For the title of this review, I really wanted to squeeze in “a reminder of how poor we all are”, but then I figured people would take the title too seriously instead of it being made in jest. Have you ever wanted to be reminded that you barely make 40k a year? Watch Billions, where the main characters celebrate hitting the 10 billion dollar mark, as well as gloat over first edition books, Bitcoin, and other flaunts of wealth. Everyone carries the latest iPhone and there’s even a reference to the Wolf of Wall Street – in case you didn’t pick up the decadence of this series.
The Start of a New Journey
Seriously, you don’t make it to the 10 billion dollar mark without making enemies, backstabbing, and paving the way for new enemies. Fans of Showtime’s Billions are well aware of this. When season five kicks off, Paul Giamatti’s Chuck Rhoades is dealing with his father remarrying and his wife stern in her decision to divorce. This causes Chuck to reassess his current status, as well as trying to figure how to move forward.
Speaking of reevaluating one’s status in life, Damian Lewis’s Axelrod ponders the definition of happiness. Hitting the 10 billion dollar mark is not something everyone does. Yet, he finds himself peering upon life and wondering: what else? Of course, he has a mole to contend with. The merging of companies. Chuck. And, the arrival of fellow 10 billionaire, Mike Prince. Let’s get into this.
Money, Money, Money
First of all, everyone talks fairly pretentious, just to drive home that hey, we’re all filthy rich. Asia Kate Dillon’s Taylor remains wooden and robotic, though; shows truly what lies underneath the need to keep humanity at arm’s length at the end of the episode. Mike Prince is played by Corey Stoll, who both intentionally and unintentionally (though smoothly) gets under Axelrod’s skin. Looks like Axel has a new purpose in life – engaging in a pissing contest with Mike Prince. It’s interesting and I definitely am curious to see where this rivalry goes. So far, it seems that Mike Prince has the upper hand, but how long will this last?
Rating: 3.5/5
Julianna Margulies and Frank Grillo join Stoll as new editions to Billions, though the previous two have not show up on screen just yet. How they fit in, we’ll see. The first episode of any season leaves more questions than answers. That’s the point. We’ll simply have to keep watching to find out more. So far, it’s hard to tell who will remain friend and who will become foe.
What did you think of Billions’ season five premiere?
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