Do not read this unless you have watched theseries finaleofBillionsonShowtime.
BRIAN KOPPELMAN:So much thought!
It was part of his identity that he liked to showcase.
The cast of ‘Billions’Showtime
Episode four of the series, he takes his friends to see Metallica.
Metallica is the shirt hes worn the most because its his favorite band.
DEADLINE:So can you address it what happened at the end of season five?
Did you think youd never see Damian again?
DAVID LEVIEN:Weve known for a couple of years that he was going to leave the show.
So we knew that was gonna happen.
KOPPELMAN:So thats how we were able to make him come and do half the season.
DEADLINE:How were you impacted by the writers strike in the final season?
KOPPELMAN:We were not able to be part of the filming of the last episode.
Luckily, wed written the whole thing.
It was fully locked and finished, but we couldnt table read the last episode.
We were really lucky that the director of the final episode is Neil Burger.
Neil directed the pilot ofBillions,the second episode ofBillions, and several others.
That was like our emotional closure because we knew what was coming.
DEADLINE:So Ive got to ask you about putting Axe in a castle.
LEVIEN:Of course Axe had to have a castle.
Hes not going to get an apartment over there.
We chose it off of photos.
That place was impressive.
DEADLINE:Is there a story behind that castle?
Did it belong to somebody great?
KOPPELMAN:Ill just say its Bobby Axelrods castle.
DEADLINE:So when did you realize you had to have your adversaries come together in the end?
Its not an intellectual process.
LEVIEN:It was early on in the planning of the seventh season.
As storytellers we had to find ways to give it texture.
They had brief alliances and they saw certain things the same way.
KOPPELMAN:Often we thought of Wendy as the main character or as a co-main character.
She drives the action very often on the show.
She realized that in her mind that Prince was an existential threat.
She needed to bring Chuck and Axe together so thats what she does.
We got a chance to watch a screening of the finale at the 92nd Street Y the other night.
You dont really get a chance to watch the finale of a TV show with an audience.
So we got to see and hear the room react.
Because if they would have kissed in season five, you cant make any more episodes after that.
DEADLINE:You had some great guest stars and cameos in the final season.
Who were you most giddy about?
LEVIEN:Rick Hoffman comes to mind.
What he did was just so beyond delightful to us.KOPPELMAN:I mean Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American hero.
He means something very deep to us.
We both read his books when we were kids.
Hes a super important figure in the world and in the culture.
So having Kareem was truly an honor.
You cant believe youre in the presence of one of the great humans who lived during our lifetime.
Im a huge wrestling fan my whole life.
DEADLINE:Lets talk about all your pop culture analogies.
Im wondering if theres a master list youve got in your room that you draw from.
Did you have a quota per episode?
LEVIEN:I mean, if there was a quota, it would be there to be violated.
We dont have a list.
This is just the way our minds work.
KOPPELMAN:Weve been best friends since we were 15 years old.
So weve just been talking to each other like this for a really long time.
We talk in terms of movies and music and sports all the time.
When we were little we would give each other books to read and we would watch the same movies.
Thats just how we talk.
LEVIEN:It was eclectic, for sure.
Some of it is classic and some of it is brand new stuff.
KOPPELMAN:We put Wet Leg in the show right before they blew up two years ago.
Were huge music fans and have been around music our whole lives, so we keep lists.
Every song in the finale except a piece of one which is scripted.
By season three of the show 85% of the songs were scripted.
They were there from the beginning.
KOPPELMAN:Its great you picked up on that.
Yeah, that was very satisfying to us, that is his ending to the show.
