TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Despite a lack of likable characters, Billions' soapy melodrama and larger-than-life canvas offer plenty of repeat viewing potential.
Episodes
Billions: Season 1 Videos
Billions: Season 1 Photos
Tv Season Info
Cast
as Chuck Rhoades
as Bobby 'Axe' Axelrod
as Lara Axelrod
as Kate
as Mike 'Wags' Wagner
as Wendy Rhoades
as Bryan Connerty
News & Interviews for Billions: Season 1
Critic Reviews for Billions: Season 1
All Critics (52) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (13)
Showtime calls this smart series an "examination" of profit, which seems just about the right word. Well-written, directed and acted, Billions is still badly in need of a more human touch.
There's enough talent in this Showtime drama - and plenty of soapy allures - to keep the candle burning throughout Season 1.
Get Lewis, Giamatti, Siff, and Malin Akerman, who plays Axe's wife, on one show, start throwing around billions of dollars, mansions in the Hamptons, S&M, corporate takeovers, legal intrigue, and boldface names, and you've got something pretty enticing.
Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis growl at each other like rabid bulldogs - really powerful ones - in Billions, a WWE bout set on Wall Street. But it's actresses Malin Akerman and Maggie Siff who stick out, each doing creative takes on Lady Macbeth.
Billions is full of itself in a good way, with Giamatti and Lewis dynamically leading the way while a solid supporting cast hangs in with them.
Both actors are, as expected, very watchable - compelling, if not subtle.
Audience Reviews for Billions: Season 1
Almost nothing ever happened in any episodes, all the characters are bastards that make you blood boil. It's a show full of people you couldn't care less about, lost interest pretty quickly but kept watching anyway, hoping season 2 will finally have something happening.
Super Reviewer
Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis star in the Showtime financial drama Billions. Season 1 follows US Attorney Chuck Rhoades as he attempts to build a case against corrupt Wall Street hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod, a self-made billionaire who made his money through insider trading and bribery. Both Giamatti and Lewis give excellent performances, creating extraordinarily compelling characters. And the writers do a good job at exploring the world of high finance, and at creating mystery and intrigue with betrayals and shocking twists. They also discuss a number of topical issues regarding white collar crime, capitalism, and the 1 percent. A rich character drama, Season 1 of Billions is incredible daring and provocative.
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
Discuss Billions on our TV talk forum!