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Billions in the Media: Make it Rain!


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So what's happening with some stocks ruining some hedge funds now (see Gamestop stock) because a bunch of kids on Reddit decided to try to hurt top hedge fund firms could be an interesting story line for Axe Capital.

Maybe not this season but some time in the future or maybe the end game for the series.

Now if a bunch of kids on Reddit can screw up funds with billions in assets, imagine what Taylor could have done if she really wanted to ruin Axe.

But I don't know I think Koppleman probably idolizes Axe and some of these other super-wealthy characters to take them down like that.

Axe is too much of a mastermind as the show depicts him to be outsmarted by anyone, let alone some kids up to mischief on the Internet.

So Steve Cohen, the hedge fund billionaire on whom the Bobby Axelrod character is based, was involved in the GameStop controversy.

He apparently tweeted that he was involved to provide for his family.  He was already worth over $10 billion.

Now he closed his Twitter account after allegedly receiving death threats.  He took over controlling interest in the New York Mets in September and then took to Twitter to take suggestions from Mets fans.

Cohen still providing a lot of story ideas for the show.  😂

On 7/31/2021 at 3:29 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Wow it’s tough to hear about Damian Lewis losing his wife.

I just saw the trailer, several in the cast look visibly older.  Understandable for Damian.

Giamatti looks gaunt and his eyes seem much bigger on his thinner, smaller face and head.  The guy who plays Chuck Rhoads Sr. Also looks a lot older.

Prince needs to lose that beard.

Pandemic really did a number on this cast but other shows with older cast are probably going to have the same problems.

 

So the season 5 finale, the reasons why it ended the way it did.

Spoiler

https://ew.com/tv/billions-season-5-finale-postmortem/
 

Lewis asked to be written out, wanted to spend more time with family in England.  Unfortunately his wife passed away recently but his exit, and the end of Axe as a character, was in the planning for a couple of years.

 

18 hours ago, grommit2 said:

Ya' know who would be a perfect fit for this show?
Rupert Friend, the CIA hitman from Homeland.
Just picture it...Axe Capital doesn't like a competitor? Just send in the hitman.
Eh?  Is that a great idea or what?  
Geez...I'm so smart. 😎

Hall offered to kill Grigor a couple of seasons back but he wasn't enthusiastic about it. This show has had occasional moments of violence but has never really leaned into it. That paid off in the season 5 finale when Axe is getting off the plane and there are guys with guns waiting for him. He's a little taken aback by the presence of firearms. It was a nice moment.

I would like to see Rupert Friend come back but playing someone totally different from Quinn. I think this show has done well casting actors in roles that are nothing like their previous characters with Axe and Wags being the standout examples and honorable mention to casting Frank Grillo (who normally comes straight out of central casting in the role of Mook #1) as a painter.

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Interview with the showrunners

Quote

 

"If I think about what we were trying to do before we knew the pandemic was going to happen, we were focused on talking about the fact that even with all of his success (Axe) is not feeling engaged, or connected or really alive and free,” Koppelman said. “And he’s a guy who has won and won and won. And it’s not working for him anymore.”

The first time Axe really smiles all season is when he steps out onto the snowy tarmac in the closing moments. “He’s lost 75% of his wealth. He’s lost the connections and the people who are near and dear to him,” Koppelman said. “But you don’t see him smile and lower his shoulders until he’s on the tarmac. He’s found a freedom that he can’t have in America.”

 

They lost me with this. First off, Axe has smiled several times over the season just like he did in the finale. Second, that’s what the bank nonsense was all about? I thought he was too involved and too emotional about his fight with Prince. I never thought he was disconnected from it all or unengaged. If anything, the eps with his family showed how personal this one was. He even said in the finale that Chuck had gone after 'something more important than business' when he affected Axe's relationship with Wendy which again, making it personal. But he was disconnected?

Edited by l star
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Promo photos for the premiere.

There is a second, longer promo here. That’s a lot of Chuck. Very little Wendy, who I like, and very little Prince, who I thought was going to be the next big guy. If the loss of Axe brings Chuck to the forefront as the main guy, I’m not into that. 

Edited by l star

I'm really looking forward to an Axe-less season.  That grin as he left the plane in Switzerland really illustrated how his life had warped & changed.  No wife, no kids, no real friends, no company to nurture.  Just a lot of money and probably a stream of perfect, brainless, plastic young women to share it with.  No accomplished or successful women would get near him after his cowardly exit.  

He can't go back to the US, so his boys will have to visit him, if they bother.  And he's made sure they know running away is preferable to facing consequences, so Lara better do damage control while they're still slightly manageable.  

Damian really did a good job making him odious and despicable. 

But I'm anticipating more Prince eye candy, so I hope the show-runners aren't stingy with it.  

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So this will be the season of the mock turtleneck for both Taylor & Wendy.  Good to know.  

I like the smooth and innate nastiness of Chuck Sr.  I'm glad to see him back as one of the little Big Bads.  Going out with a blown kidney would have been humiliating for him.  He probably needs a stake through the heart to kill him.  

Edited by SnapHappy
6 hours ago, aghst said:

Not a surprise, Showtime renews Billions for season 7.

Probably will renew for season 8 as well.

I'm out. I thought this season was supposed to be the last, so I only started watching it to see how the show ends. It's been pretty boring and trite (especially with Chuck becoming more and more of a caricature), so I'm not going to stick around for 2-3 more seasons.

A few observations:

  • The office set up, with each analyst sitting at a desk with several monitors:  is this what a fund management office actually looks like?  No one with a pen and paper jotting down notes?  Certainly does not look like the office scenes in other investment/money companies.
  • The writers have really amped up their use of sports and entertainment analogies. I wonder if there is a betting pool to see which writer can get the most references into the script.
  • Gasp!  IMDB's info on Billions still has Damian Lewis listed.  And the synopsis references Bobby Axelrod.  But no references to Corey Stoll/Prince.  Eh?
  • Gasp#2: Wags was kicked out of the Eagles "garage band"...that is a real gut punch.  

UK paper has spotted Damian Lewis on the set.

No official word yet, maybe CBS/Showtime is holding the new until they're ready to announce a premier date.

Show wasn't in a great place when he left, supposedly the character was in legal jeopardy that he couldn't get out of so he ran.

Sure they will find a way out if the character is really coming back.

Maybe the ratings of the season without DL were so bad that they backed up a truck full of money at DL.

Succession was already eclipsing Billions before DL left.  Would be interesting if they schedule the next season to avoid overlapping with Succession.

But Billions is coming up on its 7th season, so they're kind of running out of fumes.

What can they do to show how awful billionaires are that earlier seasons of Billions and now Succession haven't already depicted?

Maybe Bobby will buy a social media network ...

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3 hours ago, BetterButter said:

I guess with the name change, they're under pressure to find potential hits.  They've bailed on American Gigolo and Let the Right on In after just one season.

They're going to have to have shows to attract people to subscribe to Paramount + with Showtime.  Seems like you won't be able to subscribe to Showtime by itself any more?

 

 

Showtime says Damian Lewis returning in season 7 to reprise his Bobby Axelrod character.

Must have brought a lot of cash to entice him back but since they plan to do a lot of spinoffs of the show, which is well past its best days, they probably want to try to boost the original.

Meanwhile, this week, Succession announced they will end it after 4 seasons.  The creator says he may do a spinoff but HBO is not on board with the idea yet.

Which network is milking things and which one is ending an acclaimed series before it gets stale?

Actually, they may not be spinoffs in the classical sense, that is use characters from the show for their own shows.

They may have the Billions branding but may have little to do with the original show except the branding.

I don't know if the show runners or the people who own the show will actually have involvement with these other shows.  They will at a minimum probably collect license fees or something.

 

 

1 hour ago, paigow said:

https://robbreport.com/lifestyle/news/showtime-confirms-billions-spinoffs-1234804831/

This is going to be a Law & Order / CSI universe

Proposed Extensions:

  • Billions: Miami
  • Billions: London
  • Millions
  • Trillions

 

I remember some speculation about “Trillions” and “Billions Miami” before but that was some time ago and I forgot all about it.

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