It’s very common to have managers who keep talented personnel focused and at peace with one another.” Snowflake Mode The paradigm in financial services is not unlike a professional sports team with a manager/coach and talented players. “These environments are often very political, which is one thing the show gets reasonably well. Pretty good scene, no?īut before we can know what may come of a terrifying Taylor/Wendy alliance, I have one burning question: Is Wendy real? Do these kinds of facilitator, head-shrinker, deal-whisperer figures exist in the financial services industry? Someone whose job isn’t actually to make money, but to assist those who do make money in ways that aren’t tangible or logistical, but more strategic and psychological. This week, they unexpectedly team up to convince a stubborn, meat-eating petrol exec to be “greenwashed” with a fierce combo of heroic ego-stroking (Wendy) and the threat of whaler-themed obsolescence (Taylor). Last week, we watched them battle over the meaning of the soul. Two other characters serving as useful foils, especially in this episode, are Wendy Rhoades and Taylor Mason, who operate, respectively, with empathic boosterism and indifference. Which style is best suited to lead an urban renewal project on the mean streets of Yonkers? Wendy City In the opening scenes of “Opportunity Zone,” we see Axe passively shooting hoops with Savian Wallace, a young striver now living in Axe’s humble childhood home in Yonkers while Mike Prince is playing one-on-one, capably, with the one-and-only Dominique freakin’ Wilkins at a tony private club. Prince, well, fancies himself enlightened in business and in life. Axe channels the urcapitalist monster, priding himself in staying rooted to an everyman sensibility. (See: Lennon-McCartney, Robinson-LaMotta, Magic-Bird, etc.)ĭespite their shared humble roots, Axe and Prince each represent a certain brand of transcendent success. Thomas Jefferson was the libertine scribe and John Adams was the traditionalist orator. Tom Brady won with calm, Peyton Manning won with smarts. But great rivalries also make foils of the characters involved. newcomer Mike Prince - has mostly resulted in Axe losing to him in the realm of business (the ayahuasca coup), media (the Vanity Fair coup) and art (the Nico Tanner coup). ![]() Last week, we tackled Season 5’s hella-Faustian, “ Beg, Bully, Bribe.” This week, we’re diving into “Opportunity Zone.” Hoop Dreams But of course, we’ll also be celebrating its wild excesses, shoddy ethics, endless cringes and highly questionable dancing. Since Billions is loosely based on real characters, we’ll be homing in on how the show tracks with the real world events and situations that inspire it. Every Sunday night, we’ll be diving into the latest episode of Billions - the best finance-driven dramedy on premium cable - with a technical assist from Elliot Grossman, a veteran of the financial services industry.
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