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Billions Season 3, Episode 10 Recap: Entertainment Weekly – May 27, 2018

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Axe and Chuck Make Necessary, Difficult Sacrifices

by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | May 27, 2018

Source: Showtime

Redemption

With the feud between Chuck Rhoades and Bobby Axelrod firmly in the past (for now), the third season of Billions had to change its course. The battle of the biggest players in their fields played out to a draw, resulting in a simple question: What would come next? With only a few episodes left in the season, Billions is beginning to answer that question. The stakes are piling up, new villains have emerged, and the show is once again finding another gear. The endgame is in sight, and it’s a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

“Redemption” begins with a familiar Billions scene: the clandestine parking lot meeting. Here, Chuck meets with a reporter and offers up a lot of dirt on one of the mayoral candidates for Buffalo. That information comes with a price, though. Chuck wants everything the reporter has on Jock Jeffcoat, the Attorney General who’s become Chuck’s sworn enemy. Evidence the paper couldn’t corroborate, or rumors about Jock, Chuck wants it all.

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Billions Season 3, Episode 10 Recap: New York Times – May 27, 2018

On May 27, 2018May 28, 2018 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Defcon 6

by Sean T. Collins | New York Times | May 27, 2018

Source: Showtime

Redemption

“Billions” has always been an odd-couple show.

From its pilot episode to its Twitter hashtag emoji, it’s centered on the contrast between the lean, mean local boy made good Bobby Axelrod and the gruff, tough Yale-educated bulldog Chuck Rhoades. Played by Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti respectively, they’re the proverbial study in contrasts.

But in Attorney General Jock Jeffcoat, I think Chuck has met an even better (mis)match. The man presides over the Justice Department like a Confederate caudillo, reviving Giuliani/Reagan-era drug war polices on a whim because he didn’t like the look of the neighborhoods his car drove through on the way from the airport, using an obscene epithet favored by our current commander-in-chief to describe them. And as portrayed by Clancy Brown, a charming but physically imposing actor best known for genre work, he looks as if he could squash Chuck like a bug. When this guy invites himself over to Chuck’s place for dinner, Giamatti invests the garrulous fake courtesy of his reply (“Great! O.K.! Very good!”) with just a hint of panic.

Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 10 Recap: New York Times – May 27, 2018

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Billions Season 3, Episode 10 Recap: Vulture – May 27, 2018

On May 27, 2018May 28, 2018 By Gingersnap Comments Off

All in a Day’s Work

by Nicole Cliffe | Vulture | May 27, 2018

Source: Showtime

Redemption

I am delighted to report that Grigor Andolov is becoming a more interesting character/eventual antagonist for Axe! And, unsurprisingly, the nicer and more benign he is towards Axe, the scarier he seems in general. If he brought me flowers I would assume I’d be digging my own shallow grave before the day is out.

If we had to impose an overarching theme on this episode, it would be people changing others’ perceptions of them in a single day, for good or bad. Grigor, rising above mine (and Axe’s, after that late-episode reveal)! Bobby letting down Taylor in a really profound way, and Taylor fearing they’ve irrevocably changed their relationship with Oscar. Sacker stepping out from her father’s shadow so Chuck can see her teeth. And, of course, BEN KIM.

Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 10 Recap: Vulture – May 27, 2018

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Damian Attends UEFA Champions League Final – May 26, 2018

On May 26, 2018August 1, 2018 By Gingersnap Comments Off

**This Billions Star is a Well-Known Red**

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | May 26, 2018

Source: Instagram @paddypb23

No surprise, as we reported yesterday, that Damian would attend the 2018 UEFA Champions League final today, Saturday, May 26, 2018 at NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine in support of his favorite football team, Liverpool, in the LFC vs. Real Madrid match. Damian posted this video to Twitter as he boarded the plane headed to Kyiv.

Here we go…! pic.twitter.com/3yWt3i0knd

— Damian Lewis (@lewis_damian) May 26, 2018

Damian has been a longtime fan of LFC since childhood – he took part in the coverage at Anfield for the first leg of Liverpool’s Champions League tie with Manchester City on April 4 and last year he celebrated his 46th birthday at Anfield for Liverpool’s visit of Tottenham.

An avid Reds supporter, Damian (pictured with Clive Owen above) made the epic journey to Kyiv in the hope of being witness to a historic battle to take the UEFA Champions League trophy for the sixth time. But it wasn’t meant to be. Although his Redmen lost to Real Madrid 3-1 and no doubt he was gutted, Damian showed resilience in defeat by offering sportsmanship for his team and fans abroad. See fan pics on the next page and follow the gallery link.

Continue reading Damian Attends UEFA Champions League Final – May 26, 2018

Billions Music Print Media

How Billions Creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien Use Music as an Emotional Accelerator on the Show – May 24, 2018

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NPR’s All Songs Considered, Music Pods, Sound Opinions, Spotify Discover Weekly and Twitter Solicitation Beacons: Discovering Music for Billions

by Caitlin White | Uproxx | May 24, 2018

Last fall over the holidays I was desperately trying to avoid reality. Looking for an escape, I turned to a popular TV show called Billions because I’d noticed one of my favorite Uproxx TV writers, Brian Grubb, writing a love letter to it earlier in the year. It looked just far enough away from my own life to distract from the stupid minutia of what was bothering me, the characters were strong, powerful, and self-assured — but they were also caught up in tough situations, unfair portrayals, and pesky mistakes.

The plot was thick and moved with deftness, there was not one but two strong, badass female characters, there was a subplot involving a nonbinary character working in the midst of the boys club, and the whole thing swung on an unholy rivalry that was a thrill to watch. This all made for great, addictive TV, but as a music editor, what stopped me in my tracks was the soundtrack. Unexpectedly, I found old folk and indie rock favorites like Andrew Bird cropping up alongside a guest appearance from the rock gods themselves, Metallica!

Continue reading How Billions Creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien Use Music as an Emotional Accelerator on the Show – May 24, 2018

Billions Print Media Recap

Billions Superlatives: Best, Worst, Most from S3E9 – May 21, 2018

On May 21, 2018May 21, 2018 By Gingersnap Comments Off

The Disappearance of Dollar Bill’s Dollar Bill

by Miles Surrey | The Ringer | May 21, 2018

It’s been such a great season of Billions, filled with horrible parenting, shocking alliances, and two unforgettably strange kissing scenes, that I almost forgot about John Malkovich. Where the hell has he been? The guy was supposed to show up this season as a Russian oligarch— which is such a perfect, delicious bit of casting that it’s frustrating The Americans didn’t give it a spin first—but eight episodes in and no Teddy KGB.

Thankfully, this week’s episode, “Icebreaker,” rewards our patience by giving Malkovich a properly menacing introduction, while Dollar Bill gets a dollar bill stolen at work (no, seriously). Let’s jump into the “Icebreaker” superlatives.

Most Overly Masculine Activity

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Billions Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: Forbes – May 20, 2018

On May 20, 2018May 27, 2018 By Gingersnap Comments Off

John Malkovich is an ‘Icebreaker’ and Stephen Kunken Talks Spyros

by Dana Feldman | Forbes | May 20, 2018

Source: Showtime

Icebreaker

The third season of ‘Billions’ continues to get better with each passing episode. The show is no longer centered around the cat and mouse game between Chuck (Paul Giamatti) and Axe (Damian Lewis). Tectonic shifts in plot, wavering loyalties and ever-evolving power plays are doing as intended, keeping fans on the edge of their seats week after week. As Showtime’s No. 2 drama series, Billions averages 4.5-to-5 million weekly viewers across platforms.

And, the show’s viewership has grown season-over-season. Throughout season two, the series grew on Sunday nights by more than 35% from premiere-to-finale. And, the season three premiere was the show’s highest-rated ever with the March 25 debut up 23% from last year. A fourth season is in the works and seeds are planted in this episode that can definitely lead to very exciting storylines next year.

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Billions Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: New York Times – May 20, 2018

On May 20, 2018May 20, 2018 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Bear Market

by Sean T. Collins | New York Times | May 20, 2018

Source: Showtime

Icebreaker

You can take the boys out of the blood feud, but you can’t take the blood feud out of the boys. Just two episodes after the successful conclusion of the truce that saw the main men of “Billions” call an end to hostilities and help each other out of potentially career-ending legal trouble, both Bobby Axelrod and Chuck Rhoades have launched dangerous new contests of the will. And this time around, it’s not the courtroom versus the boardroom: Each man has entered into a rivalry with a bigger fish in their own professional pond.

For Chuck, this means setting his sights on a new white whale: Attorney General Jock Jeffcoat, the Alamo authoritarian running the Justice Department. For Bobby, it entails entering an alliance of creepy convenience with Grigor Andolov, a cheerfully violent Russian oil baron, whose bottomless reserves of liquid cash are exceeded only by his well-earned reputation for criminality and cruelty. Together, writers Adam R. Perlman and Willie Reale and director Stacie Passon operate this week’s episode, titled “Icebreaker,” like a factory assembly line, cranking out perfect new foils for two characters who are never complete without conflict.

Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: New York Times – May 20, 2018

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Billions Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: Vulture – May 20, 2018

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I’ve Got a Bad Feeling About This

by Nicole Cliffe | Vulture | May 20, 2018

Source: Showtime

Icebreaker

Children, gather round. We have ourselves a “new” pair of Big Bads for the remainder of the season. I say “new” because Jock, our much hated Attorney General, has been wiggling around like a loose tooth since the season premiere, but only now is he really starting to ache. He’s not enough on his own to be interesting, of course, so we need someone to aggravate the heck out of Axe as well. And I am CONCERNED about the show’s choice for Axe’s new antagonist.

John Malkovich is always fun, he’s a fun dude! And when he plays scary, it’s particularly delicious. So I am extremely prepared for him to be good as his stint as Grigor Andolov develops, but this his first outing left me a bit… meh. It’s just more scenery-chewing than I would love to see from him. This particular character is SO in-your-face, being hugely dangerous and mercurial and Keyser Soze-y, and a softer touch of menace would make him significantly scarier. Right now he’s like a professional wrestler with an amped-up backstory, when I think the show would benefit more from a guy so dangerous that he doesn’t need to keep telling you how dangerous he is, or that you had better not lose his money.

Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: Vulture – May 20, 2018

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Billions Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: Entertainment Weekly – May 20, 2018

On May 20, 2018May 20, 2018 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Axe Invites the Devil Into His House

by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | May 20, 2018

Source: Showtime

Icebreaker

At the outset of “Icebreaker,” Chuck is in a strange spot. He’s not fighting for his life in Southern, or working to bring charges against an enemy. Rather, he’s in West Texas in the middle of the night. He’s come to see the Attorney General about the case against Jose Lugo, the kid who was nearly beaten to death by a prison guard before killing him in self-defense. It’s a case Chuck didn’t want to take, but he had no choice but to prosecute the kid on instructions from Attorney General Waylon “Jock” Jeffcoat. Now, Chuck finds himself in the back of a pickup truck, shooting a coyote that’s bothering Jock’s cattle herd. Out of place indeed, but an apt visual metaphor for the kill or be killed nature of this episode.

“Icebreaker” is packed to the brim with important, weighty decisions that all boil down to that question of killing or being killed. It’s an episode filled with decisions that seem to have a monumental impact on the character arcs of the season, and it all begins when Axe decides to take a meeting with an advisor who works for Grigor Andolov (John Malkovich, deliciously creepy as always), a Russian oil baron and oligarch who’s also a very dangerous man. He’s the kind of man whose reputation of violence precedes him. But, he also has a ton of money and influence, and what Axe needs is an icebreaker, a first investment that gets him back in the game and tells other investors that it’s safe to start letting Axe play with their money.

Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: Entertainment Weekly – May 20, 2018

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Billions Superlatives: Best, Worst, Most from S3E8 – May 14, 2018

On May 14, 2018May 19, 2018 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Black Sabbath Tees, Absent Fathers, and Way Too Much of Chuck’s Saliva

by Miles Surrey | The Ringer | May 14, 2018

Source: Showtime

Here is the best, worst, and most from the eighth episode of Season 3

The (cocaine) dust has settled from Axe’s penthouse party in last week’s epic Billionssendoff—though I’d imagine that was quite a lengthy cleanup. Now Billions marches onward: it’s time for Axe to get back to work at Axe Capital, while Chuck has to decide whether his future resides in the district attorney’s office or as governor of the state. Lara is also being Lara—by which I mean she’s being awful.

In other words, there’s a lot going on in the eighth episode of this great third season, “All the Wilburys,” and I haven’t even touched on the most unexpected, unholy character alliance this side of Chuck and Axe playing for the same team. Don’t worry, we’ll get to that and plenty more from this action-packed installment.

Most Unnecessarily Dramatic Entrance

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Billions Print Media Recap

Billions Season 3, Episode 8 Recap: Forbes – May 14, 2018

On May 14, 2018May 14, 2018 By Gingersnap Comments Off

“Axe Returns to Axe Cap to Cheers and High-Fives Befitting a Rock Star”

by Dana Feldman | Forbes | May 14, 2018

Showtime’s hit series Billions continues to prove itself worthy of the legendary Wilbury status that’s the basis of this latest episode. This week, it’s made abundantly clear who is up and who is down and out.

In “All The Wilburys” Axe (Damian Lewis) and Wags (David Costabile) explain to Spyros (Stephen Kunken), as he’s being fired, the difference between those with Wilbury, or legend, status, and those without. Spyros falls into the latter category but gets a little help from an unexpected source: Dollar Bill (Kelly AuCoin). Do these enemies actually become friends in this episode? More on this below.

Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 8 Recap: Forbes – May 14, 2018