Robert "Bobby" Axelrod (Damien Lewis) is Wall Street's greatest hedge fund manager. Worth, well, billions, Bobby runs Axe Capital at such a high profit rate, you'd think there was some shady deals going on in the background to facilitate it.
You'd be right.
Enter U.S. Attorney Charles "Chuck" Rhoades (Paul Giamatti). Rhoades has made it his mission while in office to go after white collar criminals and prosecute them to the fullest letter of the law. He'll only take on cases he knows he can win, though. After an apparent slip up at Axe Capital, Rhoades finally begins to put together his case against Axelrod. Complicating matters, Rhoades' wife Wendy (Maggie Siff) works at Axe Capital as their head shrinker, creating an obvious conflict of interest. The show quickly becomes a massive game of chess with moves and counter-moves flying fast and furious back and forth.
I'll admit, this is one of the few times I've taken a blind chance with a show I knew nothing about based solely on the lead talent appearing. And, boy, am I glad I did.
Damien Lewis, usually cast as a straight-laced, military type, gets to stretch his legs here as the Wall Street icon Bobby Axelrod. Standing on desks shouting stirring speeches, punching out guys for driving his kids around drunk and buying $80 million beach houses against everyone's advice, Lewis plays Axelrod as a loose cannon who wants for nothing and answers to nobody. It's mesmerizing to watch.
Paul Giamatti, on the other hand, actually keeps himself fairly reserved for most of it. Don't get me wrong, one of the best "F" word users in show business still manages to get himself riled up on occasion, but we get to see a more subtle side to Giamatti and it's great. His cat and mouse game with Lewis is compelling, even if the two actors only share a few minutes of screen time together throughout the first season.
The nicest surprise for me after watching Billions was Maggie Siff. Caught in the middle between these two power hungry titans, Siff plays both ends of it brilliantly. It's a layered, fascinating portrayal of a character that should be hard to relate to, but somehow isn't. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Siff in season 2.
My one complaint with the show has to do with my own knowledge and experience more than anything else. I'm not a stock trader nor do I have many insights into the world of high finance. There are vast tracks of dialogue and a few plot points that sailed right over my head with all the jargon being thrown around. Occasionally, we'll have a third party character on hand representing the audience, asking what that thing is and a bit of exposition to follow, but these moments are few and far between. The over-arching plot is certainly manageable and easy to follow; Rhoades' relentless pursuit of Axelrod. But I found myself getting lost with some of the specifics. Okay, okay, with a lot of the specifics.
Still, don't let that deter you from watching this show. I went in blind, as I mentioned earlier. Had I known it was dealing with Wall Street and the U.S. legal system, I wouldn't have given this a look. I'm glad I gave it a shot as I'm eagerly awaiting season 2.
The look of the show is very well done. The opening is probably the shortest in TV history, yet it works. The snappy dialogue and subtle humour comes across like a Soderberg movie. The settings are spot on, from the shiny glass and metal edifice that is Axe Capital to the cramped and stuffy offices of the U.S. Attorney's office. The whole feel of the series will draw you in and keep you watching.
4 out of 5 stars
