Tag: Wendy Rhoades

Bobby Axelrod and Wendy Rhoades: A Special Relationship – Part I

Damian’s character is brilliantly cerebral. Everything’s fast and light and facile, and I feel like I’m doing a ballet with him. —Maggie Siff

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

It is the most intriguing relationship in Billions. It is personal and it is professional. It is sincere and it is strategic. It is friendly and it is flirty. It is complex. It is intense. It is delicate. It is difficult. It is delicious.

It is Bobby and Wendy.

Maggie Siff’s words inspire me to look at them in a new light: A ballet indeed. I will take the next step and say it is a ballet of three acts and dive deep into it!

Let’s first hear from one half of this relationship! I had the wonderful opportunity to ask Damian about his take on Bobby and Wendy after his appearance at Times Talks in June. You can hear it below and I am also transcribing Damian’s answer for our non-English speaking readers who prefer written English to spoken English. Continue reading “Bobby Axelrod and Wendy Rhoades: A Special Relationship – Part I”

Billions Season 2: What do we know so far?

DRUMROLL! David Nevins, Showtime Networks CEO, shared the good news at TV Critics Association’s Summer Press Tour: Billions Season 2 is hitting our screens on February 19, 2017!

Source: Showtime
Source: Showtime

The season premiere may be six months away but given they have been shooting Billions for more than a month and a half in New York, we believe it is time we start talking about what we know so far about the new season! Are you ready?

Should we start with how a day on Billions set is like? And, for this, we owe big thanks to Brian Koppelman who opens a window for us all through Twitter and Instagram. We LOVED his series of tweets about a day on Billions set and JaniaJania storified it for us – fantastic job, partner! Continue reading “Billions Season 2: What do we know so far?”

Bits and Pieces of Life in Billions

“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.

brotherlylove

As much as we are in love with the fake argument scene, an original, hilarious and genius Billions moment, we are even more impressed by the minutiae of life the writers provide with the right dose of humor. Knowing that most episodes in Seinfeld are based on its writers’ real-life experiences, re-written and re-interpreted for the show’s characters, we cannot help wonder if these bits and pieces of life in Billions are also based on real-life experiences. These moments work perfectly and the lines delivered in them become standard in our own conversations!

That is why Tbkwrm and I take a tour through Season 1 and talk about our most favorite bits and pieces of life in Billions. We would love to hear about your favorites, too!

Continue reading “Bits and Pieces of Life in Billions”

Billions on Sky Atlantic, Episode 12: The Conversation

So Billions Season 1 has come to an end, but we still have so much to say about it. And we promise to do our share and keep the conversation going on between seasons. While we were giving a lot of time and energy to our episode recaps, we had countless conversations about the show, the plot, the characters, and made a LONG list of ideas we want to write about. So, going forward, we will sit back, relax, go back to Season 1, keep writing about it and, of course, speculate about what could be in store for Team Axe and Team Chuck (and for us!) in Season 2. And we hope you stay with us!

In the meantime, get your Season Finale recaps here and re-live THAT explosive Billions hour!

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Damianista’s recap:

Billions on Showtime, Episode 12: The Conversation

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JaniaJania’s recap:

Billions ep 12 : The Conversation

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Previously on Billions: ‘Magical Thinking’

 

 

Previously on Billions…

Bobby waves Mafee into his office, but Mafee stays where he is. Bobby is perplexed until Wags explains Mafee wishes to talk about BioLance so has sent Wags in to get permission because Bobby told him he would be fired if he brought that up. Mafee thinks that they are about to lose £400+ million and is basically saying Bobby has this one wrong. Since he is executing the trade, Mafee fears if he does not speak up now, he’ll be fired after they lose the $400+ Million. Bobby sees how this could be a sticky one.

Bobby loves Mafee though so permission is granted.

Mafee has been losing sleep over this BioLance trade and he sleeps like a bear. Axe does that thing he does and asks Mafee what type of bear he usually sleeps like.

There is a special announcement call about BioLance in 9 minutes and Mafee is uneasy. Bobby, however, is giving Mafee no leeway when it comes to the actual information as Bobby understands the risks and has done the homework. So, despite the fact that the other analysts agree with Mafee and him being so loveable, Mafee is the one standing in front of Bobby and Mafee is fired.

He tried.

He is still there 9 minutes later when the announcement is made that BioLance has not gotten FDA approval. What does this mean? It means that Mafee would be perfectly entitled to jump up on the desk and scream “I told you so”. However, Mafee looks genuinely disappointed by the announcement. If he is fired, why does he care that Axe just lost $430 Million dollars for being an over confident and dismissive ass? Mafee might just be a team player.

The news has hit Bobby like a ton of bricks, but it is not really the fact that he just lost $430 million that is bothering him or that he really owes Mafee an apology. It is the realisation he has lost his mojo. He was wrong. Him! Bobby Axelrod.

Bobby
Source: Showtime

Continue reading “Previously on Billions: ‘Magical Thinking’”