tied and if Axe does not make the borrow on the stock by opening bell tomorrow, he will lose his entire position. Determined to still make this work, Axe tells Wags to find the top 10 shareholders of Cross-Co that are hedge funds.

Tara Mohr runs into Kate Sacker and asks questions regarding the latest plea deal meeting. Kate finds it interesting how inquisitive Tara is being, but Tara leaves before she can press the matter.

Axe has a sudden realization and notifies Wags that it is likely Chuck Sr. putting the squeeze on him. Wags says he has the information on the top 10 hedge fund shareholders that Axe wanted but warns Axe he won't be happy. Axe will have to break bread with Ken Malverne of Vista Verde, the guy he nearly lost the Flagship pension fund to. Garth Sykes, who is paying attention to the Cross-Co. development and is in charge of Flagship, is also nervous, but Axe tells Wags to handle it while he handles Ken.

Tara Mohr attempts to sneak into Chuck's office to learn more about the meeting, but while there, she is noticed by Kate. Noticing Tara rushing into the bathroom after appearing so suspicious, Kate follows her into the ladies' room and busts into the stall. After abruptly snatching her cellphone from her, Kate see's the name "Peter Decker" texted to an unknown number. Back at Chuck's office, he is upset over the personal betrayal but decides to use it to his advantage and instructs Tara to notify her contact (Hall) that she has "something big" for him and that they should meet in person. But Hall never makes the meeting, sensing something wrong while waiting at a distance, he chooses to leave.

At the venue, Axe meets Elise, one of the artists that will be leading the show into the main attraction, Metallica. While his friends hang out with groupies and enjoy free food/drinks, Elise makes it clear that she is very interested in Bobby. The attraction is interrupted by a phone call from Ken. Bobby explains he needs to borrow his shares to maintain the short position and offers 8%, but Ken says he is long on Cross-Co. and wants to protect himself. Ken says he will only do it for 25% of profits. Bobby hates the deal, but recognizing his back is to the wall, agrees to the terms. Bobby then meets Metallica to help take his mind of things.

Back at the Attorney General's office, Spyros pulls Chuck aside to ask him how he is gonna explain away the fact that his father, and possibly him, stand to profit from the trade Cross-Co. trade. Chuck assures Spyros that it is a blind trust, meaning he has no involvement, and that he stands to gain nothing from the trade anyway. Spyros considers this good news, but hands Chuck information confirming that his father is guilty of trading on insider information and that he should be aware a case can be made against the man. Chuck asks Spyros what he wants, and Spyros tells Chuck that he wants to be the one leading all press briefings and Chuck will give him respect at every interaction from here on out. After this meeting, Chuck speaks to Decker on how Axe handles short positions, Chuck calls his father and notifies him to say and do nothing until they meet face to face tomorrow.

During the Metallica concert, Bobby gets a call from Garth questioning his recent moves. Axe is fed up at this point and tells Garth that he should recognize the advantages of boldness like Garth's own grandfather who made a fortune in bourbon during Prohibition. Axe tells Garth to make if he's with him or not, but that he's tired of fielding the concerns that Garth talks about when he offers record returns unlike other funds. After the call, Axe speaks to Hall who provides him Pete Decker's name. While mulling over his next move at the bar, Elise joins Axe and they talk.

Chuck asks for direct evidence of the link between Bobby Axelrod and the insider trading that occured regarding Pepsum Pharmaceuticals, but Decker says he can't give it to him. Best he can do is suggest that its likely, but that there is no certainty, that the tip for the trade came from "Dollar Bill" Stearn, one of Axe Capital's employees and top performers.

Axe finds Freddie sitting alone back at the hotel and questions why he isn't partying with the others. Freddie confesses that he has eavesdropped on everything going on and decided to take a short position on Cross-Co. Trucking. Axe is upset why Freddie didn't just come to him so they could do this in a way that wouldn't blowback to either of them. Freddie admits he is in way over his head and is getting margin-calls now. Bobby asks Freddie how deep he's in for and Freddie says its $210,000. Axe questions if that's what their friendship is worth to him, then forward information to his people and tells Freddie that he's protected. Freddie is relieved but Axe decides to counsel him and explains he it takes a tough person to withstand the pressure when that person takes a short position. It's also important that the same person knows when to let go of a loser. Axe then calls it a night and tells Freddie to turn in and do the same.

Before joining Wendy in bed, Chuck tells Wendy that she was correct, she did see Pete Decker earlier that morning. Wendy accepts that Chuck couldn't share certain things with her regarding his cases, but that she shouldn't try to hide it from her. Instead he should just be honest that he cannot comment on it. Meanwhile, Axe lays in bed and is on a video-call with Lara who says she will stay up with him.

In the morning, Freddie awakens to find that Axe came through for him; YumTime Bakery has dropped Cross-Co. Trucking citing driver violations and negligence as the reason. This news has sent Cross-Co. on a downward spiral making all short positions, including Freddie's and Bobby's, very profitable. Freddie races downstairs to share his joy and finds that he's alone, save for the maids cleaning the place up. The others have left with Axe and are heading home on his private jet.

Chuck confronts his father about the insider trading. Chuck Sr. admits he made a play for vengeance against Axe to benefit the both of them, but Chuck believes he did it more as a means of revenge for what he did to his "side-piece" Evelyn. Chuck commands his father not to sell his position at a profit as it will gain the attention of the S.E.C and others. Chuck Sr. watches as the stock falls, but Chuck does not permit him to sell until it is clear that he is doing so at a modest loss. It is Chuck's belief that this will protect them from scrutiny, but Chuck Sr. counters that Axe made $15 million just now and they have nothing for all the trouble.

Axe still tender from Freddie's betrayal meets up with Wags, avoiding employee questions and pitches. Wags informs him that Garth has decided to stick with them after all. Axe watches Mick and recalls their earlier conversation when he picked him up from the police. He tells Wags that he wants to sell everything, but warns him to do it slowly, starting with telecommunication positions. The move will give the appearance that Bobby Axelrod is out of the game, but when Wags questions if it's just for show or if he is actually doing it, Axe just quietly leaves the office avoiding everyone again.

## Cast

### Starring

* Paul Giamatti as Chuck Rhoades
* Damian Lewis as Bobby Axelrod
* Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades
* Malin Åkerman as Lara Axelrod
* Toby Leonard Moore as Bryan Connerty
* David Costabile as Mike Wagner
* Condola Rashad as Kate Sacker

### Guest Starring

* Jeffrey DeMunn as Chuck Rhoades, Sr.
* Terry Kinney as Hall
* Scott Cohen as Pete Decker
* Susan Misner as Terri McCue
* Kerry Bishé as Elise
* Casey Siemaszko as Seids
* Stephen Kunken as Ari Spyros
* Noah Emmerich as Freddie Aquafino
* Nathan Darrow as Mick Danzig
* Annapurna Sriram as Tara Mohr
* John Ellison Conlee as Garth
* Dennis Boutsikaris as Kenneth Malverne
* Danny Mastrogiorgio as Eric Isaacson
* Michael Countryman

## Crew

* Created by & Executive Producers: Brian Koppelman, David Levien & Andrew Ross Sorkin
* Casting by: Allison Estrin
* Music by: Eskmo
* Edited by: Susan E. Morse
* Production Designer: Michael Shaw
* Director of Photography: Jake Polonsky
* Consulting Producer: Peter K. Blake
* Co-Producer: Wes Jones
* Producers: Perri Kipperman & Heidi Schreck
* Co-Executive Producers: Willie Reale & Amy Kaufman
* Written by: Young Il Kim
* Directed by: James Foley