Showtime's 'Billions' Episode 1: Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis, Maggie Siff Pilot Premiere Recap

Showtime airs the Season One premiere of the crime drama, Billions. In episode 1, the pilot, U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) finds himself in an epic battle of wits against hedge fund king, Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Damian Lewis).

During the night, Chuck is having rough sex with his dominatrix. In the morning, at his law offices, Chuck and Bryan Connerty (Toby Leonard Moore) hear about a corrupt and dirty hedge fund king. Because Bobby is a big name, if Chuck goes after him, without hard evidence, he loses his winning streak. The other problem is that Chuck's wife, Wendy (Maggie Siff) is Bobby's therapist and works for his employees.

Bobby meets with Wendy and tells him that he is planning on buying a beach house. Wendy warns he though if he does buy the building, it's all about ego. When Wendy tells him she's thinking about leaving, Bobby does his best to convince her to stay and wins. Wendy will stay out of loyalty to Bobby. 

Chuck and Bryan have a plan to setup Bobby. If Bobby buys the beach house, he is the bad guy and using his illegal funds. But if he doesn't, Chuck will admit that Bobby is actually a good guy. Chuck though has his problems to deal with when a reporter starts bashing him at a press conference. 

After a sudden visit from his former best friend, Bobby has a secret meeting with Hall (Terry Kinney). First, Bobby has to make friends with the reporter who bashed Chuck. Bobby's former best friend is actually a snitch for the FBI. If Bobby makes a bid for the beach house, Hall warns Bobby that an investigation will begin. Bobby also has doubts about Wendy too. 

While Bobby uses his charm to win over a reporter, Chuck has a private meeting with Chuck Rhoades, Sr. (Jeffrey DeMunn) and his friend. The father's friend is going to jail, pleasing with Bobby to lighten his sentence. With his father in the room, Chuck refuses to back down and promises to persecute him to the full extent.

During the night, Chuck gets news about his father's friend committing suicide. Chuck shows up at the office, stating he has no remorse and made the right choice. Chuck then meets with his father, who reveals it was all a setup. The father knew the press had to see his son as a someone hard and unforgiving against Wall Street. The problem is, when push comes to shove, whose side will Wendy be on?

At the panel of Steven Birch (Jerry O'Connell), Bobby and his associate Mike suddenly have a confrontation with Chuck and  Bryan. During their face-off, Mike threatens Bobby; he's coming after him. Bobby accepts the challenge and won't back down against him.  

Now living at the beach house, Bobby and Lara (Malin Akerman) are having fun with he kids. Bobby is ready to take on what's coming to him.

After a long day at work, Chuck returns home, sits down on the couch, and kisses his wife. It turns out Wendy is the dominatrix from the beginning.

Readers, what did you think of the pilot of Billions?