Eliana Willis

Season 5, Episode 2: ‘The Chris Rock Test’Welcome to the Mike Conference, named with characteristic humility by its founder, decabillionaire Mike Prince. It’s a place for fireside chats that double as vicious duels, for charitable acts that serve to ameliorate an exponentially larger number of uncharitable ones, and for the occasional late-night excursion to a strip club that doubles as a Wagner family reunion.Yes, Wags discovers the hard way that his daughter (Wags has adult children?!) is a stripper, thus failing “The Chris Rock Test” that gives the episode its name. He gets over it, more or less. He wouldn’t be Wags if he didn’t.But just as the Mike Conference was really about making deals, so too was Wags and Bobby Axelrod’s ayahuasca excursion from the season premiere a business trip (emphasis on trip). Bobby is aiming to move into the “psychoceuticals” sector, so he and Wags spend their off hours at the conference buttering up Simon Shenk (played by the “Ozark” and “Affair” veteran Darren Goldstein), who looks poised to become the next head of the F.D.A. Impressed with Bobby and Wags’s acquaintance with the shaman Bram Longriver (Henri Binje), he seems poised to greenlight the practice and thus line their pockets.But Mike Prince gets there first. Just as the conference is wrapping up with one last dinner, he presents his guest of honor: Bram Longriver. “You stole my shaman,” Bobby tells Prince hilariously. (It reminded me of one of the best lines in the rock documentary “Dig!”, in which the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s lead singer, Anton Newcombe, angrily declares “You [expletive] broke my sitar, [expletive]!”)Ever the one to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, however, Bobby comes up with a new plan while eyeing a gaggle of banking big shots. Turning Axe Cap into a bank would put his company in line for the “bailouts, bail-ins” and “easings” that keep these institutions afloat through economic downturns. Why put himself through the inevitable lows of life as a trader when he can simply become too big to fail?Chuck’s operation this episode runs comparatively smoothly. His old pal Judge DeGiulio (a perpetually grinning Cheshire cat of a performance by Rob Morrow) wants his help getting confirmed as a circuit court judge, a process gummed up by his unfortunate role in the drafting of a “torture memo” condoning waterboarding. In one of the episode’s more memorable scenes, Chuck undergoes the procedure himself to see if it’s as bad as it’s cracked up to be. Spoiler alert: It is.“It’s torture,” the S&M-enthusiast attorney general sputters miserably as he recovers. “And if even I don’t like it …”But there are more moving pieces than meet the eye. Thanks to Axe’s meddling, Chuck is unceremoniously dumped from the cryptocurrency case he was working on in the premiere by the governor, who favors the Manhattan district attorney’s take-no-prisoners approach. This means that Chuck will need a new major stage on which to perform his acts of legal legerdemain — and what better place than before the Supreme Court?It would be great, then, to have an ally in the solicitor general position, determining which cases go before “the Nine.” (I always hear shades of the nine Black Riders from “The Lord of the Rings” whenever I hear that phrase.) And wouldn’t it be great, then, if Judge DeGiulio became the acting solicitor, circumventing the senator and getting a plum position after all?If you guessed that Chuck is the person who leaked the torture memo in the first place just to set all this in motion, congratulations: You’re as canny as his right-hand woman, Kate Sacker, who observes it all with a sort of cynical awe. (Can awe be cynical? On this show, yeah.)Chuck’s game of hardball doesn’t stop there. He takes the fight directly to his soon-to-be-ex-wife Wendy, freezing her assets to prevent her from buying a new apartment; she winds up continuing to crash at one of Bobby’s spare apartments.And this among the least of Wendy’s concerns. An angry investor from the Ontario Educators’ pension fund comes calling, demanding to know how their money is faring. With Axe out of town, it falls to Wendy to task Taylor Mason Capital’s Lauren (Jade Eshete) with keeping the investor happy — a decision that falls afoul of Mase Cap’s major-domo, Sarah (Samantha Mathis), who sees it as an erosion of her group’s autonomy. (Taylor, too, is out of pocket at the Mike Conference, trying and failing to achieve a rapprochement with ex-boyfriend Oscar Langstraat, played by Mike Birbiglia, who loses a game of speed chess before blowing Taylor off one last time.)A plot summary of any given episode of this incredibly dense and kinetic show can eat up the bulk of any recap’s allotted word count. But to quote one of Bobby Axelrod’s favorite bands, Motörhead, that’s the way I like it, baby. The thrill of “Billions” comes from the feeling that you’re barely keeping up with these people — that, like Oscar Langstraat, you’re playing speed chess against the best in the business and that delaying checkmate as long as possible is its own kind of victory.I don’t want to unravel Chuck and Axe and Taylor and Wendy’s moves before they make them; I want to be wowed when they do. On that count, “Billions” continues to win.Loose change:The episode concludes with a dedication to the actor Mark Blum, who plays Chuck’s therapist in a beautifully restrained scene in which he tries to work past his grief over the dissolution of his partnership with Wendy. Blum died of complications arising from Covid-19; seeing him onscreen again is bittersweet.Bobby makes a great point at Mike Prince’s gathering: Events like this, or Davos, or the Allen & Company conference in Sun Valley aren’t about the conversation, they’re about the invitation. What matters is being asked to attend, not what you do when you get there.Wags offers Bobby a ton of advice on how to pick up a model in the age of #MeToo; both Axe and the model in question promptly blow it off, knowing what they want and knowing how to get it. Ick.The charity that the Mike Conference attendees are expected to support is an earthquake relief effort with the corny, trivializing name, “Shake the Quake.” Again: Ick. More

Ernest White II grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., dreaming of a job that would propel him around the world. He taught English in Colombia, Brazil and Miami, and worked as a freelance journalist in Berlin, South Africa and the Dominican Republic. Now he’s added “travel TV show host” to his résumé. “Fly Brother With Ernest White II,” which began airing last week on various PBS stations, is an entertaining and educational voyage around the globe, taking viewers to both familiar and less-trammeled places.In a recent interview, Mr. White, who is 42, reveals how his background and view of the world have informed his style and philosophy of travel. His responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.Your show begins during a pandemic. What’s it like to have a captive audience, yet one that can’t really travel?Humans need other humans. They, we, need to travel to each other. That is the mission behind “Fly Brother” — human connection — no matter when or how people connect with each other. People still need to know that connection is possible, is essential, and that’s why this is the right time for this travel series to debut.Many are critical of travel’s impact on destinations and the environment. Do you think we’ll learn any lessons on how to travel after the pandemic?We’re learning so much about ourselves, about the Earth right now. There was already a movement to make sustainable travel simply “travel,” but now that we’re seeing cleaner air and water and the indomitable spirit of the planet starting to bounce back, we definitely have to consider how we engage with our home going forward. I do believe in travel, but I believe more in deep connections and intimate experiences that require slower, more intentional movements. Now is the time for destinations, governments, businesses, societies to get ahead of the tidal wave of mass tourism and establish frameworks for sustainable travel, and it’s the duty of those of us in the media to raise awareness about traveling sustainably.Did you grow up watching travel TV shows? If so, what were your favorites?I didn’t necessarily grow up watching travel shows, but I did enjoy watching “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” and National Geographic specials and other shows about different places and cultures. I remember watching the Pedro Almodóvar film “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” as a kid and being swept up in a language and world that were so different from my own. I also loved going to Epcot as a kid because of the different “countries” you could visit. I was always a geography nerd.What makes “Fly Brother” different from other travel shows?The show’s main focus is on friendship, connection and global community. All travel shows incorporate that, but often through the lens of food or sightseeing or dancing. I think it’s a unique perspective and a great complement to those other shows.“Fly Brother” largely skips popular destinations for places like Addis Ababa and Tajikistan. Does this tell us something about your philosophy of travel?My philosophy absolutely includes a responsibility to give a platform for places and people who desire to be seen and heard. People want to share their culture, their landscapes, the things they love about the places they live, and often, many of these beautiful places are overlooked. I’m a native Floridian — I understand tourist fatigue and overdevelopment — but I also know that, again, humans thrive on connection and most people enjoy hosting guests. In Tajikistan and Central Asia, for example, hospitality is an ancient cultural trait, but they’ve been on the fringes of the Russian, then Soviet, empires for centuries. Why not engage with the people in those places, sustainably, of course? And we’ll be going to Paris and Tokyo, too.You have one eight-episode season in the can. Is there a place you’re still chomping at the bit to get to?I’d love for us to film episodes in Mongolia, in Ghana, in Dublin, in Shetland, in Mexico City, in Natchez, in Haiti, in Singapore, in Tasmania, in West Hollywood. I want us to film everyone, everywhere.Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. More

Everything Michelle Obama does will always be of interest, even if it isn’t interesting. As the first black woman to be first lady of the United States, she knows this scrutiny comes with the territory.Early on in “Becoming,” a new Netflix documentary about her life, Obama encourages Melissa Winter, her chief of staff, to express her emotions. They are in Chicago, the first stop of a 34-city book tour for her 2018 memoir (also called “Becoming”), and Obama, wearing an all white ensemble, is about to speak in front of a packed arena. For her, and those who have been on the journey with her, it’s overwhelming. “You don’t have to keep it together, you don’t have to. You can go ahead and cry your eyes out,” Obama says to Winter. “I can’t do that right now.” But one wonders if she ever could, or even would.The film is being billed as a “rare and up-close look” at the former first lady’s life. But, whereas the memoir — through its deeply personal stories about Obama’s existential struggles in young adulthood and the pains of a miscarriage later on — offered a partial illumination of a woman who critics and admirers alike have tried to understand for years, the documentary feels more routine. It hits all the notes of a megastar choosing to share her life with the public: selective biographical moments and star-studded guest appearances, plus a healthy dose of motivational messaging about the virtues of education and the holistic ownership of personal narratives.[embedded content]Directed by Nadia Hallgren, the movie takes viewers on an even-keeled journey with Obama as she embarks on her book tour. She intends to use the time to reflect on her eight years in the White House and “to figure out what just happened to me,” she says. And while it’s hard to believe that someone who has been in the public eye for so long can actually be “unplugged,” Obama’s multicity conversations are invigorating, offering more personal insights and showing sharper versions of her signature charm and humor. She discusses overcoming impostor syndrome, that nagging feeling of not belonging, while studying at Princeton University. She also talks about her initial reluctance to date Barack Obama when they worked at the same Chicago law firm because, in part, everyone expected it. “That’s just what they are waiting for,” she recalls. “You two love each other don’t you? You’re black, he’s black. This will be great.”While many elements of the documentary feel stagy, Obama’s more interesting responses are instigated during community events, when she speaks to smaller groups of people, often young students. They ask her how she overcame the sense of isolation that haunts many black women as they move through the world. She attributes her confidence to her parents, who allowed her to ask questions and made her feel visible. “We can’t afford to wait for the world to be equal to start feeling seen,” she says.The students also express to Obama their fears and frustrations surrounding the results of the 2016 election. Here, she ventures into politics and offers her take on not just Trump’s election but the challenges her husband faced while in office. “It wasn’t just in this election, but every midterm. Every time Barack didn’t get the Congress he needed, that was because our folks didn’t show up,” she said. “After all that work, they just couldn’t be bothered to vote at all.” It’s a claim that the film doesn’t press Obama on, letting it go unexplored and unquestioned.“Becoming” is not the candid Michelle Obama film that people might have been waiting for. And truthfully, I doubt we will ever see such a film in her lifetime. Instead, we get a familiar, albeit more carefree, Obama who, in her own words, learned a long time ago “to be much more scripted.”BecomingRated PG. Running time: 1 hour 29 minutes. Watch on Netflix. More

Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. We’re all stuck at home at the moment, so here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.At Least He’s ConsistentIn an interview published Tuesday, President Trump told The New York Post that he would most likely skip this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, reciting his usual complaints about unfair treatment from the press. He singled out the 2011 host, Seth Meyers, calling him “a no-talent comic” and “nasty,” before saying that both Meyers and Stephen Colbert, host of “The Late Show,” are unfunny. Trump followed with a tweet praising the Fox News host Greg Gutfeld and taking a swipe at Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel. A few of the hosts responded to the president in their Tuesday night monologues.Wow! Congratulations to Greg Gutfeld, a one time Trump Hater who has come all the way home. His Ratings easily beat no talent Stephen Colbert, nice guy Jimmy Fallon, and wacko “last placer” Jimmy Kimmel. Greg built his show from scratch, and did a great job in doing so. @FoxNews— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2020
“Well, I can’t speak for Seth. He’s very talented, but I’m an idiot, and the only reason I have a job is because I married the daughter of Donald CBS, and for some reason, he keeps putting me in charge of everything.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“It’s nice to know that Trump is staying laser-focused on the ball during a crisis.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“‘Wacko last placer.’ I hope he wasn’t talking about me. I think maybe this was another typo situation. I think what he meant to tweet was, ‘I am completely devastated by the loss of life caused by this insidious virus. My thoughts are with the families of those who have passed. I pledge to spend every waking moment working to make sure our medical workers have the support they need and every American has access to tests. p.s. Congrats to Greg Gutfeld!’ That’s better, right?” — JIMMY KIMMEL“He does seem to be familiar with all the late-night shows. I’ve heard that if you snort enough Adderall, you can watch four of them at once.” — JIMMY KIMMEL‘Live and Let Die’Trump also visited a Honeywell mask factory on Tuesday, where he declined to wear a mask despite signs on the walls asking everyone to do so. “No, he did not. And I love that they didn’t turn the volume on the Guns N’ Roses down even one notch for the president. I can think of no better metaphor for this presidency than Donald Trump not wearing a face mask to a face mask factory while the song ‘Live and Let Die’ blares in the background.’” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Well, of course you wouldn’t want to wear a mask somewhere stupid like a hospital. [as Trump] I’ll only wear a mask if it’s a mask facility, same way I only eat cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, and I only take a bath at Bed Bath & Beyond.’” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Cinco de Mayo Edition)“Today is also Cinco de Mayo. And if you’re trying to celebrate at home, here’s your quarantine Cinco de Mayo tip of the day: Any bread can be a tortilla if you use a hammer.” — TREVOR NOAH“So have fun celebrating Cinco de Mayo today, but don’t forget: You may be at home, but guac is still extra.” — TREVOR NOAH“Happy most boring Cinco de Mayo ever. Tú usted. I don’t know about you, but it don’t feel like a Cinco de Mayo to me unless I’m in a Tecate tank top getting thrown out of a Senor Frog’s.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Cinco de Mayo is really handy this year, because it’s the first time I’ve been sure of the date in two months. Thanks to Cinco de Mayo, I know it’s the cinco of Mayo.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“But this tweet I posted last Cinco de Mayo has not aged well: ‘Happy Cinco de Mayo 2019! I can’t wait to go to a crowded bar and get some Corona in me!’” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth WatchingJimmy Fallon dedicated a new song to educators for Teacher Appreciation Day and Week.What We’re Excited About on Wednesday NightRobert DeNiro will prove he knows how to use video chat when he’s a guest on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on Wednesday.Also, Check This OutBeanie Feldstein, star of “How to Build a Girl,” shares her love of “Gilmore Girls,” Stephen Sondheim musicals and Linda, the Bra Lady, in this week’s My Ten. More

What’s StreamingBECOMING (2020) Stream on Netflix. Until now, the films produced by Michelle and Barack Obama’s entertainment company, Higher Ground Productions, have not been about either of the Obamas themselves. “American Factory” (2019) looked at what happened after a closed General Motors factory in Ohio was taken over by a Chinese company, while the more recent “Crip Camp” centered on disability rights activism. But Michelle Obama steps in front of the lens in “Becoming,” a documentary from the Obamas’ company that revolves around the former first lady and her memoir of the same name. The film follows Obama on a nationwide tour to promote the memoir. Directed by Nadia Hallgren, a documentary filmmaker from the Bronx, the film has been advertised less as an adaptation of the book and more of a companion piece looking at Obama’s life after leaving the White House. “So little of who I am happened in those eight years,” she says in a trailer. “So much more of who I was happened before.”UPLOAD Stream on Amazon. The “Parks and Recreation” co-creator Greg Daniels takes a stab at the hereafter in “Upload,” a dark, class-conscious comedy series about a socially stratified digital afterlife. The show, created by Daniels, begins with death: A young man, Nathan (Robbie Amell), is critically injured when his self-driving car crashes. Bankrolled by his wealthy girlfriend (Allegra Edwards), he gets uploaded into a cushy virtual afterlife, complete with in-app purchases. Things get complicated (well, more complicated) when he gets close with Nora (Andy Allo), a customer service representative for a company that manages the afterlife. “Part of the impulse here is to kind of do a genre mash-up,” Daniels said in a recent interview with The New York Times, “to have satire but also to have romance and the mystery.”TRYING Stream on Apple TV Plus. “I know it sounds bad,” Nikki (Esther Smith) says to her boyfriend, Jason (Rafe Spall), in the first episode of this British comedy series. “But do you think they’d feel like someone else’s child?” The couple are having a conversation about adoption. “I think they probably would at first, yeah,” Jason responds. “But I think you know, you would, you’d wear them in. Like trainers.” That exchange — and the funny and earnest notes on display in it — neatly encapsulates the tone of the series at large. The show follows the couple as they navigate adopting a child.What’s on TVBROCKMIRE 10 p.m. on IFC. Jim Brockmire, the foul-mouthed baseball announcer played by Hank Azaria in this satirical series, spent the show’s first season trying to resuscitate his derailed career by working minor-league games. By the third season, he was calling for the major leagues again. The current, fourth season has pushed the action into a dystopian future, with Brockmire appointed Major League Baseball’s commissioner as the world is ravaged by epidemic and conflict. Wednesday night’s series finale will determine the staying power of his redemption. More

What’s StreamingJERRY SEINFELD: 23 HOURS TO KILL (2020) Stream on Netflix. If anyone can draw laughs from the mundane — particularly the trivial problems that nagged at us before the coronavirus crisis struck — it’s Jerry Seinfeld. The comedy giant makes something of a comeback in “23 Hours to Kill,” his first original standup special since “I’m Telling You for the Last Time” debuted 22 years ago. Onstage at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan, Seinfeld explores the “magic” of Pop-Tarts and argues that “everyone’s life sucks,” including his, although “perhaps not quite as much.”[embedded content]ARDE MADRID: BURN MADRID BURN Stream on MHz Choice. Talk about an escape. This black-and-white limited series transports us to 1960s Madrid. Under the orders of Spain’s dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco, Ana Mari (Inma Cuesta), a strait-laced spinster, poses as a maid to spy on the actress Ava Gardner (Debi Mazar of “Goodfellas” and “Entourage”), who spent time in Spain after divorcing Frank Sinatra. To get the job done, Ana pretends to marry Ava’s driver, Manolo (Paco León, who also directed the series), a cocky opportunist whose freewheeling lifestyle goes against everything Ana stands for. The mission forces the fake couple to step outside their comfort zone. Manolo gets in touch with his emotions, while Ana, influenced by Ava’s lavish parties and hedonistic lifestyle, slowly starts to let loose and fall for Manolo.GOLD DIGGER Stream on Acorn TV. This six-part romantic thriller questions whether older women have the same sexual freedom as men, particularly onscreen. Sixty-year-old Julia (Julia Ormond) has always placed her family first. But after her husband leaves her for her best friend and her adult children prove to be selfish snobs, she finds happiness in Benjamin (Ben Barnes), an attractive copywriter who is nearly half her age. Their relationship blossoms quickly, but doesn’t sit well with Julia’s children, who criticize the age gap and worry that Benjamin is after Julia’s wealth. The series hints that Benjamin is hiding something throughout, but the truth doesn’t come to the fore until the final episode.What’s on TVNATALIE WOOD: WHAT REMAINS BEHIND (2020) 9 p.m. on HBO; stream on HBO platforms. In “What Remains Behind,” the documentarian Laurent Bouzereau sets his gaze on Natalie Wood, the “West Side Story” actress who started out as a child star and went on to become a Hollywood icon. Wood’s daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner weighs in heavily here — interviewing friends and family, including her father and Wood’s husband, the actor Robert Wagner, and stars like Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. The movie paints an endearing portrait of Wood through a trove of archival material and addresses her tragic death in 1981, though it does not reveal new findings. The actress was initially said to have drowned off the coast of Catalina Island, but the details surrounding her death — including whether her husband was involved — remain unclear. More

What’s on TVMY BRILLIANT FRIEND 10 p.m. on HBO. Elena and Lila began their lives in the same poor neighborhood of Naples but over the course of two seasons of television their paths have diverged significantly. Elena (Margherita Mazzucco) has put some distance between herself and her humble origins by successfully pursuing education while Lila (Gaia Girace), despite her intelligence and will, remains largely stuck. The distance between the two has complicated but not diminished their deep connection. This season they traveled together to the island of Ischia for vacation. The time away was supposed to help Lila relax enough to get pregnant by her husband but during the sojourn she connected with Nino, a young man that Elena was drawn to first. After the summer, Elena departed Naples for university and Lila eventually returned to her husband.BULL 10 p.m. on CBS. As the legal drama genre has evolved, producers and writers have started looking beyond lawyers, judges and law enforcement officers for stories. This series focuses on Jason Bull (Michael Weatherly), a psychologist whose firm helps lawyers manipulate the jury selection process and concoct appealing arguments. During the fourth season, which wraps tonight, Bull became a father with his ex-wife, Isabella (Yara Martinez), and rebuilt his relationship with Benny (Freddy Rodríguez), Isabella’s brother and Bull’s colleague.What’s StreamingCane River (1982) Stream on the Criterion Channel. When a negative of this film by Horace B. Jenkins was discovered several years ago, many cineastes rejoiced. The movie was Jenkins’s only fictional feature and it had hardly been seen since it debuted in 1982. Since then, it has been screened in theaters to critical acclaim. In his review for The New York Times, A.O. Scott described the film, which he designated a Critic’s Pick, as “relaxed, reflective and sweet, a romance shadowed by the complexities of history, race and politics that manages to be both modest and ambitious.” The couple at the center of the film, Peter (Richard Romain) and Maria (Tommye Myrick), are African-Americans whose different backgrounds give “their relationship a Romeo-and-Juliet quality,” Scott wrote.Song of the Sea (2014) Stream on Netflix. Rent on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu and YoutTube. The director Tomm Moore mines a Celtic folk tale for this story about an Irish family reckoning with a painful loss. The main characters, Ben and Saoirse, are siblings living on an island with their widowed father. Ben resents his younger sister because he holds her responsible for the apparent death of their mother. But when they’re taken by their grandmother to live in the city and Saoirse falls ill, Ben resolves to save her by bringing her home. On their journey back, he learns that Saoirse is a selkie, an aquatic shape shifter that can temporarily assume human form. To regain her health, she must be reunited with a magic heirloom that she inherited from their mother. More