By the end of the World War II, it is estimated that 6 million Jews and another 5 million people (consisting of Gypsies, Poles, Homosexuals, Soviet PoWs and the mentally and physically disabled) were murdered by the Nazis.
Season 1 is behind us and Season 2 is a long way in front, so think of us as the in between because who says we have to stop talking about Billions Season 1 just because it has finished? We were talking about it long before it hit our screens and we’re not stopping now.
With that in mind, we have our fun list of our best of Billions Season 1. Feel free to agree or disagree with our list in the comments and let us know what your best of Billions Season 1 are.
Source: Showtime
Best Minion
TBkWrm: I have to give this to Bill ‘Keyser Soze’ Stearn. He of Pepsum Pharmaceutical infamy bought his mum a washing machine, blows up his two families for Axe, has a wonderful fake fight with Axe and he plays Carly, Channing and Lhasa like a fiddle on Axe’s behalf.
JaniaJania: Wags. Something of a mystery just what expertise makes Wags’s position so firm as Axe’s Number One. Axe is even willing to put his hands out for handcuffs if Wags turns out to be a mole. Yet, he is kept out of the loop on other things, i.e. the Pouch situation. His capacity to punctuate Axe’s lines perfectly with his own ribald observations and his willingness to lug around binders of prospectuses on busy NYC streets make him my Number One Minion.
Damianista: Oh, the knight who falls on his sword! The guy who figures this business makes liars out of all of them eventually but still stays loyal to the end. His last months are not his; he does it all to leave a comfortable life to his family. The one-hit wonder. The “Brian Doyle” of Axe Capital: “Let’s do this. Donnie.”
This blog has been a long time coming. Damianista and JaniaJania have been wishing to see it up for a long time . I wanted to wait until I had seen all 12 episodes before posting.
We had devoured all the early promos for the show and have been blogging about Billions for over a year. We attempted to get a feel for the characters as early as we could and this helped immensely as we discussed what we thought about Bobby and Wendy. Even early on, it was clear those two had a connection. After Naming Rights, we were having one of our discussions and I mentioned that I thought there was some Peter Pan in Bobby and Wendy. I was encouraged to investigate this further as Jania Jania said “Peter Pan is an archetype now…the boy who doesn’t want to grow up.” Investigate I have and there is a fair bit of Peter in Bobby. I am not saying this was intentional on the writer’s part, but that I had fun digging through the book looking for it. .
Quotes from Peter Pan by J M Barrie are in italics. The other quotes not in italics are from Billions.
Bobby and Dr Mojo/Peter & Wendy with sprinkles of lost boys and Tink
Bobby even has his own Wendy, (hereinafter referred to as “Dr Mojo”) and he has built his house around her.
source: Showtime
“She knew of no Peter, and yet he was here and there in John and Michael’s minds, while Wendy’s began to be scrawled all over with him. The name stood out in bold letter than any of the other words andas Mrs Darling gazed she felt that it had an oddly cocky appearance.”
Dr Mojo’s mind seems to be scrawled all over with Bobby Axelrod and Bobby Axelrod is quite as cocky as Peter Pan. Dr Mojo knows what Bobby is, but she stays by his side for a very long time. She forgives his transgressions and mistakes.
Hang there like a fruit, my soul,
Till the tree die!
Posthumus, Cymbeline
Cymbeline, Stage at Delacorte Theater, Central Park, NYC source: damianista
Shakespeare in the Park is a New York tradition combining two great things about the city: It’s Theater in Central Park… And, hey, it’s FREE, too! The tradition has been going strong for 53 years now in which Public Theater produces and stages two plays every summer at beautiful Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The productions are impressive that some of them move to Broadway once Central Park run is over, e.g. The Hair Musical in 2008 and Merchant of Venice in 2010. And, topping it all is it’s FREE! The only thing you have to do is go early in the morning and get in the line for free tickets distributed at noon. You may have to go really early if some big name is in a production though; for example we were in the line at 5am when Al Pacino did Merchant of Venice in 2010 and were among the last batch of people that could get tickets… Some people had arrived a night before with their camping equipment 😀 But, believe me, waiting in line is half the FUN… You have people sleeping on their blankets, playing board games, reading the evening’s play together as a group… Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in Cymbeline”
The season finale of Billions starts with a wonderful shot of Axe rising to be part of the NY landscape. He waits to give Wendy a prize for fixing him. From there the episode progresses into a series of cathartic scenes fit for a stage.
