Billions is an American television drama series created by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin, starring Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis, that premiered on Showtime on January 17, 2016. The series is loosely based on the activities of crusading federal prosecutor of financial crimes Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his legal battles with hedge fund manager Steve Cohen of S.A.C. Capital Advisors.. In Season 2, it also incorporates loosely the cases involving Treasury bond auction market manipulation conduct of Salomon Brothers, including the roles of CEO John Gutfreund and bond trader Paul Mozer, in 1991.
The second season premiered on February 19, 2017. Showtime renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on March 25, 2018.
Video Billions (TV series)
Cast
Main
- Paul Giamatti as Charles "Chuck" Rhoades Jr.: U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Rhoades is ruthless, and has a particular distaste for wealthy criminals who try to buy their way out of justice. Despite his significant power as U.S. Attorney, Rhoades struggles not to be overshadowed both by his higher-earning wife, Wendy, and by his well-connected and very rich father. He went to Yale (as did Giamatti and his father) and has a blind trust of which his father is a trustee. In private, he and his wife engage in BDSM role play, with Chuck as Wendy's "slave". Character is loosely based on Eliot Spitzer and Preet Bharara.
- Damian Lewis as Robert "Bobby" Axelrod: an ambitious billionaire manager of a hedge fund called Axe Capital and a Hofstra University graduate who came from humble beginnings. He was one of the survivors of the September 11 attacks, and pays the college tuition of the children of his colleagues who died in the World Trade Center. He is extremely charitable and generous in public, but uses insider trading and bribery to grow his firm's enormous wealth. Character is loosely based on Steve "Stevie" Cohen and his former hedge fund SAC.
- Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades, M.D: a psychiatrist, in-house performance coach at Axe Capital and wife of Chuck Rhoades. She is self-possessed, motivated and extremely successful. She has a strong relationship with Axelrod, her boss, with whom she has been working for more than 15 years.
- Malin Åkerman as Lara Axelrod: wife of Bobby Axelrod and a former nurse (who maintains her professional license). She is from a lower-class, blue-collar upbringing, but has left her former self behind. She is devoted to her husband and their children. Her brother Dean was a firefighter who died during the 9/11 attacks. Lara strongly dislikes Axe's close relationship with Wendy.
- Toby Leonard Moore as Bryan Connerty: the Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force for the Southern District of New York and Rhoades' point person.
- David Costabile as Mike "Wags" Wagner: COO of Axe Capital and Axelrod's right-hand person.
- Condola Rash?d as Kate Sacker, an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York.
- Asia Kate Dillon as Taylor Amber Mason (recurring season 2, starring season 3): a non-binary analyst at Axe Capital, who becomes close to Axe and is appointed CIO of Axe Capital, widely considered to be the first non-binary character on mainstream North American television
- Jeffrey DeMunn as Charles Rhoades Sr.: Chuck's father, a very wealthy and well connected city power player who often uses his position to meddle in his son's affairs
Recurring
- Dan Soder as Mafee, Axe Capital employee
- Malachi Weir as Lonnie Watley: an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York
- Terry Kinney as Hall: a fixer on Axelrod's payroll
- Glenn Fleshler as Orrin Bach: Axelrod's legal counsel
- Stephen Kunken as Ari Spyros: an investigator for the SEC
- Nathan Darrow as Mick Danzig: Axe Capital employee whom Axelrod gets out of an automatic weapons charge
- Ben Shenkman as Ira Schirmer: an attorney and friend of Chuck
- Sam Gilroy as Michael Dimonda: a Wall Street Journal reporter
- Dennis Boutsikaris as Kenneth Malverne
- Jerry O'Connell as Steven Birch: a hedge fund rival of Axelrod's
- Christopher Denham as Oliver Dake
Maps Billions (TV series)
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (2016)
Showtime released the pilot episode online on January 1, 2016, and the second episode on January 17, 2016.
Season 2 (2017)
Season 3 (2018)
Production
Development
The series was ordered by Showtime in March 2015 with a 12-episode pick up and premiered on January 17, 2016. On January 26, 2016, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on February 19, 2017.
Showtime confirmed in April 2017 that Asia Kate Dillon would be a series regular in season 3. Billions is considered to be the first American TV series to have a gender non-binary character.
Broadcast
The first episode was made available on January 1, 2016, via video on demand services in the U.S. and via CraveTV in Canada. It premiered on Stan in Australia on January 27, 2016 and in Canada on The Movie Network on January 17, 2016, simultaneous with the American broadcast.
Reception
Billions has received very positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a rating of 83%, with a rating of 74% for season 1 and 92% for season 2. The site's critical consensus for the first season reads, "Despite a lack of likable characters, Billions' soapy melodrama and larger-than-life canvas offer plenty of repeat viewing potential." For season 2 it reads, "An influx of new characters and a fresh narrative twist give Billions an added boost during its thoroughly entertaining second season." On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 69 out of 100, based on reviews from 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews", while the second season has a score of 67 out of 100, based on reviews from 6 critics, also indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Accolades
References
External links
- Official website
- Billions on IMDb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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