HBO's Succession - Season 2 and Beyond

biggest lol for me was Tom stressing about toilet wine

i love how every time Tom talks to Shiv about prison you can almost see her mentally calculating when he’ll actualy go to prison so she doesnt have to deal w him anymore

https://tenor.com/rS1d.gif

http://www.runningwithattitude.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PhineasFerb_calendar.jpg

also wanna say seeing all that food set out and Logan and Kendall didn't touch it made me super anxious as well but its so hilarious in the cold light of day. the rich just set out a bunch of lobster for set decoration! Don't even eat it

also

the fuckin RABBIT cam

i was dying. the amount of shit that functionaries are forced to eat and/or willingly eat in this show is horrifying and darkly/weirdly funny

Kendall also has that security guard who last week was all I know what you did in England at that wedding

I completely missed that that was what he was referring to

I think the idea that *someone* needs to step up is a red herring

all of the siblings are in this moneyed corporate purgatory where it’s just this grind of family/corporate bullshit where nothing really changes, and very little of their lives has anything to do whatsoever with the actual business the corporations are doing

I could see the final episode being some left field thing where Disney buys their entire company and tosses Connor into a token role to show that they’re committed to “maintaining brand independence” or whatever

dumping the entire perceived importance of these characters and their struggles into a garbage can at the last moment would be on point imo

yeah i think the title of the show def makes ppl focus on like, “well that HAS to happen at some point surely”

i think its a red herring too

also does anyone really care who ends up in charge at the end?

i’m sure there’s some corner of the viewers who are making #teamshiv hashtags or whatever but, no, I could not care less

omg totally forgot about the rabbit cam

i care for sure, i'm invested in the show and I hope it has a good*/funny/believeable ending

*pretty wide definition of good here.

I just don't want it to end like the Sopranos

dont stop believin

... starts playing as the door slowly opens to the boardroom, before revealing the new Waystar Royco CEO to be... *CUT TO BLACK*

it pains me to say that adrien brody was good in this

he really melted into the character. I forgot it was him after a few minutes onscreen.

he was great

I could see the final episode being some left field thing where Disney buys their entire company and tosses Connor into a token role to show that they’re committed to “maintaining brand independence” or whatever

― mh, Tuesday, November 9, 2021 2:36 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol love this

Just like The Thick of It (and In the Loop, a bit) this is at its best when everything is collapsing about the heads of the still-dangerous-but-quickly-losing-power.

Am expecting the ending if one comes to be determinedly low-key and revert to BAU equilibrium except new characters. No real closure (again a bit like In The Loop): the business will roll on and the waters will close over the Roys. Still rich, still dysfunctional, just not the centre of a corporate psychodrama anymore

Was really hoping Greg would just pop Tom in the chin with a right hook and put him on the floor, then immediately feel bad and act all apologetic babbling non sequitur Greg about it

Nancy Meyers approves:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWBgcPAvuBU/

scenes where Tom is trying to act “in charge” that doesn’t just involve sitting at a meeting table, especially any time he’s trying to be the alpha dog opposite Greg, might top the awkwardness scale. more awkward than Greg!

like what kind of aggressive posture is he taking, imitating the worst bullies from the water polo team from the boarding school he went to as a kid?

I think the acting has always been the draw here as the characters are often unpleasant, but weirdly fun.

I don't think there's anything weird about the fun-ness of the characters. It's meant to be a funny programme.

there's a bullying aspect but i do think on some level he also wants to protect/mentor greg

It's a class thing too, right? Tom is desperate to be a Roy. He even offered to change his last name to Roy when he and Shiv got married. He can't get over the fact that it was so easy for Greg to wander in to the family get together at the very beginning as a totally clueless, gawky rube, and now he's ended up being courted by Logan and Kendall, which is all Tom wants out of life and will never have.

Yeah, why are Logan and Kendall both so keen to get Greg on their side? I don't understand that.

Because he photocopied and stashed those papers about Cruises before he burned the originals. Also they think he has influence over Ewan, even though he doesn't really.

yeah, who exactly knows about Greg's stash - everyone? obviously Kendall and Tom know directly but did that all come out in the congress hearing?

dont think it came out

i think we have to infer logan knows obv

greg is the best, that convo w tom where hes like ~ ill ask to head operations of the buffalo theme park, perfect cuz he maybe means that ? but could just be trying to banter w tom

I love Greg's combination of cluelessness and basic survival instincts. The position of leverage he's in this season is all because he thought to make a copy of those documents in season 1. Like he's rarely sure what to do moment to moment, but he has an overall sense that he needs to look out for himself.

I feel like he’s often really sure what he should do (apart from maybe on the fundamental Logan/Ken q) but given his near-total lack of power and awkwardness has a hell of a time getting it. But he isn’t bad at it, in retrospect.

Like when he fobbed off the lawyer they sent around - he is quite good at flapping and shaking and yet still getting what he actually wants.

I'm not convinced that Greg has accepted Logan's offer anyway, his ability to hedge and be non-committal is a real asset. He might yet report back to his grandfather and stay with-yet-apart-from Kendall.

I don't think Logan knows the full depth of what Greg is privy to, he just knows he's important enough for Kendall to keep him around, which means he is at least an asset on some level and he can't let Kendall keep him.

maybe the show is called succession because at the end they all go to jail in quick…you know

I think it's called Succession because in the last episode some nimrod develops a cryptocoin called Succession, swiftly pyramid-schemes it into $6b of assets and hostile-takeovers the whole company

It’s implied Greg’s grandfather used to have something to do with the family business but is now completely divorced from the entire affair, correct? It feels like there’s still some ephemeral clout due to his lineage

"maybe the show is called succession because at the end they all go to jail in quick…you know"

this would be a great ending, no-one wins, last episodes are hard hitting individual stories of everyone realising the party is over and facing consequences. That said, it's unlikely, sadly. "Accountability....in this economy!!"

I think Ewan still has a decent share in the company? he turned up at that big meeting where Kendall was trying to overthrow Logan the first time (when Kendall couldn't get to the office in time)

Ewan pretends he's above it all but he's into it.

otm … he has a vested interest in seeing Logan get completely ratfucked

xp yeah, that was my impression? it’s been telegraphed in mixed ways, but I think he owns a portion but presumes he’s above it all by not ever showing up

James Cromwell playing the part like a delicious ingredient that’s best used sparingly and only on occasion

i kind of agree that we don't really "know" if Greg signed on w/Logan. unless we see first hand from Greg that it happened. Goes to show the level of trust I have in these characters

ewan voted to keep logan in charge during the last meeting. for all the airs ewan puts on, he doesn’t like to rock the boat

Yeah, I was going to say that Ewan's character is just another type of privilege being explored in this show and agree he isn't upsetting the apple cart, the critical, aloof position he seems to occupy gives him a false morality over Waystar activities when really he is just another pig at the trough

Speaking of Greg and Logan, the scene with the two of them and the rum and Coke was one of my favorites of the season so far.

I think the acting has always been the draw here as the characters are often unpleasant, but weirdly fun.

I don't think there's anything weird about the fun-ness of the characters. It's meant to be a funny programme.

xpost: I guess I didn't phrase it well enough but I meant that I find it weird that I'm enjoying / having fun with such unpleasant characters, it is a dramedy/satire more than an outright comedy to me, I think there is a genuine serious precision in the way it's trying to explore the personality types that do well in these corperate 'money over everything' environments and how the psychology is so fucked across many different people/personalities

How clothes reflect each of the characters is something that has gotten me through the weaker episodes in the first two seasons.

On that note, I liked what Adrien Brody had to say about his costuming:

What input did you have in the way Josh dressed?

Those were all based on the costume department and the creators being very collaborative with me. They had some initial musings about him being into foraging, and I loved that he was a much more present and youthful guy, in the sense that he’s very connected with the environment. He’s happy to wear a beanie, but it’s not just a fashion statement. He’s prepared for inclement weather in a way that they’re not prepared for and wouldn’t be prepared for, even if they knew they were going to go on a hike. He’s in his element, and I wanted that to be immediately tangible.

When Josh invites Kendall and Logan out on their walk, did he intentionally plan for Logan to get so exhausted?

I don’t think the extent of a medical incident was an intentional thing, but I do think creating challenges and exhausting them physically is a tactical move. Josh is far more prepared for the day’s activity than they are. That’s intentional: wearing multiple layers, having hiking boots, bringing two guys in suits expecting to sit down for a cup of coffee. He is ratcheting up the pressure. As for Logan’s condition, he’s looking to see how Kendall reacts to that and whether he’s caring for his father or not. He knows where things are headed and wants to know if there’s unity there or not. Logan not taking the smart decision for his own well-being, out of pride, provides insight into the potential self-destructive nature and blind spots by his ego or his need to project a sense of strength, even if he’s not feeling it. I think Josh is privy to all of that.

oh god, elderly guy with a uti is real and could be an entire genre judging from things I’ve personally witnessed

just complete brain vacation, magical when antibiotics kick in and everything snaps back to normal. hopefully Logan doesn’t get sepsis