Tag: Paul Giamatti

Billions on Showtime, Episode 6: The Deal

The King is back. He loves what he does. He, in fact, lives and breathes what he does. Real or not, he tries his hand a bit in having the good life  — collecting fresh eggs in the morning, quality time with wife and kids, prospect of getting on his new boat and sailing to Galapagos… And maybe, just maybe, there is really a moment where he thinks there could be another life he could be living.

But the fact is Axe Capital is where the good life is for Axe.

Source: Showtime
Source: Showtime

Maybe not the perfect life as the smug on his face is gone the moment he comes eye to eye with the Windbreakers raiding Axe Capital to get to “Dollar” Bill…  But it must be something about the game that he just cannot give up… Axe advises Danzig after his “deer shooting” spree: “What drives you does not understand enough.” It’s obvious what drives Axe does not understand enough, either. Is it the adrenaline? Is it the sweet feeling of winning? What drives Axe? Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Episode 6: The Deal”

Billions on Showtime, Episode 5: The Good Life

Well, I give it to the Billions writers that Episode 5: The Good Life has an opening like no other: A No Trespassing sign exactly like in the opening scene of Citizen Kane!  

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Welcome to Citizen Axe’s Good Life!

We leave Axe at the end of Episode 4: Short Squeeze telling Wags to sell everything: Sell 5% of all positions across the board first and then sell sector by sector starting with Telecom.

And now we’re finding him on his Passoni bike, a hand crafted Italian beauty, cycling to Axe Hills, no less, to collect fresh eggs from the chickens. He suggests Tito to “franchise that fucking hen” with the double yolkers and trades his Passoni with Tito’s well-worn bike… But we already know Bobby “Axe” Axelrod is the man of the people, don’t we? 🙂 Axe brings the eggs, cooks “Grandma’s recipe” – his mom was a waitress – signature dish at Empire Diner, an iconic New York City institution, for family breakfast and makes an announcement: The new boat is coming Friday afternoon. What about a trip to Galapagos? Lara does not fall for the idea right away since mid-summer is a crazy time for her restaurant, but it seems some afternoon sex in the pool followed by lying on the lawn with her better half is quite persuasive. She is in! They will be free and say “fuck you” to gravity together. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Episode 5: The Good Life”

Billions on Showtime, Episode 4: Short Squeeze

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

Episode 4 opens with Axe Capital PM Mick Danzig slowly walking in his yard at 4:42am with a Singani 63 bottle in one hand and a semiautomatic in the other as Andrew Bird sings his Oh No with lyrics going “arm in arm we are harmless sociopaths…” in the background… Danzig starts shooting at deer eating his plants and gets squeezed by the police. Whether he is just a harmless sociopath is up for debate.

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

Axe and Hall take care of the situation that there will be no report on Danzig. But Axe cannot give the world another reason to hate them. What the fuck is happening? Danzig seems to lack adrenaline. He may feel a twinge when he goes down. But he feels nothing when he goes up. Then he sees the deer outside his window: “Eat. Move. Shit. Repeat.” And Bang! Where is Dr. Mojo when we need her? Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Episode 4: Short Squeeze”

Billions on Showtime, Episode 3: Yum Time

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

Just two episodes in and we have received terrific news that Showtime has renewed Billions for a second season – Woot Woot! The news is not surprising given the quality and the instant popularity of the show; however, man, THIS WAS FAST! Congratulations to the entire cast and crew, we are over the moon for you and yeah, for us, too!

We find everyone busy playing mind games in Episode 3. Axe is busy dipping his finger into yet another pie. Chuck is busy working for the public good at several fronts. Lara is busy keeping the family reputation intact. And Wendy is busy with a dilemma of her own. All four are all lost in their own worlds that we don’t really see them hang out with each other much in this episode.

We know September 11 lingers in Bobby Axelrod’s mind and life. It is now lingering further in Episode 3; in fact, a storm is brewing that could further damage Axe’s “man of the people” image. June, the widow of Rake, Axe’s partner who died in 9/11 attacks, has a 70,000 word story to tell! Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Episode 3: Yum Time”

Bobby Axelrod in Billions: By the Book or On The Board

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First things first: We don’t really think it’s essential to be a financial or legal expert to enjoy Billions. It is a show more about complex characters and their even more complex relationships than about the workings of Axe Capital or the US attorney’s office. Having said that being the “forensic fans” that we are, we believe it is more likely for us and probably for some of you to enjoy Billions once we understand exactly what’s going on… which brings us to this post.

I would put my signature under what Bookworm has told us in our anniversary post: “If you told me 365 days ago I’d be trying to wrap my head around stock market jargon, I would have laughed at you.” Oh yes, I would have laughed, too. And quite loudly! I would have laughed even louder if someone had told me I would root for a hedge-fund guy… It is all Damian Lewis to blame! 😀 Continue reading “Bobby Axelrod in Billions: By the Book or On The Board”