Billions
Genre	Drama
Created by	Brian Koppelman David Levien Andrew Ross Sorkin
Starring	Paul Giamatti Damian Lewis Maggie Siff Malin Åkerman Toby Leonard Moore David Costabile Condola Rash?d Asia Kate Dillon Jeffrey DeMunn Kelly AuCoin
Composer(s)	Eskmo
Country of origin	United States
Original	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	48
Production
Executive	Brian Koppelman David Levien Andrew Ross Sorkin Neil Burger
Production location(s)	New York City
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	55-60 minutes
Production	Best Available! TBTF Productions Inc.
Distributor	Showtime Networks
Release
Original network	Showtime
Original release	January 17, 2016 (2016-01-17) - present (present)
External links
Website

Billions is an American television drama series created by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin, starring Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis, that premiered on Showtime on January 17, 2016. The series is loosely based on the activities of Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York,^[1][2] and his legal battles with hedge fund manager Steve Cohen of S.A.C. Capital Advisors.^[3] In Season 2, it also incorporates loosely the cases involving Treasury bond auction market manipulation conduct of Salomon Brothers, including the roles of CEO John Gutfreund and bond trader Paul Mozer, in 1991. Four seasons of Billions have aired.^[4][5] On May 8, 2019, the series was renewed for a fifth season which is set to premiere on May 3, 2020.^[6][7][8]

Cast

Main

• Paul Giamatti as Charles "Chuck" Rhoades, Jr.: U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York who later runs for Governor of New York and is elected Attorney General of New York. Rhoades is ruthless and has a particular distaste for wealthy criminals who try to buy their way out of justice. Despite his significant power as U.S. Attorney, Rhoades struggles not to be overshadowed both by his higher-earning wife, Wendy, and by his well-connected and very rich father. He went to Yale (as did his wife and his father) and has a blind trust of which his father is a trustee. In private, he and his wife engage in BDSM role play, with Chuck as Wendy's "slave." The character is loosely based on Eliot Spitzer and Preet Bharara.
• Damian Lewis as Robert "Bobby" Axelrod: an ambitious billionaire manager of a hedge fund called Axe Capital and a Hofstra University graduate who came from humble beginnings. He was one of the survivors of the September 11 attacks and pays the college tuition of the children of his colleagues who died in the World Trade Center. He is extremely charitable and generous in public, but uses insider trading and bribery to grow his firm's enormous wealth. He has animal-like instincts that allow him to be extremely successful in his trading career. The character is loosely based on Steve Cohen and his former hedge fund SAC.
• Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades: a psychiatrist, in-house performance coach at Axe Capital and wife of Chuck Rhoades, Jr. She is self-possessed, motivated, and extremely successful. She has a strong relationship with Axelrod, her boss, with whom she has been working for more than 15 years. She participates with Chuck in various BDSM role play activities as Chuck is a sadomasochist.
• Malin Åkerman as Lara Axelrod (starring season 1-3, recurring season 4-): wife and later ex-wife of Bobby Axelrod and a former nurse (who maintains her professional license). She is from a lower-class, blue-collar upbringing but has left her former self behind. She was devoted to her husband and their children. Her brother Dean was a firefighter who died during the 9/11 attacks. Lara disapproves of Axe's close relationship with Wendy.
• Toby Leonard Moore as Bryan Connerty: the Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force for the Southern District of New York and Rhoades' point man at the start of the series; he later succeeds Rhoades as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
• David Costabile as Mike "Wags" Wagner: COO of Axe Capital and Axelrod's right-hand man.^[9] He is a known drug and sex addict and claims cocaine helps him focus on work.
• Condola Rash?d as Kate Sacker: an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York.
• Asia Kate Dillon as Taylor Amber Mason (recurring season 2, starring season 3-): an analyst at Axe Capital who becomes close to Axelrod, is appointed CIO of Axe Capital, and later forms Taylor Mason Capital in competition with Axe Capital. They are the first non-binary regular character on mainstream North American television.^[10]
• Jeffrey DeMunn as Charles Rhoades, Sr. (recurring season 1-2, starring season 3-): Chuck's father, a very wealthy and well-connected city power player who often uses his position to meddle in his son's affairs.^[11][12][13]
• Kelly AuCoin as "Dollar" Bill Stearn (recurring season 1-3, starring season 4-): a Portfolio Manager at Axe Capital with extreme loyalty to Bobby Axelrod to the extent he would risk incriminating himself to save Axelrod. He was described by AuCoin as "the cheapest millionaire in America."^[14] Dollar Bill frequently resorts to insider trading and other legally dubious measures to create high returns for Axe Capital.

Recurring

• Dan Soder as Dudley Mafee: an Axe Capital employee who joins Taylor Mason Capital as its first employee.
• Malachi Weir as Lonnie Watley: an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York.
• Terry Kinney as Hall: a fixer on Axelrod's payroll who went into hiding after Axelrod's arrest in the finale of season 2 and returned in the middle of season 3.
• Glenn Fleshler as Orrin Bach: Axelrod's legal counsel.
• Stephen Kunken as Ari Spyros: a former law school classmate of Chuck and an investigator for the SEC. In season 3, Spyros becomes head of compliance for Axe Capital.
• Nathan Darrow as Mick Danzig: an Axe Capital employee, whom Axelrod got out of an automatic weapons charge, that quit the firm for ethical reasons after it bankrupted the city of Sandicot.
• Ben Shenkman as Ira Schirmer: an attorney and a former law school classmate of Chuck.
• Sam Gilroy as Michael Dimonda: a financial reporter.
• Dennis Boutsikaris as Kenneth Malverne: a rival of Axelrod's who leads a competing hedge fund.
• Jerry O'Connell as Steven Birch: a rival of Axelrod's who leads a competing hedge fund.
• Christopher Denham as Oliver Dake: an official misconduct investigator and later United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
• Daniel K. Isaac as Ben Kim: A graduate from Stanford University, he is a Korean-American employee at Axe Capital since Season 1.^[15]
• Rob Morrow as Adam DeGiulio: a high-ranking DOJ employee and later Judge of the Southern District of New York

Episodes

Production

Development

The series was ordered by Showtime in March 2015 with a 12-episode pick up^[18] and premiered on January 17, 2016.^[19] On January 26, 2016, the series was renewed for a second season,^[20] which premiered on February 19, 2017.^[21]

Showtime confirmed in April 2017 that Asia Kate Dillon would be a series regular in season 3.^[22]Billions is considered to be the first American TV series to have a non-binary character.^[23]

Broadcast

The first episode was made available on January 1, 2016, via video on demand services in the U.S. and via CraveTV in Canada.^[24][25] It premiered on Stan in Australia on January 27, 2016 and in Canada on The Movie Network on January 17, 2016, simultaneous with the American broadcast.^[26]

Reception

Billions has received very positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a rating of 86%, with a rating of 77% for season 1, 89% for season 2 and 93% for season 3.^[27] The site's critical consensus for the first season reads, "Despite a lack of likable characters, Billions soapy melodrama and larger-than-life canvas offer plenty of repeat viewing potential."^[28] For season 2 it reads, "An influx of new characters and a fresh narrative twist give Billions an added boost during its thoroughly entertaining second season."^[29] On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 69 out of 100, based on reviews from 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews",^[30] while the second season has a score of 67 out of 100, based on reviews from 6 critics, also indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[31] Praise for the series has steadily grown over time--also on Metacritic, its third season scored a 77 out of 100, while its fourth currently holds a score of 87 out 100 based on reviews from 4 critics, indicating "universal acclaim" ^[32][33]

Accolades

References

External links

• Official website
• Billions on IMDb