The free preview worked.
Hulu recently had a free preview campaign for its Showtime add-on.
That is where I stumbled across Billions, the new Showtime series about a cat-and-mouse game between a hedge fund manager and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Long story short: I loved the first episode, bought the Showtime add-on, and look forward to Billions every week.
This show has everything.
Seriously – it’s like combining Wolf of Wall Street with an episode of Law & Order.
Billions is based on, in part, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s Office. Bharara is well-known for his high-profile prosecutions, including those against some major Wall Street executives.
The show has plenty of serious legal posturing, and there is also a lot of surreal comedy mixed in.
What makes this show work is that both the U.S. District Attorney and the hedge fund manager are fully developed and likable in their own ways. This makes it hard to really pick sides, and creates an interesting chase.
Damian Lewis on BIllions
Paul Giamatti on Billions
Hedge Fund Eating Contest on Showtime’s Billions
I’m hypercritical of lawyer shows.
There’s nothing worse than sloppy writing in legal shows. Even The Good Wife (which I love) occasionally gets things wrong. (For example, the fact that attorneys are fully versed in obscure case law and can seemingly switch from criminal law, personal injury, to I.P….)
Billions hasn’t messed up any of the legal details yet. And nothing is glaringly wrong enough on the hedge fund side for me to notice.
The supporting characters are also amazing in this show.
The wives of the hedge fund manager and the U.S. attorney are pretty bad-ass.
The hedge fund manager’s wife isn’t scared to blackmail people and drop the f-bomb occasionally. The U.S. attorney’s wife is a little… NSFW.
One disappointment is that the staff members at the U.S. attorney’s office and the hedge fund seem to spend most of their time cowering. Whereas I love the inter-office scheming that we see on The Good Wife.
Who knows, perhaps we are in for a surprise this season.
Update: Billions has been renewed for a second season!
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