Succession (TV)

All non-Nolan related film, tv, and streaming discussions.
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Ruth wrote:
August 13th, 2020, 6:32 pm

Honestly, this show is ridiculous, and I love it already. I don’t know how alone I am in thinking this too, but it sort of rubbed me the wrong way to see just how rich and out of touch these people are at first lol. I know it’s kind of why in the back of my mind I was even a little hesitant to approach this show at first for some time. But even ignoring the fact that this obviously seems to be a very conscious choice, I think I’m already at that point where I’m starting to feel the show’s actual pulse and am being sucked in by the characters, despite feeling varied levels of dislike towards almost everyone.
That's what's keeping me from watching this show too :D

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i mean thats sorta the whole thing, they're all varying degrees of horrible people lol


-Vader

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Ruth wrote:
August 13th, 2020, 6:32 pm
Okay, so I actually took a look at what reddit had to say about the cinematography, and it seems like it was jarring to a whole lot of people. So at least I wasn’t alone in thinking that. But I’m on ep 4, and it feels like I honestly already got used to it! And it is milder now, so I don’t think that’s a problem for me anymore. Besides, it does indeed kinda aid the show’s comedic tone.

Honestly, this show is ridiculous, and I love it already. I don’t know how alone I am in thinking this too, but it sort of rubbed me the wrong way to see just how rich and out of touch these people are at first lol. I know it’s kind of why in the back of my mind I was even a little hesitant to approach this show at first for some time. But even ignoring the fact that this obviously seems to be a very conscious choice, I think I’m already at that point where I’m starting to feel the show’s actual pulse and am being sucked in by the characters, despite feeling varied levels of dislike towards almost everyone. Kind of hard for me to pick favs who seem to have some slight of decency left or seem like capable grown adults. But at the same time they’re all hilarious and I’m rejoicing because their interactions are killing me. The casting is fantastic. I’m still way too early, I guess, to give ~deep thoughts~ on this, but I’m really into it.

And yeah. The soundtrack, I love that too. The opening title is already permanently fried into my brain.
Me and you are sort of aligned. I avoided this show until I just couldn't anymore because of the hype and acclaim it was getting. So I watched the first two seasons in one week a couple of weeks ago and I'm hooked. The first few shows were a little show (it's weird how all the great shows are like this for some reason) but once I got to about episode 5 I was fully in.

I also agree with everyone else in that I can't stand any character on this show but that's the message of the show. You get an inside look at the absolute snobby, spoiled, ugly, arrogant pieces of shit and you can't stop watching it.

I'm not ready to put it in my pantheon of great shows of all time because it's only been two seasons but if it continues it's ascension of the first two seasons it will be one of my favorite shows ever.

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oh yeah i was NOT trying to imply it wasn’t the point of the show haha. i even did say so. just gets a bit jarring and odd to see with the first few eps (before ur butt gets fully sucked in) in that sense of “why should i even care”.

speaking of characters, idk, they’re all twats ofc, but i am finding myself ugh rooting for kendall. roman is hilarious but he’s a degenerate lmao, the eldest brother seemed kinda ~chill~ at first in that “i don’t want anything to do with the drama” sense, but he seems like such a micromanaging raging asshole, the jury’s still out on siobhan - she seems kinda cool, but i’m also getting psychotic vibes from her so idk. kendall, with all his douchiness and cringe, seems to have some remnants of a soul left (or i am totally being played here lol). oh yeah and greg seems nice! but i can’t fucking stand tom lol

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Okay I’m done with season 1. I thought it reached the realms of greatness with episode 6, but then it just fucking kept going on and on.

Honestly as much as every actor here absolutely fucks, this show is Jeremy Strong’s planet and everybody else is merely orbiting it

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The whole cast is great and Strong is up there. But the king of Succession is Matthew Macfadyen. He is so good and natural as Tom, I was surprised he was English when I saw him in Quiz back in April.

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Ruth go watch season 2 asap

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Yeah, it’s pretty telling of the characterization this show has when everyone can pick a different character/performance, and they honestly won’t be that wrong. Macfadyen is truly great, Tom is a cranky and increasingly more and more amusing character that has grown on me. He’s a total petty queen lmao.

But I think from where I stand right now, Kendall is probably the closest to being the heart of the show. It’s equal parts phenomenal performance and writing. Of course he also has the most screen time so that’s an advantage. I think he is the most complex character on the show, which was slightly surprising to me, (spoiler tagging bc i’m on mobile and don’t know how long this will be lmao)
I thought they would spare a lot of that to try and make Logan seem not as bad as he is. I just think it’s not often that I see a character written with such deep rooted inner turmoil, that it legitimately felt uncomfortable to witness the constant battle between twinges of self awareness and wish to break away from an abusive parent using the same aggressive tools that were (are) used upon you, and the following almost servile submission - because ultimately you’re not able to due to both trauma breaking you down, and you being an active agent in your own decline. And funnily enough, I think it’s acted subtly enough that people could get an entirely different read of his character. It took me episodes to realize the smarminess of his persona in front of other people is likely a front of social awkwardness gone awry.

The writers don’t really place him in situations where Kendall would actively be doing things to garner the audience’s sympathies out of sheer goodness. He’s an arrogant douche still, like all of his siblings. He’s a walking personification of self sabotage, so it’s more so the unsaid things, attempts, the things that Kendall is seemingly incapable of doing, that cast him in a more sympathetic, vulnerable light. In the finale, the camera is positioned so his body frame shrinks down even more so when in imminent confrontation with his father; his constant chasing of positive affirmation from almost anyone around him; how he doesn’t relapse *until after* everyone around him either expects him to do so or thinks he already has. How his first instinct, after all, is to try and save the waiter, until the panic takes over (juxtaposed a bit earlier in the episode with Roman quite literally washing his hands off of any responsibility of his wrongdoing).
It’s honestly the smaller details like that that pile on and elevate the character above anyone else for me. There’s a very realistic element to how the flaws and complexities of character are conveyed here by Strong. Ugh this show. Sorry for the word salad lmao just my 2 cents! Not saying I’m right necessarily

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No you're exactly right. They do an excellent job in portraying the many layers of the Roy family. The actors just completely sink their teeth into the material and they all deliver great work. Even though most of them, if not all of them, are often very unsympathetic towards others and of course to each other, they're still human and the family connection and how they interact with each other and what they do and don't feel is just stuff where everybody can feel something. Whether you're crazy rich or not.

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my very tepid take is that season 2 is the best 2019 television season i saw

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