Tribute to Billions

I absolutely love Billions. Even though only two seasons have been made so far, it's already become one of my favorite shows of all time, after shows like The Sopranos and Mad Men. As a tribute to the show so far, I've compiled my favorite lines from the Season 2 finale. Enjoy.

"But in the spirit of friendship...be glad to hold your watch"
"For a career bureaucrat, you have a David Blaine-like flair for the dramatic"
"It's not showmanship, it's tradecraft"
"That's like telling the cow not to involve itself in the steak dinner"
"Life without you is a misery"
"You can't go to bed with Jenna Jameson and expect to wake up with Snow White"
"You should act out of rationality, not emotion"
"This is what you always wanted. Me, your son, you scion...in that office, in that chair"
"It means you're not fooling yourself into thinking it'll be easy"
"I can tell you it's no big deal, but I'm not in the lying to you game"
"I'm giving you the real"
"I'm going to have to ask you to pick up the money and put it back in your bag"
"On a human note..."
"I'm glad we're foxhole buddies"
"You jackpotted me!"
"Where I come from, at a certain point a guy just fucking punches another guy in the mouth"
"I'm not ready to lose you"
"...And to actually put the bad guys in the goddamn hoosegow"
"Things changed, so now I have to"
"The best moves I've made in my life have required the most discipline, patience, and trust"
"That deal is no longer alive. It's a corpse, in a pine box, covered with dirt"
"You're in a US attorney's office...not some souk buying a rug. I don't negotiate"
"I have too much to learn from you to lose you now"
"Not anymore. Any scratch at all, he can pick it up, place the cue ball wherever he wants. Ball in hand"
"Remind them...that they know who you really are, no matter what anyone says"
"My skill is taking people and making them more of who they are"
"I know what it's supposed to be at its best. You're going to help me get there"
"You will get over this in time"
"Sometimes they lie, sometimes they tell the truth. It's like everyone, like me...I'm a flawed man"
"I anticipated your transactional nature would lead to you making your ask again"
"Would you help me find my way back?"
"Pull the trigger"
"But it won't feel like freedom for a long time..."
"I didn't realize how desperate you were to feel like a man"
"All I can say is...WORTH IT"
"You let your hatred of me put everything you hold dear in jeopardy"
"I'm going to find it. Whatever it is, whatever thread you left behind. However small. The one that threatens everything you are. We both know it's out there. You know exactly what it is. You were talking about sleepless nights...it's what you'll wake up thinking about in the dark, shaking. Because I'm going to find it, you know I will. And I'm going to pull on it, and I'm going to pull on it, until your whole fucking world unravels"
"The air is getting colder now
The nights are getting crisp
I first tasted the universe
On a night like this"

 
Best Response

It will probably make for an unpopular first comment, but here it is: although the show has good entertainment value, almost everything is so over the top that it's ridiculous sometimes. The dialogue is comical, characters like Taylor (intern to CIO in 3 episodes, really?), Wags (lol) or Lara (a very very bad reverse-Skylar) are cringy af and some of the plot lines are... well, do you guys on the trading floor really get/need that many pep talks?

Billions is to House of Cards what Interstellar is to Manchester by the Sea, and it's a shame because Giamatti and Lewis deserved more.

 
<span itemprop=name>ACP7</span>:

It will probably make for an unpopular first comment, but here it is: although the show has good entertainment value, almost everything is so over the top that it's ridiculous sometimes. The dialogue is comical, characters like Taylor (intern to CIO in 3 episodes, really?), Wags (lol) or Lara (a very very bad reverse-Skylar) are cringy af and some of the plot lines are... well, do you guys on the trading floor really get/need that many pep talks?

Billions is to House of Cards what Interstellar is to Manchester by the Sea, and it's a shame because Giamatti and Lewis deserved more.

Hit the nail on the head. 95% of the dialogue is ridiculously over the top, but it's entertaining.

It is over the top, but in order to appeal to the broader masses these kind of shows/movies generally up the drama and dumb down the finance. I enjoyed The Big Short - but the cameos with Selena Gomez & c:o explaining financial instruments made me a bit sick to the stomach... Nonetheless, it allows for people who aren't finance experts to digest the info.

Now there's been talks about turning Flash Boys into a movie.. Expect a lot of over-the-top drama unless you want to watch a server room on your screen for 2 hours.

 
<span itemprop=name>Donny_Axelrod</span>:

It's an amazing show. I've actually been seriously tempted to buy one of these....
http://store.sho.com/billions-axe-capital-vest/det...

Hahaha might have to scoop up one of these. Along with a black duffel bag full of cash neatly organized in stacks or bricks, for all those "unofficial consultations"

 

I think the best line from the show was Season 1. When one of the portfolio managers was being interviewed by the SEC about his past trades, he mentioned that one particular trade was based on a "Prom night's promise... just a tip."

It's interesting because the materiality clause in SEC Rule 10b5-1 is worded so vaguely that he might actually be able to get away with saying that in real life.

If I'm not mistaken, this was the basis for Cohen's defense in real life. Also possession vs. use is a blurred line. I believe Cohen was in possession of insider information (email received in his inbox) when he made an illegal trade but because he never literally opened that email before the trade, it cannot classify as "insider trading" according to the law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewco
 

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