The boring savagery of Showtime's Billions

The new series promises an in-depth exploration of masculinity of power, but fails to dig below the surface

Damian Lewis as Bobby "Axe" Axelrod in Billions (Season 1, Episode 1).
(Image credit: JoJo Whilden/SHOWTIME)

Here are some quotes from Billions, Showtime's whip-'em-out-and-measure-'em new drama about a couple of jerks butting heads on the legal and political battlefield of the financial market:

"My cholesterol's high enough. Don't butter my ass."

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Scott Meslow

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.