An entertaining fantasy, Billions teaches you as much about the financial world as Empire teaches you about the music business or House of Cards does the road to the White House.
I am utterly hooked. At its heart this is an age-old tale of power and greed but with a thoroughly modern twist, some great writing and captivating main characters.
Get Lewis, Giamatti, Siff, and Malin Akerman, who plays Axe's wife, on one show, start throwing around billions of dollars, mansions in the Hamptons, S&M, corporate takeovers, legal intrigue, and boldface names, and you've got something pretty enticing.
Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis growl at each other like rabid bulldogs - really powerful ones - in Billions, a WWE bout set on Wall Street. But it's actresses Malin Akerman and Maggie Siff who stick out, each doing creative takes on Lady Macbeth.
In many ways, the series is contrived and vulgarly self-indulgent... But the two fine actors elevate the material both in set-piece amusements... and as drivers of plot.
Showtime calls this smart series an "examination" of profit, which seems just about the right word. Well-written, directed and acted, Billions is still badly in need of a more human touch.
