Succession Obsession

Sorry to say that this is not to tell you about a new episode of Succession… but to say that we have just released the first episode of a new podcast called Reinfected, on the fabulous HBO show The Last of Us. An episode-by-episode rewatch of season 1, in preparation for week-by-week episodes when season…  Read More » New podcast: Reinfected, on HBO’s The Last of Us The...

With the finale now consigned to history, Ethan and Talia look back and think about the series as a whole, including: emails from podcast listeners (including a previously overlooked finale plot point), what themes the show has been trying to put across; what have each of the characters brought to the story; and Ethan's argument that this is the greatest show of all time – what exactly makes a gre...

Ethan and Talia discuss episode 10, the finale of the fourth and final season of HBOs series Succession: With Open Eyes. Including: was this as satisfying an ending as we had been hoping for?; the keen eye of the writers in pulling together and amping up all the themes that made Succession so great; did any of the characters really win the succession race; and such is our reluctance to let this sh...

Ethan and Talia discuss episode 9 of the fourth and final season of HBOs series Succession: Church and State. Including: is there such a thing as a Roy sibling winning the funeral? is the siblings' mother Caroline not only the worst mother but the worst human being in a show of amoral human beings? and how does all the shenanigans here alter our view of what will happen in the final episode? The p...

Ethan and Talia discuss episode 8 of the fourth and final season of HBOs series Succession: America Decides. Including: how the writers have used the comedy of the series to make the anguish of this episode all the more distressing; our blindness to Roman's true fascist nature; and Ethan doubles-down on Talia's theory on the implications of the series' title, and its meaning of (non-)succession fo...

Ethan and Talia discuss episode 7 of the fourth and final season of HBOs series Succession: Tailgate Party. Including: an Emmy to the costume designer for Mattsen's gold jacket; how Roman might enact a Festen-like ending to the series; and more wondering about how the final three episodes will manage to get all these characters together for the last few times. The post Succession Obsession: HBO&#8...

Ethan and Talia discuss episode 6 of the fourth and final season of HBOs series Succession: Living+. Including: the full spectrum evidence of Kendall and Roman's inadequacy of filling Logan's shoes; our trepidation at the prospect of yet another eye-melting Kendall presentation; and Talia's presidential theory of the succession promise of the series' title. The post Succession Obsession: HBO&#8217...

Ethan and Talia discuss episode 5 of the fourth and final season of HBOs series Succession: Kill List. Including: how the super-rich have no appreciation of world-class eco-lodges; Shiv's previously underused ability to fake drink- and drug-taking whilst pregnant; and Lucas Matsonn's over-literal understanding of what is meant by a summit meeting. The post Succession Obsession: HBO’s Success...

Ethan and Talia discuss episode 4 of the fourth and final season of HBOs series Succession: Honeymoon States. The many questions over Shiv's pregnancy, and why this was no surprise to Talia; the magisterial viciousness of Marcia; and whether Tom's willingness to serve everybody around him is a devious power play or just sad and lonely. The post Succession Obsession: HBO’s Succession S4E4: Ho...

Ethan and Talia discuss episode 3 of the fourth and final season of HBOs series Succession: Connor's Wedding. The vicarious shock of seeing Logan's death in real time; mourning the loss of Brian Cox the actor in this series as well as his character; and the brilliance of a show that manages to make this kind of tonal change mid-season. The post Succession Obsession: HBO’s Succession S4E3: Co...

Ethan and Talia discuss episode 2 of the fourth and final season of HBOs series Succession: Rehearsal. Is Logan really showing a caring side towards his children, or still manipulating them, or actually both at the same time? Is Connor's upcoming wedding the saddest in the history of television? Does this episode contain more one-liners than any other? And another theory on how the series might co...

Ethan and Talia discuss the first episode of the fourth and final season of HBOs series Succession: The Munsters. Including thoughts on the weirdness of the three Roy siblings now getting along with each other after so much fighting in previous seasons, how Tom thought his marriage might survive siding with Logan against Shiv, and the delicious prospect of a later episode featuring Connor and Will...