Back in the ’60s and ’70s, TV was satisfied just giving us millionaires. Jed Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies, Bruce Wayne of Batman, Dallas‘ J.R. Ewing and Dynasty‘s Blake Carrington were hailed as multimillionaires. Bring a millionaire was a pretty good deal for a long time. But of course the price of millionaire toys has soared in the past decades. George Steinbrenner bought the New York Yankees for $8.7 million in 1973. Now if you want to buy the Yankees, you better bring at least $4 billion to the table. The price of being considered rich has gone up and this is reflected in how much fictional people have to be worth on TV. Billions: Season Four takes us deep into the battle between billionaire hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod (Homeland‘s Damian Lewis) and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Chuck Rhoades, Jr. (American Splendor‘s Paul Giamatti). There’s a few new players willing to jump into the ugliness.
Things have gone bad for Chuck since he’s no longer working for the SDNY. He’s no longer striking fear in anyone’s heart. But he’s doing his best to get a bit of power going. Bobby doesn’t even view him as his main enemy anymore. Bobby is going after Taylor Amber Mason (Orange Is the New Black‘s Asia Kate Dillon) whose Taylor Mason Capital is making Axe Capital look like a old lady spending her pin money. As the season progresses, more treachery arrives in various other major players with billions to throw around. Allegiances change because as emotional as these hedge fund managers can get, money is money. Chuck on the other hand is learning that being unemployed isn’t a good thing if you’re in Manhattan. He’s hustling hard to save his own house. After all that time flying around the island like a Superman fighting Wall Street baddies, he’s completely grounded. Chuck reminds us that money does cost something while Bobby and Taylor are tossing around million dollar deals without caring about receipts. Chuck’s wife Wendy (Sons of Anarchy‘s Maggie Siff) has to deal with her husband’s job issues and still sees her old patient Bobby. She has a few plans to save the house.
Billions: Season Four keeps up the tension with transitions for all the main characters. None of them are ready to calm down and backdown. They aren’t going to admit that money and power isn’t worth that much in a life. There’s not moment when all embrace non-materialism. Because the show is called Billions and nobody is happy as long as the other person has their money. Showtime has renewed the series for a fifth season so there’s still more hedge fund fighting to come.
The video is 1.76:1 anamorphic
Pick A Side (2:04) breaks down the season in what members to root for like a campaign. You can still hastag on Twitter.
Script to Screen (3:23) is talk about how they can write audacious scenes with actors who know how to hit the tone just right.
Inside Fight Night (2:04) goes into how they filmed the boxing match between two characters. The referee was secretly the fight choreography. Really wish this piece was longer.
Billions References (3:47) has them explain what the characters are saying. They make a Chris Weber timeout quip.
CBS DVD presents Billions: Season Four. Starring: Maggie Siff, Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis, Malin Akerman & Toby Leonard Moore. Rated: Unrated. Boxset Contents: 12 episodes on 4 DVDs. Released: September 24, 2019
