If you're not in on HBO's Succession ...

[Discuss Thrower]

.. then you're missing out. It's like a harder edge Dallas laced with great dialogue peppered with dark humor.

Boar on the ****ing floor.

[BigBeauford]

Originally Posted by O.city

Con was great in the last episode when the Prez was on the phone.

I never took you for being a Conhead.

[KCUnited]

Con
Shiv

Any potential foreshadowing behind the kids names, especially when shortened?

[BigBeauford]

Greg definitely recorded

Spoiler!

Logan asking to fire the attorney. He was talking to his coat, and even made sure to disapprove of supporting Connor running for office.

[O.city]

For sure he did.

I don't really know Romans angle with teh new presidential candidate.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by O.city

For sure he did.

I don't really know Romans angle with teh new presidential candidate.

I think ultimately it's his power play to remake the network.

[BigBeauford]

Originally Posted by O.city

For sure he did.

I don't really know Romans angle with teh new presidential candidate.

I can't tell if this was their intent, but there was some weird...sexual tension between Roman and this candidate.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

I can't tell if this was their intent, but there was some weird...sexual tension between Roman and this candidate.

I wonder how purposeful that was, because on the page it absolutely doesn't show, but when you put those two actors in a bathroom together, . . . it was definitely there, but did not exactly make sense.

When I say 'exactly,' that's where I wonder how purposeful it was, because you can write subtext to make it make sense, but it doesn't seem to serve a narrative purpose. . . But it was definitely there.

Longwinded way of saying, sometimes people read into things overly. Could be as simple as the reality of two gay amenable dudes in a bathroom together and nothing more. But that's part of the draw of the complexity of the narrative.

[BigBeauford]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

I wonder how purposeful that was, because on the page it absolutely doesn't show, but when you put those two actors in a bathroom together, . . . it was definitely there, but did not exactly make sense.

When I say 'exactly,' that's where I wonder how purposeful it was, because you can write subtext to make it make sense, but it doesn't seem to serve a narrative purpose. . . But it was definitely there.

Longwinded way of saying, sometimes people read into things overly. Could be as simple as the reality of two gay amenable dudes in a bathroom together and nothing more. But that's part of the draw of the complexity of the narrative.

Do you think this will be HBOs best show when the dust settles?


Off topic, appreciate the recommendation for How to with John Wilson. Wife is kind of a people watcher and she and I got sucked in.

[Baby Lee]

I am interested in people's reactions to the 'pitch' by Roman's guy.

It seemed to me a masterful crafting of an enigma, and one that centers in to the anxieties of current political philosophy.

I can sympathize with the guy's willingness to compartmentalize valuable ideas from evil people. I think that too much of people's philosophies nowadays are driven by 'well that, might be a meritorious idea, but I can't support it because xxx or yyy did.' Or conversely, 'this may not work, but yyy's heart is in the right place and we have to do something.' For me, ideas have merit or detriment independent of their progenitors or the good or bad intentions behind them in any particular situation.

I hope the writers have the stones to stick with the steel-manning of this perspective and don't turn him into a caricature for narrative purposes.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

Do you think this will be HBOs best show when the dust settles?


Off topic, appreciate the recommendation for How to with John Wilson. Wife is kind of a people watcher and she and I got sucked in.

There's a couple extra outlets if you are really into JW. He put out youtube clips before he got an HBO gig [though I think HBO has aired most of his existing material at this point]. Also, Conan had him on Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend podcast in what I'm sure is partly part of his new duties as an HBOMax property himself.

As for best series, hard to tell [particularly after GoT failed stick the landing] in the middle, but it's certainly a central part of HBO's legacy.

I still think Deadwood is the best series they've done, start to finish, but I'm a Milch-head.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

I am interested in people's reactions to the 'pitch' by Roman's guy.

It seemed to me a masterful crafting of an enigma, and one that centers in to the anxieties of current political philosophy.

I can sympathize with the guy's willingness to compartmentalize valuable ideas from evil people. I think that too much of people's philosophies nowadays are driven by 'well that, might be a meritorious idea, but I can't support it because xxx or yyy did.' Or conversely, 'this may not work, but yyy's heart is in the right place and we have to do something.' For me, ideas have merit or detriment independent of their progenitors or the good or bad intentions behind them in any particular situation.

I hope the writers have the stones to stick with the steel-manning of this perspective and don't turn him into a caricature for narrative purposes.

I'm going to go ahead and not expect that. LOL

I'm guessing the writers veer away from politics and back onto the family dynamics. That's the smart move.

However, AppleTV went pretty hard in some pretty turbulent waters with The Morning Show. I'm not saying I believe all the narratives they pushed, but I gotta respect the bean bags on the show runners to put it out there.

DC in Spoiler

Spoiler!

Unfortunately, I'm left longing for a politically savvy politician - GOD FORBID.
Much like it would be much cleaner if the network executives were really strong operators instead of bumble**** morons.

/jaded

Whatever. Don't ban me.

[BigBeauford]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

I am interested in people's reactions to the 'pitch' by Roman's guy.

It seemed to me a masterful crafting of an enigma, and one that centers in to the anxieties of current political philosophy.

I can sympathize with the guy's willingness to compartmentalize valuable ideas from evil people. I think that too much of people's philosophies nowadays are driven by 'well that, might be a meritorious idea, but I can't support it because xxx or yyy did.' Or conversely, 'this may not work, but yyy's heart is in the right place and we have to do something.' For me, ideas have merit or detriment independent of their progenitors or the good or bad intentions behind them in any particular situation.

I hope the writers have the stones to stick with the steel-manning of this perspective and don't turn him into a caricature for narrative purposes.

I think they've been walking the tight rope really well so far. A couple of benign cracks showed up in this episode with the dialogue (no reason to have the characters narrate they are surrounded by cis-white men. This was already pulled off with visuals). I think the writers here are smart enough to recognize the legacy of this show by not getting lazy. Shows like Ted Lasso wasted no time in torpedoing its good-will by shoehorning in political and cultural references that were stale the moment it left the actors' lips.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

I am interested in people's reactions to the 'pitch' by Roman's guy.

It seemed to me a masterful crafting of an enigma, and one that centers in to the anxieties of current political philosophy.

I can sympathize with the guy's willingness to compartmentalize valuable ideas from evil people. I think that too much of people's philosophies nowadays are driven by 'well that, might be a meritorious idea, but I can't support it because xxx or yyy did.' Or conversely, 'this may not work, but yyy's heart is in the right place and we have to do something.' For me, ideas have merit or detriment independent of their progenitors or the good or bad intentions behind them in any particular situation.

I hope the writers have the stones to stick with the steel-manning of this perspective and don't turn him into a caricature for narrative purposes.

I'm curious where thoese "ideas" end up heading here. He kind of tiptoed around it, but was a bit tough to nail down. Shiv thinks she has a read on him. I dunno.

There was some weird tension with Rom, not sure if it's sexual or not, but it was noticeable.

[Ninerfan11]

I really really wanted to like this but I found every character unlikable and just couldn't get myself to care anymore after a while. I get the voyeuristic appeal, it's just not my cup of tea. Ultimately I feel like the writers are a bit too negative about humanity overall and I don't enjoy their perspective. I found a lot of the dialogue to be cringe and bootleg Sorkin as well.

Overall, it's very very very well acted though, and I can understand the appeal. Better than most stuff out there for sure.

And yes, Shiv has an incredible arse.

[Ninerfan11]

Originally Posted by BlackOp

It's done well...pretty linear. Nothing new or original...acting is good...probably the strongest part. Superficial view of the ultra-rich/powerful...Soundtrack is good. Fits in a Godfather-esque way.

The fatal flaw is none of the characters have any redeemable qualities or depth...there is no internal spiritual strife/introspection. There isn't much development...

This is where a show like The Wire smokes it...the characters were flawed but accessible. In this show...I dont care if any of them die.

Its basically a glorified soap opera...where the main context is a contentious stream of ****ing everyone over and indifferent about it.

This is a great summary, basically. I feel like they had a chance to execute with Ken and Tom but they just became empty again.