Author: Jane Boon

I'm an MIT graduate in technology and policy; a Ph.D. engineer turned novelist. My favorite stories lie at the intersection of wealth and deviancy, which is why I'm a huge fan of BILLIONS, and which is also the territory I cover in my novel EDGE PLAY, from Regan Arts. If you look closely at the scene where Chuck Rhoades visits the S&M club in the first season, you can spot me wearing a corset and standing by the bar. When I'm not playing dress-up, I divide my time between Los Angeles (my husband edits the LA Times), and NYC, where we have an apartment in Wall-Street-adjacent Tribeca. Follow me on Twitter: @JaneEBoon

The Kink of Billions – Season 5 (1st half)

At the end of Season 4, we saw Chuck come to terms with his kinky proclivities. While campaigning to be New York’s attorney general, he gave his “Overton Window” speech, where he said the following at a press conference:

I, in my private life, in the confines of my happy marriage with my consenting wife, practice sadomasochism…Bondage, dominance, all the rest. Masks, binds, ropes, fire, wow…even just saying it like that, I can feel my shoulders loosen for the first time in decades. I am a masochist. In order to experience sexual gratification I need to be tied up, punched, pinched, whipped, kicked or otherwise tortured, by my loving wife. 

In Season 5, we see the consequences of this breach of marital privacy, which is that his marriage is dead and Chuck is an emotional wreck. To heighten his misery, because the BILLIONS writers are sadists, they make Chuck attend his dad’s wedding where he faces serial indignities. One of the guys at his table eyes Wendy, asking, “What’s the statute of limitations on exes, these days?” When Chuck cuts in on a dance between Wendy and Chuck Sr, the father disses him as well. “You had your chance, Sonny. Maybe if you’d been this insistent when she was yours…” As a final blow, Wendy refuses to leave with him. Continue reading “The Kink of Billions – Season 5 (1st half)”

The Kink of Billions – Pervy Details

**There will be explicit sexual concepts discussed below**

(Proceed only if you’re OK with that!)

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Experts on Set:

The writers of Billions have worked hard to get kink correct from the start. I was an extra in the scene where Chuck goes to the Iowa BDSM club in the first season. There was an “expert” present on the set to make sure we all got the fetish details right, in terms of etiquette and comportment. She adjusted my costume, and helped me with my props. The producers clearly wanted to portray the club accurately and with sensitivity. There was also a skilled dominatrix, with great gear, conducting a flogging while they shot the scene. The gentleman she whipped seemed familiar with the routine.

Dominatrix and submissive at the S&M club Chuck visits in the first season

This Vice.com article profiles Olivia Troy, who served as a BDSM consultant to the show. Her approach wasn’t merely technical but also, psychological as she sought to dig into each character’s motivations through the lens of kink. She describes her work with Paul Giamatti and Maggie Siff this way: Continue reading “The Kink of Billions – Pervy Details”

The Kink of Billions – Wendy and the Dominatrixes

**There will be explicit sexual concepts discussed below**

(Proceed only if you’re OK with that!)

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Last week we examined the kinks of Chuck Rhoades. But, you can’t tell the story of Chuck, and how his twisted, complicated psyche leaves destruction in its wake, without also getting into the women in his life. The presence of kink varies season to season. It ebbs and flows, much like the relationship between Chuck and Wendy. Their pervy playtimes are a proxy for the strength of their relationship. When things are good, Wendy and Chuck have complementary agendas. He’s a connoisseur of kink, and Wendy is the best, most attuned playmate he can find. She dominates him sexually, and he submits enthusiastically. When things are fraught, BDSM becomes the site of tension and disappointment, where Chuck wants more than Wendy is prepared to offer. After all, dressing up in exotic lingerie and bringing a husband to his knees can be hard work if you’re not into it. Conveniently, there are professionals able to step forward in stiletto-heeled boots, to address this inequality of supply and demand.

When considering the dominatrixes in Chuck’s life, Wendy, obviously, is the most important one. Chuck’s father once described her as a “killer.” There’s a pragmatism and a ruthlessness to her character that brings out the best and the worst in her husband. She’s not some quiet helpmate. She has the capacity to whip Chuck into shape, literally and figuratively. But there are other women with whips in Chuck’s life – the Troys and the Cassies. For the most part, he hires them, in a form of transactional BDSM play that puts him in charge of his own recreational debasement. Continue reading “The Kink of Billions – Wendy and the Dominatrixes”

The Kink of Billions – Chuck

**There will be explicit sexual concepts discussed below**

(Proceed only if you’re OK with that!)

_______________________________

“Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.”-Oscar Wilde

The Billions opening scene is unorthodox and memorable. We find Chuck Rhoades lying on the floor, bound, being tormented by a beautiful brunette whose identity is not revealed. She singes him with her cigarette and then, to soothe the burn, she pisses on him. We learn at the end of the episode that Wendy, Chuck’s wife, is the dominatrix who taunted and tortured Chuck.

It was this unexpected approach to kink that cemented my enthusiasm for the show. During my misspent twenties, a girlfriend of mine had much in common with Mistress Troy (the gorgeous professional dominatrix depicted in the show). Sometimes, my friend would let me watch or even assist in her scenes. I’m an engineer and a scientist, so an anthropological sort of voyeurism came to me very naturally. I was rapt by the exchange of power between the dominatrix and her submissive. I saw quite a few “Chucks” on their knees or hog-tied, because her playmates hewed professional and powerful. It seemed like these men adored the opportunity to check their tendencies towards command and control, preferring instead to submit and serve. Continue reading “The Kink of Billions – Chuck”