Standard Of Review: 'Billions' Returns For Its Enjoyable And Surprisingly Newsworthy Second Season

The big winners from the firing of Preet Bharara: the producers of the Showtime drama Billions.

Billions Season 2If there was any winner coming out of last weekend’s firing of Preet Bharara by the Trump Administration, it has to be the producers of the Showtime drama Billions, which just returned for its second season. One of Billions’s main characters is the fictional U.S. attorney for the S.D.N.Y., and one of the early storylines this season is his potential termination by the Attorney General. This “life imitating art” situation comes at the perfect time for Billions, a very entertaining show that has steadily improved in its second season (this column will contain spoilers through last Sunday’s fourth episode).

When we left off at the end of last season, U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades was not able to successfully prosecute hedge fund titan Bobby “Axe” Axelrod because Chuck was caught looking for key evidence on the computer of his wife Wendy, the in-house psychiatrist and performance coach at Axe Capital. Wendy separated from Chuck and quit Axe Capital after Axe paid her a giant bonus.

As the new season begins, Chuck is struggling with the separation, which has lasted longer than he expected. Things are not much better at work, where special investigator Oliver Dake (Christopher Denham) is investigating Chuck and his office for improprieties. Chuck’s AUSAs, particularly Bryan Connerty, no longer full support Chuck because they suspect he will shortly be fired. However, Chuck successfully avoids the ax (pun intended) from the Attorney General after publicly announcing that he is investigating a hedge fund run by Lawrence Boyd (Eric Bogosian), who is close with the President.

Axe is despondent that Wendy has left Axe Capital and has become increasingly paranoid about leaks within the firm. He also feuds with fellow hedge fund king Todd Krakow (Danny Strong), who is trying to hire Wendy full time. Axe does bond with Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon), an intern at Axe Capital who is trying to be noticed for their skills and not the fact that they is gender nonconforming (“they” and “their” are Taylor’s preferred pronoun, which I will use in this column and in the future). Axe is also one of several plaintiffs filing lawsuits accusing Chuck of prosecutorial overreach.

As I pointed out last season, “Chuck vs. Axe” was always going to have to pause if the show had any hope of lasting more than, say, two seasons. Therefore, Chuck’s investigation of Boyd and the many lawsuits against Chuck provide the show with forward momentum while still maintaining the status quo (plus, Chuck and Axe are still a little bit in conflict, such as a somewhat silly scene in last week’s episode in which they keep going off the record to snipe at each other during Axe’s deposition). I don’t mind that the central conflict of the show is taking a break because everything happening is so entertaining. Whether it is Axe trying to buy a football team or Chuck and his team bugging a flight attendant to catch Boyd having an affair on a private jet, Billions has gotten a really firm grasp on what kind of show it is; it does not try to be prestige (despite having numerous Mad Men actors such as Strong, Maggie Siff, and James Wolk), but instead settles for being immensely fun to watch. That is particularly important in a winter television season in which several shows have become a chore to watch (I am looking at you, The Walking Dead).

While Billions has many, many characters, it has found room for some interesting new supporting cast members this season. Taylor’s storyline so far as been by far the most intriguing. I cannot remember another show featuring a gender-nonconforming character in such a prominent role, and I never, ever expected Billions to be a trailblazer in that regard.

Taylor, even four episodes in, is already a fully fleshed-out character. Taylor has obviously had to deal with a lot of prejudice in their life, and that is magnified at a testosterone-filled hedge fund, where even their co-workers aren’t sure what to make of them. That is especially true in the season’s third episode, in which Axe recruits Taylor – against their will – to join Axe Capital’s team in a hedge fund charity poker tournament so that Axe can beat Krakow. Taylor reluctantly joins the effort, but not before a terrific series of scenes in which Taylor explains to Axe how much being an expert poker player had cost them socially in the past. After Taylor beats Krakow, they is feted by their co-workers at Axe Capital, which makes Taylor even more uneasy. Taylor barely appeared in this past Sunday’s episode, which was by far the weakest of the season so far.

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Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention that after I complained about Paul Giamatti’s eating style last season (particularly his tendency to chomp), Chuck has made a concerted effort to scale back on his mastication, even rejecting delectable food such as a sandwich from Katz’s Deli. Keep it going, Chuck!

I look forward to reviewing Billions a few more times this season to see if it stays this entertaining. And if the show is looking to cast a new character to work with Chuck, I know someone experienced who just lost his job…

Earlier: Standard Of Review: Showtime’s ‘Billions’ Shows Promise


Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at harrygraff19@gmail.com. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.

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