Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions on Showtime, Season 7 Episode 6: The Man in the Olive Drab T-Shirt

Respecting Your Adversary

by Damianista | Fan Fun With Damian Lewis | September 15, 2023

In one of the best opening scenes in Billions, Robert and Charles, as they call each other, meet at an airport in Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) in Iceland and set the tone for the episode. This one is all about respecting your adversary. As Grigor Andolov rightly points out one should have the greatest respect for their fiercest  adversary, because that is the one who believes in your abilities the most. And the title of the episode is a clear tribute to President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine to whose resilience and determination Russian President Vladimir Putin has had zero respect whatsoever.

Continue reading Billions on Showtime, Season 7 Episode 6: The Man in the Olive Drab T-Shirt

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions Season 7, Episode 6 Recap: From Russia With Love

Chuck May Have a New Redheaded Ace Up His Sleeve

by Sean T. Collins | New York Times | September 15, 2023

Season 7, Episode 6: ‘The Man in the Olive Drab T-Shirt’

“The irresistible force meets the immovable object.” This quote should be familiar to Chuck Rhoades. As this week’s episode of “Billions” goes to great lengths to point out, Chuck is fan of professional wrestling. He would no doubt recall the wrestling commentator Gorilla Monsoon excitedly describing the clash between Hulk Hogan and his friend turned nemesis Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III with these exact words. Indeed, Chuck’s erstwhile ally, the Russian oligarch Grigor Andolov (John Malkovich), references the match by name during this very episode.

But the sentiment should be a familiar one to Chuck as well. There he is at the beginning of this week’s episode, on a remote airstrip in Iceland, staring down his old nemesis, the fugitive billionaire Bobby Axelrod. Generally speaking, when the irresistible force meets the immovable object, a clash occurs. This time, however, the meeting is agreed upon in advance and pursued with a level of politeness, even honor, of which I doubted either man was capable.

Continue reading Billions Season 7, Episode 6 Recap: From Russia With Love

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions Season 7, Episode 6 Recap: Double Turn

Axe: Hopefully Building Up to Something Colossal

by Sarene Leeds | Vulture | September 15, 2023

I’m conflicted over “The Man in the Olive Drab T-Shirt.” In many ways, it’s Billions’ best episode of the season yet because it brought back everything the show has been lacking since Axe skipped the country. But it’s also one of the series’ worst episodes on account of how much was crammed into a single hour of television. By overstuffing “The Man in the Olive Drab T-Shirt,” most of the important plot points were diluted.

This is a shame because the episode included a rare Axe appearance, the return of John Malkovich’s terrifying Russian oligarch Grigor Andolov, a fun Paul “Triple H” Levesque cameo, Chuck revisiting his childhood demons, Mike Prince pulling a Ross Perot, and Andy Prince revealing she’s the malevolent force behind her husband’s ambition.

Continue reading Billions Season 7, Episode 6 Recap: Double Turn

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

From The Trader’s Desk: Beware the Stealthy Assassin

Billions Season 7 Episode 5 ‘The Gulag Archipelago’

by Lady Trader | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | September 15, 2023

How I lied, went to hide,
How I tried to get away from you, now,
Am I right, if I fight?
That I might just get away from you, now
Megalomania – Black Sabbath

Welcome to the condensed version of “From the Trader’s Desk”! I will be heading out of a business/mini vacation trip mid-week, so my thoughts are going to be quick and dirty as they say!

I chose lyrics from a song on Black Sabbath’s sixth studio album, Sabotage, since it seemed fitting. Taylor has decided to join the fight to stop Mike Prince, so they are right to fight!

I really want to focus on Taylor and their brilliant move in dinging the good ship Prince, so just a few thoughts first.

Continue reading From The Trader’s Desk: Beware the Stealthy Assassin

Categories Billions Poll Print Media

Billions MVPs: Season 7 Episode 5, “The Gulag Archipelago”

The Unbeatable, Unstoppable, Unparalleled MVPs 

by Staff | Fan Fun With Damian Lewis | September 13, 2023

Billions is back and so is our MVP series! We continue to award our Most Valuable Players for Billions season seven in our series compilation, the ‘Billions MVP Fanbook,’ which commemorates all those in honor of achievement for the utmost brazen, uber shameless, ultra scheming, unmatched bad asses from the episode – from sports references, music and tasty food to pop culture remarks, shocking twists and ultimate paybacks. In case you missed it, catch up with the MVPs of the season seven premiere Tower of London, episode two Original Sin, episode three Winston Dick Energy and episode four Hurricane Rosie.

Now let’s dive in. Here are the Billions MVP awards for Season 7, Episode 5, “The Gulag Archipelago.”

Continue reading Billions MVPs: Season 7 Episode 5, “The Gulag Archipelago”

Categories Billions Dining Guide

Billions Season 7 Dining Guide, Episodes 1-5

Bon Appetite

by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | September 13, 2023

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 1,  Season 2Season 3.  Season 4. and Season 5.

Fan Fun Billions dining guides are some of the most popular posts  on the blog and even some leading media outlets have noticed. Look what Forbes Magazine says about us!

“There are posts on actor Damian Lewis’s official website, that diligently track, with screenshots, all the food locations featured in every season. These posts even manage to name-check the take-out Chinese in one scene as the beloved eatery Wo-Hop.”

Continue reading Billions Season 7 Dining Guide, Episodes 1-5

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions Season 7, Episode 5 Recap: Prince Starts to Lose Control

Chuck Deals With PR Crisis; Prince Losing Control of Company

by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | September 11, 2023

At the top of this week’s episode, Ira (Ben Shenkman) is in a panic. He’s in Chuck’s (Paul Giamatti) office talking about how he was mugged the night before, that someone ran off with his phone. He tells Chuck that he needs to get the phone back not only because there are work-related files on it, but because there’s also some NSFW videos involving him and his wife that he’d rather not see leaked. He describes the videos as “pretty vanilla,” but still, this is clearly a crisis.

So, Chuck leaps into action to help his friend out, and honestly the storyline is a nice change of pace from the usual Prince-focused stuff. Here, we get a rather self-contained, episodic story that only somewhat ties into Prince (Corey Stoll) and instead allows Giamatti to shine in a few scenes. Chuck first goes to the incoming NYPD Commissioner and asks him for a favor; he wants access to CCTV footage in order to track down the man who stole Ira’s phone. In order to convince the Commissioner to work with him, he lies about there being “issues of national security” on the phone.

Continue reading Billions Season 7, Episode 5 Recap: Prince Starts to Lose Control

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions on Showtime, Season 7 Episode 5: The Gulag Archipelago

Revisiting Past Mistakes

by Damianista | Fan Fun With Damian Lewis | September 9, 2023

The Gulag Archipelago, mentioned by Victor and that titles the episode, is a book written by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. I never read it but I am familiar with the author thanks to my Russian literature loving parents’ home library. Solzhenitsyn wrote to help raise global awareness about the political repression in the USSR. This particular book tells the story of a zek (a Gulag inmate) from his arrest to the show trial to being sent to a Gulag (labor camp in Siberia) to reflect on and learn from “his mistakes” based on interviews, reports,  legal documents and  Solzhenitsyn’s own experience as a zek. And as Solzhenitsyn revisits the ways things could have gone in his book, our characters deal with their past mistakes in their unique ways in the episode.

Continue reading Billions on Showtime, Season 7 Episode 5: The Gulag Archipelago

Categories Billions Gallery Trailer Video

Next Time on Billions Season 7 Episode 6

Season 7, Episode 6: “The Man in the Olive Drab T-Shirt”

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | September 8, 2023

Axe turns to Chuck for a favor involving a common adversary. Prince maneuvers to raise his public profile. Chuck seeks counsel from an out-of-the-box business mind. Wendy works to run employee feedback rounds, even at the cost of Prince’s pride.

To view more sneak peek photos, please visit our Gallery here.

Continue reading Next Time on Billions Season 7 Episode 6

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions Season 7, Episode 5 Recap: A Plan Starts to Form

Half the Traders at Prince Cap Became Involved in a Plot Against Their Boss. They Just Didn’t Know It.

by Sean T. Collins | New York Times | September 8, 2023

Season 7, Episode 5: ‘The Gulag Archipelago’

Let’s do a little narrative reverse engineering, shall we?

Imagine, if you will, that you are a both a trader and a traitor — a high-powered executive at a major investment fund, looking to fatally undermine your own boss in order to stop him from becoming the president of the United States.

Your Plan A, recruiting your even more dangerous old boss to stop him, has failed. You’re tired of waiting around for your performance-coach colleague, the ringleader of your band of mutineers, to generate a Plan B. It becomes clear that coming up with Plan C is up to you.

Continue reading Billions Season 7, Episode 5 Recap: A Plan Starts to Form

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions Season 7, Episode 5 Recap: I’ll Wait

A Mouthful of Helium

by Sarene Leeds | Vulture | September 8, 2023

If you’re feeling restless after five episodes, I assure you you’re not alone.

Unfortunately, “The Gulag Archipelago,” like most of the episodes in this final season of Billions, offered very little payoff. The only significant developments came in the form of Taylor officially joining Wendy and Wags in their fledgling Rebel Alliance/Fifth Column, Wags obtaining investment sign-off privileges — and Dave Mahar wresting the Mike Prince investigation from Chuck’s firm grip.

Continue reading Billions Season 7, Episode 5 Recap: I’ll Wait

Categories Billions Print Media Recap

From The Trader’s Desk: A Whole Lotta Rosie!

Billions Season 7 Episode 4 ‘Hurricane Rosie’

by Lady Trader | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | September 8, 2023

Ooh, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter
Ooh yeah I’m gonna fade away
Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones

We’ve made it to Friday so that means this is your weekly dose of “From the Trader’s Desk”.

This was a stormy (see what I did there?) episode, so to change it up I used lyrics from The Rolling Stones, since while the storm Rosie was threatening the lives in it’s path, it seems the storm named Wendy (with some help from Dr. Mayer) will be threatening the life of Prince’s White House ambitions. And extra points if you can name the band that sang the song I used as today’s post title!

Continue reading From The Trader’s Desk: A Whole Lotta Rosie!