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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
48
Mixed:
14
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews
Mar 18, 2019
Season 4 Review:
The series itself came into existence prior to Donald Trump’s ascendance to the presidency, and its piggish swagger felt like almost too much. Now it is the perfect pleasure, encapsulating all that we loathe about the hyper-wealthy and the ruthless calculations they make to consolidate power while allowing us to appreciate the brazen, strutting might and certainty with which these titans operate.
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Feb 13, 2017
Season 2 Review:
Billions still boasts the same wonderfully meaty dialogue which helped it stand out during its debut year, while the anecdotes told by the characters prove to be every bit as captivating (this time, it’s a fascinating tale of a chess game in the park). It’s ultimately the characters who remain the main draw here, though. Their complexity is a treat to behold.
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Mar 24, 2018
Season 3 Review:
Once again, Billions distinguishes itself as an extremely smart, high-stakes chess match, where the principals play Monopoly with real buildings, and the combatants are so ruthlessly determined to win that they're blinded to, or simply ignore, the collateral damage.
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Uncle BarkyJan 22, 2016
Season 1 Review:
Billions is full of itself in a good way, with Giamatti and Lewis dynamically leading the way while a solid supporting cast hangs in with them. The perplexities of stratospheric finance are not easily digested at times. But you’ll never be too far from another scene in which one or the other protagonist hits the spot and makes this latest Showtime series worth both your time and your money.
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Apr 30, 2020
Season 5 Review:
The “Billions” characters are morally fluid, and they are entertaining and willing to froth at the mouth for some good dramatic action, and that’s that. This season, the relationship between Chuck and Axe has shifted once again, and there are two promising guest stars — Corey Stoll and Julianna Margulies. I’m ready for it.
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Mar 15, 2019
Season 4 Review:
Season four of Billions charts a middle path, shifting around enough of its usual architecture to feel fresh, while also continuing to follow most of its original characters and stories. ... It’s fun to keep the game board mostly the same while swapping all the usual allegiances. It’s especially satisfying to watch Chuck and Bobby scheme together.
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Mar 13, 2019
Season 4 Review:
Whatever else the series has to say about the current times and national mood, Billions works because the focus remains steadfastly on the characters. Occasionally funny and frequently profane, it provides commentary without being heavy-handed, and escapism by gliding through the serialized jockeying for power and advantage against a decadent backdrop of the lifestyles of the .001-percent bracket.
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RogerEbert.comMar 22, 2018
Season 3 Review:
The breakneck pacing of the end of season two can’t be maintained (and we wouldn't want it to be), but the characters have arguably grown even richer and more complex as the team behind this show explores how its two power players respond when that power is stripped away by the systems around them.
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Jan 15, 2016
Season 1 Review:
The first six episodes are so coolly, brilliantly executed (and flat-out fun to watch) that I found myself just reveling in their tone and craft. The show’s other co-creators--Brian Koppelman and David Levien, whose screenwriting credits include “Ocean’s Thirteen” and “Rounders”--have delivered a compelling and remarkably original story that is filled with florid, entertaining dialogue that ricochets from scene to scene.
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Jan 15, 2016
Season 1 Review:
Billions isn't a subtle show. Its dialogue can be too on-the-nose, its insistence on contrasting the private lives of its warring alpha dogs too obvious.... What it is, is fun. Axelrod's a dashing hero, who may not be as heroic as he looks; Rhoades is a neurotic bulldog whose pursuit of Axe Capital may actually be in the public interest. Siff and Akerman's characters are as tough as, if not tougher than, the men in their lives.
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Jan 14, 2016
Season 1 Review:
Billions has the posture of sociopolitical expose, the mechanics of a soap opera and the morals of grave robber. In other words, it’s irresistible.... The biggest reason to watch Billions is the acting talent, something which even the endlessly expository dialogue and absurd characterizations can’t totally quash.
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Jan 5, 2016
Season 1 Review:
Billions is shamelessly entertaining. Don’t come to it looking for an in-depth commentary on the stratification of American society or the pitfalls of late-stage capitalism. This is a generally well-crafted soap opera about rich people, one that crackles with energy and insider knowledge of its well-heeled territory and the narcissistic insiders who live there.
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Aug 9, 2023
Season 7 Review:
It appears that much of the final season of “Billions” will focus on characters who will either rise to permanent exalted status or come crashing to the ground with a brutal thud. It’s a tribute to the writing and the performances that in most cases and with most of the main players, they’re equally deserving of triumph and tragedy.
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May 1, 2020
Feb 11, 2017
Season 2 Review:
The prospect of watching a (maybe) corrupt, hard-to-nail New York billionaire grow his empire is suddenly more interesting. [17 Feb 2017, p.55]
Jan 20, 2016
Season 1 Review:
Billions is a mostly engrossing but occasionally tiresome tale of financial and legal brinkmanship between Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Damian Lewis), a blue collar kid turned hedge fund manager with a chip the size of the Bronx on his shoulder, and Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), an ambitious (and silver-spooned) U.S. Attorney known his no-mercy prosecution of financial crimes.
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Jan 15, 2016
Season 1 Review:
A lurid, textured soap opera with an understanding of finance as a rarefied ecosystem that rules unto itself at the cost of most everyone else. The literate macho zingers often suggest a modern-day Sweet Smell of Success, compellingly merging with the casually worn cynicism.
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Jan 13, 2016
Season 1 Review:
The script is nicely detailed as it builds on the theme of a corrupt system fed by corrupt players. The one obstacle you’ll encounter, especially in early episodes, is that the biz-speak--most likely evidence of Sorkin’s participation in the writing--is almost impenetrable unless you work for the Financial Times.
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Jan 13, 2016
Season 1 Review:
Giamatti has one of his best roles as Rhoades, a kinky avenger who will not compromise his principles even if it means sending a widower with two children to prison. At first, Lewis seems miscast as Axelrod. We really do not believe that he’s the guy who grew up in The Bronx, and his presence begs the question whether any New York-born actors were considered for the role. Still, Lewis is such a good actor, with a sleek, flinty edge that gives him a believable authority.
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May 4, 2020
Season 5 Review:
It's still a wild ride through high society spheres and exclusive nooks, fetchingly sold by Lewis' and Giamatti's performative swagger. "Billions" also is the rare premium cable series that mixes prestige production slickness with broad cultural appeal. ... Only this time around, each man's ennui feels a little hollower.
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Jan 15, 2016
Season 1 Review:
The conceit--power players duel against a backdrop of ambition, greed, corruption and really good bourbon--feels bulletproof enough, but in practice, the show careens into cartoon territory almost immediately, thanks in part to the absurd contrast between Axelrod and Rhoades.... [But] Billions is exactly the sort of show that, if you don’t reject its over-the-top tactics in the first three episodes, will hook you by the sixth.
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RogerEbert.comJan 14, 2016
Season 1 Review:
Everything is heightened in an unnatural, soap operatic way. Over time, the mega-talented cast finds a way to ground the characters just enough that we stick with it, and there’s that moment you’ll be waiting all episode for at the end of the premiere when Lewis and Giamatti look each other in the eyes that’s pure gold.
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Apr 6, 2016
Season 1 Review:
If you can get past the lack of originality--and lines like “We have to be more pure than the Virgin Mary before her first period”--Billions does offer a nasty but fun escape into a world that brings to life the title of the Notorious B.I.G.’s old hit, “Mo Money, Mo Problems.”
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IndieWireJan 15, 2016
Season 1 Review:
There's enough talent in this Showtime drama--and plenty of soapy allures--to keep the candle burning throughout Season 1. It's more than rich white guys having wild affairs and throwing money around in gratuitous fashion. In fact, that it's not that is surprising in and of itself. But to compete with other great dramas, Billions needs to reinvest in its ladies.
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