Tag: John Malkovich

La Dolce Scienza (Sweet Science)

by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | May 5, 2019

Welcome to Fight Night where we have two boxers in the ring and many characters on the street playing the game of La Dolce Scienza (Sweet Science) where they need to find the perfect balance between hitting and not getting hit. Finesse. Slickness. Swagger. Everything on the street is as strategic as it gets on the ring! The cameos of real-life boxing champions Deontay Wilder and Stipe Miocic as well as the boxing references in this fun episode hint that Fight Night is Koppelman and Levien’s tribute to one of their favorite sports.

Continue reading Billions on Showtime, Season 4 Episode 8: Fight Night – May 5, 2019

I’m Going Through Changes

by Lady Trader | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | May 3, 2019

Now all my days, are filled with tears
Wish I could go back and change these years
I’m going through changes
Changes – Black Sabbath

Welcome back to the Trader’s Desk. This was my favorite episode so far this season. No “fin-speak”, but oh man, the emotions! Wendy is all sorts of lost in this episode. In my last two posts, I wrote about the anger and trust issues Wendy is having that have lead to this point. In “Infinite Game” it all comes to a head.

On a housekeeping note, there will be no Trader’s Desk next week (5/10). Lady Trader has earned a much needed vacation, so I will not be recapping; but if there is financial jargon in Ep. 8 that needs clarification, you can always reach out on Twitter: @lisaglick926.

Continue reading From the Trader’s Desk: Billions S4E7 Infinite Game – May 3, 2019

All Is Fair In Love, War And The ‘Infinite Game’

by Dana Feldman | Forbes | April 29, 2019

Ah, the pancake-eater story! Now it all makes sense. Everyone has that one childhood story that once relayed, explains so much about the person they are today and the choices they make in life. Finally, we get a little clarity into the sadomasochism that has plagued, and might finally end, the Rhoades marriage.

Wendy May Have Finally Reached The End Of Her Rope:

Chuck (Paul Giamatti) finally opens up to Wendy (Maggie Siff) about the seed that was planted very early on in his painful childhood by his father, Chuck Sr. (Jeffrey DeMunn). When Chuck realizes just how close it’s come to the end of his marriage, how it is all hanging by a thread, he shares with his wife just how terribly his father mistreated his mother.

Continue reading Billions Season 4 Episode 7 Recap: Forbes – April 29, 2019

Garbage People

by Sean T. Collins | New York Times | April 28, 2019

Season 4, Episode 7: ‘Infinite Game’

Wendy Rhoades really cares about her husband. In spite of his grasping ambition and her position in the crossfire during his now-ended war with her boss, and in spite of how Chuck outed them both as sadomasochists, she wants him to be happy. She hates that he has been made to suffer.

But Wendy is suffering, too, which is one reason she wants to sell their home. When Chuck responded by divulging a story of emotional abuse from his childhood — in which the lesson from his mercurial father was that all women crave domination — Wendy was horrified, of course. She isn’t out to compound Chuck’s anguish by destabilizing his home. She is selling the house not to punish him, but to move beyond her own painful memories. And she’s probably doing it for his sake, as well.

Continue reading Billions Season 4 Episode 7 Recap: New York Times – April 28, 2019

The Moral Reckonings of Wendy Rhoades and Taylor Mason

by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | April 28, 2019

Wendy’s been real close to going off the deep end for a while now. When Billionsbegan, she was a neutral force between rivals Chuck and Axe, expertly being the professional she needed to be at Axe Capital while remaining an integral part of her husband’s political ambitions. Over time though, she became more important to Axe and his business, and she started to feel like there might be more for her than simply acting as a therapist for the stressed-out employees. Add in a very public reveal from Chuck this season, and suddenly Wendy is more conflicted than ever, more willing to wade into the weeds. She’s been claiming her own space, but at some point, as it always does on Billions, there had to be a cost to doing business that way.

When “Infinite Game” kicks off, it looks like it’s going to be a throwaway episode of sorts. That’s not to say a bad episode, but rather the kind of episode that dives into a few fun tertiary, one-off plots, allowing Chuck, Axe, Taylor, and Wendy to do their thing without pushing the season’s main story much further. “Infinite Game” does feel like that at times—it’s a little too meandering, especially when it comes to Chuck’s dog-killer problem—but by the time the credits roll, things have changed in a big way, and that’s impressive. It bumps a solid B episode into B+ territory simply by showing us how these characters are reckoning with decisions they’ve made. Cause and effect, baby; it’s a reliable storytelling tool.

Continue reading Billions Season 4 Episode 7 Recap: Entertainment Weekly – April 28, 2019

Permanent Damage

by Sarene Leeds | Vulture | April 28, 2019

If I’m reading into the title of tonight’s Billions episode correctly, Axe is the only one of the four main characters who best understands that they are all playing an “Infinite Game.” While Chuck, Wendy, and Taylor each end the episode in pieces, Axe looks the happiest he’s been in months.

But that’s not even the genius of this episode, which was written by co-showrunners Brian Koppelman and David Levien. Its brilliance is in the way Axe callously crushes Taylor and Douglas while also making me cry tears of joy by sending local pizzeria owner Bruno (Arthur J. Nascarella) off to his dream retirement in Florida. With all the sociopathic behavior exhibited and discussed in “Infinite Game,” Axe’s is hidden in plain sight, making him look like the hero on the surface — and that’s pretty darn scary if you think about it.

Continue reading Billions Season 4 Episode 7 Recap: Vulture – April 28, 2019

Standard Problems – Nonstandard Solutions

by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | April 28, 2019

I could not be happier that a game theory term makes it to the title of this week’s episode: Infinite Game.

In finite games, like a tennis match, the players are known and the rules are fixed. The players obey the rules and play to win the game. In finite games, there is a clear endpoint. In infinite games such as politics or business, or life itself, players and rules may change. There is no definite endpoint. The goal for all players involved is to keep the game going.

And this fantastic episode is a deep dive into life, an infinite game, where human beings try to find the balance between their rational and emotional sides and keep it going. Hats off to everyone behind and in front of the camera!

Continue reading Billions on Showtime, Season 4 Episode 7: Infinite Game – April 28, 2019

Trust No One

by Lady Trader | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | April 26, 2019

Yes I know the secret that’s within your mind
You think all the people who worship you are blind
You’re just like Big Brother, giving us your trust
And when you have played enough you’ll cast our souls into the dust
Who Are You? – Black Sabbath

Trust: firm belief in the reliability, truth or strength of someone or something

Happy Friday and it’s time for another view From the Trader’s Desk, and what this trader would short this week is trust. There is a lot of talk from this group of loyalty and trust – but that is all that it is, talk. And we all know that talk is cheap.

A little housekeeping before I get into my trust meter:

I have never heard of this organization Wags gets rejected from, Kappa Beta Phi so I have not a thing to add. It’s a secret society, so that explains it. However, I would love to see these titans of the financial world dressed in drag, because anyone who knows me knows that I love RuPaul’s Drag Race! I am anxious to see just how Wags gets his revenge! It will be one for the ages!

Continue reading From the Trader’s Desk: Billions S4E6 Maximum Recreational Depth – April 26, 2019