The first few seasons of Billions were very good but, as often happens when something is successful, the writers and producers get affected by a sense of self importance which has culminated in their complete delusion as to their own talent, and this is evident in the last two seasons.
The diatribe of nonsensical references to famous quotes and robotic self-speak has become so nauseating that you could be quite easily forgiven for concluding that the last two series are the antithesis of what made this series interesting in the first place.
Since the introduction of Mike "Prince", not Pence and his linguistically licky sidekick, the writers have indulged themselves in so many references that they have every character walking around as if mumbling quotes for a memory competition and pausing mid-mini-monologue to self analyse, dissect themselves, sign-off and move on. It is so bizarre that I would liken it to a group of Data-like androids from Star Trek wandering around agog as if discovering the world for the first time and being surprised by the words stemming from their own lips, having to analyse and discover what they themselves mean and then tuck themselves into a mental futon once done.
There was always an element of the haughty pschoanalysis about the show but it was balanced by a good deal of interest stemming from the wider story, particularly the wheelings and dealings of the hedge fund business. With the lurch towards a political drama and Mike Prince being the thing nobody thought could ever happen i.e. A bigger idiot running for election than any president that has gone before IRL, it's simply not convincing when they keep fearfully referring to this idiot's intelligence. Why? Because the writers have made him into a babbling buffoon without any menace beside the fear of having to listen to him self-psychoanalyse ... over and over again.
The rest of the cast has had their roles decimated to accommodate this badly conceived bucket of verbal incontinence and that's a shame. End it now as it's well and truly done.
The diatribe of nonsensical references to famous quotes and robotic self-speak has become so nauseating that you could be quite easily forgiven for concluding that the last two series are the antithesis of what made this series interesting in the first place.
Since the introduction of Mike "Prince", not Pence and his linguistically licky sidekick, the writers have indulged themselves in so many references that they have every character walking around as if mumbling quotes for a memory competition and pausing mid-mini-monologue to self analyse, dissect themselves, sign-off and move on. It is so bizarre that I would liken it to a group of Data-like androids from Star Trek wandering around agog as if discovering the world for the first time and being surprised by the words stemming from their own lips, having to analyse and discover what they themselves mean and then tuck themselves into a mental futon once done.
There was always an element of the haughty pschoanalysis about the show but it was balanced by a good deal of interest stemming from the wider story, particularly the wheelings and dealings of the hedge fund business. With the lurch towards a political drama and Mike Prince being the thing nobody thought could ever happen i.e. A bigger idiot running for election than any president that has gone before IRL, it's simply not convincing when they keep fearfully referring to this idiot's intelligence. Why? Because the writers have made him into a babbling buffoon without any menace beside the fear of having to listen to him self-psychoanalyse ... over and over again.
The rest of the cast has had their roles decimated to accommodate this badly conceived bucket of verbal incontinence and that's a shame. End it now as it's well and truly done.