Post by DeepArcher on Nov 25, 2019 7:50:54 GMT
Alright, after really picking up the pace on my binge the last few days I am finally all caught up, and, yeah, I'm sure it's no secret at this point that this one of my favorite things I've seen TV-wise in quite some time. I guess "rich people being assholes" to each other is very much my speed, as are dysfunctional family-based comedy-dramas, so the fact that I'm such a big fan of this should really come as no surprise. The two seasons we've had thus far are really quite different and I'm not sure which one I prefer ... obviously consensus prefers the second which is much more grandiose, louder, and also really doubles down on the satirical element, a lot of situations and moments we're not quite meant to take at face-value which sometimes throws the tone off but not always. There's more humanity to the characters in the first season whereas the second, while still maintaining the complexity, leans more into the ruthlessness I was expecting from the series from the get-go. All that said I think I still might prefer the more scaled-down, small-scale approach of the first season, where not every episode is set in some different luxurious setting and it really felt a lot more intimate ... not to mention I also think the first season is probably the funnier one overall even though the second really put more effort into the comedic angle, or at least that's what I thought.
The storytelling perspective also makes a big difference and is interesting to note here. In season 1, Kendall is really the sole main character and everyone takes on a supporting role to his arc ... in second 2 it starts to take more the shape of a true ensemble piece where, if POV is leaning anywhere, it's more towards Shiv and Tom whose arc(s) feels the most central to the entire season. But even then ... the second half of the season especially starts to feel Logan dominant, and then we have the finale bombshell centered on Kendall ... as much as I love that ending it was almost a little jarring just because how much Kendall had faded a bit from the forefront relative to the role he had before, I dunno, that ending does feel slightly unearned in a way but I'm probably just nitpicking. Regardless, I do think Kendall has been my favorite character, certainly the most interesting one and the main I most enjoy watching, so again I think that has some influence on my preference for the first season. Also in the first season I really didn't enjoy Logan all that much, I mean not that he's supposed to be "likable" in any way regardless, but even still I sort of liked him more as this looming presence than as an actual character, so naturally I was a bit skeptical of the second season focusing on him more ... but then I found his sheer ruthlessness in the second season to be delectably watchable that I have to say that I absolutely love the control his character is in and I can never look away when Cox is on-screen now.
Also: the second was much more addictive to me so maybe that should be taken into consideration as well ... I dunno, ultimately the comparison between the two shouldn't matter because I loved the shit out of this entire thing. Such an ideal blend of satirical and at times dark comedy with genuinely compelling drama, the characters are all beautifully complex and the dynamics created between them by both the careful scripting and the phenomenal acting are difficult to not become absorbed in and obsessed with. "Obsession" is the key word here because this is definitely something that I just became more and more obsessed with the more I watch it ... I'm not a big TV person these days so it's rare for me to have this kind of reaction to a show anymore, but it makes me happy that I did and I'll just say that something like Succession represents exactly what I want from TV. Once BoJack closes the curtains in January, Succession is the best show on TV.
And, if it needs to be reiterated yet again ... the opening credits theme is one of the best of all-time. Hands. Down.
The storytelling perspective also makes a big difference and is interesting to note here. In season 1, Kendall is really the sole main character and everyone takes on a supporting role to his arc ... in second 2 it starts to take more the shape of a true ensemble piece where, if POV is leaning anywhere, it's more towards Shiv and Tom whose arc(s) feels the most central to the entire season. But even then ... the second half of the season especially starts to feel Logan dominant, and then we have the finale bombshell centered on Kendall ... as much as I love that ending it was almost a little jarring just because how much Kendall had faded a bit from the forefront relative to the role he had before, I dunno, that ending does feel slightly unearned in a way but I'm probably just nitpicking. Regardless, I do think Kendall has been my favorite character, certainly the most interesting one and the main I most enjoy watching, so again I think that has some influence on my preference for the first season. Also in the first season I really didn't enjoy Logan all that much, I mean not that he's supposed to be "likable" in any way regardless, but even still I sort of liked him more as this looming presence than as an actual character, so naturally I was a bit skeptical of the second season focusing on him more ... but then I found his sheer ruthlessness in the second season to be delectably watchable that I have to say that I absolutely love the control his character is in and I can never look away when Cox is on-screen now.
Also: the second was much more addictive to me so maybe that should be taken into consideration as well ... I dunno, ultimately the comparison between the two shouldn't matter because I loved the shit out of this entire thing. Such an ideal blend of satirical and at times dark comedy with genuinely compelling drama, the characters are all beautifully complex and the dynamics created between them by both the careful scripting and the phenomenal acting are difficult to not become absorbed in and obsessed with. "Obsession" is the key word here because this is definitely something that I just became more and more obsessed with the more I watch it ... I'm not a big TV person these days so it's rare for me to have this kind of reaction to a show anymore, but it makes me happy that I did and I'll just say that something like Succession represents exactly what I want from TV. Once BoJack closes the curtains in January, Succession is the best show on TV.
And, if it needs to be reiterated yet again ... the opening credits theme is one of the best of all-time. Hands. Down.