Billions (TV series)

Billions is an American drama television series created by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin. The series premiered on January 17, 2016, on Showtime and its seventh and final season premiered on August 13, 2023.

Set primarily in New York and Connecticut, the series depicts hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) as he accumulates wealth and power in the world of high finance. Axelrod's aggressive tactics frequently garner the attention of United States Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti). Rhoades is based on Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan from 2009 to 2017, and the series was inspired by real-life federal prosecutions of financial crime. Bharara's 2013 prosecution of hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen of S.A.C. Capital Advisors loosely influenced the first season, while Salomon Brothers' 1991 manipulation of U.S. Treasury bonds inspired the second. Series subplots feature the psychiatrist turned performance coach Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff), market analyst Taylor Mason (Asia Kate Dillon), and Axelrod's right-hand man Mike "Wags" Wagner (David Costabile).

As the first American TV series to have a non-binary character (Taylor Mason), it has been nominated multiple times for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series for its representation of the LGBTQ community.

Plot

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Chuck Roades (Giamatti) goes after hedge fund manager and popular philanthropist Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Lewis). A collision course, with each using all of their considerable smarts and influence to outmaneuver the other, looms.

Cast

Main

• Paul Giamatti as Charles "Chuck" Rhoades, Jr.: U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who later attempts a run for governor of New York and is elected Attorney General 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, wealthy father. He went to Yale (as did his father) and has a blind trust of which his father is a trustee. In private, he is a sadomasochist and engages in BDSM role play with Wendy and other women, acting as a "slave." The character is loosely based on the careers of Preet Bharara and Eliot Spitzer.
• Damian Lewis as Robert "Bobby" Axelrod (seasons 1–5 & 7): an ambitious billionaire manager of the hedge fund Axe Capital and a Hofstra University graduate who came from humble beginnings. He was one of his firm's survivors of the September 11 attacks, reforming it as Axe Capital and paying 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. He has unique instincts that have led to a virtually infallible trading career. The character is loosely based on Steven A. Cohen and his former hedge fund S.A.C. Capital Advisors.
• Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades: a psychiatrist, in-house performance coach at Axe Capital and wife of Chuck Rhoades, Jr. She is self-possessed, motivated, extremely successful and went to Yale. She has a strong relationship with Axelrod, her boss, with whom she has been working for more than 15 years. She participates with Chuck in BDSM role play activities and dominates Chuck.
• Malin Åkerman as Lara Axelrod (starring seasons 1–3; guest season 4): wife and later ex-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 was devoted to her husband and their children. Her brother Dean, a New York City firefighter, was killed in the 9/11 attacks. Lara disapproves of Axe's close relationship with Wendy.
• Toby Leonard Moore as Bryan Connerty (starring seasons 1–4; guest seasons 5 & 7): the Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force for the Southern District of New York and Rhoades's point man at the start of the series. He later succeeds Rhoades as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York until he engages in illegal witness tampering, eventually spending time in prison for his crime. Chuck transfers him to a white-collar prison after making a deal with his brother.
• David Costabile as Mike "Wags" Wagner: COO of Axe Capital and Axelrod's right-hand man. He is a known drug and sex addict and claims cocaine helps him focus on work.
• Condola Rashad as Kate Sacker: head of crime and Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, then later an attorney in Rhoades's office as Assistant to Attorney General of New York. She is biding her time until she has the opportunity to run for Congress. Her ultimate goal is to be President of the United States.
• Asia Kate Dillon as Taylor Amber Mason (recurring season 2; starring seasons 3–7): a talented financial analyst at Axe Capital. Mason becomes close to Axelrod and is appointed CIO of Axe Capital during his legal troubles. They later leave Axe Capital to form Taylor Mason Capital, which is later forced back to Axe Capital as a subsidiary in-house fund under Axelrod's control.
• Jeffrey DeMunn as Charles Rhoades, Sr. (recurring seasons 1–2; starring seasons 3–7): Chuck's father, a very wealthy and well-connected city/state power player who often uses his position to meddle in his son's affairs. He was abusive toward his ex-wife and frequently cheated on her. He had a child with, and then married, another woman.
• Kelly AuCoin as "Dollar" Bill Stearn (recurring seasons 1–3 & 6; starring seasons 4–5 & 7): a portfolio manager at Axe Capital with such loyalty to Axelrod that he would risk incriminating himself to save him. He was described by AuCoin as "the cheapest millionaire in America". Dollar Bill frequently resorts to insider trading and other legally dubious measures to create high returns for Axe Capital.
• Corey Stoll as Michael Thomas Aquinas Prince (recurring season 5; starring seasons 6–7): a business magnate, grew up as small town Indiana farm boy, who seemingly wants to give back to society. Prince attended New Castle High School where he was named Mr. Basketball as a senior. In season 6, he takes over Axe Capital, renaming it Michael Prince Capital, and he tries to win hosting duties for the 2028 Summer Olympics in New York.
• Daniel Breaker as Scooter Dunbar (recurring season 5; starring seasons 6–7): Michael Prince's right-hand man, later a co-right-hand alongside Wags.
• Sakina Jaffrey as Daevisha "Dave" Mahar (starring seasons 6–7): joined Rhoades to help him fight corruption and take down Prince.
• Toney Goins as Phillip Charyn (recurring season 6; starring season 7): Scooter's nephew, recruited by Prince to join Prince Capital due to his business acumen.

Recurring

Episodes

Production

Development

The series was ordered by Showtime in March 2015, and the first season premiered January 17, 2016. On January 26, 2016, the series was renewed for the second season, which premiered on February 19, 2017. Showtime confirmed in April 2017 that Asia Kate Dillon, who is non-binary, would be a series regular in the third season. Billions is considered to be the first American TV series to have a non-binary character.

Preet Bharara, the inspiration for U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhodes who was portrayed by Paul Giamatti, was somewhat critical of Giamatti's casting – jokingly referring to the Italian American actor as "noted Indian American actor Paul Giamatti".

On May 8, 2019, the series was renewed for a fifth season by Showtime, which premiered on May 3, 2020. On October 1, 2020, Showtime renewed the series for a sixth season and Corey Stoll was promoted to series regular. On February 15, 2022, Showtime renewed the series for a seventh and final season

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.

Depiction of BDSM

The show captured the attention of the BDSM community, as it features numerous depictions of BDSM activity, and the two main characters of Charles "Chuck" Rhoades, Jr and his wife Wendy Rhoades engage in BDSM scenes numerous times in the early seasons of the show. In addition, season 4 of the show depicts the character of Chuck Rhoades coming out as a practitioner of BDSM in a public political speech. The show's producers retained the services of noted BDSM lifestyle expert Olivia Troy as a consultant to help ensure the activities are portrayed both accurately and safely.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an overall approval rating of 86%, with a rating of 78% for season 1, 89% for season 2, 93% for season 3, 97% for season 4, 91% for season 5, 100% for season 6, and 60% for season 7. 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." The site's critical consensus for the third season states: "Anchored by the performances of Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis, the third season of Billions continues a convincing fable of greed, power and competition." On Rotten Tomatoes, the fourth season reads, "With tables turned and alliances formed, Billions's fourth season goes full throttle with sharp dialogue, better rivalries, and bigger stakes." On Metacritic, the show has an overall score of 71. The first season has a weighted average 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". Praise for the series has steadily grown over time—also on Metacritic, its third season scored a 77 out of 100, while its fourth holds a score of 87 out 100 based on reviews from 4 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". The show's coverage of the hedge fund industry has been widely recognized as realistic.

In 2017, after introducing Taylor Mason (played by Asia Kate Dillon) in season 2, Billions became the first American TV series to have a non-binary character and actor. The series has received positive comments because of its representation of non-binary gender, with praise for its depiction of inclusion of gender-neutral singular they pronouns in the workplace.

Accolades

Lawsuits

Billions has faced several lawsuits regarding both copyright infringement and defamation.

The first, brought by Denise Shull and the ReThink group in 2019 (Shull v Sorkin), alleged (among other things) that Billions ripped off Shull's book and based character "Wendy Rhoades" on her likeness. She also argues that Billions engaged her as a consultant on the show, but did not compensate or credit her for her time, as Shull claims is illustrated in a recently released video. The case was dismissed, but has since been appealed. In July, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court's decision to dismiss the suit, saying that Shull's book and the show are not substantially similar.

The second, brought by the Cayuga Nation in 2020, argued that Billions defamed both the nation and its federal representative. In the show, the nation is depicted engaging in acts such as the illegal operation of a casino business, blackmail, and bribery. One of the Cayuga characters featured on the show had the same last name and occupation as a real-life member. The case was dismissed, but the Cayuga Nation is considering its options regarding appeals.

See also

• Gary J. Aguirre, an SEC regulator who struggled to prosecute a politically connected hedge-fund manager
• Prosecutorial career of Preet Bharara

References

External links

• Official website
• Billions at IMDb