HBO's Succession - Season 2 and Beyond

I'm not going to try to convince earlnash, I know exactly how he feels and it's why I put off watching this for so long. I know other people who feel the same way. In my case I'm not sure why I decided to give it a shot. I'm glad I did because it is extraordinary but it is also extremely grim and cringe and incredibly entitled people act terrible towards each other and it's perfectly defensible to decide you don't want to spend your evening in vibes like that

its just so good and the ruling class is certainly worth examining especially if youre mean to them, and fwiw succession is really about the ruling part it gets into the politics and mechanisms of the situation where something like white lotus is just about rich people on vacation but theyre not necessarily the ones trying to influence elections and so forth

here we go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3D3ewle7XY

eeeeeeeee!

finally, some television

Yes!!!

looks p fuckin wild

yeeeeahhhhhhh

Trailer has more helicopters than a season of Blue Thunder*

*or Airwolf, choose your reference of choice.

stoked 4 death wrestling ogres

100% at least one of these guys is dying (hopefully all of them right?!)

I love the way I can already tell each episode will have featured multiple double crosses and double-double-crosses by the time the credits roll.

I was like "oh yeah I guess I'll probably watch this" and then Greg said "terrifyingly moseying" and I instantly remembered how much I need this show in my life

March 26

Because my memory is dreadful, I am rewatching season three in preparation for season four. Once again, this scene stands out as an absolute gem, I think because people on this show so rarely say what they actually think without jargon or jokes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgTtQ7lfr4g

we've been doing likewise, and that scene as well as Ken's dinner show-down with Logan in Tuscany are really excellent for exactly that reason

if only kendall were as good at recognizing the always getting fucked never getting fucked pattern as tom

see also Jerri's "how does it suit my interests" lines to Roman

the kids have no game

Double-breasted cardigan with brass buttons seemed off for Logan.

the disgusting brothers

this is not a prefuck party

sidebar: can i have mondale plz

substack meets masterclass meets the economist meets the new yorker

Is shiv the saddest Roy?

Should have clarified: Roy kids.

Shiv > Ken > Rome on the sad meter atm.

Shiv's the saddest Roy *right now*. . . who knows. What a hilarious show.

Mondale could just jump over that pen if he wanted, probably just staying in there out of ennui.

Loved Nan’s feigned disgust at talking money, such a rich person control thing.

Yeah I think the best thing about this episode was the entire Pierce clan's "oh poor old us weren't made for this cutthroat world, I was told there would be no math" act while expertly playing the Roys against each other and coming away with even more $$$$$$$ for their probably moribund company

classic wasp culture lol, love how theyre the old money version of the roys

Not trying to get ahead of the plot, but it seems to me that since the kids are counting on their take from the company sale to pay for the Pierce acquisition, Logan has ways he can still screw with them. (At this point with this series I just expect that Logan is always going to yank the football away.)

I've given up trying to make the actual business angles in this show make sense, I've decided the show is about the family dynamics and I treat all questions of "who is allowed to sell what to whom under what circumstances" the same way I do "how do the pew-pew guns make sound in space" in my SF

I said last night when Nan showed up, and I still believe this, that I hate the Pierces more than I hate the Roys, they're totally humorless

Not trying to get ahead of the plot, but it seems to me that since the kids are counting on their take from the company sale to pay for the Pierce acquisition, Logan has ways he can still screw with them. (At this point with this series I just expect that Logan is always going to yank the football away.)

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Monday, March 27, 2023 1:39 PM (twelve seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah thought the same tho two days from closing is pretty tight

xp

As a dad, no, I hate the dad who destroyed his own children and won't stop dancing on their broken bodies worse than I hate the Pierces, it's kind of a primal thing

some filmic flourishes in the ep which is always nice to see in a tv show roy kids leaving their prospective investors waiting by their cars then getting left waiting by their cars by the pierces

lol

👀 @semafor pic.twitter.com/lf6cRr5PeI

— Ben Smith (@semaforben) March 27, 2023

CHINA HACK COULD SEE 40M AMERICANS ENTOMBED IN THEIR ELECTRIC CARS

I said last night when Nan showed up, and I still believe this, that I hate the Pierces more than I hate the Roys, they're totally humorless

The semi-meta bit where Logan is clearly missing having the kids around because no one's roasting each other was pretty good

Greg's date had so many signs of spying (the questions about Connor's campaign, the oversized purse, another one or two I forget) that it will be weird if it doesn't go anywhere.

Also thought we were going to see a meeting between the Roys and some Saudi investors, after the mentions that the siblings were keeping that team waiting.

she was spying but just for instagram

Yeah wasn’t it her Instagram tag that Kendall’s team picked up on?

It really wouldn't have fit the tone of the show but I would have loved it if the last shot were the Saudi investors standing outside their car still waiting

Connor so protective of his squeezed percent

But I guess in the plot of the show, the Saudi's have off-camera been sweet-talked by Telly the banker into pivoting along with NewGenRoys to bankroll the Pierce acquisition?

“Apparently, Bun Pierce has been tagged on some girl's Insta at Dad's.”

My big fear is that this season is going to have too much election shit which is what this show does least well imo

Oh another good last shot of this ep would just be aghast Logan Roy and Greg's date in a selfie

friendassistantandadvisor

that performative tapdance that Nan does “ugh money talk is so base” is so old money lol

“oh psssh money! can’t we just all go rowing together?” (while i lie in the grass & squeeze everyone for every penny)