Tag: Taylor Mason

Billions on Showtime Season 5 Episode 3: Beg, Bribe, Bully

I love the saying attributed to Woody Allen that “90% of life is showing up.” And while I believe it applies to the 99% of the population, 90% of life for the top 1% seems to be begging, bribing and bullying their way into everything – business, art, and yes even education. Written by Ben Mezrich, and set around these three actions, this episode gives us a wonderful hour that provides food for thought about essence of a person – the soul – as well as fathers and sons.

As Father and Son– one  of the best songs ever written by one of the greatest songwriters of all times – opens the episode, we find out the apple does not fall far from the tree.

The son in question is Gordie Axelrod who is turning his dorm room into a bitcoin farm to make money – lots of it! But exactly like the bitcoin farm Kate busted in Episode 1 The New Decas, Gordie’s bitcoin farm needs so much power that it does not only cause outage in the school building but also in the entire town. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime Season 5 Episode 3: Beg, Bribe, Bully”

“From The Trader’s Desk”: Prince Takes King? – Billions S5 E2

Obsessed with fantasy, possessed with my schemes
I mixed reality with pseudo-god dreams
The ghost of violence was something I seen
I sold my soul to be the human obscene
Megalomania – Black Sabbath

Happy Friday, and welcome back to the Trader’s Desk.

I’m not going to do a deep dive into the whole episode this week, but start off explaining what went down between Dollar Bill and Winston and what a Sharpe ratio is, some observations, then get into what was my favorite part of the episode – Axe’s fireside chat! The scene may have only been 5 ½ minutes, but it had me and my partner talking for hours. Continue reading ““From The Trader’s Desk”: Prince Takes King? – Billions S5 E2″

Billions on Showtime Season 5 Episode 2: The Chris Rock Test

It does not matter if it is a carnivorous or a cuddly one. Or one that lives with a code. Billions Season 5 Episode 2 The Chris Rock Test demonstrates that a monster is a monster no matter what.

Oh My God – how come I forgot Billions does never waste a word?!?!  As I thought he was just being kind, Axe  was very serious when he was saying his goodbye to the Shaman in Season 5 Premiere The New Decas:

“…until we see each other and move your knowledge into the world, be well.”

As someone who never misses a business opportunity, where he and Wags saw “the creator of souls” Axe also saw a market! And now he, along with Wags and Taylor, is attending the “The Mike” held at the Mohonk Mountain House – actually waiting for The Mike to descend from the sky in his seaplane and welcome them to the conference. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime Season 5 Episode 2: The Chris Rock Test”

“From the Trader’s Desk” – The New Decas – Billions S5 Ep1

Welcome back, your dreams were your ticket out
Welcome back, to that same old place that you laughed about
“Welcome Back” – John Sebastian

Welcome back to “From the Trader’s Desk” for Season 5 of Billions!

Before I get into my recap/analysis, let me just say, boy, did I miss these characters from my screen! With everything that is going on in the world right now, having Axe, Wags, Taylor, Wendy, and yes, even Chuck, back and up to their usual shenanigans was like slipping into a comfortable pair of jeans!

Since there was not a lot of fin-speak this week, let’s see where the characters I call the Big Four (Axe, Chuck, Wendy and Taylor) are when we start the new season.

Before I start, I’d like to talk about the school-yard battle between the Axe Cappers and the TMCer’s. There is bad blood between these two camps. One reason is because the ACs see the TMCs as interlopers (and in the case of Taylor and Mafee, traitors). No one likes anyone coming into their “house” infringing on their territory. Continue reading ““From the Trader’s Desk” – The New Decas – Billions S5 Ep1″

Billions on Showtime, Season 5 Episode 1: The New Decas

Advance Warning: This will be a long review. I just wanted to touch upon everything that happened in the season premiere because it sets the tone for what is to come! And you know, I just love talking about this show. Hope you bear with me – ENJOY!

Massive  thanks go to Showtime for kindly releasing the Billions Season 5 Premiere at midnight Saturday which gave me ample time to watch the episode two times, sit down and write. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Season 5 Episode 1: The New Decas”