FTA-TV Billions

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I think S6 was overall solid.

S5 started well, think it got through a couple decent eps before even backsliding into references banter, but then it hit the pandemic break and after that the awkwardness of Giamatti's physical change and shooting around widower Lewis across the Atlantic. Try as they did, the season was a bit ill-fated in the end, and in the end transitional.

With Axe out of the way it allowed us to really lean into Prince (and Scooter). And they thankfully finally made the change with Sacker, I don't think I would've tolerated her being stuck with another full season as Chuck's deputy, it was now or never in making some kind of move.

Corey Stoll is a pretty convenient local actor too. In recent years he was in The Many Saints of Newark, West Side Story, the final season of The Deuce, all very regional productions.

Bringing back Axe? Gee I don't know. Maybe A Spy Among Friends is cancelled-pending and he is going to relocate his kids? Maybe they feel the Prince mystique is played out now with the Presidential reveal? I think a Presidential candidate run is a solid way to close out a series, they could just go the West Wing Smits v. Alda route with a Capital/Chuck sidedish.
 
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Watching all of Succession over the last month made me realise just how good Billions was at it's peak.

Hopefully the last season can finish off the show on a good note.
 

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Season premiere is out.

I just can't get over how lame the constant pop culture references are: movies/music/whatever. It seems like every episode is trying to outdo the last in the obscurity of the references. If it was just one character doing them it would conceivably fit within the story, but it appears that every second scene has every second character making some stupid reference. Drives me nuts.

And the two-minute scene with some stupid celebrity; urgh. Has Andrew Ross Sorkin made an appearance? I can't remember. I'm guessing we'll see Prince on CNBC with Sorkin in the coming weeks.
 
beez said:
Season premiere is out.

I just can't get over how lame the constant pop culture references are: movies/music/whatever. It seems like every episode is trying to outdo the last in the obscurity of the references. If it was just one character doing them it would conceivably fit within the story, but it appears that every second scene has every second character making some stupid reference. Drives me nuts.

And the two-minute scene with some stupid celebrity; urgh. Has Andrew Ross Sorkin made an appearance? I can't remember. I'm guessing we'll see Prince on CNBC with Sorkin in the coming weeks.
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To be fair, if that's what annoys you about the show, I'm surprised you've managed to make it this far.
 
MC Bad Genius said:
To be fair, if that's what annoys you about the show, I'm surprised you've managed to make it this far.
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Tbh, I mentally checked out after the first couple of seasons. They were top notch.

It's gone the way of Suits (and many others shows). Way too formulaic trying to recreate the chemistry and conflict of the early seasons and the early characters. I appreciate much of the story and conflict still work, and particular character traits are what make the show, but it's nowhere near the level of what it was. Maybe I'm just too greedy :)
 
beez said:
Tbh, I mentally checked out after the first couple of seasons. They were top notch.

It's gone the way of Suits (and many others shows). Way too formulaic trying to recreate the chemistry and conflict of the early seasons and the early characters. I appreciate much of the story and conflict still work, and particular character traits are what make the show, but it's nowhere near the level of what it was. Maybe I'm just too greedy :)
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I thought the addition of Mike Prince last season gave it a bit of freshness, but it definitely feels like they've just tried to recapture lightning in a bottle each season (with varying degrees of success). It's all a bit silly, but it's still fun enough to watch.
 
beez said:
Season premiere is out.

I just can't get over how lame the constant pop culture references are: movies/music/whatever.
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I agree they over did it for episode 1.

But apart from that I actually liked the episode and where the story is now heading.

I think they are trying to finish off the show how it started in regards to already bringing back characters in the episode and I think it's a good decision they brought back Axe already no matter easy they found him
 
'If you’re feeling restless after five episodes, I assure you you’re not alone.'

A fairly accurate quote from an episode 5 review that I read. Season 7 now seems to be treading water until the return of Axe (again) which is a shame because I thought the first 2 episodes were really good but maybe thats because Axe was in them.

Although good to see Connerty return and I didn't realise it was him at first.
 
References were mostly a bit tighter in that ep, liked Ira’s ‘old school’ and senior’s ruby tuesday, nicely played.

Triple H was that once a season Murica-core motivational sports cameo that doesn’t really work, at least we have that (fair enough) series trope out of the way.

Malkovich was pretty terrible. Good returning character plot but that accent ugh and a bit too steeped recently in dtv actioner. Lewis looked so good purely via comparison.

The Wendy/Wags/Taylor subterfuge thing still isn’t really working for me, feels a bit too casual despite some of the big plays they’ve been making.

Spyros has had a quiet season. Popped up once in E1, had a bigger involvement in E5, but mostly unsighted.

Forgot that Lily Gladstone was Roxanne.

One of the best features of Billions is that rich recurring guest supporting cast that can be tapped for returns this deep into the run. Some like Morrow or Kinney are never too far away and usually pop up a few times a season, whereas others are long forgotten until the memory is jogged (like Malkovich and Clancy Brown)
 

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I went to have a look at ninemsn just before and Billions is on the main page with episode 6 gaining some attention for some reason.

I didn't click on the headline link to read the article as it would obviously have spoilers.

I now look forward to watching the episode in a few days to see what all the fuss was about.
 
revo333 said:
I went to have a look at ninemsn just before and Billions is on the main page with episode 6 gaining some attention for some reason.

I didn't click on the headline link to read the article as it would obviously have spoilers.

I now look forward to watching the episode in a few days to see what all the fuss was about.
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Yeah I can’t imagine what that could be about specifically (save a famous sport cameo and returning star + more Axe). Nine & Stan are obviously linked and Billions right up there with Stan’s biggest returning currently-running seasons. Don’t recall any significant spoilers or Oz-curio things, the plotline doesn’t really advance significantly or surprisingly.
 
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Trucker Tiger said:
It's worse in Rounders.
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Maybe but that’s always been a more ‘celebrated’ memey bit role of textbook ott scenery chewing (been many years since I last saw it though), it kinda works there in that kind of film, whereas his billions role is kind of just there and you have others like Rick Hoffman’s doc and Dollar Bill/Spyros/etc occupying that kind of space already. The accent might be on purpose and Billions does gleefully lean into a Wagsian cheesy dadrock vibe at times so it would be in keeping, but it annoys me more within the world of billions than rounders.
 
Roobs321 said:
Yeah I can’t imagine what that could be about specifically (save a famous sport cameo and returning star + more Axe). Nine & Stan are obviously linked and Billions right up there with Stan’s biggest returning currently-running seasons. Don’t recall any significant spoilers or Oz-curio things, the plotline doesn’t really advance significantly or surprisingly.
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It was in relation to them putting the current day Russia/Ukraine situation into the storyline.

I wasn't as impressed as others by it but I thought it was a good episode overall apart from the HHH cameo which was pretty cringe.

The show is really relying on Bobby to produce some goods for the home stretch though.
 
revo333 said:
It was in relation to them putting the current day Russia/Ukraine situation into the storyline.

I wasn't as impressed as others by it but I thought it was a good episode overall apart from the HHH cameo which was pretty cringe.

The show is really relying on Bobby to produce some goods for the home stretch though.
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I thought the Kareem cameo a couple of episodes back was shoe-horned in far more awkwardly. And without HHH's involvement, we wouldn't have gotten Malkovich hamming it up as a heel in front of the cameras.

On a side note, I read an article the other day that they are beginning to develop 4 different spin-offs at the moment. If any of them make it to production, I'm not gonna watch a single minute.
 
MC Bad Genius said:
I thought the Kareem cameo a couple of episodes back was shoe-horned in far more awkwardly. And without HHH's involvement, we wouldn't have gotten Malkovich hamming it up as a heel in front of the cameras.
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You are probably right , I just think his answer in explaining the heel turn was very underwhelming.
 
Listening to an episode recap on a podcast and they suggested a season ending that I had not thought of yet.

Prince gets taken down and Kate Sacker becomes The President
 
MC Bad Genius said:
On a side note, I read an article the other day that they are beginning to develop 4 different spin-offs at the moment. If any of them make it to production, I'm not gonna watch a single minute.
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Really?

I guess Chuck and step-mother Roxanne could potentially win Best Actor & Actress at the Oscars this year, good chance to ride that somewhere. DeMunn was a standout in the early seasons but I feel he is a bit past-it in the role and would likely be written out of a Chuck family spinoff.

The US Attorney in SDNY thing without being focused against an Axe/Prince has episodic procedural potential and would still use the locations and chunk of the recurring cast well.

Corey Stoll's Prince reprising House of Cards. A West Winger in Timothy Busfield popped up this week, must be on the mind.

I think you could base a unique show around the Wendy occupation of an in-house company shrink/performance coach. Maybe move it somewhere like a mob casino or foreign embassy or remote fifo drilling site or private school, and from that focal point turn into more of a half-hour mystery where the audience has to work to put together the pieces and the shrink does a bit of legwork. Not Wendy but she could be the guest star shrink's shrink. Maybe a struggling embattled hardluck school and/or sports team might be the best fit and a juxtaposed departure from the more cutthroat hedge fundy space.

Wags the God? The trope of being on the run and going undercover as the parish priest or pastor, bit of a Bad Santa vibe of the devilish wolf in sheep's clothing who begrudgingly does a good thing each week. Maybe have him hide in an Irish-American place given his Peter Gerety look, or maybe a disadvantaged gangland esque area where he seemingly wouldn't be recognised. The actor is the kind of veteran who would jump at a once-in-a-career series lead.

Maybe Ben Kim & Tuk Lal go the breakaway duo startup route for more of an amusing half hour comedy

Condola Rashad who plays Kate Sacker is apparently the youngest person to have been nominated four times for a Tony, so she must have chops that the Billions template doesn't quite afford and her character is well placed for a more fleshed-out and very flexible breakout.
 
Roobs321 said:
Really?

I guess Chuck and step-mother Roxanne could potentially win Best Actor & Actress at the Oscars this year, good chance to ride that somewhere. DeMunn was a standout in the early seasons but I feel he is a bit past-it in the role and would likely be written out of a Chuck family spinoff.

The US Attorney in SDNY thing without being focused against an Axe/Prince has episodic procedural potential and would still use the locations and chunk of the recurring cast well.

Corey Stoll's Prince reprising House of Cards. A West Winger in Timothy Busfield popped up this week, must be on the mind.

I think you could base a unique show around the Wendy occupation of an in-house company shrink/performance coach. Maybe move it somewhere like a mob casino or foreign embassy or remote fifo drilling site or private school, and from that focal point turn into more of a half-hour mystery where the audience has to work to put together the pieces and the shrink does a bit of legwork. Not Wendy but she could be the guest star shrink's shrink. Maybe a struggling embattled hardluck school and/or sports team might be the best fit and a juxtaposed departure from the more cutthroat hedge fundy space.

Wags the God? The trope of being on the run and going undercover as the parish priest or pastor, bit of a Bad Santa vibe of the devilish wolf in sheep's clothing who begrudgingly does a good thing each week. Maybe have him hide in an Irish-American place given his Peter Gerety look, or maybe a disadvantaged gangland esque area where he seemingly wouldn't be recognised. The actor is the kind of veteran who would jump at a once-in-a-career series lead.

Maybe Ben Kim & Tuk Lal go the breakaway duo startup route for more of an amusing half hour comedy

Condola Rashad who plays Kate Sacker is apparently the youngest person to have been nominated four times for a Tony, so she must have chops that the Billions template doesn't quite afford and her character is well placed for a more fleshed-out and very flexible breakout.
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These all sound better than what has been floated:

Trillions
Millions
Billions: Miami
Billions: London
 
A very hit and miss episode.

The Owl stuff was good.

The Prince/Wife storyline was ok but could have been something a bit more beliveable.

And Wags...Wow 😳 . One of the worst things they have ever done on the show and they decided to do it to one of the best characters. Imagine if that's the last time we ever see him in the show lol.
 
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