Succession -- HBO

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Mojo Hand said:

Good point.  Shit will get interesting when he inherits his grandfather's board seat or however that works. 

I think there’s a lot more to Greg than initially contemplated.  I would really like to know his eduction, age, and why the fuck he was in a costume at a theme park and what drove him there. But he’s got a developing head on his shoulders. 

[RPM 26329]

I want to like this show because of all the talent involved, but they are making it damned hard. The only sympathetic character is the kid and he's annoying AF.

[Chewbacca 7780]

On 7/2/2018 at 2:46 PM, Vito Andolini said:

Tom is comedy gold. I can’t imagine a real-world equivalent of Shiv who would settle for such a wimp, unless she has consciously or subconsciously decided to pick a mate the exact opposite of dear old dad.

Greg also makes me laugh, and I loved it when he embarked on his painful, humorless, music-free drive with gramps... and the GPS said “12 Hours, 12 Minutes.”  The salvaged cruise documents will surely come into play later, and Greg gonna Gump his way to the CEO job.

The actress playing Willa the Whore was also in Mr. Mercedes, where she played a mousy maybe-autistic character. She looks almost six foot tall in this. And she had one of the best lines of the night to Tom, “At least he’s the only member of the family fucking me!”

So why did Greg keep copies of the shredded docs?  Surely he wasn't supposed to do that and surely those docs are going to rear their head again.  He's not smart enough to be using that to cover his ass, is he?

[bamachine 1231]

6 hours ago, Hugh G. Rection said:

I think he's asking if it's standard practice or made up for the show.

If you are talking about Shiv as short for Siobhan, yes, it is standard practice, as the name is pronounced Shiv-ahn. Dated an Irish lass with that name once, she was known as Shiv by her family/friends.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

So why did Greg keep copies of the shredded docs?  Surely he wasn't supposed to do that and surely those docs are going to rear their head again.  He's not smart enough to be using that to cover his ass, is he?

I think that’s exactly what we’re being sold. Combined with other Greg dialogue, I buy it. 

[Eastwood 4394]

I think there’s a lot more to Greg than initially contemplated.  I would really like to know his eduction, age, and why the fuck he was in a costume at a theme park and what drove him there. But he’s got a developing head on his shoulders. 

What I think the show does a good job of showing, in regards to second generation wealth, is that when that generation were just kids, it looked like things just happened. Dad said this or that will happen and it did. They never saw the work or the strategy, they only saw results. So now they walk around, barely conscious of what actually goes into the job, and expect the same results. Kendall's horrible buyout in the first episode was illustrative of that.

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

8 hours ago, Rex Kramer said:

I think there’s a lot more to Greg than initially contemplated.  I would really like to know his eduction, age, and why the fuck he was in a costume at a theme park and what drove him there. But he’s got a developing head on his shoulders. 

What I think the show does a good job of showing, in regards to second generation wealth, is that when that generation were just kids, it looked like things just happened. Dad said this or that will happen and it did. They never saw the work or the strategy, they only saw results. So now they walk around, barely conscious of what actually goes into the job, and expect the same results. Kendall's horrible buyout in the first episode was illustrative of that.

Yeah.  Kendall is terrible but oblivious.  Roman is more self-aware but still terrible. Neither has any business running a corporation. 

[A-Tex Devil 2451]

12 hours ago, Rex Kramer said:

I’m trying to like this show.  It does have something.  However the characters of Kendall and Roman (and Stewy for that matter) are so unbelievable that it makes it hard watching. 

Nobody is going to let a sniveling pussy like Kendall anywhere near leadership of a big corporation.  Roman is a totally implausible character.  He’s funny, but again, he wouldn’t be permitted anywhere close to management.

 

Really on Stewy?  He seems like every young NYC PE guy I've ever met that works for a Blackstone or a Silver Lake or KKR, etc.  More extreme, sure, for TV purposes, but that guy exists.  

[jimmyjazz 46001]

13 hours ago, bamachine said:

If you are talking about Shiv as short for Siobhan, yes, it is standard practice, as the name is pronounced Shiv-ahn. Dated an Irish lass with that name once, she was known as Shiv by her family/friends.

Thanks, that was the answer I was looking for.  I guess I should learn how to pronounce "Siobhan", since up until now I've always enunciated the "b".

[Guest]

13 hours ago, A-Tex Devil said:

Really on Stewy?  He seems like every young NYC PE guy I've ever met that works for a Blackstone or a Silver Lake or KKR, etc.  More extreme, sure, for TV purposes, but that guy exists.  

It’s just the more extreme nature - it’s overkill. Also I’d expect them to have at least 3 board seats. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, BurntEyes said:

Yeah, I think Greg is going to turn out to be much smarter than anyone suspected. Perhaps he's even playing stupid as a machavelian twist. The knowing more than Tom but playing dumb letting him know and not telling Kendall about the meeting he witnesses speaks to that end.

Yeah but what purpose did telling Greg serve?  It didn’t change the outcome that would’ve happened. I think he naively told Tom. His mind isn’t finely tuned yet. 

[bamachine 1231]

3 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Thanks, that was the answer I was looking for.  I guess I should learn how to pronounce "Siobhan", since up until now I've always enunciated the "b".

I am of Irish (and German) ancestry and I would have done the same as you, if not for dating her. Hell, I used to pronounce gyro (the sammich) like you would in gyroscope.

[lateshow 1304]

Just how the hell much are they now paying Greg? He just shows up one day, and now he's "incredibly rich"?

[Chewbacca 7780]

1 hour ago, lateshow said:

Just how the hell much are they now paying Greg? He just shows up one day, and now he's "incredibly rich"?

He's incredibly rich by his broke-ass standards (he was a character at a theme park before this job).  Remember your first real paycheck after starting a real career?  I felt rich then, too.  Might have gone to California Pizza Kitchen as well, but going out with wealthy relatives would be better.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

Spoiler

I can see why some of the board changed their mind about Kendall because in their eyes, he couldn't even attend an important meeting.  

And can a chairman unilaterally decide to remove board members like Logan did at the end?  Perhaps those were "his" seats and he placed them on the board but I would think they would have to remain and not be replaced at the whim of the chairman.  But perhaps their "firing" was basically telling them they were done.

 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

  Hide contents

I can see why some of the board changed their mind about Kendall because in their eyes, he couldn't even attend an important meeting.  

And can a chairman unilaterally decide to remove board members like Logan did at the end?  Perhaps those were "his" seats and he placed them on the board but I would think they would have to remain and not be replaced at the whim of the chairman.  But perhaps their "firing" was basically telling them they were done.

 

No idea but it seems odd that a CEO had that kind of unilateral power. The fact that he wouldn’t leave the room is ridiculous. As I get further and further away from these episodes I think how preposterous the storylines are: 1) Nobody would have children so weak they literally cannot stand up to him. If such a situation existed they wouldn’t be acting CEO and COO. 2) most publicly traded entities have strict policies disallowing family members serving in multiple exec roles. 3) with the combination of 1 and 2 Kendall and Roman shouldn’t be anywhere near management positions. 4) Kendall in particular is so damned weak and brainless it makes the story shitty. 

I’m probably in for the remainder of the season but this is going to turn into Walking Dead pretty quickly for me I’m afraid. 

[Eastwood 4394]

The whole meeting would be essentially null and void after Logan didn't recuse himself and leave the room. Everything that happened at that table from then on would be reversed and would be a massive legal battle that would end in nice settlements for the "fired" board members. But Rex is correct that publicly traded companies usually have a hard and fast rule about families serving in multiple executive positions. Hell, I've had clients that were small publicly traded companies and an audit revealed that family members were contract employees of someone in an executive position and were forced to be removed from employment due to the relationship. Conflict of interest is a bitch.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

12 hours ago, Eastwood said:

The whole meeting would be essentially null and void after Logan didn't recuse himself and leave the room. Everything that happened at that table from then on would be reversed and would be a massive legal battle that would end in nice settlements for the "fired" board members. But Rex is correct that publicly traded companies usually have a hard and fast rule about families serving in multiple executive positions. Hell, I've had clients that were small publicly traded companies and an audit revealed that family members were contract employees of someone in an executive position and were forced to be removed from employment due to the relationship. Conflict of interest is a bitch.

Didn't Murdoch have two sons in exec positions and on the Fox board?   The show's writers had to look at the Murdoch family for some inspiration for this show.  I have no idea if his kids are screwups like these 2.

[Eastwood 4394]

I think the Murdoch kids hold "non-executive" board seats and have engaged in other corporate kung fu to get around the family issue, but I'm not totally sure.

[Vito Andolini 9127]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2011/02/23/that-rupert-murdoch-script-no-one-will-touch-we-have-it/#7e99a1db1181

The creator actually wrote a screenplay on the Murdoch clan, so yes, it’s pretty safe to say Rupert & Family are an inspiration .

Quote

A work of imagined history in the manner of "The Queen" or "W," "Murdoch" takes place over the course of a single day, the Australian-born mogul's 78th birthday. His third wife, Wendi, has organized a surprise party. Murdoch uses the occasion to make a request of his four adult children: that they agree to alter the terms of the family trust to give his two young daughters from his third marriage voting rights. The children -- James, Elisabeth, Lachlan and Prudence -- discuss and argue over the request, scheme against each other, form alliances and repeatedly get manipulated by their father. Ultimately, they reject his appeal, each for his or her own reasons.

 

Edited July 12, 2018 by Vito Andolini
Adding link to article about movie pitch, sounds a lot like the series

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

It's referenced that Tom comes from money but have they gone into much detail with that? I assume that he definitely doesn't come from Shiv's level of family money.  

[Vito Andolini 9127]

Tom’s mother is an attorney, so I’m sure he came from a well to do environment, but he’s actually said he’s just a Midwest boy, and not from wealth. That’s why I was surprised when he was boasting to Greg about the joys or being filthy rich. 

[bamachine 1231]

Yeah, Tom went from being quite comfortable to fuck you money.

[jimmyjazz 46001]

17 hours ago, Eastwood said:

The whole meeting would be essentially null and void after Logan didn't recuse himself and leave the room

Doubly true given that corporate counsel was sitting at the table.  No way would competent counsel let that shitshow proceed.

[SameSame 1705]

That board room vote scene good cringey entertainment.

"You better be smelling your fucking armpits" 

Edited July 12, 2018 by SameSame

[Mojo Hand 4580]

18 hours ago, Eastwood said:

The whole meeting would be essentially null and void after Logan didn't recuse himself and leave the room. Everything that happened at that table from then on would be reversed and would be a massive legal battle that would end in nice settlements for the "fired" board members. But Rex is correct that publicly traded companies usually have a hard and fast rule about families serving in multiple executive positions. Hell, I've had clients that were small publicly traded companies and an audit revealed that family members were contract employees of someone in an executive position and were forced to be removed from employment due to the relationship. Conflict of interest is a bitch.

True, but those consequences could be happening in subsequent episodes.  He hasn't necessarily gotten away with it yet.

[Chewbacca 7780]

2 hours ago, Mojo Hand said:

True, but those consequences could be happening in subsequent episodes.  He hasn't necessarily gotten away with it yet.

Yep.  In the moment, it is going to go down exactly as they showed.

[TwiceHorn 31514]

On 7/11/2018 at 9:32 PM, Rex Kramer said:

No idea but it seems odd that a CEO had that kind of unilateral power. The fact that he wouldn’t leave the room is ridiculous. As I get further and further away from these episodes I think how preposterous the storylines are: 1) Nobody would have children so weak they literally cannot stand up to him. If such a situation existed they wouldn’t be acting CEO and COO. 2) most publicly traded entities have strict policies disallowing family members serving in multiple exec roles. 3) with the combination of 1 and 2 Kendall and Roman shouldn’t be anywhere near management positions. 4) Kendall in particular is so damned weak and brainless it makes the story shitty. 

I’m probably in for the remainder of the season but this is going to turn into Walking Dead pretty quickly for me I’m afraid. 

Absolutely not. Shareholders elect directors and directors appoint officers. Even if Logan has a controlling interest as a shareholder, things still have to be done by the book and minority shareholders would have some rights not to be at the mercy of the majority shareholder. 

 

The whole no-confidence thing was bullshit. They would have relieved him of duty/fired him and would have been free to do so at least until the next properly noticed shareholders meeting. That whole mess was poorly done as far as realism. 

Edited July 14, 2018 by TwiceHorn

[A-Tex Devil 2451]

Agreed on board vote and mechanics with those above.  No confidence votes are for parliaments, not corporations. 

Tonight was pretty good.  Kendall falling off wagon was cliche, but it worked.  The older brothers high priced hooker girlfriend is starting to get the weirds too   She is hot, though   

Shiv is the smartest, clearly.  

[Sparky 149]

Yeah the hooker girlfriend scene was so uncomfortable where he told her that he loved her.  I could see a Kendall falling off the wagon scene but man that was just so cliche and kind of weak.  The scratches on Logan's back as he was getting out of the pool?

[oSuJeff97 3435]

5 hours ago, Sparky said:

Yeah the hooker girlfriend scene was so uncomfortable where he told her that he loved her.  I could see a Kendall falling off the wagon scene but man that was just so cliche and kind of weak.  The scratches on Logan's back as he was getting out of the pool?

Assume that was from the "mean uncle" that Kendall mentioned in the confrontation in the kitchen.

Almost all of the corporate stuff in the show is laughably unrealistic (the aforementioned Board meeting, etc.), but I am finding the show highly entertaining anyway. 

Kendall going off the rails was a bit cliche but it sure made his character a lot more fun.  It also maybe shows a glimpse into how he actually got the position that he was in.  It seems that clean Kendall was far too careful.  Off-the-rails Kendall has a zero fucks given attitude.   

So the obvious lesson is that if you want to be successful in business, do lots of drugs.  Especially cocaine.  It's the best.

[jimmyjazz 46001]

Finally caught up . . . not the worst episode, but a circus nonetheless.  So did Shiv go any farther than allowing a 10th grade finger expedition?

[Don Johnson 4754]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

Finally caught up . . . not the worst episode, but a circus nonetheless.  So did Shiv go any farther than allowing a 10th grade finger expedition?

I assumed she fucked him in the previous episode.  Am I wrong?

[jimmyjazz 46001]

1 hour ago, Don Johnson said:

I assumed she fucked him in the previous episode.  Am I wrong?

I was under the impression she didn't -- she came out the next morning and said something like "we behaved" or some such.

[henrygandorf 29194]

22 hours ago, theCruiser said:

I think we all have a fingering an Scottish girl in a Chrysler in the parking lot of the Sante Fe Hilton story.  What this show presupposes is...what if we didn't.

Clunky scene flow, average to above average acting, with laughable premises.  But great dialogue, cinematography, and scoring.  It took me a long while to get warmed up to it, but I'm in it for the long haul now.  Having said that, is this a one-season "mini-series" deal or has HBO announced more seasons?  

yes, hbo did the "renew for season 2 after the pilot because it's that good" shit that they pull.

they've done it for nearly every show for the past 3-4 years except the brink, which was a whole different type of mess.

[oSuJeff97 3435]

Yeah this show is very pulpy/soap opera-y, but I do find it really entertaining.  I really like the various layers of all the characters and how they interact with each other.

And the performance are strong across the board, really with the exception of Brian Cox, who is kind just hamming it up in a supervillian kind of way.

Loving Alan Ruck and Shiv, in particular. Also the guy who plays Tom is doing a great job as well with a really oddball character.  I love that Tom vacillates between sympathetic and kind of sociopath-ish from scene to scene, depending on who he's interacting with.

I like that Kieran Culkin dialed it back a little bit in the past few episodes.

Edited July 19, 2018 by oSuJeff97

[SizzleChest 8284]

The theme music, especially when integrated into the scenes, makes my teeth hurt.  It's like a sack of epileptic hamsters turned loose on a piano.

[lateshow 1304]

So, is Alan Ruck's girlfriend a hooker or a cam girl? I missed that part. 

[henrygandorf 29194]

it's my understanding that she's a high end hooker, who's also interested in legitimate theater (acting, writing, directing).  but some of the dialogue almost made it sound like she was a pornstar.

[Eastwood 4394]

it's my understanding that she's a high end hooker, who's also interested in legitimate theater (acting, writing, directing).  but some of the dialogue almost made it sound like she was a pornstar.

She could be a high end hooker who is internet famous. That was the vibe I was getting.

[Sparky 149]

“Greg tells me you swallowed your own load”

[Guest Lobo]

Scene afterward reminded me of something jay mcinerney would write.  

[TriStone 1724]

Snowballing is what I believe they call that.

[jimmyjazz 46001]

This show is a mess.  I remain fascinated by Shiv, and Greg is starting to rev up, but in general the character swings are too broad.

[oSuJeff97 3435]

On 7/19/2018 at 4:21 PM, Eastwood said:

On 7/19/2018 at 4:16 PM, henrygandorf said:

it's my understanding that she's a high end hooker, who's also interested in legitimate theater (acting, writing, directing).  but some of the dialogue almost made it sound like she was a pornstar.

She could be a high end hooker who is internet famous. That was the vibe I was getting.

I guess I missed the part where she was supposed to be famous or something. I thought she was essentially supposed to be like a high-end gold digger... and they are essentially just equating her to a high-end call girl since she's basically an attractive young woman who is willing to be with someone for the right amount of "allowance" or something.

Yeah that sound exactly like a call girl, but I don't get the idea she's actively turning tricks.  It's more like she's willing to be in someone's life if they "take care of her" or something along those lines.

 

11 hours ago, TriStone said:

Snowballing is what I believe they call that.

 

LOL that was the first thing I said and my GF was like, "Ummm how do you know that???"  Obviously she hasn't seen Clerks.

[jimmyjazz 46001]

She is absolutely a hooker.  They have called her that to her face (in so many words) and she has not fought back.

 

EDIT:  to clarify, I don't mean she turns tricks by the hour.  She's a very high-priced call girl.

Edited July 23, 2018 by jimmyjazz

[workinghorn 6]

This show is great, particularly the last 3 episodes. I really enjoy how it’s leaning into the ridiculous-ness.

Kendall was a horrible character to watch in the first few episodes. Now, he’s a hero. I’m going to enjoy watching him go scorched earth.

“Ketamine.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[babysdaddy 2725]

the coke scene where Greg had to get after it in order to stop Kendall was pretty funny.  I was laughing the whole episode actually.  Show is hitting its stride I think

Edited July 24, 2018 by babysdaddy

[Texas_Rocks 346]

This show is great, particularly the last 3 episodes. I really enjoy how it’s leaning into the ridiculous-ness.

Kendall was a horrible character to watch in the first few episodes. Now, he’s a hero. I’m going to enjoy watching him go scorched earth.

“Ketamine.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep! He’s a pro.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

I must have watched a different episode as I found the whole bachelor party story boring.    I guess it set up Kendall's fight to take over the company again, and we see that the Culkin guy has some trauma from being locked up, so perhaps his behavior stems from that.    Kendall and Tom never looked weaker with Tom having to call Shiv constantly and Kendall begging the art company to take his money.