Categories Billions Print Media Recap Review

Billions Season 5 Episode 9 Implosion: Vulture Review

Who’s Your Son Now?

by Sarene Leeds | Vulture | September 12, 2021

When the single mention of your name sums up the extent of your destructive power, you know you’ve reached a new apex of evil.

Bobby Axelrod’s one-word moniker suffices as the explanation for no less than four plot points in this episode: (1) Mike Prince’s permanently tattered reputation. (2) Wendy and Tanner’s acrimonious split. (3) Taylor Mason Carbon’s decimation. (4) Senior’s kidney transplant.

(Even more impressive is the fact that Axe managed to wreak this much havoc primarily via Zoom and FaceTime calls. Owing to the fact Damian Lewis was likely in the U.K. at the time of filming, several of his “Implosion” scenes resemble those of Hitchcock’s in the new season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.)

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Billions Season 5 Episode 9 Implosion: Entertainment Weekly Review

Axe’s Enemies Have Teamed Up and They Are Coming For His Head

by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | September 12, 2021

This season of Billions, in all its divided-by-COVID glory, has been a lot about legacy. After four seasons of watching the likes of Chuck, Axe, Wendy, Taylor, and many others go through various power plays to make more money and gain more power, the fifth season has asked two questions: does any of it matter, and what kind of personal toll does this kind of intense hunger for power do to a person?

This season has pushed Axe and Chuck to confront themselves and their legacies more than ever before, and it’s no surprise that both men have reckoned with themselves in different ways. Each has had his catalyst for self-reflection. For Axe, it’s the threat of Mike Prince, a man who’s not only on his level financially but also embodies the spirit of the “good billionaire,” the guy who genuinely wants to use his wealth and power to create a better world. As Prince says in this episode, “wealth will always be there, and power with it,” but he wants to make sure he leaves the world a better place than he found it.

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From the Trader’s Desk: We’re Back! Billions S5 E8 Copenhagen

Hitting the Ground Running

by Lady Trader | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | September 10, 2021

All day long I think of things, nothing seems to satisfy
Think I’ll lose my mind if I don’t find something to pacify
I need someone to show me the things in life that I can’t find
I can’t see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind
Paranoid – Black Sabbath

Welcome back to the Trader’s Desk. What a long, strange trip it has been over the last 15 months. I hope that this post finds you healthy in both body and mind.

Now, without further ado, let’s get into “Copenhagen”, albeit a tad differently. The name of the episode may be the Danish capital, but this Trader’s Desk is going to Spain. Instead of the typical recap, I’m going to just give a few observations, tapas style, as there was no real “fin-speak” this time around.

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Categories Billions Print Media

Jason Isbell Plays a Convincing Jason Isbell on Billions

Jason Isbell and Damian Lewis on the Set of Billions

by Derrick Rossignol | Uproxx | September 9, 2021

Jason Isbell has got his acting beak wet: the mid-season premiere of Billions aired earlier this week, and Isbell played a role that nobody could play better than him: Jason Isbell. In the episode Isbell performed at a benefit hosted by Taylor Mason Carbon, playing “Last Of My Kind” from 2017’s The Nashville Sound. Later in the show, he admires some paintings by Nico Tanner (played by Frank Grillo) with Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis).

Isbell later shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the episode and wrote, “Behind the scenes on @sho_billions. That was a really good time, and I appreciate Damian Lewis, @frankgrillo1 and the crew patiently answering my ‘acting questions.’ Generous and kind folks.”

Watch a clip of Isbell’s Billions appearance below:

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Categories Billions Poll Print Media

Billions: The 10 Best Characters

Who’s Top Dog?

by Jake Dee | ScreenRant | September 8, 2021

From Charles and Wendy Rhoades to Bobby and Lara Axelrod, Showtime’s Billions has several complicated characters that boast flaws and virtues alike.

No matter which side of the moral coin they operate on, the characters in Showtime’s hit drama series Billions are extremely well written, and they’re brought to life by a talented ensemble cast. While much of the drama revolves around the vindictive corporate battle between ruthless U.S. Attorney Charles Rhoades Jr. (Paul Giamatti) and cutthroat hedge fund master Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), it’s their well-connected friends, family members, political allies, and financial enemies that really make their conflict so compelling.

With the second half of season 5 now underway, it’s worth profiling the most substantial characters on Billions in relation to their duration on the show, plot functionality, redemptive arcs, and overall memorability.

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Categories Billions Poll Recap

The Unbeatable, Unstoppable, Unparalleled MVPs from Billions Season 5 Episode 8 Copenhagen

Billions MVP Awards for Season 5, Episode 8, “Copenhagen”

by Gingersnap | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | September 8, 2021

We continue to award our Most Valuable Players for Billions season five 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 to date – from sports references, music and tasty food to pop culture remarks, shocking twists and ultimate paybacks. In case you missed it, here are the MVPs for episode one, episode two, episode three, episode four, episode five, episode six and episode seven.

Let us continue with that tradition as we award our Most Valuable Players (MVPs) for the mid-season premiere. Here are the Billions MVP awards for Season 5, Episode 8, “Copenhagen”

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Next Time on Billions Season 5 Episode 9

Season 5, Episode 9: “Implosion”

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | September 5, 2021

As Prince spirals in the wake of a scandal, Axe looks to take his attack to the next level, putting Taylor’s business in the crossfire. Chuck reckons with his failures and his father’s mortality. Tanner struggles to finish his paintings, while Wendy worries the money may be getting to him.  Airs Sunday, September 12, 2021 at 9:00 EST / 8:00 CST on Showtime.

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

Episode 9 teaser trailer and official clip: 

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Categories Billions Print Media Recap

Billions on Showtime, Season 5 Episode 8: Copenhagen

It’s Always About the Past…

by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | September 5, 2021

And just like that – THEY ARE BACK!

Episode 8 picks up soon after Axe decides to go to war with Mike Prince. It sets the tone for the rest of the season, and is packed with Billions-y twists and turns, wonderful cameos, and some serious punches in the face!

So what is Mike ‘Thomas Aquinas’ Prince doing, in full costume, rehearsing lines before the mirror??? Look at his face, he can not have enough of himself in the mirror with that ridiculous hat…

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Billions Season 5 Episode 8 Copenhagen: New York Times Review

Back in Business

by Sean T. Collins | New York Times | September 5, 2021

Season 5, Episode 8: ‘Copenhagen’

Chuck Rhodes has shaved off his beard. But he wants to be clear: It’s not that big a deal.

“You look ready to toss your cap in the air at West Point!” exclaims his underling Karl Allard (Allan Havey).

Rhodes’s weary reply? “Don’t make a whole thing of it.”

My guess, and it’s just a guess, is that this new clean-shaven Chuck Rhodes has more to do with the vagaries of scheduling talent for the back half of this Covid-scrambled season than a decision made in the writers’ room. If your show stars Paul Giamatti, and if he has gone beardless sometime during the many months since you were last able to film, then by God, your main character will go beardless as well.

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Billions Season 5 Episode 8 Copenhagen: Entertainment Weekly Review

Two Big Wins for Axe, But This Ain’t Over Yet

by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | September 5, 2021

Billions is finally back! Season 5 was interrupted by COVID-related work stoppages last year, depriving all of us of the back half of what has so far been a really solid season. A quick recap, since it’s been so long: Axe is trying to get in the business of running a charter bank so he can, you know, have even more money than usual. Chuck, as attorney general, is doing everything he can to stop that from happening, while also trying to finally find something to take down Axe and Axe Capital for good. Meanwhile, Mike Prince (Corey Stoll) has arrived as another rival for Axe, the seemingly do-good entrepreneur representing everything Axe despises — namely good intentions, real philanthropy, and making money without exploitation.

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Billions Season 5 Episode 8 Copenhagen: Vulture Review

Midseason-Premiere Recap: Keep It Hygge

by Sarene Leeds | Vulture | September 5, 2021

It’s time to fire up those Boomer-rock playlists, y’all, because Billions is back.

Fourteen months after COVID-19 forced Axe Cap & Co. to join the Roys in what seemed like an interminable hiatus, Tom Petty and the Velvet Underground are heralding the return of one-half of TV’s favorite venal New York billionaires.

Let’s address the biggest elephant in the room first: Chuck Rhoades’s new look!

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