Billions

Billions Drama 2016 TV series

BILLIONS (SHO): It's all a game of cat and mouse, or who has the biggest set of balls in this story of conflict between two very powerful men. The first is Bobby (Axe) Axelrod, the only surviving partner of Axe Capital hedge fund who just happened to be out of the office on 9/11. Damien Lewis gives us a multifaceted character who has enormous wealth which was probably earned illegally via insider trading. This guy's got it all: beautiful, loving wife, great kids, lives in a mansion with a full time chef and can buy anybody and does. He's so wealthy, he can go to the finest restaurants in a T-shirt. 

The second is the US Attorney, Chuck Rhoades played by an intense Paul Giamatti who is determined to take Axe down. Their common bond is Rhoades' wife, Wendy, (the very cool and very appealing Maggie Siff) a brilliant psychiatrist who works for Bobby as the in-house shrink, performance coach and cheerleader for the high pressure account execs who have self-doubt and are desperately trying to stay ahead of the game and earn Axe's approval because they fear replacement if they don't perform. 

She's been working with Bobby even before she met Chuck and makes tenfold what he makes. As a result, the Rhoades' have huge conflict of interest issues which prevents them from talking about work. Wendy loves her husband but is extremely loyal to Axe. Then there's the added bonus of the Rhoades' 50 Shades of Grey dominant/submissive sex play. Chuck is masochistic who likes to be tied up. The machinations of the financial world are as complicated as they are exciting and the writers have given us an intelligent show, smartly done. (See what I did there?) Score: 9. WATCH IT. Bonds and Bondage, can't miss.or

Showtime's newest series Billions observes the super rich and the prosecutors that chase after them for their obscure crimes that never seemed to result in punishment. There are plenty of glimpses at the wealthy lifestyle and the struggle to keep that wealth while the line between legal and illegal is increasingly blurred.

Plenty of great actors staff this series including Damian Lewis who had a brilliant performance in Showtime's Homeland. Lewis plays a hedge fund manager or CEO or whatever of Axe Corporation, his corporation. There is a lot of financial talk that I can't always follow but they do a decent job keeping it entertaining. Paul Giamatti plays a U.S. attorney who faces off against the corrupt financial system and investigates Axe corporation. Already in the first episode Giamatti and Lewis face off and I can only see it getting better as they get deeper into the show.