Categories Billions Locations Guide

Billions Season 4 Locations Guide – July 1, 2019

A Guidebook to Billions Filming Locations

by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | July 1, 2019

source: Showtime

I am an immigrant. I moved to the US for graduate study in late 1990s. My husband and I, having finished our PhDs, moved to New York in 2001, only weeks before September 11, for our first jobs. The city has since given me so much in so many different dimensions and defined me as an individual: a foodie, a film buff, a theatre lover, a feminist, a wine snob, a runner and more… Even though we moved to the South five years later for new jobs, we could not give up on New York. We still have a tiny apartment on the Upper West Side and we enjoy the city as part-time New Yorkers 😀

And as I mentioned a billion times before, Billions is a dream show for me not only because my favorite actor is in it, but also because New York, from its landmarks to its city parks and to its quirky shops, appears as a cast member in the show! As someone who feels the only home she has in the world is the city that never sleeps, I particularly love it that Billions is taking over New York, the BIG film studio that it is, and shooting all over the place, from Manhattan to Queens to Brooklyn to The Bronx to Long Island and to northern suburbs. So I have put together this Billions Season 4 Location Guide as a loving tribute to my most favorite place on earth and a heartfelt thank you to the show creators for writing a love letter to the city.

Hope you pick and choose and take your own Billions tour in New York City and beyond and give us feedback! And in case you missed our locations guide for Season 1, Season 2 and Season 3 you can check them out here, here and here.
Continue reading Billions Season 4 Locations Guide – July 1, 2019

Categories Billions

The Best of Billions Season 4 – June 24, 2019

The Best of the Best and All the Rest

by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | June 24, 2019

We are thrilled that Billions has been renewed for Season 5! To keep with that Billions state of mind, how about a fun visit to the best of Billions season four? Feel free to play along in the comments section. And for those just joining us, you can catch up on the rest by reading Best of Billions 1 , Best of Billions 2 and Best of Billions 3.

Continue reading The Best of Billions Season 4 – June 24, 2019

Categories Billions

Luxury Bunkers, Cryo Chambers, Kappa Beta Phi: Things I Never Knew Existed Before Billions – June 19, 2019

A Tour of the Rich and Famous Lifestyle: Billions Season 1 – 4 

by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | June 19, 2019

Damian Lewis talks about the current perception of billionaires and their wealth in an interview with Prestige Online:

“I think there’s a greater suspicion about billionaires and about wealth and accumulation of wealth. People are asking for the first time, “Excuse me, how did you become a billionaire exactly, because I just lost my house?” So I think it’s an interesting transitional point.

Having said that, I think there will always remain a certain rock ’n’ roll element to the guy with the money and the fast car.”

Continue reading Luxury Bunkers, Cryo Chambers, Kappa Beta Phi: Things I Never Knew Existed Before Billions – June 19, 2019

Categories Billions Dining Guide

The COMPLETE Billions Season 4 Dining Guide – June 17, 2019

Ice Cream, Candy, and Sheep’s Head?? Oh My!

by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | June 17, 2019

One of my favorite things about my favorite TV show is how it showcases the New York dining scene from hole-in-the-walls to neighborhood gems to Michelin-starred restaurants. And it has been my pleasure to share the information about restaurants appearing on the show first in my weekly recaps and then in a full dining guide by the end of the season for Season 1Season 2, and Season 3.

And now that our Billions dining guides are some of the most popular posts  on the blog, and that we constantly get questions about the restaurants on the show, I have decided to kick off our dining guide early with the restaurants our characters visited in the first two episodes in Season 4 and update the post as we go. Continue reading The COMPLETE Billions Season 4 Dining Guide – June 17, 2019

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From The Trader’s Desk: Sabotage! Billions S4 E12 Season Finale – June 14, 2019

Sabotage

by Lady Trader I Fan Fun with Damian Lewis I June 14, 2019

From The Trader’s Desk: Sabotage! Billions S4 E12 – Season Finale’Cause what you see you might not get
And we can bet so don’t you get souped yet
You’re scheming on a thing that’s a mirage
I’m trying to tell you now it’s sabotage
Sabotage – Beastie Boys

Welcome to the last “From the Trader’s Desk” for Season 4 of Billions. We’ve seen the Good, the Bad, and ultimately, the very Ugly from our favorite characters this season (look for our upcoming “Best of Billions” for this season soon!), and this episode, “Extreme Sandbox” was no different.

Before I get into the episode, I want to say how much I have enjoyed bringing “From the Trader’s Desk” to you all each week. These posts were originally supposed to clear up any “fin-speak” that non-Wall Streeters just didn’t get. In the beginning, there was a lot of it! So much so, that we were adding to our Billions: Glossary on a weekly basis. However, as the show got more and more into the characters and the complexity of their relationships, the financial jargon got less and less. What would I write about? I decided that I would do what I do best: analyze and evaluate. If I can do it with companies I trade, I can do it with the rich characters of Billions. I didn’t know how it would go, but I have gotten some of the best feedback on my analysis posts, so thank you! Continue reading From The Trader’s Desk: Sabotage! Billions S4 E12 Season Finale – June 14, 2019

Categories Billions Interviews Print Media

The Billions Showrunners Explain Why They Turned the Tables on Us — Again: Vulture – June 9, 2019

An Interview with Koppelman and Levien

by Sarene Leeds | Vulture | June 9, 2019

Photo: JoJo Whilden/SHOWTIME

***This interview contains spoilers from the season four finale of Billions.***

Just as we were getting used to the idea of New York State Attorney General Chuck Rhoades Jr. (Paul Giamatti) and hedge-fund billionaire Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis) playing nice with each other, Billions responded with, “Eh, not so fast.”

In its season four finale, the Showtime drama recalibrated the positions of several of its main players, most notably by shifting the dubious alliance between Chuck and Axe back into a full-on rivalry. After celebrating a victory over season-long foes Attorney General Waylon “Jock” Jeffcoat (Clancy Brown) and U.S. Attorney Bryan Connerty (Toby Leonard Moore), Chuck needs someone new to take down, and he has set his sights back on Axe, who he feels has been pulling the strings of his life for far too long.

The episode “Extreme Sandbox” also saw Axe’s relationship with venture capitalist Rebecca Cantu (Nina Arianda) become collateral damage in his ongoing war with former protégé Taylor Mason (Asia Kate Dillon). Meanwhile, Chuck’s marriage to Axe Capital performance coach Dr. Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff) is in tatters again, the lowest blow being Axe using his monetary muscle to get Wendy’s medical license reinstated. Both Axe’s and Wendy’s newfound singledom also begs the question as to whether this platonic relationship is about to move into something more romantic.

Continue reading The Billions Showrunners Explain Why They Turned the Tables on Us — Again: Vulture – June 9, 2019

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions Season 4 Episode 12 Recap: Forbes – June 9, 2019

The Worm is Always Ready For the Hook

by Dana Feldman | Forbes | June 9, 2019

David Costabile, Kelly Aucoin, Condola Rashad, Toby Leonard Moore, Damian Lewis, Jeffrey DeMunn, Asia Kate Dillon, Maggie Siff, Paul Giamatti, Nina Arianda, Daniel K. Isaac, Sarah Stiles, Stephen Kunken, Billions, Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Showtime

Kelly AuCoin, David Costabile, Damian Lewis and Daniel K. Isaac in Billions.

PHOTO BY JEFF NEUMANN/SHOWTIME.

All good things, as they say, must come to an end. The fourth season finale of Showtime’s Billions, “Extreme Sandbox,” definitely left off with an intriguing cliffhanger. The 4.5 million weekly viewers of the show will have to wait until next year to see what happens, but in the meantime, can ponder this question: Is it better to lose and do the right thing, or win by doing the wrong thing? Each of the main players in the show seem to have a different answer to this question.

Continue reading Billions Season 4 Episode 12 Recap: Forbes – June 9, 2019

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions Season 4 Episode 12 Recap: Vulture – June 9, 2019

Rivalry Rebooted

by Sarene Leeds | Vulture | June 9, 2019

Photo: Jeff Neumann/Showtime

We’ve always known that Chuck Rhoades Jr. and Bobby Axelrod worked better as enemies, so closing out Billions’’s strongest season yet by hitting the reset button seems like the most organic decision possible. But as we head into season five, there is no question that the best part of this rebooted rivalry will be watching Wendy potentially inch toward a romantic relationship with Axe — and watching Taylor manipulate Chuck and Axe into self-destruction.

As in any excellent season finale, “Extreme Sandbox” — written by showrunners Brian Koppelman and David Levien — also saw the decks cleared and the stage set for next season, leaving some major casualties in its wake.

I know I overthought the ending of last week’s episode by erroneously speculating that Axe would hurt Wendy instead of Rebecca as part of his revenge on Taylor. My only excuse is that the demise of his relationship with Rebecca already seemed a foregone conclusion after she made the deal with Taylor, so I guess I was preparing for a much bigger implosion. As much as I liked Rebecca and Axe as a couple, I knew this love affair would never survive Rebecca’s betrayal.

Continue reading Billions Season 4 Episode 12 Recap: Vulture – June 9, 2019

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions Season 4 Episode 12 Recap: New York Times – June 9, 2019

Collateral Damage

by Sean T. Collins | New York Times | June 9, 2019

At a key moment in the season finale of “Billions” — although neither character involved knows just how key until it’s too late — Rebecca Cantu and Wendy Rhoades take a day trip to a recreational construction site. Yes, there are recreational construction sites. A small chain of them, actually.

That chain, and this episode, is called “Extreme Sandbox.” The concept is simple: Give people the keys to actual heavy machinery and let them dig holes and smash cars on a closed course to their hearts’ content.

If the concept sounds familiar, perhaps you watched it secure funding for expansion on an episode of the entrepreneurship reality competition series “Shark Tank.” One of the sharks who backed the idea was the real-life billionaire Mark Cuban. Sure enough, he makes a cameo appearance here, playing himself, to greet the fictional billionaire Rebecca when she arrives on site.

Continue reading Billions Season 4 Episode 12 Recap: New York Times – June 9, 2019

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions on Showtime, Season 4 Episode 12: Extreme Sandbox – June 9, 2019

Peace, Love and Understanding do not live here

by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | June 9, 2019

May I just say I will miss Sundays? Thanks to Showtime releasing the new episodes Saturday midnight, I adjusted my weekend program this year. I have watched the show two times until 2am and took notes. Then I slept on it and sat down and wrote all day Sunday taking a lot of pleasure in putting together what I see, what I read between the lines, and my favorite part, speculating (I have hits and misses!) about what could happen next in this crazy ride! I give standing ovation to all brilliant minds behind and in front of the camera for surpassing all expectations! And special thanks go to my husband for bearing with me for the last couple of months and keeping my mother, who has been visiting for the last six weeks, entertained Sundays! ❤️

While the season is coming to an end, we still have so much to say about it. We are currently updating the dining guide which we will publish next week followed by a FUN Best of Billions Season 4 post, a locations guide and more. We hope you stay with us between seasons! Continue reading Billions on Showtime, Season 4 Episode 12: Extreme Sandbox – June 9, 2019

Categories Billions

From the Trader’s Desk: Parallel Lines, Billions S4 Ep11 – June 7, 2019

Parallel Lines

by Lady Trader I Fan Fun with Damian Lewis I June 7, 2019

Those who try to burn him pay
You don’t do that to Johnny Blade
He’s the meanest guy around his town
One look and he will cut you down
Johnny Blade – Black Sabbath

We’re getting closer to the end folks! This penultimate episode of Billions was the perfect set-up for next week’s finale.

Here at the Trader’s Desk, it’s our day job to see patterns, and we saw several parallels to last season’s E11, Kompenso, so let’s discuss! And in keeping with the parallels, I’ve used the same song to start this post as I did last season’s recap of E11 (just a different verse!). I don’t want to break the pattern! Continue reading From the Trader’s Desk: Parallel Lines, Billions S4 Ep11 – June 7, 2019