Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
So Koppelman immersed himself in the underground NY poker clubs before Moneymaker was a thing. He had a story to tell populated with interesting characters.

Koppelman did the same thing here. I particularly liked his stories of lunches & dinners with the hedge fund guys he interviewed. He admits Rounders gave him entre with these billionaires he wouldn't otherwise have had.

The billionaires would order the most expensive wine for lunch and raise their finger to order more. They were not going to deliver information for Koppelman's story without somehow winning in the exchange. The check would be thousands and it would hurt Koppelman. It wasn't the meal but the pain they could deliver. GG

Koppelman's interviews with AG's were equally interesting. The obvious question was posed. "Why would you continue making $175k when you could be making healthy 7 figures with a firm?" The answer, "because I get to decide which cases to pursue and which to let slide. It's the power."

I actually found the AG side of Billions more interesting & insightful.

The story has been told imo. I loved the last season 1 episode. For the same reason nobody needs a Rounder II - I will prolly pass on Billions season 2.

In hindsight, Sonatine has some valid criticism. I ascribe some of the fail to the merry-go-round of directors. Relationship shit from one director. Emphasis on visual symbolism from another. It sometimes seemed disjointed.

Was Billions great? There were HOF moments. I enjoyed trying to cypher out Koppelman's message. Koppelman has credibility and talent and I wanted to see what he did.

Honestly I prolly garnered more enjoyment listening to the backstories and research than the actual show.

i mean, i find both cultures fascinating. but yeah my principle concern here remains; this show is hamfisted. without any actual plot to work with, they simply dial up everyones character flaws to eleventeen and rely on them to drive the show.

also whats getting profoundly tedious is how lopsided it is; there really isnt much going on with the trader camp to make me interested in seeing justice done. and that undermines the motives of the AG to the point where it really does seem vindictive and petty, and i really fucking dont need a show about how Big Government is going after the poor oppressed billionaire who outsmarted the system, thats fucking retarded shit right there. thats the dudes in Boiler Room memorizing every line of Wall Street. its a shitty political meme that lionizes the worst of the worst types off assclowns. and unless they do something to course correct next week, i feel thats the exact dumpster this thing is going to smolder in.