Billions on Showtime 2.08: The Kingmaker

Let’s try something new. Let’s talk about Billions Season 2 Episode 8, “The Kingmaker”, as if it were a soap, a tabloid, heck, a professional wrestling match. The soapiness of this episode cannot be denied. Soaps get a bum rap. When they are good, there is great drama there, folks. Great storytelling. And the hardest working people in the business. And true to the genres of tabloid, soap, and wrestling match, “The Kingmaker” hit all the marks for great drama.

Continue reading “Billions on Showtime 2.08: The Kingmaker”

Billions on Showtime, Season 2 Episode 8: The Kingmaker

Black Jack Foley. Old steel and railroad money. One of the first businessmen that went to Russia after the wall fell. It seems he has taken after his great-great-great uncle Boss Tweed that he is pulling the strings in Albany. He is THE Kingmaker who takes your measure and bless you. And that is why both Axe and Chuck need a moment with this man as soon as possible.

source: Showtime

Chuck Sr gets a lukewarm call from Foley. His granddaughter has not got the clerkship. Chuck may have no idea Foley moved the casino away from Sandicot, but he should have some idea Foley will help him in Albany. Now that he feels disrespected, Foley will back Bob Sweeney’s campaign in gubernatorial elections.

We find out Chuck Sr keeps his 1998 Fundadores at his personal locker at Nat Sherman Townhouse and likes them at 80% humidity for their “funk.” Chuck Sr shares the news with his son. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Season 2 Episode 8: The Kingmaker”

Previously on Billions: Season 2, Episode 7 “Victory Lap”

Bruno comes down stairs with a baseball bat in hand to meet his uninvited guests to find it is Bobby and Hall who are here to pick him up so they can go visit Marco. Marco feels sick, partly because Sandicot has not received the gaming licence and partly because Hall is intimidating him by his mere presence. Axe is playing hard ball with him too.

source: Showtime

Chuck is playing ball with Kevin in the Park, but this is a photo opportunity for him as Dimonda appears for the first time this season. Dimonda questions Chuck on his next step as he has little else to achieve as USA.

Chef Ryan also makes an appearance in this episode and what an appearance. Caught at it on the sun loungers by the Axelrod family, Lara and Bobby read him the riot act, but Axe concedes that Lara has pardoned him after she responds “lucky you” to his answers to her questions. Anyone else think Lara just didn’t want to suffer Bobby’s cooking. Continue reading “Previously on Billions: Season 2, Episode 7 “Victory Lap””

Double Shot From the Trader’s Desk: “Indian Four” & “Victory Lap”

Welcome to “From the Trader’s Desk” double shot! We’ll be looking at both “Indian Four” and “Victory Lap” since the “fin speak” was a minimum in both episodes.

Thoughts & Observations on “Indian Four”

I’d like to start off by saying that I hope one day to be in the position of having my own meat aging room, and a room to store motorcycles that I will never ride. If I ever were in that position, I’d also have my own TARDIS, but that’s another blog….

source: Showtime

One thing that struck me during Axe and Wendy’s meeting at the skate park was his response to Wendy’s asking for a stake in Axe Capital – “No one owns any of it but me”. That response does not surprise me, and I was shocked Wendy would even ask for it. He built it, and he will keep it! I think we know why someone like Axe would never take the Giving Oath. Continue reading “Double Shot From the Trader’s Desk: “Indian Four” & “Victory Lap””

Billions on Showtime 2.07: Victory Lap

As much as last week’s episode of Billions was softer around the edges and showed some heart, this week’s episode, “Victory Lap”, displays the exact opposite. One hallmark of this complex show is that, since directing and writing hands are traded weekly, there’s a different feel, a sort of different emotional center, to every episode. The beauty is that, despite changing hands, the story maintains continuity and characters stay consistently true to form. In fact, there is more revealed every time we see these people, as well as more left unknown.

Continue reading “Billions on Showtime 2.07: Victory Lap”