Tag: Mike Birbiglia

Break the Stick

by Nicole Cliffe | Vulture | April 29, 2018

Source: Showtime

The Third Ortolan

Are we all partially recovered from last week’s episode? I’m not, but they’re paying me to do this so I have to soldier on. I had thought we’d get a chance to draw a breath, but that turned out to be a bit of a pipe dream. Right up until the last shot of this episode, things had the ability to fork in two – at least two! – very different directions.

I regret to inform you that Dollar Bill and Spyros have had whatever kind of debriefing from Porschegate they’re gonna have, off-screen. Weirdly, it seems to have cleared the air a touch? Spyros, you see, is a COMPANY MAN now – it’s extraordinary how seriously he took the idea of being Family – so he’s not going to let a tiny thing like having his sports car turned into a brick right in front of his eyes zap his enthusiasm for Axe Capital.

Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 6 Recap: Vulture – April 29, 2018

“The kind of complex, taut high-wire act that Billions pulls off with regularity”

by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | April 29, 2018

Source: Showtime

The Third Ortolan

At the very beginning of “The Third Ortolan,” Axe and Wags are seated at a fancy dinner table, their heads covered by cloth napkins, wine flanking their empty place settings. We don’t know it yet, but they’re seated for a French delicacy that’s, well, not looked all that kindly upon in France or the world over. The practice of catching and preparing an Ortolan, a small bird, is no longer allowed. It’s a cruel process indeed. The bird is caught, kept in a cage in a state of “artificial night,” which tricks the bird into gorging themselves on grain. Once they’ve doubled their bulk, they’re drowned in brandy, roasted, plucked, and then consumed whole, bones and all.

It’s a fitting start to the episode, and a fitting ritual for the people of Billions. Axe, Wags, Ari, Dollar Bill, Chuck…they’re all gorging themselves until they’re drowned by their masters. They thrive during rituals of cruelty. They think they control their world, and to an extent they do, but there’s always a cage just waiting to be filled. The cage is no metaphor; it becomes literal in “The Third Ortolan.” Chuck, Axe, and Wendy find themselves threatened with very real jail time. “What happened?” sighs Axe to Wags after they’ve eaten three Ortolans, proving again that they don’t know when to stop. “You fought the law, and the law won. I’ll miss you,” says Wags, as sincere as he’s ever been.

Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 6 Recap: Entertainment Weekly – April 29, 2018

“Fate, Up Against Your Will”

by JaniaJania | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | April 25, 2018

Source: Showtime

In case you haven’t noticed, I tend to watch stuff with the eyes of one who looks for dark and light and all the gradations in between. Light for the fun and entertaining, dark for the real and true. This episode, “Flaw in the Death Star”, balanced the two quite nicely, never spending too much time in either extreme and provided a fair and balanced view of this world we’ve come to know as Billions.

We find Bobby’s flight plans cut short by The Halls telling him they can’t find anything on the doctor who supplied the juice to spike Ice Juice. Like folks pre-Pasteur who believed in spontaneous generation and not in invisible beings like bacteria and such, Bobby has made a fatal error in not collecting the slide that provided the bugs with which he manipulated the murder of Ice Juice. He’s left some key evidence out in the wild, and in this episode, he finds out if he’s to pay for the oversight of slighting those invisible germs.

Over at Chez Rhoades, the difficulty of knowledge management issues is not to be underestimated. Chuck is up in the middle of the night and wakes up Wendy to say: I know, but, since that knowledge was obtained behind your back, you’re under no obligation to acknowledge that you know that I know. I have to do something with my knowledge, even if you tell me not to, because I can’t not.

Continue reading Billions on Showtime, 3.05: Flaw in the Death Star – April 25, 2018

There Is No ‘Flaw In The Death Star’

by Dana Feldman | Forbes | April 23, 2018

Source: Showtime

The latest episode of Billions is fast-paced, packed with intriguing plot lines and this week there’s a storyline that show creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien kept tightly under wraps. If you haven’t watched, there are spoilers.

In this episode entitled “Flaw In The Death Star”Axe (Damian Lewis) and Chuck (Paul Giamatti) are at it again, this time fighting for the loyalty of the same witness: the doctor. Axe may have had his favor at one point in time, but by the end of this episode, Chuck is in the lead and Axe knows it. Chuck also keeps himself busy trading favors with his co-conspirator, Lawrence Boyd (Eric Bogosian). As if he doesn’t have enough irons in the fire, Chuck needs to watch out for Connerty (Toby Leonard Moore) as he’s become increasingly obsessed in his search for the truth.

As Connerty gets closer, he approaches Kate Sacker (Condola Rashad) claiming to know Chuck has done something that will take the whole office down. He can’t quite put his finger on it, but he knows it has to do with the fact Boyd is no longer in prison. When Sacker confronts Chuck asking why Boyd is, in fact, a free man, Chuck admits he secured Boyd’s release because he was instrumental in bringing Axe to justice. Connerty asks the judge to unseal his order re-sentencing Boyd for time served, but Sacker argues to keep the order sealed. Connerty’s request is denied. Dollar Bill (Kelly AuCoin) plans a big short position on a pharmaceutical company stock, but not everyone at Axe Cap approves.

Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 5 Recap: Forbes – April 23, 2018

Walk on the Wild Side

by Nicole Cliffe | Vulture | April 22, 2018

Source: Showtime

Flaw in the Death Star

OMG THIS EPISODE! What a gift. What a treasure. This one was going straight out to the fans, and I loved every minute of it. I barely know where to start! I think I should save the best for last?

This is quite a week for dueling pairs, whether it’s the clashing egos of Spyros and Dollar Bill, the claim on Wendy’s time that Chuck and Axe are batting back and forth, or the mild helplessness of the New Halls when faced with a doctor who can’t be bought. Sacker and Connerty, too! Everyone gets a chance to shine on.

Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 5 Recap: Vulture – April 22, 2018

“The question is: How long until it all begins to crumble?”

by Kyle Fowle | Entertainment Weekly | April 22, 2018

Source: Showtime

Flaw in the Death Star

The whole reason Axe Capital works the way it does is because of the company’s willingness to walk right up to the line of what’s legal. Sure, they cross that line from time to time, but is it really illegal if you don’t get caught? (Side note: yes it is, but that’s not the point). The cronies at Axe Capital, both the charming and the obnoxious ones, thrive by being able to follow their leads with reckless abandon. It’s why they can profit off of a space engineer dying, or a small town going bankrupt. They have no leash, or if they do, it’s a seriously long one.

That’s why Dollar Bill is so angry throughout this episode; his leash has been shortened. With Axe out of the office, he’s beholden to the whims of Ari Spyros, a man who nobody in the office seems to like. Ari’s in compliance now, and he sees his job as being on the front lines of keeping the doors of Axe Capital open. If he doesn’t keep their deals above board, he believes he’s failed. At least that’s what he tells himself. It’s more likely that he just enjoys wielding his power. So, when Dollar Bill comes to him with a short option on a pharmaceutical company that’s about to go belly-up because of a whistleblower looking to expose the animal cruelty in the labs, Ari shoots him down.

Continue reading Billions Season 3, Episode 5 Recap: Entertainment Weekly – April 22, 2018