Billions: A Look Back, a Look Forward

Five days till Billions Season 3 premiere, and I don’t know about you, but I’m at a loss to remember where we left off. One, the finer points of plot don’t stick to the neurons as much as the character development and two, binging TV seems to wreak havoc with attention spans. I mean, how can one possibly remember the in’s and out’s of a show watched over 12 weeks when most watching is done binging all 12 episodes over a few days? It’s a strange new cognitive disconnect I’ve just begun to notice. The way we watch is changing the way we remember. Of course, binging affords rewatching and nothing (but time and space) stops one from binge watching the prior two seasons in preparation for the third. The total recall afforded by such rewatching is what I intend to do with this post, but requiring less time and space. One post, all twelve episodes, a scant few sentences an episode. Just to hit refresh on our information clogged memories a bit. Once the neurons labeled Billions are lit back up, I’ll do a quick look-see at all the previews of Season 3 they’ve shown us so far. Sound like a plan? Alright, here goes!

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Billions Brings the Drama

Saw a tweet go by a couple days ago: something to the effect of “Let’s not forget literary fiction is also a genre.” It’s a response by writers and readers of genre fiction to the idea that the stuff they read and write isn’t “serious”, and that it’s unfair to ghetto-ize so-called genre fiction.

One part of me, thinks, sure, I get the argument: there are features common to literary fiction that make it just as much a genre as fantasy, mystery, and romance. Literary fiction often adheres to realism and has a certain quality of angst, dramatic tension, with flawed characters who are presented lots of obstacles that may or may not be resolved. These traits, along with the pursuit a universality, the goal of getting at the heart of the human condition, could be the identifiers for the genre ghetto we know as literary fiction.

A bigger part of me, however, says: Nope, literary fiction is not a genre, it is ALL the genres. The best literary fiction has elements of humor, romance, mystery, and even fantasy. Same applies to drama: it is the umbrella under which live comedy, romance, and even the supernatural. Call me a pretentious throwback, but where art is concerned (even visual art!), all other ways of seeing and being are subservient to drama. Being subservient doesn’t mean inferior! Drama is not better than comedy or romance or thrillers. Drama is simply the limitless space that lets all of the others in. Drama doesn’t refuse any possibility. And, in order to be really really good, comedy can’t divorce itself completely from drama, romance can’t either. Drama is what all other genres need, or at least acknowledge in some way, even ironically or derisively, in order to be totally believable and totally entertaining.

We know that Billions brings the lulz. What Damian (not Bobby) would probably call good old laddy humor (er, humour). It’s got plenty of really fun moments, both words-wise (“Viscosity.”) and scene-wise (fake fight, anyone?). As for romance, it’s a bit lacking in that department only because everyone is already married! There was the bit of cuteness when Mafee swung a date, and then apparently a long-term thing, with Deb using nothing but his self-effacing charm. Absent the romance, there’s still plenty of lust (for power) and longing (for the upper hand). What turns my head and keeps my eyes glued is the drama. In this post I’m going to look back at a couple of scenes that worked very well as great drama. Of course, there are more than these two, but these are the ones I remember most vividly, even now, a couple years after seeing them for the first time.

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Billions: Tale of Two Marriages

As a drama about the high stakes financial world, Billions already stands apart from other dramas. It has none of the violence and very little of the sex of its counterparts in so-called “elite” cable. What it has instead is soapy twists and turns and a fair amount of serious relationship ins and outs. As I’ve said before, the show is written by folks who care about portraying marriage in all its complexity. And the Axelrods and Rhoades are both wonderfully complex in totally different ways.

Valentine’s Day comes but once a year, but marriage is forever. Or so they say! The Axelrod and Rhoades relationships embody the lovely messiness of marriage portrayed in often surprising ways. Here’s a look at these couplings so far, peppered, of course, by a healthy dose of speculation on what’s to come when Season 3 kicks off March 25 on Showtime. Continue reading “Billions: Tale of Two Marriages”

Books are a Trigger for Billions

How many days to go until Billions is back on our screens you ask? Why, 32 days to be exact. But who’s counting? Spoiler: We are!!! March 25 cannot get here fast enough. Till we get some juicy new stuff to write about, here’s a revisit to the books seen on the various shelves of Billions last season.

Shows that care, like Billions, speak volumes with what they choose to put on the shelves behind the characters as they go about their Billion-y business. Books are about setting the stage and providing props for the characters and the action. Most interestingly, the placement of books is about saying a thing or two about the character who owns them, in a language both visual and textual (if you look closely enough :)) Alternatively, barring such esoteric “meaning”, at the very least, books laying about can be fun Easter eggs that may say a thing or two about the folks who put the show together.

So, join me as we browse through the bookshelves of Billions.

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Billions: Tale of Two Marriages

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day on this blog than to do a deep dive into the two marriages at the heart of Billions? You won’t find any hearts and roses here, friends. The Axelrod and Rhoades marriages are drama thru and thru. It’s the lovely messiness of marriage portrayed in often surprising ways. So let’s take a trip back to the story so far of these two relationships, peppered, of course, by a healthy dose of speculation on what’s to come when Season 3 kicks off March 25 on Showtime.

As a drama about the high stakes financial world, Billions already stands apart from other dramas. It has none of the voilence and very little of the sex of its counterparts in so-called “elite” cable. What it has instead is soapy twists and turns and a fair amount of serious relationship ins and outs. As I’ve said before, the show is written by folks who care about portraying marriage in all its complexity. And the Axelrods and Rhoades are both wonderfully complex in totally different ways.

Continue reading “Billions: Tale of Two Marriages”