Punch, Punch, Punch, and a Knock Out
by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | September 12, 2021
This fast-paced and very clever Billions episode gives us an extremely fun and most Billions-y hour this season. All the characters have to read their opponent and make decisions very fast. It is like watching a wild boxing match – punch, punch, punch, and a big knock out. That said I am sure there will be a thrilling rematch!
It has been 24 hours since they acquired a bank. However, it seems Axe is focusing on everything but the bank!
We know that, after Bruno retired and moved to Florida, Axe has adopted a new pizza place, Una Pizza Napoletana, and we saw him in Season 5 Episode 6 The Nordic Model making a business offer to Chef Anthony Mangieri and his TV cousin Domenick who has a degree from NYU Stern.
“The freezer section. We start there. Best frozen pie ever. Then the sauce. Gelato. We roll out the complete line. The whole Una food experience — but at home.â€
Now, Anthony and his cousin are down in Florida anxiously waiting for Bruno’s verdict while Axe is joining them on Zoom. And Domenick is about to have a heart attack since they have 100K frozen pies on a ship from Italy!
“Holy Shit! Oh, kid! You did it!â€
And we know that Genio della Pizza is a go! I so wish that this storyline had been real so we could all buy Chef Mangieri’s pies at a local store – not the first best but believe me, it would be the second best. Cent’anni!
Axe’s heart is absolutely in this pizza company because it turns out that he has given generous ownership rights to his partners. Well, Bobby loves his pizza men, he sees them as true artists as they are and help them to flourish. You know what? I have just realized I call him Bobby only when he does something good – like this. This is the Bobby Axelrod I came to like…
But now he is Axe again, the worst version, too – the one who is obsessed with his enemy. Axe is on the phone with Jay-Z talking about getting rid of Prince’s conference “The Mike†and creating something new – a real “Black Swan†event. And here is Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who Axe wants to meet, explaining what a “Black Swan†event is.
And when Wags tells him that he would better focus on the bank, and not on the Mike, Axe is a complete asshole to him.
But I have to jump in here to share a fun Jay-Z trivia!
Did you know that the Jay Z album Magna Carta… Holy Grail, had a track “F.U.T.W. (F… Up The World)†with the lyrics going on like this?
Feeling like a stranger in my own land
Got me feeling like Brody in Homeland
On Jonathan Ross Show, Damian jokingly reveals that he knew he made it “across the pond†when he found out about the Jay Z song:
“He referenced Brody in one of his songs which was… I don’t know, if you want to arrive anywhere, that’s where you want to arrive isn’t it? In a Jay Z song.â€
And when asked if he had spoken with Jay Z about the song, Damian answers with a laugh:
“It’s ‘Jay’ now between us two but no, no I haven’t.â€
😀
Back to the episode: You know it is serious when Wags comes across as the voice of reason! And he is. Mike Prince had to cancel his upcoming conference because people are running away from him like the plague and he has also been terminated as the public face of the Haiti earthquake relief charity Shake the Quake (remember Axe was in the exact same situation after people found out what he did on 9/11!) yet it is still not enough for Axe.
“He’s not dead until I say he is.â€
Axe loves playing the God, doesn’t he?
The guy, who is dead when Axe says he is, is now talking to an investor who wants to pull his money from his company. While Prince starts with his flawed people may be the great hope for the future blah blah he has to finish with some Axe-quality threat with a little help from Van Halen.
Read the rest of the original article at our sister site Fan Fun with Damian Lewis here