Category: Print Media

Moral Inconvenience

by Sean T. Collins | New York Times | June 14, 2020

Season 5, Episode 7: ‘The Limitless Sh*t’

Bobby Axelrod can see the Matrix. Or whatever the moneymaking equivalent of the Matrix would be.

After popping a barely legal brain enhancement pill called Vigilantix, provided by Axe Cap’s resident dark-arts practitioner Victor Mateo, Bobby is convinced that both he and any of his employees who have taken this dubious drug are thinking five, 15, 50 steps ahead of their competitors. As stock-ticker numbers fly across the screen, his eyes glow as blue as the Night King’s from “Game of Thrones,” as if he had literal superpowers. And he is focusing those powers on a single goal: Corner the rare-minerals market by investing in meteor harvesting.

No, really.

Continue reading Billions Season 5 Episode 7 Mid-Season Finale Recap: New York Times – June 14, 2020

Axe Capital on Drugs, a Scandal and a Firing

by Paul Vigna | Wall Street Journal | June 14, 2020

A few weeks ago, we questioned whether Showtime’s “Billions” was lionizing Wall Street or satirizing it. We’ve come to a decision.

It’s satire. No other answer makes sense.

In the midseason finale (directed by David Costabile; written by Brian Koppelman, David Levien and Emily Hornsby), Bobby Axelrod gets his entire firm hooked on a purported productivity drug, which almost has Axe Capital staring down the barrel of a $3 billion loss, while Mason Carbon deals with a far less dramatic scandal, and Chuck Rhoades tricks the Treasury secretary into firing himself.

There isn’t much Wall Street stuff in this episode that needs deconstructing. It’s all about how the stories are presented.

Continue reading Billions Season 5 Episode 7 Mid-Season Finale Recap: Wall Street Journal – June 14, 2020

Axe’s Anger Makes For an Explosive Mid-Season Finale

by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | June 14, 2020

Last week’s episode of Billions ended with Axe creepily stalking Wendy and then suggesting she bring Tanner, the painter he commissioned and her new romantic partner, to a dinner. Any of us could tell this was Axe making a power move, attempting to assert his dominance over Wendy. At the beginning of this week’s midseason finale — due to COVID-19, we probably won’t see the back half of this season until 2021 — that dinner takes place in all of its awkward glory. Axe brings Maria Sharapova with him, and Wags is there with his new young girlfriend, who he’s hoping will afford him another shot at being a father. It’s all very messy, and it isn’t long before Axe is making passive-aggressive comments about Tanner and rolling his eyes when Wendy puts her hands on him.

The scene is another great example of how this season is starting to push Axe in a new emotional direction. His interest in Wendy is proving to be self-destructive in a way we haven’t seen with him before. And yet, this episode mostly sidelines the romantic intrigue from previous episodes, focusing instead on the moves happening with Axe Cap, the charter bank, and Chuck’s attempts to finally nail Axe once and for all.

Continue reading Billions Season 5 Episode 7 Mid-Season Finale Recap: Entertainment Weekly – June 14, 2020

Axe’s Little Helper

by Sarene Leeds | Vulture | June 14, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic, which forced Billions to shut down seven episodes into its fifth season, may have been a blessing in disguise for the Showtime drama. The parallel national moment of reckoning regarding systemic racism makes it difficult right now to watch a series featuring predominantly ultra-wealthy white characters who consistently evade punishment for their illegal actions, while men and women continue to be murdered by police officers for the crime of being Black.

While I look forward to seeing the subsequent five episodes of the season, whenever that may be, I do think it’s for the best that the current season goes on this involuntary hiatus. Fans may have also noticed that most of the cast and crew have refrained from posting about the show on social media over the past couple of weeks, opting instead to use their platforms to amplify the Black Lives Matter movement.

Continue reading Billions Season 5 Episode 7 Mid-Season Finale Recap: Vulture – June 14, 2020