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Brian Cox: "Succession"

A new study of domestic violence, "No Visible Bruises," proves, beyond doubt, that one of the most dangerous spots in America (for a woman) is a woman's own home.

Edward St. Aubyn--born into enormous privilege--was raped by his father and abandoned by his mother, and he became an addict before he could drive.

In "The Crown," we see, again and again, brutality among the Windsors: parents silencing their children, siblings throwing one another to the wolves.

It's in this tradition that "Succession," on HBO, seems to operate. People say it's unwatchable because the characters are so despicable--but I think despicable characters are fine. What's unacceptable is a *boring* character.

Also, I think it's important for a writer to have compassion for his characters--awful though they may be--and it seems that someone running "Succession" *does* feel something for these lizard-people. We can sort of understand why the grown children behave as monsters. After all, their father, Brian Cox, looks straight through anyone trying to converse with him, freely calls one heir a "fucking idiot," and sets up a war within his family seemingly "for fun." (It will be interesting to see if we ever understand why the Cox character acts the way that he acts.)

My husband and I aren't far into "Succession"--just three episodes--but I admire the ballsiness of the writing. One great source of humor is a poorly-executed plot. In "Succession," characters are continuously using hypocrisy, and a kind of *sloppy, lazy* hypocrisy, at that: "Daddy, I wanted to check how you're doing...." "I chose this watch for you, it's Patek Philippe...." "Do you know those documents? Maybe you could make an effort to *not* find those documents..." This is repellent, but maybe it's repellent because it hits close to home: Maybe we're all semi-guilty, at least, of lazy hypocrisy in our daily business dealings. (When people would complain about the nastiness of "Girls" characters, I would think, Do you really not see a bit of yourself there? Hannah Horvath, c'est moi.)

I'm not fully enthralled by every minute of "Succession" -- so far -- but I'll keep watching. It's nice to hear an eccentric voice on TV. It's nice to see someone taking risks.
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