HBO's Succession - Season 2 and Beyond

even down to kendalls rapping lol xp

Oh that's another fake show name that is super weird: Wambsgans

― Philip Nunez, Wednesday, May 10, 2023 6:26 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Have thought this from the start, it seems completely satirical.

Someone on Twitter pointed out that it might be significant that there was an obscure baseball player from the 20s or 30s who pulled off some kind of feat which involved defeating three opponents(?) - sorry about the vagueness of this post but I know nothing abt baseball and I can't find the tweet anymore. Might mean something to someone here though!

Yep, he's named after the only player in history to pull off an unassisted triple play in the World Series.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Wambsganss

Zero question this was intentional and meant to foreshadow the end of s3.

its obvs inspired by the murdochs tho

― lag∞n, Wednesday, May 10, 2023 6:40 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Again, this was not obvious to me, I know nothing about this family and I feel my viewing of Succession was enriched by not trying to map it onto those people

ok

“In game five of the 1920 World Series played at League Park, Wambsganss caught a fifth-inning line drive batted by Clarence Mitchell, stepped on second base to retire Pete Kilduff, and tagged Otto Miller coming from first base, to complete the only unassisted triple play in World Series history.”
Awesome but can’t see Tom in here at all

the latest episode of the Know Your Enemy podcast interviewed TV writers Will Arbery (of Succession) and Dorothy Fortenberry (of Extrapolations), and at the very end the latter revealed that her husband's last name is Wambsgans.

Shiv as a redhead always made me think of Rebekah Brooks, who was CEO of Murdoch's News International in her thirties.

the show's writers have mentioned robert maxwell (ghislaine's dad) and sumner redstone as inspirations. redstone's wikipedia page even has a whole section called "succession" lol

Cap'n Bob is a fascinating figure, among his many other crimes he was responsible for the explosion in academic journal titles as he spotted that it was a perfect rent-seeking opportunity- more journals created by unpaid academic labour equals more subscriptions, the only overheads being some typesetting and printing

sorry, completely off topic. Maxwell is similar to Logan in that he was a "self made man" with a chip on his shoulder about pretty much everything

has Roman ever done anything except oversee a catastrophic rocket launch?

has Roman Elon ever done anything except oversee a catastrophic rocket launch?

(obvs Roman is not an Elon analogue)

I guess he inadvertently secured the GoJo deal xps

interview with the actress who plays kerry in this podcast ep - https://shows.acast.com/firecrotch-normcore-a-succession-companion-podcast/episodes/s04-e07-berlin-by-christmas-with-zoe-winters

why is it named that its not good

yeah that is an awful name

the two people who do it are a married couple. she's a standup and a redhead and a loudmouth american, he's a thoughtful english radio dj so, yknow the shoe fits (and it's something roman calls shiv and tom at one point in like S1)

like all podcasts not to everyone's taste i'll allow

I guess we'll find out tonight, but is it Super Tuesday or has Connor been running as an independent?

he's an independent, third party run

that's why Mencken is trying to negotiate with him to drop out at the election eve party. they probably wouldn't have left that negotiation to the night before the election, but better for the drama.

I don't feel emotionally prepared for succession doing election night

they've mentioned "Jimenez" a few times, who I think is the Dem candidate

have a good night, man. stay hydrated

I want you Gregging for me, you're busted back down to Greg tonight

it's not that lemony. it's just a hint of lemon

Spent the whole time trying to place Darwin. Hes the archbishop on the Great.

really turned up the "these kids are actively ruining the country" to 11 on this episode, loved it, felt like my nerves were on fire when shiv got called out but she totally fucked herself in a sitcom-ass way

episode definitely felt out of character/in a different voice than the rest of the show. still good.

last two eps have been pretty gnarly wow

why did Con think he had a chance in Kentucky instead of like New Hampshire or Montana?

I thought I got this show.... But I am very confused about shiv = dem, rom = pub, ken = .....whoevers going to win? When did they end up on these sides? I thought they were all going to be Menkin?

Lol Hugo yelling at Jimenez

One thing this show has done beautifully is split Loganinto three parts in the kids. Roman with his cynicism/general misanthropist traits (displayed in Rom putting "only read Mein Kampf three times" on the air), inter-personal manipulation and cruelty in Shiv, and ambition, kill everyone to get to the top in Ken (obviously present in the other two, but exemplified more in Ken). All they're missing is his general competency at literally anything

In awe of Roman's acting entirely from the motivation of "kill the deal because this asshole offended my dad". Radical actions, manipulating the entirety of America, arguably the most evil character in this episode, balanced out by being the only person to seemingly have a human motivation

why did Con think he had a chance in Kentucky instead of like New Hampshire or Montana?

I think it was more that Kentucky closes earlier than most other places (6pm eastern)

say something about the show and also the country that I was fairly stressed about the election outcome (which I think is no sure thing here)

That was way too stressful and potentially real. Ken going from top of the world #1 kid king of the coat closet to seriously indecisive in less than 24 hrs felt a bit off. Maybe he really is thinking about his kids and being a not quite as horrible dad.

Xpost the idea of splitting Logan’s attributes into 3 parts for the 3 kids really resonates.

i learned it from watching you dad

That look Greg gave shiv as he walked away was like

https://i.imgur.com/NOFTcAD.png

Coked up touchscreen malfunction panic was A+

I thought I got this show.... But I am very confused about shiv = dem, rom = pub, ken = .....whoevers going to win? When did they end up on these sides? I thought they were all going to be Menkin?

I think Ken's been presented as somebody who THINKS he's progressive, and most of last night's episode for him was about that. Shiv saying he's a good person, him constantly saying he's a good person, he knows what the right thing to do is, but in the end, all that matters is the business and which side is going to help him with Mattson. Really disappointing to see him so feckless after the last two episodes.

episode definitely felt out of character/in a different voice than the rest of the show. still good.

Felt to me like a bit of unveiling for the home stretch, a reminder that all of this noxious family drama has real-world consequences. Kind of gutsy for them to go straight at Election 2020 (and maybe some kind of Jan. 6 event, who knows?), not because of taking on the issue so much as risking seeming on-the-nose in a way the show has mostly avoided. But also how could they not, in a way, after we have all the documentation about what was going on at Fox on election night and after. Anyway, I thought it was well done in the way of revealing some actual stakes — while also not letting Shiv, e.g., be some kind of force of morality when we know that a lot of what she's feeling is her own potential power slipping away.

I don't think anyone is doing anything out of character. Ken is lost because he's always lost, he doesn't know who he is. There's the "right thing" to do, but there's also all this power that he's wanted for so long and maybe this is what it feels like to use it.

I think Ken's been presented as somebody who THINKS he's progressive

Right, though this seems tied up in his wanting to be perceived as smart and cool and important, more so than in any firm ideological convictions.