HBO's Succession - Season 2 and Beyond

like there’s a floral kmart drop waist jersey knit dress just hanging idly in a closet

Also clothing-related, Roman was so concerned about his stitches keeping him from looking like CEO material, when wearing a dark suit, dress shirt, and tie to a board meeting also did that.

in the kitchen scene the kids actually seemed happy, and you really didn't see that very often. off the top of my head i can't think of many other times when any of them are actually genuinely happy on screen

dumb question - what were they talking about re bloodlines and being the real successor? iirc they're all caroline's kids and connor has a different mother

from wiki:

Kendall begins to shout, insisting that as the "eldest boy" he deserved to be CEO, but Roman retorts that Shiv's pregnancy will carry on the Roy bloodline, since Logan saw Kendall's children (who are not biologically related to Kendall) as illegitimate.

there was a scene in a boathouse i think at shiv's wedding at the end of s1 where the kids seemed to be honestly enjoying each other's company, apart from that i'm struggling to think of other times when any character has seemed really content

i think it totally passed me by that kendall isn't the biological father of his kids

iirc it was previously hinted at that his daughter is adopted, but I can't find an exact reference for that now. Roman is saying that Kendall's son was the result of a sperm donation. I don't think that's ever been mentioned before. the implication is that Ken is infertile.

Yeah it was hinted at by his daughter literally being played by a South Asian actress

am i right in thinking Hugo has somehow already gotten wise to Karolina's maneuverings and dispensed with her somehow?

tom's like "where's Karolina" and Hugo's like "oh, uhmmm...."

What manoeuvrings was Karolina doing?

telling Ken to can Hugo

when Ken gets up to the railings in Battery Park it suddenly it feels as if he's not on solid land but a boat, it all feels like it's lurching, the waves look choppy.. v unsettling

tom's like "where's Karolina" and Hugo's like "oh, uhmmm...."

I didn't get that impression. It felt more like Hugo knew that Tom was saying he was done.

Ah yes that makes sense.

Yeah Matsson’s kill list is presumably still active.

lol no I am not reading about real-life Roys, jesus

“Succession” — the show charting the relentless infighting, deceit and unhappiness across generations of the powerful Roy family — may be over. These challenges, however, remain very real for the ultrarich and their heirs, mental health professionals say.https://t.co/jmkoqSplNx

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 31, 2023

won't someone please think of the ultrarich

when Ken gets up to the railings in Battery Park it suddenly it feels as if he's not on solid land but a boat, it all feels like it's lurching, the waves look choppy.. v unsettling

in the nyt interview with Jeremy Strong he said he actually attempted to climb over that railing with the intention of going into the water but the actor who played his bodyguard stopped him

reading about that guy's m.o., i'm guessing he insisted on drinking the garbage plus saliva smoothie instead of swapping out with a stunt smoothie.

yes he did

this is a good interview

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/arts/television/succession-jeremy-strong-kendall-roy.html

sorry here's a gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/arts/television/succession-jeremy-strong-kendall-roy.html?unlocked_article_code=5NnbcK3gXvVmqbCABgheXzhLCC-FPndBTbxNHePvJqNk3KOqZ3MRo1jWllDxDBL1GxwFA-oFBknqye2jVBg_GWE7zSXILQZoinDrOZk8bO0uSX2xEcLKMOp-zbAr5RWKK_rVAx8dqvfy6hXB7FNawNUWJlo3XKNlyPXLCSdzHV53Z3BQymR9LYTTFwh3SichpXi2U2Nnhy_EV8HmkRPfNwVBS8B-redc0xjvGNoxV5khxaoAsXDcia3G1wL18KhH4HTK8m4GwGmuk2vHGK7teWxXnhMCKDlAqP-KdUW8tcwlu-bqfFgTDhQ2FQy0dKHMGCA0IUJ-745T9eQJmewmWq4Vgc2Mobr6piLe1YgxkKX3Xz2B41Q&smid=url-share

reading about that guy's m.o., i'm guessing he insisted on drinking the garbage plus saliva smoothie instead of swapping out with a stunt smoothie.

― Philip Nunez, Wednesday, May 31, 2023 3:01 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yes he did

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Wednesday, May 31, 2023 3:02 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

On the one hand it seems like an insupportable amount of work and he seems exhausting, but then whenever I hear him interviewed, he's so full of praise for everyone around him and seems so happy to be doing the work that, eh, I just can't not like the guy. Of course, even as I type this, I know I'm going to regret it because it'll turn out he's an absolute monster in some yet to be specified way.

favorite shot of the episode was kendall sitting in the big boy CEO chair right before the board meeting, laptop open but at the login screen. kend... you will never log in

jeremy strong seems very annoying as a person/actor but it's hard to argue with the results

I'd agree but in that vein, I think the footage of him trying to jump over rails and the other actors eyerolling at him would be more interesting than what gets cut down into the show. I'm definitely down for a re-release where they make it more of a reality show about making Succession.

Also apparently the actress who plays Shiv can turn off/on the drama/accent on a switch and it'd be great to see what was on the show as a mega-intense moment sandwiched with the actress going, "was that good, cause I really have to take a shit, now" while Kendall's actor is still stuck in Kendall mode.

Also re: accents, it's weird that All-American Culkin comes across of all the cast as having the most affected fake-American way of talking, but I guess that's just how Culkins talk?

Maybe the bodyguard actor was the true method actor in that last scene...perhaps the actor would have happily let him into the ocean, but not the character.

the fact that you can hear sarah snook using all of her might to pronounce “range rover” with an american accent pic.twitter.com/RqElUnR43M

— shiv roy’s earlobes 🍒 (@leylanocontext) May 3, 2023

Haha. I'm always freaked out by hearing Tom's irl British accent, even though his American one isn't very naturalistic.

There is a real oleaginous "robot trying to be a real boy" aspect to Tom's accent and mannerisms -- I think I would have preferred him to Brent Spiner in reprising Data in the last Picard season. He kind of even looks like younger Data!

#Succession Fans
Am I the only one that thinks they cloned #StarTrek's Data (@BrentSpiner) and to make Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) pic.twitter.com/KE0LSOgRdY

— Simon McManus (@SiMcmanus) October 6, 2021

He’s become what his father wanted, which is being able to dominate and having the moral callousness and flexibility to do whatever it takes. I feel like he’s ready to become the C.E.O., in the tragic math of that.

wow he has really drunk the Kendall Kool-ade. every actor roots for their own character no matter how impotent or depraved and clearly j strong goes further than most but it’s incredible to me that he thinks this

I just read it as him saying that in order to be the CEO of this terrible company he had to fully manifest this terrible person and now he's done it, I don't think it's at all something he considers a positive.

There is a real oleaginous "robot trying to be a real boy" aspect to Tom's accent and mannerisms

I enjoyed Tom's weird laugh after telling Matsson "I can sing for my supper" and then immediately pivoting to his pitch.

really liked the scene at the beach, ken symbolically being the first to take the plunge, making power plays next to the threat of death at the hands of the majestic sublime or your siblings... take your pick. totally different context i know but real the long goodbye vibes for me.

Love Macfadyen as Data, lol

lol strong obviously doesn’t think his character is virtuous, but he does apparently think he would make a god ceo, that kendall has become the man logan wanted him to be..

this will sound very whatever, and everyone is prob aware of this now already but:
strong hasn’t formed that many oblique opinions ~about~ the character of ken because he was trying very hard to think ~as~ the character, so for example in a weird way he totally thought ken was the best choice for the job because thet was what ken believed

so he’s kinda shattered by the finale himself too

it’s a lot

but he’s so fucking great

Yep I love him. Greatest expressions in the whole show.

My favorite Kendall expression is when he thinks someone is trying to play him and he just stares at them with this half-smile, like he's trying to mind-fuck them. It's a good example of a low key ken try-hard thing.

Now I'm having fun imagining him taking the Jon Hamm post-Mad Men career route and only doing the broadest of comedy roles.

My favourite Kendall Roy faces, in no particular order:

A lifetime of suffering
https://media.tenor.com/RJnIIG2XuSYAAAAC/kendallroy-succession.gif

I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry
https://64.media.tumblr.com/4e6eb0e8192771ff57d096dfa68dd84e/780fac89e31d549c-a1/s540x810/092b449ebc7e2c79bb30d1bded64ec4a42bd5c45.gif

thinking about smoking horse again
https://media0.giphy.com/media/fQx9bHb2IQLRbSojSJ/giphy.gif

And so on

acting with his face eggs

Maybe I missed it but who did Kendall call to get confirmation re: shiv being boxed out by Mattson? "If it's true don't say anything" or whatever.

Greg?

Greg called him and then Kendall hung up and called someone else right?

i assumed ebba

she's the one who's been leaking matsson's secrets to kendall for the past few eps