“Billions” ends seven seasons to great acclaim from fans and critics

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the final episode of billion.

The long-running Showtime series billion concluded on Sunday, with widespread agreement that the finale was about money.

The series originally centered around a shady hedge fund king and the prosecutors who stood in his way, and concluded a seven-season run that featured one of the show’s original leads, Damian Lewis, spending a season with his ailing wife was passed away in April 2021. But this final chapter brought all of the series’ stars together for one big, happy party – for most of the characters, anyway.

Here you can see how billion finally paid off.

What the makers wanted to do

This big happy ending was intentional, according to the show’s creators, Brian Koppelman, David Levien and Andrew Ross Sorkin, who spoke to Variety about focusing on the show’s fans in this last hurray.

“We made the decision early on that we wanted to make this season of the show a reality billion Fans – for the people who watch every episode more than once, who understand our references, who notice every song,” Koppelman said. “We wanted to make the last season we wanted to see billion Obsessives. Seeing you all get the little lines and the jokes and the moments and feel the emotional resonances is incredibly satisfying.”

Koppelman also spoke to USA Today about making it for the “superfans,” adding that they “found the ultimate landing spot for all of these characters.”

How the final ended

Before Lewis took his aforementioned break from the series for season six, it was Corey Stoll’s Mike Prince who helped complete Axelrod’s downfall in season five, allowing Prince to step in as the series’ new main villain.

After Lewis’ return for season seven, Axelrod teamed up with his former nemesis and series main protagonist – if you can call him that – in Paul Giamatti’s “Chuck Rhodes” to take down Prince together.

And it was Sunday’s final episode when this all finally came to a head. The plan to take down Prince, who had also become a potentially dangerous presidential candidate, was to liquidate his stock portfolio while he was in the middle of a meeting with the current president at Camp David and didn’t have his phone with him, that was locked.

After a breakdown from Prince and a promise to return one day for a “second act” – perhaps a series spinoff? – Almost all of the main actors in the series felt comfortable. Axelrod reclaimed his old throne as boss and was ready to “make some… money.”

Not only did Chuck defeat his newest enemy and vow to return to his roots, he also shared a lovely moment over dinner with his ex-wife Wendy, played by Maggie Siff, and their two children.

Click here to learn more about how things went for some of the show’s other popular characters, like Asia Kate Dillon’s Taylor Mason, Dola Rashad’s Kate Sacker, and David Costabile’s Mike “Wags” Wagner.

Critical answer

Here’s what CNN’s Brian Lowry had to say at the end of the show:

“billion The plane landed successfully (OK, private jet) with its series finale, with a satisfying ending that reunited the key players and even gave them time to take their individual bows. For a show with so much bite and venom, it was generally oddly sentimental in the best way…

“billion After coming to terms with the aptly chosen strains of the Steve Miller Band’s “Take the Money and Run,” the show could proudly say it was up to the challenge and those who had dedicated seven seasons of time to the Showtime series. to offer a nice return on investment.”

Viewer reaction

While occasional audience reaction on social media seemed a bit discouraged Because of such a happy ending, the overwhelming consensus was that the final episode did things like “perfect“”Stimulants” And “no joke.”

billion can be seen on Showtime and streaming on Paramount+.