Billions

Like its two main characters: smug, full of loud bullshit and difficult to ignore - for better or worse.

It wants to be to exciting all the time and thus feels a bit cheap from time to time. If you finished Succession and want something similar its good enough though. in Succession they have proper conversations about their real issues all the time, though, in Billions they talk to each other but really they are talking to the audience. Its a bit annoying.

Well researched & executed. Giamatti leans on his 'John Adams' portrayal a touch to manifest Rhoades & it's good to see Lewis back in a lead role. I hope the writing stands up against the test of time and doesn't fall off for longevity's sake. What I would like to see is the two circle each other all the way down the drain in some kind of dual 'scorched earth' play. To note: Costabile is having some good fun with his role, and why not.

Season 1: 75 Season 2: 80 Season 6: 50 Season 7: 70

It started off well with a good premise. But becomes cartoonish in the second season. By the end of the series, you can count on numerous characters to drop or recite hipster references to movies or songs from the past. almost non-stop. And the S&M wrinkle is truly unnecessary and adds nothing to the story.

Couldn't get past the extremely contrived dialogue/exposition dump in the first episode.

The first two seasons are really good, but then it just gets weird.

It does go a little silly with the scheme after scheme approach and similar results, but the acting is top-notch and chemistries all around are great. Obviously Giamatti and Lewis are the draw, but its the large (sometimes underused) supporting cast that really shines a lot of the time. EDIT midway through 4th season, the amount of double-crosses, crosses, and triple-crosses has lessened the impact of storylines, sometimes to the point of cheesiness. Actors are still impressive.

s1:75, s2:60, s3:45. not sure if it's a financial drama or a legal drama? (or wants to be either) but it becomes so contrived later in the series. giamatti, lewis, and siff are great but some acting performances are so funny. overall this might be the only way finance could be tackled in a tv show: derivative cinematographic ideas, constant references to popular works/things and cartoonishly conceited dialogue. also someone should let them know that therapy is not witchcraft.

Good acting can't save horrendous storytelling. Siff, Giamatti and Lewis pull off tremendous feats of acting to give their characters a slight bit of depth. Every other character on this show is laughably two dimensional. The writers decided that only 3 characters have any significance, and everyone else is hilariously impotent, cartoonish sidekicks. The constant techno babble and witty put downs are so forced and unrealistic. Expected Mad Men, instead got live-action Atlas Shrugged. Unwatchable