*** SUCCESSION (New HBO Series) ***

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Robert C. Christian
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pinkdog said:

Ok, trying to rewatch episode. I still didn't see a reference to a fight/abuse between Uncle and Logan. When does it happen? Are we still talking about episode 7? And "a fight"? Who fights like that? Obviously it would be more than a typical fight to leave those kind of scars. Sorry guys, if someone could tell me when the reference is, I will be able to sleep at night. thanks and gig em
It was when Kendall came to house and the family argument happened. Kendall made some comment about the uncle and that set Logan off even more. Not directly stated but, inferred.
pinkdog
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Thank you. I saw it now. I was looking for it in the therapy session.
Bunk Moreland
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Haven't read any of the posts but I'm 3 eps in and this has got to be one of the douchiest shows I've ever seen. And yet I'm going to keep watching through the season. So I can't explain that.

So far I feel like the writers have got to be a bunch of hipster tools and this is their wet dream of what a big powerful business/family dynamic is.

Kendall's lines are so bad. He uses the word **** at the wrong time in almost every line he delivers it.

Ok... Now back to ep 4
TCTTS
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You realize it's mostly satire, right? All the douchiness is on purpose. Kendall is supposed to sound bad. It's so strange to me when people think depiction = endorsement. Or that because the characters are a certain way that means the writers are that way as well. It's not Entourage. Still, glad you're sticking with it. But yeah, the entire point is that it's purposefully spotlighting a bunch of assh*loes.
Brian Earl Spilner
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Wait, are you saying all the writers of Entourage were dewshes?
Bunk Moreland
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I understand the attempt. The delivery is botched. A thick drama that has a satirical stance against a subject or subjects is fine. So far this is just not that imo. It's sloppy as ***** There is no feeling of underlying satire at all. It comes off as people who have no idea what this world is like are trying to write what they wish it was in a dramatic but exaggerated way.

Would love to know who consulted on the project. But then again, Andrew Ross Sorkin is involved in Billions and that is garbage so maybe I don't want to know.
TCTTS
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This is like the poster earlier who called the show "slow." Calling it "sloppy" just blows my mind. It's like we're watching two different shows. These are some of the tightest, most well-written television episodes I've seen in years. From a narrative/storytelling standpoint, they're literally the exact opposite of sloppy. Sure, I guess there are likely inaccuracies when it comes to authenticity - I wouldn't know - but this isn't meant to be a documentary.
Bunk Moreland
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You think a dad naming his Jackoff son who has zero business experience and ****ed his life up the coo (and firing his most trusted confidant over a birthday softball game) of his major multi billion dollar firm just so he can persuade him to get a signature on a change of a will to turn a lot of his inheritance over to his latest wife is well written and tight?

The back half of that(wife gold digging and influencing powerful old man) is fine, but Cmon.

Kendall has a high education and has been groomed for the position but acts like he has no idea what he's doing (not even including the intended scenes of his inferiority complex and needing to please his father).

You are correct in that we must be watching 2 different shows. And I'm ok with that because we both have 2 different *******s so opinions will vary

This just is not hitting the mark so far for me.

Also, I'm not asking for a documentary so I don't know why you're going there. To lampoon a situation in a dramatic way needs a certain level of understanding of what the reality of that situation actually is or could be. For me I have not felt it yet in any capacity.
TCTTS
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Bunk Moreland said:

You think a dad naming his Jackoff son who has zero business experience and ****ed his life up the coo (and firing his most trusted confidant over a birthday softball game) of his major multi billion dollar firm just so he can persuade him to get a signature on a change of a will to turn a lot of his inheritance over to his latest wife is well written and tight?

The back half of that(wife gold digging and influencing powerful old man) is fine, but Cmon.

Kendall has a high education and has been groomed for the position but acts like he has no idea what he's doing (not even including the intended scenes of his inferiority complex and needing to please his father).

This stuff doesn't bother me in the least. Because without it, there'd literally be no show. I can suspend my disbelief if it's all in service of compelling conflict and drama, which I believe this to be.
Bunk Moreland
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Glad it works for you. So far there is nothing that has made me want to buy into this as a compelling drama. Wish I felt differently and hope I do as I keep watching and catching up.
DannyDuberstein
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I think Kendall is very believable. I've worked with a number of Kendalls over the years. Highly educated and think highly of themselves, but tend to falter under pressure when things get tough or it's time to make key decisions. And end up the type that can't get out of their own way when it really matters. They are book smart vs truly business savvy.
Jimmie Dimmick
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LOL at Greg doing the coke so Kendall wouldn't. And Tom's reaction, "I hope you don't die. But if you do, your heart will probably be beating so hard it will bring you back to life".
Brian Earl Spilner
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Ask 'em where they were on 9/11.
Jimmie Dimmick
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Btw the word Tom was looking for was "snowball". So ****ing gross.
Brian Earl Spilner
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But it's cool, it's a closed loop system so he didn't cheat.

So hot.
TCTTS
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Probably the most sobering episode to date in that it felt like everyone is at or nearing their low point, reality is setting in, irreversible lines are being crossed, etc. Some pretty sad/dark stuff at times. This also didn't feel as tightly wound as past episodes. Still, I laughed a decent amount and dug it for the most part.
Brian Earl Spilner
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The dog crate thing was pretty alarming. Especially when Kendall realized what it was really about.

Just the thing he needed to push him over the edge.
Brian Earl Spilner
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Also, the bedwetting made me laugh. Not-so-subtle reference to Home Alone?

DannyDuberstein
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Should I puke?
Max Power
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Really laying groundwork for a hell of a wedding episode. Kendall vs Logan and Roman. Shiv at a real crossroads with her family and job, and with Tom too I'm sure, the wedding episode I'm sure will iron that out. I thought the meeting between Logan and Shiv was sad. It's pretty obvious of all his children she's the most capable of running the company, yet she does her own thing. I do think they have issues with each other they just have a tough time getting past, and it isn't helping either of them. Connor is great though, he loves everyone.
Brian Earl Spilner
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I think Connor is becoming my favorite character. Everything he says/does is funny.
pinkdog
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It is getting hard to believe the dumbness of Kendall. I guess it's hard because in some ways he is intelligent but then is so socially inept. Like he's not just all around dumb like Greg. So when he is dumb it's hard to mesh that with his intellect.
DannyDuberstein
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There are two guys I've worked with in the past that remind me so much of Kendall. At times, they could talk such a good game, sound intelligent, and possibly have you fooled if you didn't know them better or weren't great at immediately sniffing out the bull***** But then the more you work with them, get to know the quality of their work (which sucks because they aren't that bright), and have some opportunities come up where the awkwardness shows through, you realize they are actually dumbasses struggling so hard to put up a big-shot image. And the folks that realize this end up feeling almost hostility toward them, because they seem like a fraud.
mhayden
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I don't think you guys are giving Kendall enough credit. There's not a whole lot in the show that he's done that has really shown he isn't/wasn't business savvy except for what happened with him being late to the board meeting (which obviously was a pivotal event). Roman is shown as not up to the task. Shiv is shown as not interested. Even Logan is shown as increasingly antiquated.

They even hammered home this last episode that he was able to read the room and go from pitching a "this is how you make money" to "i have the money to make sure you get what you want". "Dust" told him and his colleague that they loved his pitch -- it was the family name that was keeping him down.

Being told it was his father's name that lost him the deal and that he "won" the battle between him and Roman on who was the pack leader are the two things that pushed him to come to grips with what he was going to do - take over the business and to hell with the legacy.

Kendall has demons and some things he needs to overcome, but the final scene where he decided to ruin Dust showed that he's come to grips with him being for himself, with being a shark, and with ultimately becoming the type of man his father is if it means he is on top.
TCTTS
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Very well said.
LouisHerbertWong
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Watched Sunday's episode last night. Really losing interest in this show as the season progresses...
Brian Earl Spilner
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Oddly I've enjoyed these last few episodes the most.
DannyDuberstein
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He inadvertently let a fox into the henhouse by going to his cokehead buddy for financing and ending up with an arch-enemy owning a board seat. This was after he was unable to rework their financing because he took a completely wrong and embarrassing approach with their lender.

Now that he ****ed up the vote of no confidence (if he doesn't make the feel-out phone call, he never has to take the trip that made him late) and got ousted, Furness may end up coming in handy. But allowing Furness to backdoor his way onto their board was a blunder of epic proportions at the time, and may very well turn out to be anyway. I'm sure Furness' plan is to use him and then toss him aside. This is already after getting worked on the acquisition price by Lawrence and letting that fox into the henhouse in the first episode or two.

He talks a good game. He is somewhat sharp. But when it boils down to it, he's kind of a ****up. Now he's continuing to find his balls and is going to make a bold move, but I expect more costly blunders ahead. He's gonna get played.
mhayden
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DannyDuberstein said:

He inadvertently let a fox into the henhouse by going to his cokehead buddy for financing and ending up with an arch-enemy owning a board seat. This was after he was unable to rework their financing because he took a completely wrong and embarrassing approach with their lender.

Now that he ****ed up the vote of no confidence (if he doesn't make the feel-out phone call, he never has to take the trip that made him late) and got ousted, Furness may end up coming in handy. But allowing Furness to backdoor his way onto their board was a blunder of epic proportions at the time, and may very well turn out to be anyway. I'm sure Furness' plan is to use him and then toss him aside. This is already after getting worked on the acquisition price by Lawrence and letting that fox into the henhouse in the first episode or two.

He talks a good game. He is somewhat sharp. But when it boils down to it, he's kind of a ****up.

Yeah I definitely see where he has made some mistakes, but mind you these were mistakes he made in a swift attempt to fix his father's sinking ship. The loan terms were going to have the company screwed -- and while he didn't help his cause, from jump street it was apparent no negotiation was going to take place.

So the cokehead buddy, while allowing the fox in the henhouse, was an eleventh hour move that saved the company.

The feel-out phone call we kind of discussed earlier. It ultimately turned an abstain but still unknown into a "no confidence" vote. So while him being late to the meeting caused his troops to crumble, it still secured a vote that would have "won" him the showdown had it not gone south.

So I guess I'll agree that Kendall isn't the sharpest guy in the world, but most of what we've seen him do was reaction to the poor position his father put them in.
Brian Earl Spilner
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I didn't really see the vote of no-confidence as a ****-up on Kendall's part. In fact he did fairly well considering he wasn't in the room. If he was, Roman doesn't fold like a cheap tent.
DannyDuberstein
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Roman did fold. But Roman's weak. Was a certainty that he would fold with Logan in the room and Kendall not. Kendall also misread cokehead and allowed Roman to work/misplay Lawrence, resulting in two misplays where he thought he had votes that he didn't. Then with Logan being allowed to remain, Gerri also backs down. Which although she didn't have a vote, maybe someone else gets swayed by her insight on management. The vote actually barely even got off the ground with any support. It was really Frank that got it going.

What it really boils down to is you don't bring that vote unless you are sure you can close it. If you can't or aren't sure you can, then you bide your time and work it in the background until you're sure you can.
mhayden
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Agree with most of the points but I don't think Cokehead's vote surprised Kendall in the least -- he was upfront that he couldn't be trusted and would follow the money. That is part of why I imagine Kendall traveled to lock down the other vote.
DannyDuberstein
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I guess my fundamental issues with him is that he is basically batting below the Mendoza line at both reading people and influencing them.

A couple more examples:
- Complete misread of what his uncle's thoughts would be on the vote of no confidence. Not only did it turn into a vote against (that at worst would have been an abstain due to absence), there was a panicked moment where the uncle was potentially going to tell Logan the whole plan
- the art girls. One awkward conversation in the coke room of an party/orgyhouse, and he's certain and insistent to Frank that he has the deal closed. Now that was a close that he was never going to get, but to be so far off on his assessment of the situation is where he looks like an idiot
TCTTS
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Brian Earl Spilner
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