Axe faces off against a rival hedge manager in "Dead Cat Bounce," the third episode of "Billions" Season 1. Meanwhile, Chuck sends this team to search for a high-profile case he can work on.

According to Vulture, in "Dead Cat Bounce" Chuck Roades (Paul Giamatti) struggles and Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Damian Lewis) dominates. Three episodes into the second season and "Billions" "isn't just returning to the characters we know, but really defining the world around them."

Casting is one of the strong points of "Billions," and one character who is already making his mark is Todd Krakow (Danny Strong). Todd is Axe's "professional rival," and the latter is out to get Todd after he approaches Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff) in an effort to get her on his team.

The episode opens with a panel where Axe and Todd face each other. The two are moderated by Lawrence Boyd (Eric Bogosian), another colleague. Axe "destroys" Todd, and Lawrence likes him to Ric Flair, "one of the wrestling icons that everyone loved to hate."

On the other hand, Ira (Ben Shenkman) is giving Chuck legal counsel. The Justice Department is letting Chuck fend for himself, and he is supposed to go to D.C. in three days, maybe to "get fired by the attorney general herself." Ira tells Chuck to prove his worth by showing them his loyalty and targeting on one of the Attorney General's enemies so "she'll have to keep him on to finish the case, or set up his replacement for failure."

Chuck urges his "team of AUSA's" to find him a case he can work on, and Mafee (Dan Soder) introduces Axe to Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon). Upon their introduction, Taylor informs them that their pronouns are "they, theirs, and them."

It is then revealed that Todd is making use of "satellite images from China to monitor a factory in the Pearl River Delta, and that the information he got from those images was faulty." They then make up their minds to publicly destroy Todd.

Chuck Sr. (Jeffrey Dunn) then approaches Wendy. It is then revealed that instead of being there because of "his son or daughter-in-law's emotional well-being," his priority is the family name. Wendy is also being questioned by OIiver Dake (Christopher Dake) over a $5 million bonus, which looks like a bribe.

Oliver "also knows Chuck Rhoades never really recused himself from the Axe Capital case." He then gets in touch with Bryan (Toby Leonard Moore) to tell him that either Bryan confirms what he knows or Oliver will tell everyone about "his meeting with Axe."

During Wendy's interrogation, Dr. Gus (Marc Kudisch) is introduced, per Refinery29. Unlike Wendy who coaxes her patients into becoming better people, Gus "bullies them into trying harder." Now, Chuck plans to face a "big retail company" that the AG hates. Kate gives Chuck emails (provided by a whistleblower) that prove the company isn't doing well by its employees.

But the AG won't stand for it, and Kate tells Chuck to "go after Spartan-Ives." Chuck then asks Ari to contact a journalist and tell them that the SEC is not going after Spartan-Ives. The journalist gives Chuck the run-around, then Lawrence receives a troublesome call.

As Chuck meets the AG, she is mad at him because she can't fire him now because people will say that she's trying to protect Lawrence. But the episode doesn't end there. Lawrence, surprisingly, asks Axe to help him beat Chuck.