BILLIONS: THE FINAL SEASON
Starring: Damian Lewis, Paul Giamatti, Corey Stoll, Maggie Siff, David Costabile, Dola Rashad, Asia Kate Dillon, Kelly Aucoin, Daniel K. Isaac, Dan Soder, Daniel Breaker, Eva Victor, Toney Goins, Dhruv Maheshwari, Louis Cancelmi, Ben Shenkman, Allan Havey, Piper Perabo, and Jeffrey DeMunn
Creators: Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin
NICK
Yes, the final season of the underrated Billions makes up for some of Season Six's struggles by bringing back Damian Lewis' Bobby Axelrod, but also by turning Corey Stoll's Michael Prince into a worthy adversary. Stoll's Prince is cold-blooded this season, which takes him from powerful to fearsome. It's an improvement over last season while still maintaining the quippy pop culture references and ability to subvert the expectations of its audience. The finale admittedly lacks a little punch, but it works for what it is, and makes for a fitting goodbye to one of my favourite series of the past 10 years.
QUENTIN
After seven seasons, the last couple of which were semi-derailed by covid and the tragedy-fueled departure of Damian Lewis, Billions mostly returns to form in its final season. I say “mostly” because it doesn’t fully happen until the later episodes. The first half, while still good and boasting all the typical Billions-isms of incessant pop culture references, random cameos, and witty repartee, is more of a scheme-of-the-week show instead of having an overarching narrative. However, once it focuses on the serialized storyline that often is just background early on, it races to a fun, fitting, and satisfying conclusion for Succession‘s less-prestigious-but-more-enjoyable counterpart.
PRESTON
The king of similes, metaphors, and pop-culture historical references is back for its seventh and final season, like a beloved president finishing out their term with the knowledge that things might just never be the same. Billions ran a beautiful course (with the ubiquitous exception of COVID) and knew when and how to call it quits. Although not perfect, this finale continued doing what the series did in its most successful seasons by providing an intriguing story featuring cameo appearances, nostalgic fodder for its loyalists, and a nicely wrapped-up overarching-yet-complicated storyline with a little bow on top.