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Written By GingersnapComments Off on Billions on Showtime, Season 3 Episode 7: Not You, Mr. Dake – May 7, 2018
Guilt is a State of Mind
by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | May 7, 2018
Source: Showtime
Well, we all knew they would get out of this, didn’t we? Yet, Billions has once again kept us at the edge of our seats while finding out HOW. And this is what I love the most about this show. The true thrill is not in what happens but in how it happens and I bow in front of the brilliant writers and actors for giving us yet another thrilling hour of TV where the holy triangle proves there is nothing that can stop them when they are out there to get what they want.
And, in this particular case, they want to make Wendy’s short disappear.
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Written By GingersnapComments Off on Billions Season 3, Episode 7 Recap: New York Times – May 6, 2018
Street Punks
by Sean T. Collins | New York Times | May 6, 2018
Source: Showtime
Not You, Mr. Dake
Before we formally open tonight’s recap, here’s a tip, from my critic’s notebook to you. When you get deep into a season of a prestige drama and you see the names of the showrunners pop up under an episode’s “written by” credit? Buckle up. Written by two of the series’s creators, Brian Koppelman and David Levien, and directed with dot-connecting confidence by Michael Morris, this is “Billions” at its best. Ever, I’d say.
The surprises start immediately. (They often do; there’s not a wasted moment on this show anymore.) Last week’s installment ended with a sort of cliffhanger conciliation: Chuck Rhoades, Bobby Axelrod and their shared confidant, Wendy Rhoades, coming together to figure out a way to keep all of them out of prison. Chuck had opened that meeting by proffering an incriminating slide that connected Bobby to the sabotage of the Ice Juice I.P.O. rather than by planting it in the billionaire’s apartment. Nevertheless, this week’s episode begins as Chuck confers with Dr. Ari Gilbert, the man who gave him the slide, talking as if the plan to hide it at Axe’s place is still in full effect.
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Written By GingersnapComments Off on Recappables Podcast: Billions S3E7 – May 6, 2018
Breaking Down a Chuck-Centric Episode, Plus the Best Pop Culture References of the Week
by Mallory Rubin and Alison Herman | The Ringer | May 6, 2018
The Ringer’s Mallory Rubin and Alison Herman discuss this Very Chuck Episode (5:00), Wendy’s unsubtle seduction technique (29:17), and the best pop culture references of the week (45:56).
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Written By GingersnapComments Off on Billions Season 3, Episode 7 Recap: Vulture – May 6, 2018
Jesus Christ, Chuck
by Nicole Cliffe | Vulture | May 6, 2018
Source: Showtime
Not You, Mr. Dake
The title of today’s recap refers to the number of times I screamed those words at my TV during this week’s episode. With a dash or two of “Chuck, the hell are you doing?” and “WENDY, ARE YOU SERIOUS?” I yelled no such thing at Axe, because if Axe can still surprise you with chicanery, you have not been paying attention to the last three seasons of this show.
For an episode that really screws up some innocent lives, it has a delightfully gonzo-heist vibe, which could have felt dismissive but actually adds a queasy note that elevates the whole thing. Not since the Maria Gonzalez’s deportation have we seen so clearly the skull beneath the skin. And, most importantly, we get a lot of Wendy. More Wendy, always.
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Written By GingersnapComments Off on Billions Season 3, Episode 7 Recap: Entertainment Weekly – May 6, 2018
The Moral Rot Finally Reaches Wendy
by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | May 6, 2018
Source: Showtime
Not You, Mr. Dake
When, at the end of last week’s episode, Wendy, Axe, and Chuck sat down to be fully transparent with one another, they did so with a purpose. Each of them had been implicated in the Ice Juice sabotage in one way or another, and each of them was facing jail time. Axe and Chuck had always been in trouble, but Wendy was only recently a target after Ari started working above his pay grade, finding out that she executed a short on Ice Juice shortly before the sabotage.
At the top of “Not You, Mr. Dake,” Chuck and Axe still sit at the table, discussing how keeping Wendy safe is their first priority. When she leaves to get a glass of water, the two converse in hushed tones, pondering whether their damsel in distress will be willing to throw someone under the bus to save herself. Both men don’t think so, knowing Wendy to be no-nonsense, but also honorable. Then, she comes back to the table with a firm answer for them: “So, who’s going to be our patsy?”
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Written By GingersnapComments Off on Axe and Wendy’s Relationship on Billions – May 4, 2018
Lawyers, Kink and Money: Maggie Siff Finds Her Richest Role Yet
by Greg Braxton | LA Times | May 4, 2018
Source: Showtime
Ask Billions star Maggie Siff how she would feel if she all of a sudden became a billionaire, and you’ll likely hear a laugh tinged with a bit of discomfort. Wendy Rhoades, the sensitive but stern corporate therapist and performance coach Siff plays in the Showtime drama Billions, might have some other answers to that question. She operates in a world of massive wealth, working for Axe Capital, the hedge fund headed by cocky billionaire Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis).
That professional association has proved to be repeatedly problematic for Rhoades, who is married to bulldog U.S. Atty. Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), an enemy of financial corruption who has a singular objective — putting Axelrod behind bars.
Her loyalties are constantly at odds, and the blood feud puts Wendy in the middle of a vicious triangle where it appears only one of the men in her life will survive. In the latest episodes of the drama, she has increasingly found herself edging toward legal peril.
Is there a secret part of Wendy that’s in love with Axe? It seems that the combination of the two men in her life could add up to the perfect partner.
That’s an interesting way of looking at it. Initially, in the first season I thought there might be some unconscious romantic love. As I’ve come to understand it, I see it as more of a platonic love. There are things about Axe’s brilliance and his aggression that are attractive to her, but only in terms of exciting her as a friend, as a therapist, someone to work on.
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Written By GingersnapComments Off on Billions Has Moved to a New Timeslot – May 4, 2018
Billions Announcement
by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | May 4, 2018
Billions on Showtime has now moved from the 10:00 EST/9:00 CST timeslot to 9:00 EST/8:00 CST beginning this Sunday, May 6 so check your local listing. Be sure to adjust your watch parties, live tweeting, and check your DVR settings!
Axe: "Hey, Ben Kim, did you hear that @SHO_Billions is MOVING TO 9PM THIS SUNDAY?!"
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Written By GingersnapComments Off on The Fashion and Style of Bobby Axelrod in Billions Seasons 1 Thru 5, Plus Season 7
Bobby Axelrod: The CASHmere King
by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | May 4, 2018 (updated October 23, 2023)
You would think Damian Lewis and Bobby Axelrod couldn’t dress more differently but diving a little deeper, I found some commonalities. However, if we were to simplify, Damian typically dresses up with spurts of leisure whereas Axe dresses down with spurts of formality. Svelte Damian can wear a suit like a coat hanger and Axe can wear a hoodie like a dope Bankster. As Billions costume designer Eric Daman has said, “Damian looks like he just walked off a men‘s catwalk in Italy” so when “Axe does wear a suit, it’s like a punch to the face.”
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Written By GingersnapComments Off on From the Trader’s Desk: Answering Viewers Questions & Billions S3 Ep6 – May 4, 2018
How Will Wendy Solve Her Own Personal Kobayashi Maru?
by Lady Trader | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | May 4, 2018
Source: Showtime
Greetings from the Trader’s Desk! After a brief hiatus, Lady Trader is back to answer some questions about “A Flaw in the Death Star” and my take on “The Third Ortolan”.
I received some questions regarding “A Flaw in the Death Star”: Dollar Bill’s trade, why Axe Capital would hire someone like Ari Spyros, Taylor’s meaning of “ETFs have sucked all the dumb money out of the market that hedgies used to prey on”, and last but not least, the biggest question of the season so far: Why did Axe Capital move to NY?
In “A Flaw in the Death Star” we see Dollar Bill plan to short a pharmaceutical company, Mendham. He has paid off one of the employees to blow the whistle on the animal cruelty that is going on there. A simple short for Dollar Bill and a crap load of money for Axe Capital. But, Dollar Bill has come up against something he can’t throw a duffel bag of cash at – Head of Compliance, Porsche driving, cappuccino making (and I’m guessing its cappuccino since I don’t drink coffee), and all around boorish , Ari Spyros.
Bill has gotten the go ahead for the short from Taylor and Wags, but he must get the OK from Compliance.
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Written By GingersnapComments Off on Billions: All 12 Episodes Now Have a Title and Plot Description – May 3, 2018
Scoop on Billions
by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | May 3, 2018
Source: Showtime
In a previous post, we reported 7 of the 12 episode titles. Now, according to IMDB, all 12 episodes of Billions season three have been titled and according to Showtime, all episodes now have a plot description. Here is what we know:
S3E1: Tie Goes to the Runner
S3E2: The Wrong Maria Gonzalez
S3E3: A Generation Too Late
S3E4: Hell of a Ride
S3E5: Flaw in the Death Star
S3E6: The Third Ortolan
S3E7: Not You, Mr. Dake
S3E8: All the Wilburys
S3E9: Icebreaker
S3E10: Redemption
S3E11: Kompenso
S3E12: Elmsley Count
Click ‘Continue Reading’ for the plot descriptions.
The article was finally released today, and how apropos is it that Damian describes his Billions character Bobby Axelrod as “…a big family man. He really loves his wife and adores his kids and will do anything for them,” yet as we saw in episode 6 just last Sunday, Bobby is contemplating taking a plea for Wendy’s sake, seemingly abandoning his wife, children, family and career – something Axe experienced himself with his own father.
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Written By GingersnapComments Off on Billions on Showtime, 3.06: The Third Ortolan – May 2, 2018
“Nexus”
by JaniaJania | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | May 2, 2018
Source: Showtime
Like three delicately delicious birds, Wendy, Bobby, and Chuck are poised above the deep fryer in Billions Season 3, Episode 6, ‘The Third Ortolan.”
If Wendy had only waited to make the call to short Ice Juice once she was at a safe distance away from pinging the same cell tower pinged by Chuck’s office. Like maybe wait till you’ll on the sidewalk trying to get a cab, or, better yet, hop on the wifi at a Starbucks across town, and then make the call. One barely needs a friend at the NSA to trace such things.
Back when we were talking about which character will prove to be the flaw in the Death Star, who could’ve imagined it’d be Spyros? Not due to any sinister motive, mind you, but simply a misguided attempt to win one for the boss. And, lest there be doubt, Spyros did bring a win for Axe. All evidence points to Wendy having her cake (grabbing a seat for herself on the Axe Cap short) and eating it too (shorting a stock that her husband manipulated Axe into shorting, thereby leaving their joint marital account none the worse for wear). Forgetting that Wendy did it all blindly in a bold move of self and family preservation, the story could easily be framed as her working the play to the Rhoades’ advantage.
