Succession (HBO) TV Show • Page 122

I have four episodes left. I thought about pulling an all-nighter but I'm too old to function like that now.

Tom is still the worst, and the way he was desperately trying to weave himself in with the Matsson people was embarrassing.

I don't know if it is a plot defect or an accurate portrayal of people like this, but they are all far too willing to trust a family member after having been betrayed already. Roman killed Kendall's takeover of the company in season one and was lurching back toward Logan before his death so I would imagine hesitancy to even tell him the time of day.

The death episode is the definite highlight of the show so far. It was handled so well and so real, highlighting the ways our technology both brings us together while also alienating us. Culkin in particular has been devastating, a broken man who alternately hates and worships his father, and that loss has left him as aimless as ever. Shiv has a marriage (technically) and Kendall has his family and his dreams, but Roman has nothing.

If there is a weakness of the show it is the constant set-up of explosive conflicts only for them to fizzle out. The company being sold at the end of season three but then oh wait not really it isn't done yet makes it feel unnecessarily stretched out, but that is something almost all television shows deal with.

 

I feel like it’s an accurate portrayal because

A) these characters are so blinded by their own self ambition that they fail to see clearly every time an opportunity to rise one additional level of power comes along

B) they are in a level of socioeconomic status where options are limited in terms of who you can trust & work with to climb any higher so you have to partner with enemies all the time

C) a lot of them are related and as anyone who has ever experienced family drama can attest, it’s often repetitive & cyclical in nature to the point of being absurd

 

Also, Brian Cox has a long history of overacting so giving him a role where he can have constant outbursts is inspired.

 

Season three felt the weakest because of this. The character dynamics still make it compelling, but after the way season two ended, to have things slowly fizzle out again weighed it down. The decision to put Logan's death near the beginning of season four was really smart. It was the shot in the arm the show really needed and it was done perfectly.

 

I already knew who "wins", but it is really not a victory. Tom debased himself to the point of letting Mattson openly talk about having sex with his wife, promised not to have any ideas, and will inevitably be forced to fall on the sword when something goes wrong.

Overall, a great show. It was wise to keep it down to only four seasons because at a certain point the formula of betrayals and barely escaping peril would have gotten really boring.

Shiv and/or Roman using the dead waiter was inevitable, but I assumed it would be for something more consequential, like swaying votes. Instead, Shiv throws it out just to hurt him, as she has made up her mind anyway. All of the alluding was that Roman would blow up the deal and that would have been about nine times too many, and Shiv's decision is not a breakdown like Roman but ultimately the wisest decision on her part. She started the show as an outsider and will continue to benefit from the perks.

With that said, something the show speaks to so forcefully is that these people don't even really enjoy the perks that much. They eat fancy food but that is because they are supposed to and they fly in private jets but that is done to make business deals. It is so hard to wrap the mind around the idea that Kendall and Shiv are fighting so hard for some job that pays a salary they don't need and they are not even particularly good at. Why not spend time with family, or paint, or read books, or travel? Of course, though, this is an accurate portrayal, because we see it all the time. Rupert Murdoch waiting until he is almost 100 to step down, Trump running for office again despite the world hating him, and Elon Musk (Mattson was an obvious stand-in, the show being sometimes too on-the-nose) buying a website so he could have friends. Part of it is because what they do isn't really work when you compare it to a waiter or a firefighter, but also because of the power to shape the world around you. Someone with a few million dollars in the bank can sleep until noon and fly first class, but they don't control the world. It's why Logan Roy dies in a toilet on a plane full of yes men instead of enjoying his mansion or his family or even his mistress.

The smartest one of all may be Willa, who is arguably most aware of the transactional nature of her place in the hierarchy but knows how to carve out a piece for herself. Her arc, along with the funeral scene of Logan's various wives and lovers, suggests a better understanding of grappling with obscene wealth in the capitalist empire: use it as a means to an end, or someone else will.

Perhaps the show's strongest point was that, amazingly for a show that credits Adam McKay, it let you figure things out like an adult. Something like Logan's own childhood abuse is hinted at here and there but they never force us to watch that flashback or have Cox break down and cry about it. It is about communicating in code, as families often do.

It would be nice to get a spinoff show of Frank and Karl, relaxing in their robes at various resorts with their golden parachutes.

 

Pre game jitters so watching random shit on tv, Harriet the Spy is on hbo….just realized her mom in this movie is Gerri

 

Damn this is good, I’m glad you watched this show

 

I think about it a lot and might rewatch it when I get through the 2023 movie stampede about to start. I need to spend more time with it but it might be up at that Sopranos Mad Men Deadwood level.

 

Would be fun to "binge" this show. Or at least watch one a day. From season two onward, I watched it live, with a week between each episode. I think it might help in remembering everything that happens since they fill up every second to the brim.

 

https://entertainment.ha.com/c/auct...9&ic=breadcrumb-entertainment-121913-interior

 

whoa! who wants to win Halloween next year?

 

lol I wish he switched to his Tom american accent for that interaction

 

he definitely had a Tom mannerism when he first got up to accept the award

 

Tom almost making me think buying a Benz is worth it smh

 

i truly expected this meme to become really big

 

kieran and sarah won too