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by Todd VanDerWerff | Vox |June 12, 2018
If you’ve been following the world of TV Twitter this spring, you probably know that a certain subset of this nation’s great, professionally paid TV viewers has gone a little goofy for Showtime’s Billions. Observe!
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by Helen Rosner | The New Yorker | June 11, 2018
Source: Showtime
For nearly three seasons, the Showtime drama “Billions” has been structured as a classic cat-and-mouse tale, a story of attack and defense between the impossibly powerful U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and his nemesis, the impossibly powerful hedge-fund billionaire Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis). Chuck pursues an exhaustive federal case against Axelrod and his fund, Axe Capital, driven less by any direct evidence of wrongdoing than by a dogged jealousy—Chuck’s wife, Wendy (played, with beautifully deadpan intelligence, by Maggie Siff), is an employee of Axe Capital and one of Axelrod’s most intimate confidantes. There is, of course, plenty of wrongdoing for Chuck to uncover (“Billions” takes as axiomatic Honoré de Balzac’s observation that behind every great fortune is a great crime), and Axelrod uses his considerable financial resources twisting the world in knots to avoid being grazed by the sword of the righteous. On Chuck’s side, the game involves shady evidence-gathering tactics, flagrant witness manipulation, and copious back-room dealmaking. On Axe’s side, bottomless pockets are used to reward friends, eliminate problems, and settle old scores. Flying private to hang out with Metallica? You got it. Planting a camera in a government employee’s bedroom in order to blackmail her with a sex tape so that she’ll hand over inside information on Chuck’s case? Consider it done. (Spoilers abound from here on in. If you haven’t started watching the show yet but plan to start: yes, the first scene of the first episode is off-puttingly corny. It gets a whole lot better from there.)
Continue reading How Billions Became One of TV’s Sharpest Critiques of Power – June 11, 2018
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by Brian Lowry | CNN | June 10, 2018
Source: Showtime
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by Alec Hare | The Breakshot | June 10, 2018
Wow. What a season! In Billions Season 3, the plot went left when we thought it would go straight and it went up when we thought it was going to go down. The showrunners pivoting the plot at every turn made this season unpredictable and fun. The season was basically two different seasons as the show resets in the middle. Not to mention in Season 4 we will be getting the return of the big three Chuck, Wendy, and Axe. Enough of that, it’s time to hand out Billions Season 3 Awards!!
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by Nicole Cliffe | Vulture | June 10, 2018
Source: Showtime
I’ll be honest: This was a real mixed bag for me! It’s a good episode (they’re all good episodes!) but as big Billions reveals go, “Elmsley Count” lacked the enjoyable punch of the Ice Juice double cross, or Donnie’s dying play, or even Axe and Chuck teaming up to save Wendy from insider trading charges. I kept waiting for a little something more to drop, and was … mildly disappointed? … when nothing did.
Even though I didn’t get the little something I particularly wanted, there were still lots of fun and shiny balls in the air, and it’s a mark of the show’s quality that I expected a few more of them to drop on someone’s foot when we least expected it. There’s been a firewall between The Axe Capital Situation and The Southern District Situation these last few episodes, in that their respective problems are not elaborately interconnected for once, and it can feel a little creaky moving from one to the other with only Wendy as a commonality.
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by Dana Feldman | Forbes | June 10, 2018
The season finale of Billions entitled “Elmsley Count” was a stunner! Where to begin? Two major things have happened that will make the wait for season four very difficult for diehard fans. First, Axe now knows Taylor started their own shop. To say they are enemies is an understatement. Second, Chuck has been stabbed in the back by virtually everyone he works with. As we know, though he may be down, it will not be for long.
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 have been planted leading up to the finale that prove how exciting season four is going to be! The writers are already working and filming will resume in the fall. Show creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien spoke with me about the third season and why they think it was such a hit with fans. More on this below.
Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 12 Finale Recap: Forbes – June 10, 2018
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by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | June 10, 2018
Source: Showtime
First things first: Thank you, Billions, for the wonderful Super Fan Season Finale event in New York, thanks to which Lady Trader, Lewisto and I were able to see the season finale a few days earlier with a room full of super fans and the show creators and show runners Brian Koppelman and David Levien, followed by a Q&A.
Some lucky #Billions superfans were given the billion-dollar NYC treatment last night at an exclusive season finale screening event with creators @briankoppelman and @DavidLevien, moderated by @GQMagazine's @samschube! (📸: @vnina) pic.twitter.com/BdstliBQ4N
— Billions on Showtime (@SHO_Billions) June 9, 2018
I have already thanked Mr. Koppelman and Mr. Levien at the event for giving us the BEST show on TV, but I want to repeat it here one more time: Hats off to the brilliant writers for creating and the wonderful cast for bringing this awesomeness to life for us! Continue reading Billions on Showtime, Season 3 Episode 12: Elmsley Count – June 10, 2018
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by Sean T. Collins | New York Times | June 10, 2018
Source: Showtime
The fall was coming from inside the house. After years spent fending off attacks from without, from rival financiers to a certain ax-grinding United States attorney, Bobby Axelrod got caught flat-footed by his own protégé. Making good on the surprise ending of last week’s episode, in which Taylor Mason made a surprising move to go solo, the Season 3 finale of “Billions” showed Taylor’s plan in action — and it really was all action.
Named “Elmsley Count” after a magicians’ trick in which key cards are kept hidden from the audience, tonight’s hugely entertaining episode reminded me of nothing so much as another Season 3 finale: “Shut the Door. Have a Seat,” the third-season closer for “Mad Men.” That memorable hour was basically a heist movie in which the priceless treasure being stolen, by a breakaway ad agency led by Don Draper, was nothing more or less than their own talent (and client lists). Here, however, we see that heist more from the perspective of the gobsmacked titan than from that of the brash young upstart, as Bobby, Wags and Wendy slowly piece together the necessary details to form the big picture of their betrayal: the unreturned calls, the missing money, the absent analysts, and the juuuuust-this-side-of-suspicious actions of Taylor the day before.
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by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | June 10, 2018
Source: Showtime
Billions built itself on the rivalry between Chuck Rhoades and Bobby Axelrod. It was the heart of the first season, which was entertaining but still finding itself, exploring what kind of show it would be. In season 2 their rivalry came to a head with a back-and-forth power play that led to a criminal investigation which played out in the first part of season 3. Season 2 shifted the stakes and the storytelling forever, though. The supporting cast became the show’s greatest strength, as the likes of Wags, Ari Spyros, Dollar Bill, and new addition Taylor Mason added everything the show was missing in its first season.
In other words, Billions could only be the story of Axe vs. Chuck for so long. At some point they had to move on from their blood feud and find new enemies, allowing the show to tell new stories and move the characters in different directions. One of the great draws of this show is that it never stagnates. The ground is always moving beneath the characters, and that makes for exciting, unpredictable drama. “Elmsley Count,” the season 3 finale, represents another massive shift, and it’s incredibly exciting.
Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 12 Finale Recap: Entertainment Weekly – June 10, 2018