Billions on Showtime, Season 4 Episode 8: Fight Night

Welcome to Fight Night where we have two boxers in the ring and many characters on the street playing the game of La Dolce Scienza (Sweet Science) where they need to find the perfect balance between hitting and not getting hit. Finesse. Slickness. Swagger. Everything on the street is as strategic as it gets on the ring! The cameos of real-life champions Deontay Wilder and Stipe Miocic as well as the boxing references in this fun episode hint that Fight Night is Koppelman and Levien’s tribute to one of their favorite sports. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Season 4 Episode 8: Fight Night”

From the Trader’s Desk: “I’m Going Through Changes” – Billions S4E7

Now all my days, are filled with tears
Wish I could go back and change these years
I’m going through changes
Changes – Black Sabbath

Welcome back to the Trader’s Desk. This was my favorite episode so far this season. No “fin-speak”, but oh man, the emotions! Wendy is all sorts of lost in this episode. In my last two posts, I wrote about the anger and trust issues Wendy is having that have lead to this point. In “Infinite Game” it all comes to a head.

On a housekeeping note, there will be no Trader’s Desk next week (5/10). Lady Trader has earned a much needed vacation, so I will not be recapping; but if there is financial jargon in Ep. 8 that needs clarification, you can always reach out on Twitter: @lisaglick926.

This week we saw some of our favorite characters going through emotional changes: one was a surprise (Axe), one we could see coming (Taylor), and one could be the most profound of them all (Wendy). Continue reading “From the Trader’s Desk: “I’m Going Through Changes” – Billions S4E7″

Billions on Showtime, Season 4 Episode 7: Infinite Game

I could not be happier that a game theory term makes it to the title of this week’s episode: Infinite Game.

In finite games, like a tennis match, the players are known and the rules are fixed. The players obey the rules and play to win the game. In finite games, there is a clear endpoint. In infinite games such as politics or business, or life itself, players and rules may change. There is no definite endpoint. The goal for all players involved is to keep the game going.

And this fantastic episode is a deep dive into life, an infinite game, where human beings try to find the balance between their rational and emotional selves and keep it going. Hats off to everyone behind and in front of the camera! Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Season 4 Episode 7: Infinite Game”

From the Trader’s Desk: Trust No One! Billions S4E6

Yes I know the secret that’s within your mind
You think all the people who worship you are blind
You’re just like Big Brother, giving us your trust
And when you have played enough you’ll cast our souls into the dust
Who Are You? – Black Sabbath

Trust: firm belief in the reliability, truth or strength of someone or something

Happy Friday and it’s time for another view From the Trader’s Desk, and what this trader would short this week is trust. There is a lot of talk from this group of loyalty and trust – but that is all that it is, talk. And we all know that talk is cheap.

A little housekeeping before I get into my trust meter:

I have never heard of this organization Wags gets rejected from, Kappa Beta Phi so I have not a thing to add. It’s a secret society, so that explains it. However, I would love to see these titans of the financial world dressed in drag, because anyone who knows me knows that I love RuPaul’s Drag Race! I am anxious to see just how Wags gets his revenge! It will be one for the ages! Continue reading “From the Trader’s Desk: Trust No One! Billions S4E6”

Billions on Showtime, Season 4 Episode 6: Maximum Recreational Depth

Billions picks up the characters exactly where we left them last Sunday, takes them to places they have never been before and leaves me with several billion dollar questions. HATS OFF!

Wendy meets Taylor at Morgenstern’s – synonym of YUM. She seems to be friends with Nicholas Morgenstern who makes a cameo and turns the ice cream shop into a speakeasy for his friend! 🙂 Well, Mr. Morgenstern is definitely a good friend. Did you know he named his peanut butter ice cream cake after his friend Brian Koppelman? Meet The Koppelman!

While neither trusts the other one, Wendy and Taylor talk. At least Wendy does: Many at Axe Capital tried to get into her mind, but only Taylor did. Because they listen and they deeply care. And that is why they were the only one who reached out when Chuck made their sex life public.

Wendy knows if she does not confide in someone who really knows her, she will end up in a bad place. Taylor does not have to talk at all, they only need to hear Wendy as she is trying to figure herself out. When Taylor rightly asks about what Axe would think about this meeting, Wendy is clear:

“This has nothing to do with him.”

Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Season 4 Episode 6: Maximum Recreational Depth”