Absolutely. Wags is like this all the time. He’s actually a pretty funny character, despite the cringe of this scene
Billions is really stupid but it can also be a lot of fun if you just suspend reality and go along with it. Paul Giamatti also has plenty of over-the-top, hammy moments on par with this.
Despite being corny, it can be pretty great because 85% of the other characters seemingly exist to dress nicely and speak with deep, serious voices about gravely important things
Edit: I want to add another comment. I liked how they portrayed the non-binary character. Mostly didn’t address it (because no one should care and people should be minding their own business), but then they brought in the characters father who kept using feminine pronouns. Basically they finally broke down and said something along the lines of “my peers use my preferred pronouns because they respect me, so you’re the one with the problem.” Paraphrasing horrifically, but kudos to a show with a demographic overlapping with Yellowstone to include that.
Let’s also remember this specific part of the show. Wags was on edge, Wendy had cut him off, he was trying to figure out what the fuck was going on with Ax, and he was at his wits end. This was a perfect culmination of his situation and cinematography where he finally released some of his anger.
Thank you for the specific context. David Costabile is fucking fantastic. Period.
He was excellent on Breaking Bad and he was even better on Billions. For all its flaws, I will applaud Billions for letting actors act. The show definitely went too long and they were probably stretching things out, but man you gotta admit they let some big hitters chew up the screen.
Probably the best thing about the show was whenever the actors just went full the fuck out. I’m glad the episode directors, writers, etc all got to play around and do that.
But yeah the show was ultimately super corny. Can’t avoid that unfortunately
12
u/Ode1st 9d ago
Was this played sincerely for the show? It’s super funny and embarrassing