I ended up watching the whole thing, finally, after first letting the eps pile on the DVR. It
was less sloppy and insulting to your intelligence than Tyrant, I'll give it that.
...you could see some of the plot "twists" coming from a mile away...
Only a mile? Corrective eyewear, stat!
...that was fine because somehow...
Keep telling yourself that!
...you still managed to be surprised.
Speak for yourself.
The one thing I wish they would have explained better was the visceral hatred that Giamatti's character had for Axe.
Another poster here nailed that. It was the old money vs hard scrabble upstart thang, on both sides, as underscored at the end of the last ep where Axe tried to recruit Giamatti's underling.
I also loved the kinky side story. In one of the opening scenes in the first episode, they show his wife pissing on him while he's hog tied.
I didn't. It felt tacked on for cheap effect, and with no back story to give it any depth or plausibility at all. However, it did provide a vulnerability for Axe to use, plot-wise.
But there were other problems with the show. For example the idea that Giamatti's wife was some sort of magical trader whisperer was a little hard to believe but once you accepted that, their use of her in the story was consistent.
Hahahahahahaha . . . pause for breath . . . hahahahahahaha, "magical trader whisperer," yeah! So unrealistic and phony. No psychologist/therapist works in the ridiculously unreal "I'm going to fix you in a one session 'adjustment'" manner she did.
Overall, I enjoyed it but that was due in no small part to the actors they chose.
Giamatti, the consistently over-the-top scenery chewer, did his thing, to the extent that there are probably outtakes where he's burping up parts of the set.
He's an acquired taste. To me, he's
Jon Lovitz sans the irony. Some people like a bit of whipped cream on top of their sundae. Others use Cool Whip . . . lots and lots of Cool Whip.
Hey, I watched, what can I say? Billions is a fine example of what it is. Giamatti is a fine example of what he does. And Agent Orange is fine example of what it is, too.
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