Well, night is young and magical for some and not so much for others in Billions Episode 11 Magical Thinking.
Mafee sends in Wags to ask for permission to talk to Axe about BioLance that will make a special announcement in nine minutes about whether the FDA is giving approval for their diabetes type II drug. All the research points to the approval being a coin flip and Mafee, who usually sleeps like a bear, is losing sleep on it. He can pare their position right now just before the announcement and they can still make 10%. But they will lose 400 million should the FDA deny approval. Axe is not having any of it. 10% could be good for a benchmark fund which Axe Capital is NOT. They are already in BioLance where the win is. He fires Mafee on the spot. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Episode 11: Magical Thinking”
We are extremely happy today to have our lovely Lady Trader blogging for us in defense of Bobby Axelrod. Lady Trader is not just a fan of Billions, but she has been living and breathing the world of Bobby Axelrod with 20 years of experience in the securities industry. For 8 years, she was a software and media equity analyst in asset management at The Bank of New York and Weiss, Peck & Greer. In addition, she was responsible in supporting the portfolio managers in portfolio construction and risk-control. She previously worked for 6 years at the American Stock Exchange as a special assistant in the Finance and Information Technology Departments. Prior to that, she was at Dean Witter Reynolds in the Retirement Plan Operations Division.
Dear Lady Trader, we cannot thank you enough for sharing your expertise with us over the months and it feels wonderful to have you share your own perspective on Axe and his doings, particularly in the wake of 9/11, in your own words.
We are extremely pleased to welcome a new blogger, Holliedazzle, today to our blog. Here is a short bio in her own words:
“A life long lover of gingers, Holliedazzle hails from the midwest and spends her free time cosplaying, indulging in all her geeky interests, and also on the stage as a burlesque performer! Also a mother to one sweet little boy, and wife to her own foxy ginger man 🙂 She discovered Damian through her husband’s recommendation to try out this new show “Homeland”, who starred an actor that had been on his radar since “Band of Brothers” became one of his all-time favorite shows. So, really, its all his fault that she’s here!” 😛
Having enjoyed Holliedazzle’s spot-on commentary on Damian’s acting on the blog, we asked if she would be interested in writing about Damian’s acting, in particular about the ways he uses his face and body in bringing our all-time favorite characters to life. We are delighted she has kindly agreed and is giving us the many faces of Damian Lewis today. And it goes without saying we sincerely hope to keep her around for more than two posts. Fingers crossed! Enjoy.
We have had our “educated” speculation last couple of weeks and we now have it all out in Episode 10 Quality of Life: Axe has known Donnie was sick. He sees something is seriously wrong with him in the meeting where Donnie does not see the matrix and follows him to the men’s room.
“Cancer.” “Yeah.” “Shit.” “Pancreatic.” “Shit.” I would probably say “Double scoop of shit” Wags-style. Axe will make sure Donnie sees the top oncologist in the country. He should put himself together and see Axe by the end of the day.
We learn Donnie was closeted until he met Walter. He feels guilty about his wife so gives her all he has and starts back at zero with a plan to make the money his kids would need for a comfortable future in 10 years. Alas, life intervenes. He wants his kids to live a comfortable life. Axe offers “rewards of paradise” on earth: 40 million dollars pre-tax. But there is a downside. His last months will not be his own. Donnie is in unless he is going to jail. Axe assures him lawyers will take care of that part. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Episode 10: Quality of Life”
Damianista’s note: I wrote this post after watching The Pilot. And I have now updated it with all the new information we have got in the last two weeks. Are things as black and white as they seem… or are they gray? You decide. I just want to applaud the show creators for making us think about such a sensitive topic, and think about it hard.
Billions is first and foremost a New York show. And there is nothing more natural than the darkest day of the city, September 11, still shadowing the lives and relationships of our characters even after 15 years. Obviously the darkest day in the history of the nation, September 11 is also a very dark day for financial services firms many of which had offices in the World Trade Center. I remember Cantor Fitzgerald losing two thirds of its workforce on 9/11.
source: spoilertv.com
One of the first things we learn about Axe in Billions is he is a 9/11 survivor. He is, in fact, the only partner that survived the terrorist attacks because he was out of office on meetings while most of his colleagues and friends died. And seeing that Axe Capital is now located in Westport, Connecticut, we also learn Axe Capital is among the financial houses that chose to move from Wall Street to neighboring Connecticut or New Jersey after the destruction of downtown NYC on 9/11.
We then find Axe in a conference room at Axe Capital with the widows and kids of those friends that died on 9/11. Axe has been giving college scholarships to these kids for years. He has been keeping it private that there has never been a press release or an interview with him about it. It is, in fact, a reason for him to leave an interview.
