Decisions Matter: Game Theory in
Billions – Part III

“What makes someone like Bobby tick, someone like Chuck tick? I think it’s the game and the game only. I think that becomes more important than the money or status and everything. It’s just the desire to win. And the greater your desire to win the greater you will compromise yourself. I think we all love watching people try to win.” – Damian Lewis

In case you missed Part I and Part II, you can see them here and here. And Part III is dedicated to the most impressive game we have seen in Billions: Chuck’s long game to get Axe.

Chuck delivers his most honest lines of the entire season as he stands in front of Axe in the last few minutes of Season 1: Continue reading “Decisions Matter: Game Theory in Billions – Part III”

Analyzing the New Billions Season 3 Poster Art and Logo

On Wednesday, January 24, Showtime released new promotional material for Billions season three. Are there spoilers, clues and hints hidden in the poster art and logo? I immediately began scrutinizing the photos for suggestion and significance. I mean, after all, it is instinctive to analyze everything since I have a degree in that field and do it for a living. It’s second nature. When dissecting the details of the promo material, you’ll never guess what I found. So come with me on a deep dive and see if we can come up with an indication of what’s to come.

Let’s start with the logo.

Source: Twitter @SHO_Billions 

Ominous, is it not? Dark slate grey background of metal with exposed rivets. Reminds me of a war ship and we know the Billions‘ writers like to reference historical battles and cannon fodder. Is that grey metal iron? In some biblical meanings, natural iron is a symbol of natural, rational truth. Will the truth come out that Wendy violated her contract to warn Chuck about Ice Juice and will Dake discover that she shorted the Ice Juice stock? This scenario is definitely a favorite of mine and my fellow blogger/partner in crime, Damianista, and she talks about it here.  Oh, and I’ll come back to biblical references in a few paragraphs below, even though it seems like it’s out of left field at the moment. Stick with me kid, it will make sense in a bit. Continue reading “Analyzing the New Billions Season 3 Poster Art and Logo”

What to Expect When We Are
Expecting Billions Season 3

Happy New Year!

They are more than halfway through shooting Billions Season 3, yet we still have not received word about when we will have our favorite show back on TV. I am keeping my fingers crossed for this very anticipated announcement to arrive this weekend at CBS/Showtime Day at Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter Press Tour. We will follow TCA festivities as closely as possible on social media and bring you all we could find so stay tuned!

UPDATE 01/06/2018: They broke the great news that Billions Season 3 is coming to Showtime on March 25 and released the first trailer as well. Keep in mind I wrote this post about my personal expectations from the new season was written way before the trailer was dropped.

source: Showtime

While we may still have to wait a bit for the new season to arrive, I cannot think of a better way to start the new year than talk about what to expect when we are expecting Billions Season 3!

And as we talk about the show currently being shot in New York, why not start with a few questions I was able to ask the show’s creators, executive producers and show runners Brian Koppelman and David Levien on social media?

We were lucky to have Mr. Koppelman’s “Ask me anything” Q&As on Twitter every Sunday before the new episode of Billions. And he was very kind to answer a few of my Billions questions, too! I already knew one episode took two weeks to shoot but I was also curious about… Continue reading “What to Expect When We Are Expecting Billions Season 3”

From Yosemite Sam to Ice Juice: Why We Love Billions’ Sense of Humor – Season 2

source: Showtime

I have repeatedly said Billions is the smartest show on TV and I stand behind my words. A smart show starts with smart writing and Billions’ plot, a true roller coaster ride with mind-blowing twists and turns, speaks volumes in this regard. And I am particularly impressed by the way the show is served peppered with some delicious sense of humor. We wrote about why we love the sense of humor in Season 1 earlier here and it is time to take a closer look at some of the fun moments Billions brought to us in its sophomore season. Continue reading “From Yosemite Sam to Ice Juice: Why We Love Billions’ Sense of Humor – Season 2”

A Tribute to Everyone’s Favorite Billions Moment: The Fake Fight

“Pretend we’re having an argument.” —Bobby Axelrod

source: Showtime

A good hour of television absolutely starts with good writing and I pride myself in calling Willie Reale, the writer of Billions Season 1 Episode 10 Quality of Life, a genius way before I find out that he is, in fact, one! I don’t know if you are familiar with MacArthur Fellowships also known as “Genius Grants” but Mr. Reale is a recipient of this fellowship “in recognition of his ingenuity in creating theater and theater education programs for young people.” Bravo!

Quality of Life, with Donnie’s memorial service being at its heart, has a number of moving parts; however, Mr. Reale delivers the story seamlessly with a number of timely back and forths between the memorial service and all else going on and the episode’s director Karyn Kusama perfectly translates the writing into action. And, in my humble opinion, Brian Koppelman’s tweet sharing with us that the fake argument scene between Axe and Dollar Bill was Reale’s idea alone deserves standing ovation for this brilliant writer! Continue reading “A Tribute to Everyone’s Favorite Billions Moment: The Fake Fight”