Holy shit, when 'Cousin Larry' popped up as 'Cameron's' doppleganger at the Pierce/Roy Tern Haven playdate, . . . I legitimately had to pause the show from laughing.
This really was a perfectly structured and perfectly timed episode. Gotten to know the Roys enough to appreciate the nuances of their various behaviors and subtexts, and throw them into a funhouse mirror of a social interaction fraught with gravity with an old-money family on their own turf.
Every eye shift, every exhale, every pregnant pause carries significance, and that's before you even start to unravel and map out the schemes and counterschemes and weaknesses and foibles and cluenessness and utter concentration on task all jumbled up and coded into 'an evening among friends.'
Watched a trailer last night based on comments in this thread.
I feel like this is one of those shows that, based on the trailer, i have no interest in watching. But will probably be a great show if i actually sat down and watched it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
Watched a trailer last night based on comments in this thread.
I feel like this is one of those shows that, based on the trailer, i have no interest in watching. But will probably be a great show if i actually sat down and watched it.
I can't guarantee it will be for everyone, let alone you specifically. So let me outline as concisely as possible the draw.
It's an intimate portrait of a powerbroker family that is subtly voyeuristic. The video-essay above details it more, but an almost imperceptible but very powerful aspect of this show that makes it compelling is, the viewing experience is immediate and voyeuristic, like you were eavesdropping on it at a dinner party.
The substance is generally the stuff you'd expect of a powerful family in the conglomerate business. Deals and mergers and scandals and . . . . succession, . . . health scares, information containment, PR, backstabbing, etc. But none of it is melodramatic or heightened. It's all matter-of-fact.
And it shows a lot of the psychology and dysfunction of such a family without moralizing or speechifying. A lot of it draws you in organically as you notice that no one can every actually say what they think, about important things, . . . yet they are brutally curt and gloriously blunt about things that 'don't' matter, . . . the divide will become quickly clear as well.
The voyuerism and lack of moral assessment is the big draw in the end, . . . you find yourself constantly wondering as you watch just how horrified or impressed or scandalized or disgusted you are supposed to be by what you are witnessing, and no one is there to tell you. You just soak it in and decide for yourself. The drama is all implicit and understood, never ever EVER vocalized or speechified. You are expected to be a savvy observer. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Baby Lee:
I can't guarantee it will be for everyone, let alone you specifically. So let me outline as concisely as possible the draw.
It's an intimate portrait of a powerbroker family that is subtly voyeuristic. The video-essay above details it more, but an almost imperceptible but very powerful aspect of this show that makes it compelling is, the viewing experience is immediate and voyeuristic, like you were eavesdropping on it at a dinner party.
The substance is generally the stuff you'd expect of a powerful family in the conglomerate business. Deals and mergers and scandals and . . . . succession, . . . health scares, information containment, PR, backstabbing, etc. But none of it is melodramatic or heightened. It's all matter-of-fact.
And it shows a lot of the psychology and dysfunction of such a family without moralizing or speechifying. A lot of it draws you in organically as you notice that no one can every actually say what they think, about important things, . . . yet they are brutally curt and gloriously blunt about things that 'don't' matter, . . . the divide will become quickly clear as well.
The voyuerism and lack of moral assessment is the big draw in the end, . . . you find yourself constantly wondering as you watch just how horrified or impressed or scandalized or disgusted you are supposed to be by what you are witnessing, and no one is there to tell you. You just soak it in and decide for yourself. The drama is all implicit and understood, never ever EVER vocalized or speechified. You are expected to be a savvy observer.
I'd be surprised if you didn't enjoy it on some level Detoxing. For me, it's the only show currently airing that I believe 5 years from now will be part of the same conversations had about Breaking Bad, The Wire, and The Sopranos. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Baby Lee:
I can't guarantee it will be for everyone, let alone you specifically. So let me outline as concisely as possible the draw.
It's an intimate portrait of a powerbroker family that is subtly voyeuristic. The video-essay above details it more, but an almost imperceptible but very powerful aspect of this show that makes it compelling is, the viewing experience is immediate and voyeuristic, like you were eavesdropping on it at a dinner party.
The substance is generally the stuff you'd expect of a powerful family in the conglomerate business. Deals and mergers and scandals and . . . . succession, . . . health scares, information containment, PR, backstabbing, etc. But none of it is melodramatic or heightened. It's all matter-of-fact.
And it shows a lot of the psychology and dysfunction of such a family without moralizing or speechifying. A lot of it draws you in organically as you notice that no one can every actually say what they think, about important things, . . . yet they are brutally curt and gloriously blunt about things that 'don't' matter, . . . the divide will become quickly clear as well.
The voyuerism and lack of moral assessment is the big draw in the end, . . . you find yourself constantly wondering as you watch just how horrified or impressed or scandalized or disgusted you are supposed to be by what you are witnessing, and no one is there to tell you. You just soak it in and decide for yourself. The drama is all implicit and understood, never ever EVER vocalized or speechified. You are expected to be a savvy observer.
Originally Posted by BigBeauford:
I'd be surprised if you didn't enjoy it on some level Detoxing. For me, it's the only show currently airing that I believe 5 years from now will be part of the same conversations had about Breaking Bad, The Wire, and The Sopranos.
Imma give it a go. Comes as a good recommendation and i trust ya'lls taste on this stuff. Breaking Bad is another one of those shows that i was talking about. I heard over and over how good it was, but it still took me years to finally watch it. I finally sat down for Breaking Bad just 2-3 years ago iirc. [Reply]