Tag: Malin Akerman

Billions on Showtime, Season 3 Episode 11: Kompenso

While I stand behind my words that Axe and Chuck have so much in common that they could be BFFs in another life, this episode finds them at opposite ends of the generosity scale. While Axe does not even want to hear the word accommodation when it comes to people helping him make money, Chuck goes out of his way to accommodate his old pal Ira.

The opening of Kompenso makes me smile and laugh for different reasons. It makes me smile because the opening song “Wicked Game” brings back sweet prom memories. It makes me laugh because it features Nusret Gokce, a Turkish chef and restaurateur, whose Instagram videos of slicing and salting steak went viral and made him an international star overnight! Nusret now owns several restaurants, including one in New York, called Nusr-Et because Et means meat in Turkish! And while his dramatic serving skills seem to turn Kate Sacker of all people on, Kate prefers to look at the eclipse through the cereal box when Chuck offers to order the Tomahawk and have Nusret perform at the table šŸ˜€ Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Season 3 Episode 11: Kompenso”

From The Trader’s Desk: “All The Wilburys” – We’re going to the end of the line

Every day I sit and wonder
How my life it use to be
Now I feel Iā€™m going under
Now my life is hard to see
So tell me people, am I going insane, insane?
Am I Going Insane ā€“ Black Sabbath

Greetings from the Headbangerā€™s Ball, oops, I mean the Traderā€™s Desk! It will never get old for me, but once again Iā€™m starting my post with lyrics from Black Sabbath. This episode had me yelling at my television, and asking if Axe is going insane. He is making all the emotional decisions that have brought him to the brink of disaster.

A triumphant Axe parades into Axe Cap to the tune of ā€œNever Say Dieā€ by Black Sabbath! What else would a victorious kid from Yonkers wear but a Black Sabbath ā€œMaster of Realityā€ t-shirt to confirm his bad-ass self is back! Of course Axe is a Sabbath fan; in Season 1, he showed his love for Metallica and in Season 2 his appreciation for Megadeth. Heā€™s now going old-school, as Sabbath is considered by many the fathers of heavy metal (donā€™t come at me with the Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple argument!) Axe has lived to fight another day. Itā€™s nothing but high-fives and cheers for the returning King. Continue reading “From The Trader’s Desk: “All The Wilburys” – We’re going to the end of the line”

Billions on Showtime, Season 3 Episode 8: All the Wilburys

Now that Axe and Chuck have dug themselves out of their own graves, both embrace their victories, and pick up the game where they left. We find them handling new situations they face in their own unique ways: sometimes with utmost care, and sometimes not so much. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Season 3 Episode 8: All the Wilburys”

Billions on Showtime, 3.06: The Third Ortolan

Like three delicately delicious birds, Wendy, Bobby, and Chuck are poised above the deep fryer in Billions Season 3, Episode 6, ‘The Third Ortolan.”

Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, 3.06: The Third Ortolan”

Billions on Showtime, Season 3 Episode 6: The Third Ortolan

Well, I said it time and again that it is only Wendyā€™s short that could force Axe and Chuck to take a break from their pissing contest and get themselves and the woman they both care about deeply out of the huge mess called Ice Juice. And the first half of the season has seamlessly built to this climactic episode which I believe is the BEST hour of television in a while, at least since we had Golden Frog Time!

Well, Dollar Bill is not alone in carrying bags full of money for business. We now find Chuck, the US attorney of the SDNY, paying $50K to a man who will plant the slide in Axe’s medicine cabinet while he is away at Art Basel in a few weeks. Axe and Chuck have so much in common they seriously could have been BFFs in another life. For one, they both know how to deal with vulnerable immigrants! Like Axe ended an American dream by having Maria Gonzalez deported to Guatemala in Episode 2: Wrong Maria Gonzalez,Ā  Chuck is now creating an American Dream by promising Mr. Adubo $50K more as well as U.S. visas for his family in Congo once he completes the job. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Season 3 Episode 6: The Third Ortolan”