Billions Season 7 is right in the middle of its run, and the intensity of this financial thriller drama gets better by the minute. Chuck has to seek an unwanted alliance with Daevisha Mahar, Prince is trying to get endorsements left and right; meanwhile, Taylor, Wags, and Wendy conspire against him.
Meanwhile, Kate Sacker must try to mend things with an old colleague she and Chuck stabbed in the back to continue working with Prince. You have to love Billions and every aspect of it. It manages to surprise you, so I prepared a deep dive into this episode that marks the first part of the final season, with spoilers included, so readers beware.
Billions Season 7 Episode 5 Recap
This episode, titled “The Gulag Archipelago”, a title from a famous Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn book, takes a lot of metaphors from that masterpiece to tell a story. We kick things off with Ira getting his phone robbed. He goes to ask Chuck for help. As it turns out, Ira got a little kinky with his wife, and is worried that the videos he shows with her could leak.
Chuck says he’ll help, so he goes to the new NYPD police department official, Raul, a corrupt dude who was running a slush fund for the cops’s union with Bobby Axelrod back in the day; he offers an olive branch: The deal? A shot at CCTV trying to find the dude who robbed him.
Mike Prince is setting up a meeting with some rappers in search of endorsements. Meanwhile, the team at the hedge fund, captained by Taylor, is having trouble raising capital in a transparent way. Dollar Bill offers a helium futures contract play, a play that later gets spun into a start-up with massive returns. The catch?
Mike and Scooter are out of the grid on that meeting with the rapper, so, all deals upwards of half a billion dollars must be cleared by none other than Spyros, who does a great job at mocking the team that has made him a clown over the years, and Mike himself. The deal goes sour because Mike and Scooter are out of the grid, and while his campaign goes upwards, the money and opportunities vanish from the table.
Kate Sacker has a few skeletons in her closet. She tells Bradford Luke, the Prince campaign aid manager, that she has them, but the man shuns her and tells her that she has to figure it out by herself: What kind of skeleton? The Bryan Connerty kind, who’s out of jail and now works at a teppanyaki restaurant. Kate visits him and offers him a helping hand, but Connerty wants his law license back to get back on track. It won’t be easy, but Kate acquiesces.
Chuck gets a visit from AG Daevisha Mahar with a big ask: She wants to nail Prince, too but wants Chuck to collaborate from his desk with her desk. She has an ace under the sleeve, Ira’s phone. After getting Chuck to acquiesce to sideline Ira when it comes to Prince, she gives him the phone. Chuck gives Ira the phone and tells him that Prince is game over for him, but Ira remains loyal.
Billions Season 7 Episode 5 Ending Explained
Wendy continues to plot secretly against Mike, but she can’t seem to get Taylor on her side. And Taylor, always the slimy greedy person, decides to keep her d*ck wet —to quote Amy Winehouse in “Back To Black”— stays with the safe bet and sidelines with Prince gathering cash for him. Wendy has a dinner —with romantic undertones— with Bradford Luke. He wants to know about Mike Prince, and Wendy wants to get another bottle if he wants the whole tale.
After that dinner, she meets with Wags and Taylor, and it turns out, that Prince gave Wags the decision power, and Taylor had been playing it cool all along because Taylor wants to nail Prince, so, the play on losing billions was all part of the game. We’re left wondering what’s the next move as Taylor, Wags, and Wendy plan for Prince’s downfall from the inside because they don’t want him in the White House.
Also Read: Why Did Damian Lewis Leave Billions? What’s The New Future Of The Show
Billions Season 7 Episode 5 Review
This episode has a bit of it all: metaphors about the Gulag Archipelago: Isolation, deceit, desperation, and hopes of redemption. If you read that book, you’ll know it’s a sad one. Still, Wendy, Wags, and Taylor will bring Mike Prince down, as we saw in the debut episode when Prince attacks Wendy by smashing her glass door. We just don’t know yet.
Chuck needs an ally and doesn’t want to sacrifice Ira, so, he chooses to patch things up with State AG Mahar. Meanwhile, Kate Sacker is resurrecting Bryan Connerty, and that might come with a big bang because Bryan was set up by Kate and Chuck, lost his license, and went to jail. Things continue to heat up.
Billions Season 7 Episode 6 Release Date
Billions Season 7 Episode 6 will be released by Showtime and broadcast by Paramount+ on Sunday, 17 September 2023, at 20:00 hrs Eastern Time, United States. Each episode lasts around one hour. In the following list, you’ll find the regional time release schedules for the show.
- Pacific Time, United States (PT): 17 September 2023, at 17:00 hrs (5:00 PM)
- Central Time, United States (CT): 17 September 2023, at 19:00 hrs (7:00 PM)
- Mountain Time, United States (MT): 17 September 2023, at 18:00 hrs (6:00 PM)
- Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST): 18 September 2023, at 10:00 hrs (10:00 AM)
- Sydney Time (Australia): 18 September 2023, at 10:00 hrs (10:00 AM)
- Melbourne Time (Australia): 18 September 2023, at 10:00 hrs (10:00 AM)
- Brisbane Time (Australia): 18 September 2023, at 09:00 hrs (9:00 AM)
- India Standard Time (IST): 18 September 2023, at 05:30 hrs (5:30 AM)
- United Kingdom Time (BST): 18 September 2023, at 01:00 hrs (1:00 AM, next day)
- Singapore Time (SGT): 18 September 2023, at 08:00 hrs (8:00 AM)
- Central Europe Standard Time (CEST): 18 September 2023, at 02:00 hrs (2:00 AM, next day)
- New Zealand Standard Time (NZST): 18 September 2023, at 12:00 hrs (12:00 PM, next day)
Billions Season 7 Episode Guide
- Episode 1 “Tower of London” 13 August 2023
- Episode 2 “Original Siin” 20 August 2023
- Episode 3 “Winston Dick Energy” 27 August 2023
- Episode 4 “Hurricane Rosie” 3 September 2023
- Episode 5 “The Gulag Archipelago” 10 September 2023
- Episode 6 “The Man in the Olive Drab T-Shirt” 17 September 2023
- Episode 7 “DMV” 24 September 2023
- Episode 8 “The Owl” 1 October 2023
- Episode 9 “Game Theory Optimal” 8 October 2023
- Episode 10 “Enemies List” 15 October 2023
- Episode 11 “Axe Global” 22 October 2023
- Episode 12 “Admirals Fund” 29 October 2023
Where To Watch Billions?
Catch the new episodes of Billions via Showtime, its app, or its website at the times and dates described above. Billions is also distributed by Paramount+.
Also Read: How To Watch Billions Season 7 Episodes? Streaming Guide