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DisturbedNocturne t1_jabkncq wrote

I suppose this isn't entirely surprising. The way they wrote Axe out was open-ended enough for his return, and I imagine that was intentional since he left due to his wife dying. Presumably, the writers were always hoping he'd come back, and now he's at a point where he wants to act again.

As someone who watched the show up until his departure, I'm glad to see he's wanting to work again as Damian Lewis is a fantastic actor, but I think my interest in the show ended when he left as the show was already on a steep decline and spinning its wheels anyways. I don't think I'll be returning when he does. Axe repeatedly outsmarting Chuck's legal maneuvers was already getting old a few seasons back.

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KingShaunyBoy t1_jabmmam wrote

If you're a fan of Lewis you should watch A Spy Among Friends. I thought it was pretty good.

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SynthD t1_jabq4tg wrote

And Life, Band of Brothers, maybe wolf hall.

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KingShaunyBoy t1_jabthan wrote

Of course, but I would assume a fan has seen these already. A Spy Among Friends is very recent.

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tomc_23 t1_jaeijbr wrote

I enjoyed him in Wolf Hall, and had totally forgotten about Life until your comment (I think for a couple years I would either conflate or confuse Life with that David Duchovny series Aquarius, even though the premises are totally different).

I'd also recommend The Escapist (plus you get Brian Cox planning a prison breakout).

Band of Brothers, however, will always be peak Damian Lewis. Between that and Billions, I feel like he's even better when his character has a sort of partner or best friend-type to play off of.

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anasui1 t1_jacprj3 wrote

maybe Wolf Hall? that show is a bomb

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B0ndzai t1_jacmj4w wrote

I thought you meant the Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence movie Life. I have seen that a ton of times and I couldn't picture who Damian Lewis played.

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OmniManDidNothngWrng t1_jacyjqv wrote

well they announced a Millions and Trillions spin-off so I imagine they will end Billions and then send some of the characters off to those shows or at least some crossovers.

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Dismal-Past7785 t1_jadqv14 wrote

Showtime really knows how to beat a dead horse.

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OmniManDidNothngWrng t1_jads5u5 wrote

I think the idea is to just copy Marvel and the Sheridanverse. Whenever you strike something mildly popular keep giving people what they want.

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tomc_23 t1_jaegxb1 wrote

Losing Axe was inevitable eventually, albeit the timing and how it eventually came about were infinitely more tragic with the death of Helen McCrory. Even though (much like another Damian Lewis series) I think Billions should've ended long ago, I'm glad he's coming back towards what will (hopefully) be its end.

The introduction of Corey Stoll's Mike Prince was a solid enough remedy to losing Axe, although I think the season's overarching story and somewhat too-late criticism of billionaires left the series without a very clear sense of purpose or place; it spent too long painting its characters as flawed themselves, but doing nothing to criticize or otherwise caricature their ridiculously wealthy lives like, say, Succession does. More than that, it went the opposite direction, painting the Axe Capital cast of characters as universally "cool" (excepting 1-2 Big Bang Theory-style "nerd" caricatures written in later); they like "cool" things, drive "cool" cars, and the entire cast speaks fluently in that Billions-patented shorthand of "cool" references (to make you feel "cool" too whenever you recognize the reference), even though sometimes the dialogue feels like Sorkin's zippy West Wing walk-and-talk writing--but if Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, and Bradley Whitford were constantly trying to work references to Steve McQueen and Paul Newman movies into literally every exchange about foreign and domestic policy.

I really enjoyed the Mike Prince arc of the most recent seasons, especially early on when we're as skeptical and in the dark about his goals and motives as everybody else in the cast; I wasn't a fan of the outcome, but I think at the beginning the idea of basically an anti-Axe who appears genuinely preoccupied with using his wealth and resources to improve the lives of others and his community was inspired. He couldn't replicate Lewis'/Axe's presence, so they didn't even bother trying, and somehow managed a delicate balance between slowly winning the cast (and audience, by extension) over to his character's seemingly utopian "vision," while still acknowledging his god complex and major flaws as a person/husband/etc.

That said, I think bringing Damian Lewis back has a lot of potential, but could just as easily topple things just as this new version of Billions had found its footing. At the very least, it will be good to see Wags' reaction. I still think the series should've ended with like, the second/third season (honestly, maybe even the first, if they'd left it a little less open-ended). Like with Lewis' time on Homeland, I think it could've been a phenomenal character study as a limited or even anthology series, but it's still been solidly entertaining and certainly doesn't wast such a talented cast.

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