The now $3.9 billion dollar price is double the original estimate, now coming in at $2 billion dollars over budget, and years late, Some people aren't happy about this, but everyone says time will erase their discomfort. The 'Oculus' of arched steel ribs is meant to resemble a bird flying out of a child's hand. It is meant as a symbol of hope for a post 9/11 scarred city. The problem is going to be that 15 years after 9/11, the resonance of the event is not as powerful. And when New Yorkers think of birds, they think of pigeons, who no one wants in their hands.
Fittingly, there is a new series called 'Billions' on Showtime. I'm a little late to getting to watch the show, and the DVR recordings are starting to pile up. My son-in-law recommended the show. My reluctance has been is that I can't stand looking at Damien Lewis's mug. I developed a deep dislike for it in 'Homeland', such that it contributed to my not watching the show. Only when he was written out of it, did I go back to the last season.
I finally watched the first episode, the pilot of 'Billions' last night. I knew enough of the story line, even that the U.S. Attorney, Chuck Rhoades is into being played at by a dominatrix, who in this case turns out to be his wife. (The kids are asleep.) I wasn't however prepared for how she extinguishes a fire, and nearly bolted from the show. But that part was short, and they got down to business: the pursuit of a hedge fund operator, Bobby Axelrod who is making waaaay too much money with waaaay too much insider information. Bobby's got to be brought down.
The show's appeal resonates with anyone who has followed the news of late and who can easily pick out who the characters represent.
The Southern District of New York is sometimes referred to as The Sovereign District. It encompasses two New York City counties, Manhattan--New York County--and the Bronx, along with six other adjacent counties to the north.
U.S. Attorneys throughout the United States are approved by the Senate. The appointment to the Southern District is considered a plum. The two former U.S. Attorneys, James Comey and Mary Jo White went on to be the the Director of the FBI and the Chairman of the SEC, respectively. The alumni list is a Who's Who of prosecutors.
The current U.S. Attorney, Preet Bharara, has been in the job a little over five years now and has an eye on being the NYC mayor, like one of the Southern District's predecessors, Rudy Giuliani. Mr. Bharara has racked up an impressive record of leading his office in white collar convictions. Wall Street is in Manhattan.
It is this record that becomes pivotal to the plot, since Showtime's U.S. Attorney, Chuck Rhoades, as played by Paul Giamatti, puts an 81-0 white collar crime unbeaten record on the line to pursue Bobby Axelrod, as played by lemon faced Damian Lewis, who in closeups does have a resemblance to Steve McQueen, (at least to me) who I did like.
Bobby, as so affectionately named, is the non-sectarian Bernie Madoff. He can't be seen as being Jewish, because that's like saying all the members of organized crime are Italian. So we have his wife coming from an Irish-Catholic family of 5 kids ( "5 sibs." Who talks like that?) from Inwood. (Upper Manhattan) Yeah, so? When did Inwood get such a tough reputation?
Bobby is also Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald was out of the office when the plane hit One WTC, and over 600 people in his firm were lost.
Bobby is the sole surviving partner from his firm, Axe Capital. He is also a benefactor of scholarships for the children of his deceased co-workers and colleagues. When one of the widows of Bobby voices a little distaste that she wishes her husband were alive and not Bobby, Bobby's wife takes the woman aside and basically tells he what a tough monkey she is, and says what may be the first of the show's many, many uses of the word "fuck." In this case, she reminds the woman that if she feels she is being threatened, she affirms it by telling her, "you're fucking right I am."
I lost track of how many times someone says "fuck." I need one of those clickers to keep track.
Those bad-ass Irish from Inwood? Nonesense. Pure Hollywood scripting. No one realizes that the bad-ass Irish were originally from the South Bronx. Southern Boulevard, or the West Side of Manhattan? They never heard of the Westies? Dock workers? Hell's Kitchen, anyone? Now of course sanitized in the real estate market to be Clinton.
And then we have the Greek (who doesn't look Greek one bit) from the SEC trying to alert the media about Bobby Axelrod. Sounds like the Greek who was trying to get the SEC's attention for years regarding Madoff. Now the SEC has their own public relations people writing positive blurb about them into scripts.
And lunch, where they're never open for lunch? The Gordon Gekko scene where he tells young Charlie to order off the menu and get a decent suit. Here, Bobby starts to setup a WSJ reporter. And why, oh why, does everyone drink wine? All the time? No one seems to twist off a beer cap and guzzle half a bottle at a time. Elitists.
So, Bobby has some comparisons to some manipulators, and Chuck there, with his taste for being attended to by his dominatrix wife has some comparisons to Eliot Spitzer, who even now has managed to land in the news regarding female entertainment.
Eliot, as anyone might remember, was New York's governor who resigned after his affection for call girls was made public. This was in 2008, and even now, he finds himself in the news when a Russian woman claims he choked her in a Plaza Hotel suite he booked. Not just any Russian woman, but one with her own YouTube show regarding her way of making money. She's now gone back to Mother Russia, and Eliot, although no longer a public servant, is once again proving that sex rehab camp just doesn't seem to work long term.
Eliot was never known to be a fan of a dominatrix, but Showtime certainly has to generate heat. Adding juice to the plot is the fact that Chuck's wife, Wendy, as played by Maggie Siff, works for Axe Capital as their in-house psychologist/cheerleader who gives Knute Rockne speeches to the dealers to get them back on track to making millions. when they start to doubt their ability to be aggressive. It works.
So, certainly looking forward to the heat Bobby brings to Chuck, and the heat Chuck brings to Bobby. Will the 81-0 record click forward to 82-0? Will Chuck's desire for punishment get known outside the walls of his home? Will Bobby back off and be content with just being a run-of-the-mill billionaire, rather than THE Billionaire.
I know I'm coming back to find out.
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