Billions Spotlights Boomerang Employee Trend

Even with the seemingly endless amount of TV shows to watch, finding a series to view with one's significant other can sometimes prove a difficult task for a couple. After watching eight seasons of The Office together, it was challenging for me and my wife to find a show that fell somewhere in between Real Housewives of Orange County and Band of Brothers. There were several failed attempts to strike the correct balance. For example, after watching two full seasons of Breaking Bad, my wife informed me that the show had become too violent and we would not be continuing to watch it together. Similarly, after one depressing episode of A Handmaid's Tale, I decided the search must go on. Finally, we landed on Billions.

Billions is a Showtime series that features Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), the charismatic hedge fund manager of Axe Capital, and Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who is tasked with investigating Axe Capital for a myriad of shady activity. Chuck's wife, Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff), works as a motivational coach and psychologist at Axe Capital. Wendy loves her work and gets professional satisfaction in helping the employees at Axe Cap reach their full potential as investors.

As you may guess, Chuck's investigation into Wendy's company, and boss, puts a serious strain on their marital relationship and her work. At the end of the first season, the fierce battle between Bobby and Chuck came to a head, and Wendy's job got caught in the crosshairs. Specifically, in a rare moment of vulnerability during a therapy session, Bobby mentioned he paid off the police to protect one of his employees. The next day, Chuck added a bribery claim to his case against Bobby. Naturally, Bobby assumed Wendy sold him out by telling her husband about the incriminating and confidential information.

In reality, Chuck had surreptitiously accessed Wendy's therapy session notes and used them to build his case against Bobby. In retaliation, Bobby blackmailed Wendy by threatening to disclose lewd photos of her and her husband, who participate in Fifty Shades of Gray-esque activities throughout the show. In the finale of Season 1, Wendy quit her job. After her departure, she had brief stints of employment elsewhere. She was hired for speaking engagements, entertained the idea of working for other hedge funds, and even hung out her own shingle for a short period of time. Ultimately, though, the show was more...