“From the Trader’s Desk”: I have questions…. Billions S7E9 “Game Theory Optimal”

 

What you gonna do
Time’s caught up with you
Now you wait your turn
You know there’s no return
Hand of Doom – Black Sabbath

 

It’s Friday, so it’s time for “From the Trader’s Desk” to dive into Billions S7E9 “Game Theory Optimal.”

This was a great episode that had all the characteristics of what we love about Billions – drama, double crosses, and bold moves. I chose the lyrics from Black Sabbath’s “Hand of Doom” because as a viewer, I felt the impending doom of Wendy, Taylor, and Wags. Time caught up with our brave trio, but they have two aces in the hole that will hopefully help them save the day.

I try to change up the Trader’s Desk every once in a while to make it interesting, so this week my approach is “I have questions…”. I’ll state my question, then discuss what I think may or may not be the answer. Please share what you think in the comments. Continue reading ““From the Trader’s Desk”: I have questions…. Billions S7E9 “Game Theory Optimal””

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory at Cheltenham Literature Festival

source: gloucestershireecho.co.uk

I was very lucky to be there in the room when Damian and Helen read love poems to each other from The Love Book, a brilliant collection of classic and contemporary love poems that vary from Shakespeare to E.E. Cummings to Maya Angelou coming together in a book as well as in an app. It was a moving and intimate hour with a powerhouse husband and wife team reading poems, teasing each other, and sharing their dynamic chemistry with the audience. And could there be anything better to share with the fandom on World Poetry Day?

It turns out that when the festival inquired about a possible video recording of the reading in 2014, Helen and Damian said no. Damian tells The Sunday Times:

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The Unbeatable, Unstoppable, Unparalleled MVPs from Billions Season 7 Episode 9, “Game Theory Optimal”

Billions is back and so is our MVP series! We continue to award our Most Valuable Players for Billions season seven 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 from the episode – from sports references, music and tasty food to pop culture remarks, shocking twists and ultimate paybacks. In case you missed it, catch up with the MVPs of the season seven premiere Tower of London, episode two Original Sin, episode three Winston Dick Energy, episode four Hurricane Rosie, episode five The Gulag Archipelago, episode six The Man in the Olive Drab T-Shirt, episode seven DMV and episode eight The Owl.

Now let’s dive in. Here are the Billions MVP awards for Season 7, Episode 9, “Game Theory Optimal.”

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Billions on Showtime, Season 7 Episode 9: Game Theory Optimal

First things first.  Apologies for not writing a recap for Season 7 Episode 8 The Owl. I was traveling in the UK last weekend to attend Damian Lewis’ music gigs in Brighton, Manchester and Leeds. And then I was in London catching Damian at a fantastic theatre event to mark the centenary celebration of Noel Coward’s first musical revue London Calling. So I missed Episode 8 and was not able to write an episode recap for the first time. That said – I watched the episode and my main take aways are as follows.

First, Chuck very rightly points out, a man with zero self-doubt should never hold a position of absolute power. Prince’s hawkish approach to nuclear conflict at The Owl is a bone-chilling sign to what kind of a president he would be.

Second, Andy knows Prince better than anyone and that the rescue mission could go wrong only if Prince wanted it to go wrong. “You wanted him off the mountain” he says. “And he’s off the damn mountain.” I would not be surprised if we saw Andy standing with the opposition against Prince in the weeks to come.

Finally, I have no idea if The Owl has been inspired by a bizarre old and rich white men in the woods kind of gathering in real life but it gives an accurate portrayal of what is wrong in American politics today: old and rich white men have disproportionate power in decision-making.

Now on to Game Theory Optimal: As someone who teaches game theory for a living, I HEART the title. It is a poker term. a player attempts to play perfect poker so that their moves cannot be exploited by their opponents. Game theory optimal incorporates mixed strategies where a player incorporates bluffs and semi-bluffs in their value bets to have a balanced game. The strategy ultimately dictates that the player makes the  decision to maximize their utility. And the title is very fitting for this episode in which all our characters attempt to play their perfect game! The episode has some of the best writing this season, and gradually moves the plot to the climax  of the last couple of episodes. I know we are in for a thrill ride!

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Throwback Thursday to a Special Gift from Knitting Witch to Damian Lewis

Now that Damian has confirmed he is going to play King Henry VIII in the Wolf Hall sequel The Mirror and The Light, it is my pleasure to share this story about Damian’s “very own Enry” again. ENJOY!

Damian tweeted about his lovely gift, his “very own Enry” from Knitting Witch UK, I would love to share the story behind the tweet with you. Denise, I am thrilled that your work is being appreciated by many, and I am proud to call you a friend. Keep knitting, my lovely witch!

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