Take this season for instance.
And yet, “Cold Storage” comes out of nowhere and absolutely knocks it out of the park.
But once he was destined to go toe to toe with Chuck, things had to change.
Christopher Saunders/SHOWTIME
The character needed to shift, and that takes time.
So, this season ended up being a whole lot of setup.
“Now what’s on the drive?”
she says as she points to a hard drive in front of Prince.
So how is he planning to fund the expensive UBI program that’s meant to launch his presidential bid?
It’s good PR, but Chuck isn’t convinced.
Something else has to be going on.
The drive from our cold open.
Prince has one of these drives stored at his companies in various states.
Through means that straddle the line of legality, Chuck gets his hands on one of the drives.
They’re high-end and super secure.
You get 10 attempts at the pin to enter the drive.
If those 10 guesses are incorrect, the drive bricks forever, the data gone.
In other words, tax fraud on amassivescale.
He doesn’t know that though.
Everyone goes to another room, where Chuck’s tech guy is waiting again.
He’s ready to try cracking every single drive all at once.
If he’s successful and there’s crypto on there, Prince is going to jail for tax fraud.
If he’s unsuccessful, Chuck is going to jail for breaking and entering and stealing Prince’s property.
Dave asks Prince if he’s sure he wants to go forward with this.
He says yes, and the process begins.
Three, four, five.
Eight failed guesses, nine failed guesses.
Now Kate is panicking.
Once again, he says he doesn’t have the codes.
The tenth and final guess fails, and all the drives are bricked.
Whatever was on there is gone forever.
Chuck can’t believe it.
Chuck’s carted off in cuffs, and Prince is free to leave.
As he’s on his way out, Dave watches him on the security cameras.
Dave smiles, knowing that they’ve dealt him a huge blow.
All of this sets the stage for next season.
“Drinks are on me.
That’s right, Chuck isn’t going anywhere.
Dave managed to finagle a warrant long before Chuck did his illegal digging, clearing him of any wrongdoing.
But, shewantedPrince to think that Chuck was being taken off the board.
Now, they can have an advantageous partnership.
“We’re going to work together to bring him down.
This is one hell of a finale, tense and engaging right from the jump.
It makes me excited for next season in a way that most of the previous episodes didn’t.
