Watch it
...immediately
Succession
Re: Succession
I've seen half of a few episodes while doing other things. Seems like a solid drama, I'll probably go back and watch the whole thing at some point.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
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Cassius Clay
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Re: Succession
It's very good. Basically everyone on the show is an out-of-touch piece of shit...but you still end up rooting for certain people in certain contexts because the writing is so good.
You might ask, "do we really need a show right now that humanizes terrible rich people"? I say the show, like other great shows that came before it, does a good job of humanizing some of them without losing it's critical eye.
You might ask, "do we really need a show right now that humanizes terrible rich people"? I say the show, like other great shows that came before it, does a good job of humanizing some of them without losing it's critical eye.
Re: Succession
I went back and started watching this finally (Currently six episodes into Season 2) and while I expected I'd like it this writing really is quite good on both a dramatic level and honestly comedic one as well- the series is funny as hell.
I think you're right on the money about how it humanizes these people while remaining critically distant too (Which yeah creates complicated feelings about different characters based on the context of like any given scene), without absolving them or anything of their worst aspects. Like Logan is a horrible piece of shit, but one that is realistically so and all of his actions seem to follow a consistent, heartless logic where even his own children are chess pieces to be moved for the sake of profit and power. And compared to all of these other TV antiheroes, as much as I love them, where as bad as they get you know they'd never hurt their own children (Tony Soprano, Vic Mackey, Walter White etc.), its honestly kind of refreshing just how gross Logan is in comparison.
This isn't to undervalue rest of the cast either, they're all quite good too, but I think there's more of an open question if they can redeem themselves or not (Logan is way too far gone for "lol redemption arc" to be plausible to me). Like "Cousin Greg" maturing and getting slightly less awkward and a little more shrewd as time goes on is simultaneously victory for the character but also something I feel ambivalent about because holy shit embracing the Roy mindset too much can't be a good a thing. Maybe he gains enough sense to know he should just walk away from these people at some point, but maybe he gets too drawn into it too and becomes way worse off than the lowly goofus he started as. And I have similar feelings about Kendall, Shiv etc. too though the fucked up family dynamics really complicate them in a compelling way. Really looking forward to finishing season and then this third season once that starts airing.
Really only problem I have with the series is the same one I have with most prestige dramas is that cinematically I don't think there's much going on here, but arguably that fits the detached, corporate world these characters inhabit- but that could just be me rationalizing away a weakness here because I think every other aspect of this show is really quite strong.
I think you're right on the money about how it humanizes these people while remaining critically distant too (Which yeah creates complicated feelings about different characters based on the context of like any given scene), without absolving them or anything of their worst aspects. Like Logan is a horrible piece of shit, but one that is realistically so and all of his actions seem to follow a consistent, heartless logic where even his own children are chess pieces to be moved for the sake of profit and power. And compared to all of these other TV antiheroes, as much as I love them, where as bad as they get you know they'd never hurt their own children (Tony Soprano, Vic Mackey, Walter White etc.), its honestly kind of refreshing just how gross Logan is in comparison.
This isn't to undervalue rest of the cast either, they're all quite good too, but I think there's more of an open question if they can redeem themselves or not (Logan is way too far gone for "lol redemption arc" to be plausible to me). Like "Cousin Greg" maturing and getting slightly less awkward and a little more shrewd as time goes on is simultaneously victory for the character but also something I feel ambivalent about because holy shit embracing the Roy mindset too much can't be a good a thing. Maybe he gains enough sense to know he should just walk away from these people at some point, but maybe he gets too drawn into it too and becomes way worse off than the lowly goofus he started as. And I have similar feelings about Kendall, Shiv etc. too though the fucked up family dynamics really complicate them in a compelling way. Really looking forward to finishing season and then this third season once that starts airing.
Really only problem I have with the series is the same one I have with most prestige dramas is that cinematically I don't think there's much going on here, but arguably that fits the detached, corporate world these characters inhabit- but that could just be me rationalizing away a weakness here because I think every other aspect of this show is really quite strong.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris