Billions on Showtime, 3.05: Flaw in the Death Star

In case you haven’t noticed, I tend to watch stuff with the eyes of one who looks for dark and light and all the gradations in between. Light for the fun and entertaining, dark for the real and true. This episode, “Flaw in the Death Star”, balanced the two quite nicely, never spending too much time in either extreme and provided a fair and balanced view of this world we’ve come to know as BillionsContinue reading “Billions on Showtime, 3.05: Flaw in the Death Star”

Billions on Showtime, Season 3 Episode 5: Flaw in the Death Star

I may find the way they operate appalling, but it is impossible not to applaud Axe and Chuck for eliminating a lot of risk in the first four episodes. Chuck has been able to convince Dake to cover up Wendy’s Ice Juice short,  change the judge in the Axelrod case and keep his father quiet about his involvement in Ice Juice. Axe has given an even better performance by keeping Danny Margolis and the Burke Brothers quiet on his side, having Maria Gonzalez deported, and giving Ira his life back along with an engagement ring from Buccellati’s exclusive collection. We now find the two men going after the loyalty of the same man simultaneously.

Dr. Gilbert is the man of the hour.

While Axe is ready for his trip to Silicon Valley, the new Halls deliver news big enough to keep him in New York. The Eastern District has grilled every doctor Axe has been or donated to including Dr. Gilbert. This reminds Axe that the good doctor may still have the slide he told him to get rid of once he verified with him that the bacteria they put in Ice Juice would not be fatally hurting anyone. Given Axe is saying his line of business is about eliminating risk, I highly recommend him to hire our own Gingersnap as a personal consultant 😀 Gingersnap said the day after Season 2 Episode 11 Golden Frog Time that Axe should not have left that slide with Dr. Gilbert and it would come back and bite him in the ass. Kudos! Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Season 3 Episode 5: Flaw in the Death Star”

From “Emergency Deodorant” to “Coach K”: Why We LOVE Billions’ Sense of Humor

“There’s a lot of humor in this — a lot of playfulness, which I was not expecting.” — Damian Lewis on Billions

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

Humor derived from life and delivered at the right time and place can make a TV show! And, I believe, it is Seinfeld that perfected the delivery of small but precise details of daily life on small screen! George double-dips a chip in a bowl of dip at a wake and you laugh not just because of what he does but also because you remember the guy who double-dipped at the last party you attended. Elaine’s new boyfriend is a serious close talker and you laugh because you remember the close talkers in your life. Jerry believes you don’t need any extra incentive to kill your dry cleaner and you laugh because you remember the last argument you had with your dry cleaner about the remaining stain on your favorite pants. These are the scenes that stay with you for the longest time because they all come from real life!

Many dramas, as they try hard to stick to drama, forget about this kind of humor; which, given at the right time and place, may be one of the most delicious moments of an episode and can even send a serious message home. We applaud Billions for not shying away from giving us such moments. Continue reading “From “Emergency Deodorant” to “Coach K”: Why We LOVE Billions’ Sense of Humor”

Countdown to Billions Season 2: Look Back to Best of Season 1

Not to fret dear readers, Billions Season 2 is just a day over a month away!

Now, we here at Fan Fun watched and re-watched every episode last season as soon as it hit air, but, I know from my own viewing habits of non-current content, binge-watching is where the future of entertainment lies. And with binge-watching comes a unique perspective gotten from sort of swallowing the entire meal whole. It’s like reading an entire book in one sitting instead of spacing a chapter per week. Also, when you’re binge-watching and transitioning between seasons, there’s a bit of a disconnect if (or when!) you find that some of the characters have been re-imagined somewhat from who they were a year ago. Not sure why I’m going on about this. I guess it’s to get you guys to binge watch Season 1 before the next one starts. 🙂 Also it’s to say that the scenes we found so dear last year may be upended this year. Characters may be reborn. You never know what you’re going to get. I have a sneaking suspicion that we won’t be disappointed!

As a prelude to counting down to the season premiere on February 19, let’s take a look at what we liked best about last season, shall we?

Source: Showtime
Source: Showtime

Continue reading “Countdown to Billions Season 2: Look Back to Best of Season 1”

In Case You Missed It: Billions Rocks
PaleyLIVE New York!

Oh what a treat!

BIG THANKS go to the cast and creators of Billions for giving us an hour of intelligent conversation and laughter and to Paley Center for Media for providing beautiful, intimate setting for this dream event!

source: Paley Center
source: Paley Center

A little note to our readers: Hulu is the official media sponsor of Paley Center and a few clips from the event are now available here. We will add a link later if they provide the entire event online. UPDATE December 15, 2016: If you have Hulu, you can now watch an edited version of the panel here and, as a bonus, see me at around 45 minutes and Lady Trader at around 48 minutes asking questions! 🙂

Ok, let’s start with some serious warm-up: JaniaJania has storified the tweets from Billions red carpet as well as from the panel here. Enjoy it and then come back to dive deep into my almost minute-by-minute account of the evening! Continue reading “In Case You Missed It: Billions Rocks
PaleyLIVE New York!”