1. "Didn't love the pilot but it has potential" In response to Reply # 0
I don't think they did a great job building momentum in the pilot but that might have been because I didn't buy the whole issue that buying the house on the Hamptons would be such a dire move for a billionaire.
I was initially put off by the dominatrix thing because it felt like, "Oh, here's another show trying to be edgy." but maybe it'll come into play later.
In general, it kind of felt like a show that would have benefitted from act breaks because it dragged and could have been 8 - 10 minutes shorter.
I'll keep an eye on reviews but I don't have Showtime and this isn't good enough for me to get it on Hulu.
2. "i really liked this..." In response to Reply # 0 Thu Jan-21-16 03:11 PM by gumz
watched the first 2 eps and i'm in for the long haul. i enjoy these kinda highly stylized corporate world shenanigans shows...this has it's issues but it's entertaining enough to keep me tuned in. hopefully it gets a bit of polish as it grows.
the life coach/State's attorney's wife is pretty interesting. she really does run game on everybody.
6. "i like it enough to stay. i think it needs time to settle in" In response to Reply # 0
some stuff doesn't quite work for me yet. like, i'm not quite sold on Gimatti's strategy that this beach house purchase would somehow turn the public against Axelrod. Maybe we needed more than just him having a pizza in a local joint to establish he was seen as some down to earth guy of the people. Even then, i'm not sure the public would care enough
Also, lesbian girl (damn)... She went from the fear of being embarrassed and probably losing her job, to now being a full blown criminal. literally every time she sends one of those texts is another count. It seems what she was doing was minor enough that she had other courses of action. Go to the feds, fess up to giamatti (after all he like's to get pissed on so he'd understand... yeah yeah she doesn't know that..). I get why she'd be shook at the time, but given a day to think about it, she had options.
7. "RE: i like it enough to stay. i think it needs time to settle in" In response to Reply # 6
>some stuff doesn't quite work for me yet. like, i'm not quite >sold on Gimatti's strategy that this beach house purchase >would somehow turn the public against Axelrod. Maybe we needed >more than just him having a pizza in a local joint to >establish he was seen as some down to earth guy of the people. >Even then, i'm not sure the public would care enough
That's a good point. There should be some tie in to public money or goods that would make the public give a damn. Like he recently loss a ton of pension money for the city or something.
>Also, lesbian girl (damn)... She went from the fear of being >embarrassed and probably losing her job, to now being a full >blown criminal. literally every time she sends one of those >texts is another count. It seems what she was doing was minor >enough that she had other courses of action. Go to the feds, >fess up to giamatti (after all he like's to get pissed on so >he'd understand... yeah yeah she doesn't know that..). I get >why she'd be shook at the time, but given a day to think about >it, she had options. > >I think it has potential though for sure.
********** "Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson
8. "Only Ep2 in I am finding it too sympathetic to the Wealthy. " In response to Reply # 0
Like I don't get the whole dude is torn about putting people in jail. First two episodes and they make it look like the two people he put in jail didn't deserve it. Fcuk that.
Same with us feeling like Axe is someone viewers would root for. I don't anyone watched and felt like he was cool or a good guy for sticking it to the rich people who's dad treating him like ish when he was a caddy. Seems like they are ll rich ass holes.
********** "Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson
12. "Okay....my early season assessments" In response to Reply # 0
Episode 3 was pretty strong to me.
-Paul Giamatti (Chuck Rhoades) fucking killed it this entire episode. From the dog walking scene to the conference call to the nonchalant BDSM scene to the way he emoted in the boardroom scene to the baseball scene...just fucking A List all around.
-Damian Lewis (Axe)has mastered the art of the smug look of satisfaction. I don't know how much distance they can get out of the recurring "I've now got the money to fix wrongs from my childhood" theme...but I must admit that he appears to be a worthy adversary for the series. The move at Chuck Rhoades family this week was pretty boss.
-Maggie Siff (Wendy Rhoades)...I just want her to introduce me to her therapist. There are parts of my anatomy I would LOVE to introduce her to. Repeatedly. All in all...I think she captures her character very well. I don't buy her dominatrix.
-Malin Akerman (Lara Axelrod)...I like her. I know she isn't doing much "acting" per se...but I see they are trying to turn her into House of Cards light...and the move she pulled this week was pretty damn entertaining.
15. "Anyone still on this? Shit's been fire imo" In response to Reply # 0
This week was my favorite episode.
The showdown between Axelrod and Rhoades was top notch. They're talking about billions of dollars and both are on some school yard alpha dog shit trying to get the upper hand in the room
Meanwhile Wendy's pretty much running the show on both ends.
i had a hard time buying Gale from Breaking Bad's character at first, but he's really come around for me
They're definitely making Axelrod the more likable one of the two. Maybe it's that he came from nothing, or that Rhoades is willing to do shit like fuck with people's parents, or maybe Giamatti is just great at playing shitty people
Some of the women on this show... damn.
I feel like it's really starting to find its feet. I thought it wouldn't take until next season.
18. "I like Chuck more the Assholerod..." In response to Reply # 15
and last week's episode left me wondering how they are gonna eventually use the pool scene against Chuck. Him recusing himself won't be enough for Axelrod to keep that info from surfacing.
20. "As for them turning Ax into a genius, the writing is..." In response to Reply # 19 Mon Mar-28-16 11:49 AM by Creole
superb. I hate his ass but this dude is really the Teflon Don.
Edit: Dollar Bill seemed to be sincerely interested in joining the rogue crew. I wanna see how if they take it down that road or if DB is gonna stay attached to Ax's hip.
24. "I can't believe Billions got me posting." In response to Reply # 0
Billions is a meh-watch for me weekly. I won't watch the week of sometimes (I got 2 eps to catch up on) but I'll turn it on when I'm working from home or I need a palate cleanser after Better Call Saul or some other better show.
Sweet: 1) Show is well constructed. 2) The cast is well...casted. 3) The story needs to exist in a world of post-recession America where the bankers/traders make this exorbitant amount of money and the ones responsible for said recession largely got off scot free.
Meh:
1) The characters are boring as fuck. This sounds like the idea of how trading people talk. All of them have these boring ass sayings. Costabile is slimy, yes. I love slimy characters. But please give him better lines.
2) I love the two leads but Giamatti and Lewis are 100% gravitas. I think they read the script and was like "Oh shit I gotta be Brody/The Bad Guy From Shoot Em Up to make this role interesting". I like seeing actors perform but give them a stretch, guys.
3) The secondary characters are largely ancillary, especially Akerman's. She doesn't get a lot of meat to chew on here.
4) There's no real story here. Keep in mind I have two more episodes to catch up on here. Is there any REAL reason why Chuck is going after Axe? Does he have any other cases? We understand Axe is up to some shit because we're the audience. But Chuck seems to sort of give Axe an 'ocular patdown' and starts going after them from the beginning. For a moment in the second third episode I thought we'd find out that Chuck was fucked over or his family was fucked by Axe and that's why he's going after them but...nope.
26. "I think it has more to do with Chuck's wife than it does..." In response to Reply # 24
>Is there any REAL reason why Chuck is going after Axe?
anything else. Chuck's a chess playing fat boy with a hot and smart-as-fuck wife. Axe is an egotistical billionaire who can attract hot girls including Chuck's wife. All in all, I think Chuck is envious of Axe.
They try to downplay that possibility by taking Chuck into the realm of potentially lucrative partnerships. Ultimately, he knows that he could never be Axe. So, it eats at him so much that he's hellbent on bringing him down.
27. "After last night's episode, it's more evident that Axe is in..." In response to Reply # 26
Chuck's head so deep that his medulla oblongata is begging for oxygen. In his mind, Axe got his girl! And that bamma won't stop until he gets Axe for it.
Paul Giammati is a damned beast... I may have to check more of his older work now. he was always good to me but I never checked for him. He just always happened to be THERE which explains why I can't think of anything else that he was in. Not to say he was nice before. I just never took notice of him the way I do now.
29. "man this show has had some phenomenal scenes lately" In response to Reply # 0
the showdown between Chuck and Wendy was so dope this week...the writing was so dope cause they managed to present both sides of the argument so well. it wasn't just Chuck being wrong and fucking up the relationship...they really went toe to toe in that scene.
32. ""Oooh Powerball winner" - Wags" In response to Reply # 0
loved the season. I'm a big fan of this show. I think it's only gonna get better.
agreed that the showdown was a bit too theatrical, the a "a guy with nothing to lose" line was a pretty cliche, but still enjoyed the shit out of every minute of it.
Should be interesting to see where Wendy goes from here. It's like she's half in with both sides or more that she enjoys having a certain power over both men, which ties in to her dominatrix ways. I'm sure she's not just willing to let that go.
Looks like Brian may sell his soul. I'm so used to that actor playing bad guys, anyway. He looks like what Ted Cruz would look like if Ted Cruz was human.
Want to see a little more from Lara Axelrod next season. And we can stop with the "i grew up blue collar" spiel from her every other episode. We get it, lady. Still.. those eyes tho
And really amount of attracive women on this show is ridiculous. Maggie Siff, Malin Akerman, Colanda Rashad, Wendy's therapist or friend or whoever she is... the woman who is Axe's assistant.. good lord.
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