Billions pulls a great trick from the big bag of tricks available to entertainment. It puts on an episode with a discrete arc — a beginning, middle, end… rising tension, climax, and denouement. And it does it in each episode while also exploring deeply profound themes fit for feature length film. This show is entertaining, no doubt. But there are ways in which it isn’t “just” entertainment. Allow me, please, to explore a few of the ways Billions pulled it out for S2Ep3 “Optimal Play”, would you?
Author: JaniaJania
Billions on Showtime 2.02: Dead Cat Bounce
Continuing the rollicking cadence of win/loss and cat/mouse, Billions picks up the pace in an energetic Episode 2.
“Dead Cat Bounce” is  book-ended by a fake smile with handshake on one end and a sincere sneer and handshake on the other, going deeper exactly where we need it to go.
Axe is still a nervous cat, but a merry one, as he publically humiliates arch nemesis du jour, Todd Krakow, in the opening scene and continues throughout the episode to dig the claws deeper into the side of this twerp who tried to steal Wendy from him.
Continue reading “Billions on Showtime 2.02: Dead Cat Bounce”
Billions on Showtime 2.01: Risk Management
By now, you’ve seen Billions S2 opener, “Risk Management” and have probably read Damianista’s excellent episode recap. Now, from me, you’ll get some of the “emotional truth” in this episode.
Bobby is a spiral of disordered nervous energy. When he stands in front of his people, in what is ostensibly a morale building exercise, there’s a tension to him that wasn’t there when he climbed on top of file cabinets last season and mobilized the minions to batten down the hatches when he first found out he was under investigation. This time, it seems to be a combination of him standing in the dark in front of a lit but otherwise blank screen and a certain air to his words that make you wonder if he even believes what he’s saying. He’s primed for battle, but in a sort of unprepared, grasping-at-straws way.
Even though Bobby didn’t suffer anything more than the self-inflicted destruction of his offices, revenge must be exacted. Leave it to the Billions writers to never come at Chuck one simple way. They seem to coax out ways to hurt Chuck via lovely twists in prior events that you thought were meant to never touch him. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime 2.01: Risk Management”
Billions Premiers in NYC
Billions Season 2 premiered in NYC on Feb 13. You know as well as we do that where there’s a red carpet and our beauties are out and about being beautiful, we’ll be there to bring you the glamorous highlights.
Variety and Vogue both tell us the party and screening of the first episode of the new season were held at Cipriani on Broadway, an opulent events space, fittingly right across the street from Wall Street’s iconic charging bull sculpture.
Gotta love this shot of Showtime’s David Nevins taking a selfie with his peeps.
Let’s just call this one Poise. Continue reading “Billions Premiers in NYC”
46 Reasons to Love Damian Lewis
It’s our favorite leading man’s birthday February 11. The lot of us got together to flesh out all the various things we love about him. How many things did we come up with, you ask? Why, 46, of course, to coincide with the number of trips Damian has made around the sun. Happy Birthday Damian!
JaniaJania
1. He’s a smart cookie. Damian often speaks self-deprecatingly of not having gone to university, of just becoming an “ACT-terr” as if it’s comparable to lugging timber or fixing leaky faucets. Maybe this speaks to the differences between professional and vocational education in the UK vs. here. (although there used to be more vocational opportunities in the States once upon a time too) But, heck, if he’s a “drop-out” then the folks on this side of the pond have a lot of catching up to do in terms of basic liberal arts education. He knows his stuff.
