Billions(Sky Atlantic/Paramount+) is back for a seventh and final series. It is not so much a grand farewell as a discreet truck to the glue factory. Having left after series five to spend more time with his family – his wife, Helen McCrory, died in 2021 – Damian Lewis is back to see off his billionaire anti-hero Bobby Axelrod. His absence has been felt: Lewis has a knack for giving warmth to dodgy blokes.
Sadly his departure is not the only thing that has gone wrong with Billions.Like Lewis’s earlier hit series about a morally ambiguous killer, Homeland, Showtime’s finance drama was built around a pursuit. Paul Giamatti was the cat, Chuck Rhoades, a Batman-voiced state attorney on a moral crusade to bring down Lewis’ corrupt tycoon. The pepper in the saucewas that Rhoades’ wife, Wendy (Maggie Siff), also worked as Axelrod’s motivational corporate psychologist, helping his herd of alpha men extract maximum alpha from their investments. The first two series were glossy, twisty and fun.
Sadly it has been on a downward spiral since the end of series two, by which point it had run out of obvious twists and turns for its characters and was forced to create incongruousartificial situations for them. Series seven findsAxelrod on the lam, whereabouts unknown. A rival billionaire, Mike Prince (Corey Stoll) has taken over his firm, and set his sights on becoming the US President. Prince’s liberal quotation from Hitler lets the viewer know this may not be a good idea. Wendy, Axelrod’s associate Wags (David Costabile), and his sometime employee-adversary Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon) realise there is only one man with the mental equipment to stop him.
Rhoades, meanwhile, after a series of reversals we needn’t trouble you with here, has ended up in court himself, with a GPS tag on his ankle, and estranged from Wendy. The supporting cast used to be entertaining figures in their own right, especially Wags. Now they circle their principals like glorified butlers, servicing whichever ludicrous plot the script has drummed up for them this time. Having jumped the shark several years ago, Billions makes a point of hopping back and forth over the shark several times an hour.Enormous plot points happen off screen, or with no fanfare, in order to create a new situation.
The contortions of the story might be forgivable if the dialogue had some of its own zip. The early series of Billions sang with snappy one-liners. It’s flatter now. It has committed to its most irritating qualities while jettisoning the tension that made it so watchable.The script has always deployed similes from sports and pop culture. Now it feels like there’s one every 10 seconds, crowbarred in where they don’t make sense, crossing the line from archness to self-indulgence. Those who’ve stuck with Billions throughout will no doubt find more of the things they have enjoyed. Butit heads towards the finish as a wan and diluted version of what it was. As Bobby Axelrod would tell you, knowing when to cut your losses is as important as knowing when to buy.
Billions season 7 is on Sky Atlantic (UK) and Showtime (US) now, and is also on Paramount+ in the UK from Saturday August 12
