Billions [Showtime] [** Spoilers **]

youcancallmeal

I found it entertaining even if it is a shadow of it's former self. With Damian Lewis departing for personal reasons I think it would've been better to wrap it up, a fitting ending would've been Axe and Chuck both going to jail after some epic final battle. I guess there is still money to be made with another season so it's being dragged on with a new main protagonist, it'll probably end up like the final season of House of Cards after Spacey left which fell off a cliff quality and viewers wise

billyhead

I'll really miss Axe @ Rhodes conversations.

steve_r

I actually rewatched the entire series before the second half of season 5 came out. It was interesting to go back to it with fresh eyes. I think when the show started a lot of people had different expectations of the tone of the show and what it was. Going back and watching it from the start, I found it an enjoyable watch.

I think Season 5 and in particular, the second half was poor. You can put that down to a variety of factors, Covid, Damien Lewis's bereavement but I think fundamentally the writing was the biggest issue, and that was a problem in the first half of the season as well.

I don't think they had a clear idea of what they wanted to do with the characters, and in particular why the characters would do what they do. To a certain extent, Chuck and Axe are doing what they are usually doing, but Wendy and Taylor in particular are really out of character in Season 5. The Wendy/Axe thing doesn't make sense at this stage in the story, and why Taylor doesn't just leave doesn't make sense to me.

I did think the final episode was good - but in essence, it was a watered-down version of the Ice Juice scam, where Chuck engineers the same trap for Axe, except this time it's nowhere near as clever.

Maybe Season 6 will be a return to form - maybe not.

Effects

I'd imagine Damian Lewis has had enough of Billions, could see it going around in circles, and wants to do something new.

Corey Stoll is a great actor, so I'll tune in next season to see where it goes.

But as with the past few seasons, I play it on a separate monitor while I'm working on something else. It's not good enough to devote time to watching on it's own.

Lucas Hood

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117979672#Comment_117979672

Damian Lewis is taking a break from acting after his wife died this year.

Effects

He said there was nowhere else to go with the character. That he had already decided to leave the show, and his wife's death had nothing to do with it. Though it was the reason why he shot most of the recent episodes in the UK.

Pentecost

I'm surprised he wasn't contracted to do all of the seasons provided it wasn't cancelled but maybe he only agreed to work season by season.

Obviously they wouldn't enforce any such option now in the circumstances but it seems a bit odd that you wouldn't have the show's main character tied down for as long as you need him for.

OmegaGene

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117982315#Comment_117982315

he is right though the character is done tbh what more can they do, he left homeland at the right time too

Pentecost

Oh yeah don't get me wrong I agree with him too. As I said above I think the whole show should have been wrapped up with this season. I'm just surprised that he would have been able to leave anyway even before his wife's death but as you say he did it with Homeland too so maybe that's just how he works.

magic_murph

I think Axe will be back at the end of the next season as the ending just doesn't fit.

IF Axe is totally gone why would Wags and Wendy stick around.

Both have plenty of cash. Wendy is tied to the Taylor gig but she could easily be bought out. Prince is the reason why Wendy and Axe cant be together so why stay.

Kinda make sense that they are sticking around to feed info back to Axe who will look to get revenge in a later season.

Effects

He said he was contracted for 5 seasons. Maybe the studio wanted more, but he’d be stupid to tie himself down like that. Especially seeing as how the show has gone downhill in recent seasons.

OmegaGene

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117982785#Comment_117982785

wendy is not tied to taylors company anymore because she borrowed money from axe in exchange for her shares so prince owns those shares (i think)

Clareman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117982785#Comment_117982785

Because where else are they going to go? They've made it clear that although they are extremely wealthy to maintain their lifestyles they have to keep working and getting their comp, some guy was broke a few seasons ago with "only" 100 million in the bank.

For me the Axe storyline had ran it's course and when they introduced the other "Deco's" last season I thought they were going to change it up a bit with multiple billionaires, at least now they are moving to Prince who seems to be completely different to Axe but still a lot the same.

EltonJohn69

The trailer for next season looked ridiculous/ awful… but I still watch it… glad it’s only 2-3 months away

Pentecost

I see he hasn't actually completely ruled out coming back at some point. But I doubt he will at this stage.

magic_murph

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117984268#Comment_117984268

These type of shows don't really have to go anywhere - they can just keep doing the same this over and over - which is what they have done for 5 seasons and now again into the 6th.

Axe's character isn't about getting beat so the fact he lost and walked away goes against the 5 seasons so to me just seems like a break for him only to come back after making a load of cash in Switzerland.

I would image Giamatti will be gone at the end of the next season

Effects

Yeah, they can’t really ditch the two main protagonists in the same season. So they’ll stagger it.

EltonJohn69

Why Would Giamatti leave ? He is making serious dollar that he wouldn’t get in movies… Damian Lewis had a lot of reasons to leave.

He can get leading roles in indie movies but won’t be a leading man in any major movies/franchises.

el diablo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/113348097#Comment_113348097

That is most definitely not a Limerick accent. Would've been an extremely cringeworthy scene if it had been. 😬

Effects

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117984922#Comment_117984922

He might be getting bored with doing the same thing every season. Might prefer to play something a bit different/more challenging.

EltonJohn69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117990162#Comment_117990162

Yeah you might be right but him and William H Macy were kinda type cast for a long for playing losers in movies… I bet Giamatti is loving to get to play an Alpha

Effects

Yeah, Giamatti is great in the role alright.

unplayable

we can say a lot of things about billions. has fallen off a cliff a bit but giamatti is a superb actor imo.

el diablo

I found it a real chore to get through the last three episodes. Not sure if I'll bother with season 6.

And the girl with the tennis ball sized eyes (Sacker?) really bugs me for some reason. I think it's her mannerisms. 😉

OmegaGene

Just watched episode 1 of series 6 and it was okay, not the same without ax but I’m not hating it like I expected

antimatterx

When is it expected here?

Lucas Hood

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118519195#Comment_118519195

Monday sky Atlantic

steve_r

I thought the ending was interesting and potentially a brave new direction to the show which would move away from previous storylines.

Chuck in a different environment was also a good call to freshen up the character.

The writing was pretty poor though- Prince and Scooter seem to talk only in references and it doesn’t come across as natural at all. I don’t think they know what to do with Wendy and Taylor either.

OmegaGene

Wendy is turning once he took her advice

Taylor will come on board now the dirty money has gone

Chuck will be back to normal in the next episode 100%

magic_murph

They really have doubled down on the movies quotes - its kinda turned into Suits.

Decent brian candy but nothing compared to what the first couple of series were like