I watched this last night and despite a decent cast I thought it was pretty meh. Paul Giamatti turned in a good performance (doesn't he always) but some of the plot was a bit silly. I will probably watch more episodes unless it goes really off the rails. Anyone else watch and care to post an opinion?
I saw Paul Giammati on Stephen Colbert last night and I will watch it on free preview this weekend. It seems like a show that may be hard to sustain, however, since neither side can totally win.
A read a review whereby the reviewer commented that after seeing the first 6 eps, he felt like he should watch more, not because it's really good, but because...we'll he's seen so many that he feels obliged to see it through (otherwise know as the sunk cost fallacy). So basically, he seems to be echoing your 'meh' assessment - not terrible, not compelling (despite the good cast).
I enjoyed the Pilot and look forward to seeing how it evolves. It definitely has that "Showtime" vibe, that's for sure.
Saw the 1st episode, sure, it wasn't fantabulous, but it was good. It's way too soon to give it a definitive thumbs up or down. I'm a big fan of many of the actors involved so I'm in!
Saw the first two episodes... I really like the premise, and I think the acting is there, but... the dialogue seems a bit weird to me. It has that stilted quality that you find in macho action movies or some such. The first scene in the first episode seemed gratuitous as hell as though the producers were saying: "Hey, you might be thinking that there's going to be a lot boring hedge fund/Wall Street/investment talk, but here ya go with some spicy TV-MA material within the first 10 seconds." That said, I'm still in for episode 3. I think it has some fine potential.
Nah, the viewer didn't even know it was his wife until the end of the show... All we needed to know was that he's one of those stereotypical, massively powerful dudes who enjoys the services of a dominatrix... to feel powerless and at the mercy of someone else for his sexual gratification. We could have seen his wife just bust out the whips at the end of show as they moved into the bedroom or some such. They opened the scene with him hog-tied and being burned and urinated upon. The nature of their relationship could have been established with less specificity; the graphic nature and details of the scene were for audience titillation. Later on, naked lesbians doing cocaine off each others sexy bodies? That was for every horny dude in the audience... which is fine, but it just seemed so forced. The scene could have been played with her just snorting cocaine -- that was the only element that puts her job/career in jeopardy. Just my perspective. It ain't necessarily the right one.
Just because you didn't figure out who the dominatrix was 'til they spelled it out for you, doesn't mean that no one else figured it out sooner...
Right on, bro-heim. When she burnt his chest with a cigarette, I basically winced and turned away. When she urinated on him, I got up and mixed another drink. I just ain't that liberated!
I guess I will watch the 3rd at some point. It think it's ok so far. I liked the idea of it more than what I have seen so far. The only thing that annoyed me so far was the whole house thing. I thought that was totally unrealistic and didn't really seem vital to advance the plot.
As I mentioned a couple of posts up: "Later on, naked lesbians doing cocaine off each others sexy bodies? That was for every horny dude in the audience... which is fine, but it just seemed so forced. The scene could have been played with her just snorting cocaine -- that was the only element that puts her job/career in jeopardy." But I will surely be checking out episode 3.
I'm watching this really because Paul Giamatti is one of my favorite actors, and to have him on a weekly TV show is rare indeed (water sports notwithstanding). And I don't know about anyone else, but the amount of financial-speak on this show has left me lost at times. But I'm sticking with it.
I'm ambivalent about the show but I enjoyed the second episode more than the initial offering. I would have preferred to have seen Paul Giamatti and Maggie Siff as a married couple in a show about.....whatever.....maybe chasing Damien Lewis the serial killer.
The dialogue is a bit explanatory. However, I remain interested because the show seems a bit like The Sopranos. The kids aren't involved but the different episodical story lines follow a similar path...shakedowns, foes being humiliated, etc....it's also trying to weave in some humor, like The Sopranos. An older character has emerged (similar in some ways to Uncle Junior...and other ways very different). And Paul Giamatti is absolutely terrific. It also seems like they are trying to make Axelrod a "1%r" who is very different from that world. I read something somewhere where they suggested Lewis and Giamatti were miscast their roles should have been reversed. After three episodes, I think they were perfectly cast.
Well... I'll probably make it through the rest of the season, but I doubt I'll be brought back in.... After this past Sunday's episode, this series is starting to remind me of the type of hypothetical "drama" show that Spike TV would launch in they decided to jump into the original mini-series business. So many of the parts reminded me of the filler, stilted "bro" downtime scenes that occur between the explosions and CGI of style-over-substance action films -- The show looked like it was pieced together from the parts of an action movie that featured no quick-cut explosive action. The characters and lack of realism are making it difficult to stay attentive.
I think that the show is improving slightly every week. As a Canadian, I was stunned by the whole Metallica-in-Quebec scenes. That was certainly the new hockey arena there in Quebec City. Scenes seemed obviously to have been filmed there. And Damian Lewis threw Canadian bills down on the bar. But what was it all about?! Did Lewis demand to have his favourite band included in the show? Bizarre......oh, and I must say how absolutely terrific David Costable (sic?) is on `Billions'. He is amazing.
My wife and I have watched the first two episodes.. I just can't seem to get into it. The whole thing feels so forced and contrived. I have no real interest in either of the lead characters, they are both very un likeable and come off as being very one dimensional. I have no idea what makes either of them tick.. but two hours into the series, I'm getting to a point where I don't really care..
This is exactly how I feel about the show after two episodes. I came to the show thinking I would like it, but I really don't. The clash between the two main characters should be compelling, but it is not.