"Succession" Watch

The newest episode of "Succession" plays with ideas about journalism.

For Roman, news should be about pretty talking heads; CNN won't suffice because the news anchors are paunchy and balding.

For Kerry, CNN cameras are just a fun, shiny toy; having never shown an interest in journalism, Kerry suddenly decides that "the desk" may be a ticket to stardom. (Kerry's shallowness is on display when she giggles during coverage of a hurricane. Greg--wonderfully--dismisses Kerry when he says, "The focus group thinks you have some work to do. Nothing major. Just some practice....over a course of...a few...years....What did the group object to? It's small. It's fixable. It's....for example....your arms.")

Logan understands what news actually is. Logan screams the truth at his troops: "You are failing. Revenues are up 15 percent. Expenditures are up by 40. Does 15 equal 40? Who can let me know? ....You must be pirates. Find the open secrets--the things that no one dares to talk about. Then: talk. You are going to shock the nation. That is your job.")

Logan's speech made me think of Savannah Guthrie, squaring off against Trump: "You cannot spread lies about QAnon. You are the President. You are not someone's crazy uncle...."

Logan is awful, and he is a serious person. He breezily identifies a main problem when he addresses his own offspring: "You are still, fundamentally, children." That's brutal--and it's also maybe an example of tough love. It's hard to know the exact ratio of love-to-poison-to-envy-to-craftiness in any particular family scene, when you're looking at the Roys.

Can't wait for 4.3.

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