Why did Damian Lewis leave Billions, role of Bobby Axelrod?

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Why did Damian Lewis leave Billions at the end of season 5, and his role of Bobby Axelrod? As you watch the premiere, maybe you wonder about this.

If that turns out to be the case, of course we’re more than happy to help you out! Let’s start things off here by noting what we can: Lewis is gone from the show, and we don’t expect him to have a big role in the near future. Axe is still alive, but he fled the country at the end of this past season.

The circumstances surrounding the exit were planned for a good while. Lewis is an actor who does like to take on a wide array of different things; remember that he also left Homeland after just a handful of seasons on the air. In this case, his exit was also compounded by the global pandemic, which made it even harder for him to be a substantial part of the second half of season 5. He did some of his work remotely, and in general a part of his exit was also due to his desire to be closer to his family. (Lewis’ wife Helen McCrory passed away in 2021.)

Ultimately, we have a feeling that we’ll see more of Damian in some upcoming projects but for Billions in particular, the show prepared for this by casting Corey Stoll as Mike Prince. We had a full season to get to know that character; in doing this, it made the transition between the two actors a little bit less jarring. It won’t just feel like Prince is there as a de-facto replacement for Axe, and we can just watched more of an evolved version of the story.

We will miss Lewis, though — there’s absolutely no doubt about it.

Related – Be sure to get some more news when it comes to Billions right now

Are you going to miss Damian Lewis being a big part of Billions moving forward?

Be sure to let us know in the attached comments! Once you do just that, stay at the site for other updates you don’t want to miss. (Photo: Showtime.)

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‘Billions’ returns, without Damian Lewis: How to watch Season 6 online, for free

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When “Billions” returns for Season 6 on Sunday, you can expect more plotlines about battles for power among obscenely wealthy people and the politicos who oppose them. What you won’t find is original star Damian Lewis in the role of Bobby Axelrod, the hedge-fund gazillionaire who served as the antagonist to costar Paul Giamatti’s New York attorney general Chuck Rhoades.

(How to watch: “Billions” Season 6 premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday on Showtime; you can also stream episodes of “Billions” on fubo TV, which offers a free trial)

Lewis exited “Billions” at the end of Season 5, but in place of Axe, Chuck is now going up against Michael “Mike” Prince (Corey Stoll), another billionaire, who maneuvered his way into control of Axe Capital.

The new season will tell the story of whether Prince can live up to his more altruistic ambitions, or whether Chuck will catch him in financial misdeeds, and take down Axe Capital for good. Season 6 will also focus on how the remaining Ace Capital exployees, including Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff), Wags (David Costabile) and Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon) adapt to the new boss.

Also returning for Season 6 are Condola Rashad and Jeffrey DeMunn. Daniel Breaker, who plays Scooter, Prince’s sharp-as-a-tack chief of staff, is now a series regular.

The Season 6 premiere episode is also available for free on streaming platforms and on demand. The first episode of the new season will be available from Jan. 21 to April 20 on Showtime.com, Sho.com and YouTube, and also on Showtime partner platforms, including Amazon Prime Video.

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– Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

‘Billions,’ ‘The Gilded Age,’ ‘Promised Land,’ ‘Resident Alien’: TV This Week

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“Billions”: The entertaining series about rich people doing ruthless things finished Season 5 with a surprise, as original star Damian Lewis departed, taking the character of Bobby Axelrod with him. Fortunately, the talented Corey Stoll is on hand, and his moneybags entrepreneur character, Michael Prince, is taking over Axe Capital. (9 p.m. Sunday, Showtime; you can also stream on fubo TV, which offers a free trial)

“The Gilded Age”: A new period drama from “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes. Instead of taking place across the pond, the story here is set in New York City, when the Gilded Age of the title was minting new family fortunes, along with establishing old money empires. The cast includes Louisa Jacobson, Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector. (9 p.m. Monday, HBO; stream on HBO Max)

Related: ‘The Gilded Age’ brings the ‘Downton Abbey’ touch to old New York (review)

“Promised Land”: A Latin family pursues wealth and power in this new drama set in California’s Sonoma Valley. John Ortiz stars as the head of the Sandoval family, which owns a vineyard. The cast includes Cecilia Suárez, Augusto Aguilera, Christina Ochoa, Mariel Molino and Bellamy Young. (10 p.m. Monday, ABC; stream on fubo TV, which offers a free trial)

“Resident Alien”: Alan Tudyk returns as the extra-terrestrial alien who’s posing as a human in a comedy-science fiction series inspired by a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. (9 p.m. Wednesday, SyFy; stream on fubo TV)

“Fast Foodies”: In Season 2, Kristen Kish, Justin Sutherland and Jeremy Ford once again prepare their versions of celebrity guests’ favorite fast food dishes. (10 p.m. Wednesday, TruTV)

Streaming

“Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian”: A new standup comedy special featuring the actor-comedian, in a performance taped in December of last year. (Available to stream beginning Tuesday, Netflix)

Already streaming

“As We See It”: Jason Katims’ new comedy-drama, based on an Israeli original, follows the experiences of people on the autism spectrum as they go about working, dating and living their lives. The cast includes Rick Glassman, Albert Rutecki and Sue Ann Pien, actors who identify as living on the autism spectrum. (Amazon Prime Video)

“Ozark”: After a lengthy delay, the drama returns for a fourth and final season. We can only hope this installment lives up to the intense, heart-wrenching third season. Jason Bateman, Laura Linney and Julia Garner are among the three standouts who will be back. The final, 14-episode season will arrive in two parts, so this is the first batch of seven episodes. (Available to stream beginning Friday, Netflix)

“Servant”: M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller series returns for its third season. (Available to stream beginning Friday, Apple TV +)

Subscribe to our free weekly What to Watch newsletter. Email:

– Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Billions Returns (Minus Damian Lewis), NCIS: Hawai’i 2-Parter Kicks Off, SEAL Team Wraps and More

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On TV this Sunday: Billions is back for Season 6, SEAL Team concludes its inaugural streaming mission and NCIS: Hawai’i says aloha to a two-night event. Here are 12 programs to keep on your radar; all times are Eastern.

Billions season 6 episode 2 spoilers: Figuring out Mike Prince

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Billions season 6 episode 2 is set to premiere on Showtime next weekend, and of course there’s a lot of interesting stuff to both think about and dive into.

First and foremost, don’t expect this one to arrive early — it was a blessing to get the premiere a little bit prior to when we expected, but we don’t think this will become a trend. This episode should arrive at midnight on January 30, and there’s going to be SO much crazy content that gets thrown in here.

Of course, Mike Prince is going to be at the center of a lot of the stuff you end up seeing, not that this should come as all that great of a surprise. This is someone who is doing whatever he can to run some of Bobby Axelrod’s old business, and in doing so, there are going to be a lot of questions swirling around him. If you are Taylor or Wendy, for example, you probably are wondering what in the world this guy is all about. What is he trying to prove. Who is he trying to manipulate?

For a few more details on that and Chuck’s very ambitious mission, check out the full Billions season 6 episode 2 synopsis below:

Prince instructs the trading floor on a new play but is met with skepticism; Taylor and Wendy try to nail down Prince’s intentions; Wags struggles to hide a conflict of interest; Chuck decides to go after the entire billionaire class.

When we hear about the story for Paul Giamatti’s character of the show, there’s one bit of advice we would pass along to him: Good luck. He’s absolutely going to need that and then some if he’s going to try and take on every billionaire out there.

Related – Be sure to get some more news when it comes to Billions right now

What do you most want to see when it comes to Billions season 6 episode 2?

Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! Once you do just that, remember to stick around — there are other updates on the way and we, of course, don’t want you missing them. (Photo: Showtime.)

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