The Prestige TV Podcast - The 25 Best 'Succession' Characters With Bill Simmons and Joe House

Episode Date: October 13, 2021

In honor of Season 3 of HBO's 'Succession', The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Joe House to rank the 25 best characters from the show. Host: Bill Simmons Guest: Joe House Producer: Kyle Crichton ...Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Watch is the latest and the greatest in pop culture from best friends Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald. Join them as they discuss TV, movies, music, and much more. Check out The Watch on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is brought to you by Sweet Green. The day doesn't ask for permission. Lunch window? Gone before you saw it coming. You deserve a break that actually satisfies. Sweet Green's new wraps have got you.
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Starting point is 00:01:00 then set the scene with Hampton Bay string lights that bring it all together. Shop spring backyard days for seven days at the Home Depot. Now through May 6th. Exclusion supplies to homedipo.com slash price match for details. Welcome to the prestige TV podcast. My name is Bill Simmons. I'm here with my buddy Joe House of the Ringer, a fairway rolling, and a bunch of other podcasts that we have.
Starting point is 00:01:30 We've known each other since 1988 in college. We've had a lot of favorite TV shows over the years. Succession is the latest. We did a gimmick house for Grantland in 2000. where I counted down my 20 favorite Boogie Nights characters. And I made it seem like we were doing it. I made a list. You didn't sign off on the list.
Starting point is 00:01:51 And then you were outraged over and over again. I think Dirk Diggler was like number seven or number eight. How dare you? And you were just furious. And then as it went down and we were arguing and I thought we would recapture the magic of that with Succession. We were going to do my 25 favorite succession characters. 25. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:02:09 Well, we're going to zip through. through the 25 through 15, but I didn't tell you the list. Are you prepared to get angry at me? I'm prepared to get angry. I'm prepared to celebrate the calomary cock ring. I mean, I, you know, you're not a man, Bill Simmons. You're a fucking planet. And I'm here for it. We're going to pay homage to L to the OG. L to the OG. To multiple hooker girlfriends. Yes. To the Roy family, to bed shitters. there's a lot that's going to happen. So let's just get into it. Some people who didn't make the cut house.
Starting point is 00:02:45 Yeah, honorable mentions. Jamie, Jamie Laird. Oh, I have him on my list. You had him? Yeah. Well, he didn't make the cut. All right. Great scene by him, episode 10, season two,
Starting point is 00:02:55 where he really is pushing for the deal and they kind of see through him and they just sent him packing on the boat. You like Jamie? Well, I mean, he played an important role. He filled. He's a good role player, good bench player. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:08 he's up. Carolina, the PR person, who had some good looks of either complete horror or confusion. I wanted more. Wanted a little backstory. Wanted her involved with maybe go on one date with Kendall, nothing.
Starting point is 00:03:20 We never got the backstory with her. Nate, who had the affair with Shiv. And then Tom basically took his lunch. He took his wine at the wedding, made him pour the wine back in the bottle and completely emasculated him. I didn't like Nate.
Starting point is 00:03:37 I didn't like his giant head. I didn't think Shiv would be with him. It bothered me that Shib liked him. He should have looked better. Yeah. Right? He should have been handsomer. He should have been more of like a threat to people like us or in love with Shib.
Starting point is 00:03:47 He looked like a fucking Nate that you could bully to pour wine back in a bottle. Like, imagine to pour the wine back in the bottle. Like, go fuck yourself. Unless Shib just has terrible taste in men and that was the point of Nate. Well, I mean, her track record beyond Nate were some pretty handsome and exotic. She ate that after it was a good looking guy. Yeah, right. Tom Wambingans.
Starting point is 00:04:06 Well, anyway, Nate's out. Screw him. Nan Pierce, I think the actress did a great job. I just didn't love the two episodes with the Pierce's. Yeah, I'm in the same boat. It was a detour that basically took us back to the same point with the family and stuff. Very good character, but I think she's taking the 24 billion. Don't get a haughty with me, Nan Pierce.
Starting point is 00:04:28 Right. The moral high ground. Yeah, don't give us the moral high ground just because there's a New York magazine. Anyway, she's out. I like that actress, though. She was the president in 24. Cherry Jones. Great, great job by her.
Starting point is 00:04:41 Iverson Roy didn't make the cut. I only mention him. Obviously, he's, he's, uh, Kendall's son. He had some issues. But the fact that they named him Iverson, I thought was one of the five funniest things in the show. It's such like a just like overtly rich white family thing to be like, I want to name our son after Alan Iverson,
Starting point is 00:05:02 heroic, Roak Sixer. Like it's so stupid. For the. character who begins the entire series in the back of a car, loudly rapping Beastie Boys in noise-counselling headphones. Right. Iverson-Iristen, of course he named his kid Iverson. Iverson, right. Well, he didn't make the cut either. All right. We're going to get to the top
Starting point is 00:05:22 25 right now. In reverse order. We'll do this quickly. Number 25, Marsha Roy, Logan's wife. Wow. I thought she had some good moments. I liked when she laid into Shiv. on the wedding weekend and she does the he made you a playground and you think it's a whole world. That's a fantastic line. She's a power player. How is she only 25? Is it because we didn't see her in the last two episodes? I didn't like when she laid over for Rea.
Starting point is 00:05:50 So just to explain the character rankings for people. I'm not ranking on who is the best actor, best performance, just like the actual character, the enjoyment they brought me. Okay. And then how authentic the character was. Was the character on a straight line? Was it written correctly?
Starting point is 00:06:10 Did it obey the way it was written? And that Logan's wife, I don't feel like she rolls over for Rea like that in those two episodes. It was like she was playing the long game knowing Raya was going to kind of burn out. Okay. They had established her as this badass from Lebanon. He was like, don't fuck with this lady. And then Holly Hunter shows up and she rolled over. I didn't like it.
Starting point is 00:06:32 Did she roll over, though? Did she think she was chess matching her? She's punishing Logan, right? Logan needs to get punished because the one thing he can't do is humiliate her. Like that's the implicit bond that they have. Like she indulges a lot with him. She knows what the deal is. She's the third wife and she likes the power component of the relationship.
Starting point is 00:06:54 But he humiliated her and she's punishing him. I think she deserves higher than 25, but it's fine. We'll talk through this list. No sense of humor at all. No sense of humor. It's not like, oh, cool, here's a scene with Marsha Roy. I think that's why she's love. I think she's an effective character.
Starting point is 00:07:11 Won't be told my grandkids. Won't be going on YouTube looking for Marsha Roy scenes. To me, the best line relating to Marsha is what Lady Caroline Collingwood referred to her as the head of the Eastern Operations. That was very... What of her, Lady Caroline's... Lady Caroline. Well, we'll get there. I know we will.
Starting point is 00:07:34 Number 24, I have Frank. I thought the guy who played Frank was just perfect. He's a great friend. Yeah, he's a political guy, but he's also a punching bag, and he's resilient. He takes stuff personally, but yet comes back for more. He's very self-aware. That's what I like about Frank. Frank, the character, and as is throughout this show, I kept having this experience of not
Starting point is 00:07:58 being able to separate the actor from. like they all seem to me now to inhabit those characters so well. Like, I don't know if I could ever have a conversation with Karen Culkin and not expect him to do Roman. Frank felt the same way to me. Yeah, and Frank was one of those guys. Yeah, but now he's Frank. Classic. But that was one of the interesting things about succession.
Starting point is 00:08:19 We had no history with basically anyone on the show except for Brian Cox and maybe Fisher Stevens. And Colkin. Yeah, and Fisher Stevens a little bit. But it was all these fresh. He kind of had to feel them out for it. But now it's like, the people. It's really hard to, I, watching Kendall either in succession or as the Red Sox manager, Alex Cora, which are the two roles they could place. Looks exactly like Alex Corr,
Starting point is 00:08:40 I'm unbelievable. Kendall Roy. But, uh, yeah, it's hard to separate. Anyway, Frank, number 24. That's fine. I enjoy him. knows this place. Going to number 23. Lawrence Yee. The head of Walter. Yeah. Some great lines and moments from him in the pilot episode, which pilot episode, let's talk about it quickly. They hadn't really figured out the characters yet. And I think with Joanna Robinson
Starting point is 00:09:08 and I talked about this last week, it takes a few episodes. I think for the writers to learn the characters and the actors, for the actors to kind of realize how to color between the lines and stuff. And like Kendall's, well, do your thing on Kendall on the pilot.
Starting point is 00:09:23 Well, I just thought like across the board, the point that you're making is a good way of describing how I felt like looking back, what you and I did was rewatch, you know, you will rewatch every one of the 20 episodes a couple times over. Yeah. And I was catching back up.
Starting point is 00:09:40 And as I sat through the first five or six episodes, what I've come to understand and appreciate about these characters, going back to them, it's like, how did we get, they were rough caricatures. They were like the worst versions of themselves. They didn't have anything to like really, you know,
Starting point is 00:09:57 sink your teeth into. Well, you use the word, Campy, which I thought was good. And, you know, that really, to me, describes scenes like Roman jerking off in his office. You know, after he's on the window. Yeah, the first time he gets Frank fired and becomes the chief, the COO. He goes up to his office, pulls down all the blinds and jerks off onto the window,
Starting point is 00:10:18 the 95th floor, whatever. Come on. Yeah. Well, the show settles in. But Lawrence is really good in the first episode. What's weird is in the Volta episode where Kendall tries to build. up this multimedia thing that they bought and then destroys it at the end of the show. I actually thought Lawrence, I didn't kind of live up to the promise of what a dick he was in the first episode. He rolled over a little bit for Kendall.
Starting point is 00:10:42 He did get a bunch of big fat check. Yeah, I guess he did. Maybe he didn't care at that point. Number 22, the Weasley Waco PR guy played by Fisher Stevens. Once married to Michelle Fever. I loved where Logan would just get mad at him and he would change his mind. but he was just a good beaten down PR guy.
Starting point is 00:11:01 He also did have, you know, some strong Machiabelly angles to him. Logan respected him. He did. Very, very similar to our friend Louis K. And how he operated.
Starting point is 00:11:11 Oh, wow. Yeah, very similar. Okay. Lewis takes it as a compliment. Wishy-washy. I don't think. I'm kidding. I don't think Lewis is going to take it that way.
Starting point is 00:11:20 That's all joking. Number 22. Brian, the management training. buddy. You love this guy. This is in my favorite episode, Safe Room. He's working with Ron Rockstone, aka. It was great. He looks right out of a strong name. I like, he's like, what do you do? He's like, I like hanging out with my cousins, Bob and Bob and Joseph. No, his nephews. His nephews. He spends time with his nephews and he has high-tech drones. Yeah. No, he was good. He was a good,
Starting point is 00:11:53 sometimes when you have these one episode, you never see them good characters. They don't work, but I really enjoyed that guy. I have him tied for number 21 with the winner of 2019 Boer on the Floor. Carl. Carl, sure. Carl, not the greatest character, but he won Borr on the floor.
Starting point is 00:12:13 Carl Mueller. Yeah, pulled off, like Tom had, Tom was a minus 500 favorite during Boar on the floor. He had the sausage first. Yeah. Carl just would not be the night. Stole the sausage.
Starting point is 00:12:23 And then he's funny on the odd at the end when Kendall's like, it's going to be me. And there's a pause. And Carl's like, I don't mean to be too forward here, but is there going to be any of their announcements? Everyone is just covering their ass at all times of this show.
Starting point is 00:12:40 It's great. All right. Now we're into the top 20. Ray and Jewel, I have a 20. Yeah. Really effective character. Really smart. Especially when she starts kind of seen.
Starting point is 00:12:54 This was the wrong job. she's being set up to fail and she starts kind of pulling away. And you could see her pulling away in that last episode. I wanted more from Holly Hunter in this role. In what respect? I don't know. How would you describe this character ultimately? Like she's definitely a take no prisoners, businesswoman, really smart, really calculating.
Starting point is 00:13:20 But they tried to sell us on this thing with sexual attention thing with Logan. Yeah, that was tough. And I was just not buying it. That was tough. I don't know who it was less realistic for, but that part was weird. It was almost like, like it had to be somebody a little more sultry
Starting point is 00:13:37 that I felt like Logan was willing to get seduced by the notion of versus like she was more like her, his intellectual equal. And he already had that with his third wife. Well, I think it was like a, I definitely understand the notion of it being a calculated liaison, right? And so she's appealing to, all of Logan's, you know,
Starting point is 00:14:00 senses, vices, you know, she's getting them at every level, emotionally, intellectually, intellectually, physically, because that's how she wants to fulfill her ambition. But the physical part wasn't there. I didn't see the connection with them at all. Like, let me, let me throw this at you. Let's say Sharon Stone is in that role. Well.
Starting point is 00:14:18 Casino Sharon Stone, but at her age now where she's like older. Now people would say like Sharon Stone, she's not, Sharon Stone is a good actress. She's been good and, like, she's great in Casino. Now, maybe that she's playing a crazy character in that, but should have been somebody who had, you know, somebody who's in their 60s, but you can tell back in the day to get any man she wanted
Starting point is 00:14:39 at snap of her fingers. I felt like she should have been leading Logan by his cock around a little bit more than she was. Other than that, it was an intellectual thing, which again, he had with his wife. Well, I, my biggest complaint with that character was attaching her to the stick in the mud
Starting point is 00:14:58 Pierce family. I liked the arc of Holly Hunter's character. By the way, I do appreciate you inviting me on this because it does appeal to my inner English major nerd. And this has been part of why we've gotten along so well with television,
Starting point is 00:15:14 prestige, and otherwise over all these years. But like, that arc of that character belonged to something other than the Pierce family. It wasn't a great fit, right? Because she was, she's one of the smartest characters that I think she's just very solid. And the only weakness that she shows is the idea of she, it's an overdue to, you know, have an affair with. Did they have an affair? Well, they went into a bedroom together and
Starting point is 00:15:48 Marcia. Yeah, see, I would have thrown that out. I don't know if I would have had the romance piece of it. That's what I'm saying. This is a complaint. But that's why I have her ranked 20. I just say something was missing. That character either had to be more sultry or remove the romance stuff completely and just make her this calculated, badass businesswoman. But then it's like, so she's kind of leading Logan? I just didn't get it.
Starting point is 00:16:12 All right. Number 19. You and Roy. The angry brother. He's kind of the grim reaper of the show. He just comes in. He says terrible things. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:22 You build an empire. shit. Every time it's like, we're like, man, wow. But great lines. I like him. And he did deliver for us the true canonium for Greg the egg, right? Is he going to choose? And then, and it gave
Starting point is 00:16:37 us the opportunity for Logan to tell him look, your uncle's I mean, your grandfather's a coward. What do you say? Uncle, whatever, or Grandpa grumps. Yeah, Uncle fun or Grandpa grumps. Uncle fun. Uncle fun. Yeah, that's funny. He's 19. All right, now we're getting this some good ones.
Starting point is 00:16:53 I have number 18, British heroin waiter. He made the cut? Yeah. He was not an honorable mention? Great guy. Great character. He made the most of his appearance on the show. He screwed up the champagne thing,
Starting point is 00:17:08 took the yelling attack from Logan really nicely, I thought. Well, I mean, he kept going with it. That's what I made it extra delicious. Didn't hold it against Kendall when he found out maybe he'd have something to do drugs with at the end of the night. got paid for the weekend, let Kendall drive his car. Downside,
Starting point is 00:17:28 swimming, not great. Death, not a strong swimmer. Swimming, but I like the character. Number 17, Stewie. Yeah, I have Stewie much higher than 17. If I was going to be doing it.
Starting point is 00:17:39 Well, wait, you're going to have to hear the rest of the list. I think Stewie is actually in the right spot. Highlight for Stewie for me, other than he gets progressively pissier. More as serbic? Pissier,
Starting point is 00:17:51 more acerbic and just more disdainful of the Roy's as the two seasons go along. Stewie always has cocaine. He sure does. But never too much cocaine. He always has the right amount of cocaine. And it's like you got to go back and say, no, I'm out. But he has enough to kind of get you going and make you make bad decisions. Then he's out.
Starting point is 00:18:10 Judicious allocator of the cocaine. Yeah. He knew not to give it to Kendall when he needed Kendall. He had it. He said, I don't have it. He had it. Of course Stewie had it. I like Stewie because I feel like,
Starting point is 00:18:21 from the very beginning of the show, the relationship between him and Kendall, he's always one half step smarter and more calculated than Kendall. He's what Kendall, you know, Kendall wouldn't say it, but I think Kendall wishes he had the,
Starting point is 00:18:36 the acumen of Stewie, the business acumen. Because Stewie still, as we sit here right this second, entering the third season, in the driver's seat. Yeah, you're right.
Starting point is 00:18:47 Cocaine, what'd you call a cocaine, cocaine adjudicator? Allicator and cocaine. or cocaine allocator? Yeah. Yeah. I've never done cocaine, but if I was a cocaine person, it would have been nice to have a
Starting point is 00:18:58 stewie around who never had too much cocaine. Well, I knew what to give it out. Yeah, the right amount and would always use it as a weapon. Number 16, Naomi Pierce. This is the name Pierce's daughter who Kendall gets involved with. Great fucked up rich lady. Yeah. She kind of came through, but here's why I have her so high.
Starting point is 00:19:16 Reminding me of like 10 people I went to high school with. She's honorable mention to me. I didn't love. I liked her. You know, she was an effective vehicle for showing the continued poor decision making by Kendall. Kendall putting her on, bringing her along for the family trip.
Starting point is 00:19:37 Yeah. At that moment in the, the crucial juncture for the Waystar Royko, the future of the family, the future of the company, and he brings her along. Yeah. That's like an effective thing for his lack of judgment, but she didn't blow me away.
Starting point is 00:19:54 She had the great scene when she's going for the walk with Kendall. Yes. When he's when they're, what's at Turnhaven? And he's like, and there's like this long pause. And she's like, would you, would I like to do hard drugs? Yes. It's a great line. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:09 I liked them with you. Number 15, Gill. So Gil. I'm in a knife fight here and I'm holding a dildo made of American cheese. played by Eric Begoge. Now, Gil's probably a top 10 character, but I hold it against him because he was on Billions and he tried to do the rarely scene
Starting point is 00:20:27 cross the beams. Billions and Succession. Two totally different shows. I love them both. I don't, I feel like if you're on the Billions team, you can't then be on Succession. I don't understand this. Pick your show. Pick your team.
Starting point is 00:20:42 You can't be on both. He's just trying to make a... Eric Bogosian... just out there hustling. Why are you? Yeah, you're on the Billions team. Don't, don't crush his hustle. That's good hustle by him.
Starting point is 00:20:56 The best thing I love him as Miles Surrey calls him fictional Bernie Sanders. I think that's good. My single favorite moment involving Gil Evis was Roman calling him Senator Beavis. I love so much. My favorite moment was when Connor, who will get to much later in this top 25
Starting point is 00:21:20 when Connor gets into it with him at the wedding and just starts going in and the guy's like, all right, I'll see you later. I'm like, I dusted that guy. Yeah, he's not up for a debate. Yeah, I've won that debate. Yeah, I got Gild 15. Number 14, Pissbucket Ray.
Starting point is 00:21:37 Pissbucket Ray. Piss Bucket Ray from the board of floor. Out of nowhere. Yeah, he's very brief. I don't even know if he has a line, but Ray needs to take a piss. Logan tells him, why don't you pee in here? He's so stupid. He almost does it.
Starting point is 00:21:51 We get to see Ray later. And you nicknamed him Pisspucket Ray and it stuck with me. I have a number 14. He's part of Roman's attache. Isn't he like an executive something or other? He's symbolic of just how terrible all these people are. Like it's just a series of zeros surrounding these. That great amassed group there for the hunting expedition.
Starting point is 00:22:14 Yeah. You know, notionally. And they're all hidden there. And Logan doing a masterclass in, you know, I have an agenda. I want it to find something out. Here's how I'm going to run this show. Yeah. And this poor dope just wants to go take a leak.
Starting point is 00:22:29 Piss bucket Ray. Logan's like, nope, nope, you can't. Nobody's leaving. Go get a bucket. Number 13. We never see him on screen. Uncle Moe. Leicester McClintock.
Starting point is 00:22:41 The source of so much comedy. Oh, my God. leads to some of Conner's best moments. Mo touched us all. Should I lead with this? Moe touched everyone in this room. Just crossing every line. I loved it.
Starting point is 00:22:57 We don't see it as much in 2021 anymore. Everyone's too afraid to make jokes about an Uncle Mo. It was so fucking funny. And it feels like he's going to be a character in season three. Oh, my God. He's dead. It feels like he was the one who talked for the book. We're going to get more Uncle Mo.
Starting point is 00:23:14 Some flashback. we could get some flashback stuff potentially. Is that what you're saying? Uncle Mo, yeah, you're right. That would make sense. Flashback Uncle Mo. Uncle Mo, just in general, just a hilarious concept. And then Willa introduce yourself to Mo's wife.
Starting point is 00:23:30 He's a major, major, exactly. I'm sorry about Mo. Didn't do a great job with the boatsline. What do you mean? Well, a lot of people have died on the boats. There were crimes, just Moe was sweeping them up, left and right. All right. Number 12.
Starting point is 00:23:49 It's about to get real. Yeah. Shivroy. Whoa. Yeah, I am penalizing her big time. Not a top 10 out of Bill Simmons. No. And here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:24:00 Sarah Sniff, amazing actress. Yes. I actually really like the shift character. I think she's incredibly important in the show. So goddamn frustrating that I had to downgrade her like six, seven spots. She's the one character of all the simple. including Logan and her brothers and her uncle, whoever, she's all over the place. Is she smart?
Starting point is 00:24:26 Is she dumb? Is she on the family side? Is she not? Is she a good sister? Is she not? Like she has that moment with Kendall and Safe Room when he hugs her. And it's like all of a sudden she's this authentic caring sister. And then other times she just wants to trample everyone in the family.
Starting point is 00:24:41 And she loves Tom. She doesn't love Tom. Now maybe that's the point of the character. but it's a roller coaster ride and I think out of all the characters on the show it's the one character they have not figured out totally who she is what she cares about
Starting point is 00:24:55 what does she want if she liked the family this month why did she work much love why did she work for Gil what's the point of that this is the thing right and you're keying on how did she not see Holly Hunter
Starting point is 00:25:06 coming with the setup and it's like are you smart or you're not smart so this is there's a frustration with the character arc because we can like tolerate one vice, one sort of, you know, blind spot. And for her, what they set us up with in terms of that blind spot was, you know, she wants to not be tied down to one man.
Starting point is 00:25:31 I mean, that feels like the one thing where, and she's willing to use, you know, she's got a, like all of them, a calculus, and she's willing to use all of her sort of tools to sort of get what she wants. But there are a lot of questions about her decision making. We were presented with her early on as having a great political nose, and yet in many other instances,
Starting point is 00:25:58 her instincts are so completely wrong. She embarrasses herself beyond repair at the dinner with the pierces. I mean... Yeah, the Pierce thing was weird. Right. When they're on stage for the panel and she calls her dad... A dinosaur.
Starting point is 00:26:14 She says the dinosaur thing, and it feels like it's, she's like too smart for this stuff. That's it. And I guess my question is this. If we're going to say this character has bad decision making, that's one thing. I just don't think they can make up their mind on what this character is. And again, I don't believe in the actress because I think Sarah Snook is an amazing actress. Like, I love her. I'm in with her for life.
Starting point is 00:26:38 And what she was able to do in season two, you just, like, you just have a crush on her. Well, and not only that, but like, there are some really touching, revealing, heart-wrenching moments when she goes to bat for Tom after Tom tells her, you broke my heart, essentially. And then she just shows a human decency that we don't see out of the Roy family otherwise. I don't know. I think she's kind of a monster. Well, she's definitely, you know, you can use that word because of the unfurray. fettered ambition and how the, you know, the desire, she's so tickled by her dad coming to her and saying, I think you're the one. I mean, he basically sets her up for three quarters of a season of easy manipulation. He just pushes her around a little bit in the direction he wants her to go.
Starting point is 00:27:31 Which also isn't authentic to me. Yeah. Well, that's the frustration that you're saying. Frustration with the narrative. So here's thing. If you're telling me all this is intentional, the showrunner Jesse Armstrong, his whole point with this character is to make us really frustrated. I would say that's fine. But we also have other evidence from the first few episodes
Starting point is 00:27:51 that they figured out some of these characters as it went along. They completely figured out Kendall from where he was in those first couple episodes. Roman, same thing, made him way less campy. He's just firing off one-liners. Shiv, it's like, am I rooting for her?
Starting point is 00:28:07 Hard to say. Hard to say. I don't have good answer. Do I think she has a good soul? I think what she did in terms of going to bat for Tom, plus some of the moments where it's just the three kids together, not with Connor. Right.
Starting point is 00:28:22 Are really authentic. I'm glad I use that word. Like genuine sibling bonding bond. Good sister brothers. Great sister moments. Yeah. Well, I have 11 characters. I like more in there.
Starting point is 00:28:35 Tabitha is our number 11. That's Roman's hooker girlfriend. And I guess not a hooker. or maybe more like a... No, I don't know. What is she? I don't know. I'm not sure.
Starting point is 00:28:45 She was participating in a sex party. It seemed like she probably was being compensated for her participation in that particular party. So she's like a hostitute? Maybe a hostitude. Yes. I like that a lot. I don't know what she does for money. What does she do for money?
Starting point is 00:29:00 Did she have a job? I don't know. I don't know. It's unclear to me. Well, she had a snowball incident with Tom. And it was hot. It was hot. It's a hot thing.
Starting point is 00:29:12 It was a very hot thing. Greg the egg did not agree. Swallow my own load. Greg the egg did not agree. Greg the egg was horrified. He was mortified. But Tabitha got off some great lines. Her dynamic with Roman,
Starting point is 00:29:23 I never watched Masters of Sex, but apparently she was on that show too. Her dynamic with Roman was awesome, where Roman just wouldn't have sex with her. And she's, they just started dating. She's sexually frustrated. And she's getting off, you know,
Starting point is 00:29:37 Barb's left and right. The phone sex scene is a classic. Well, she's a, I love that character and they have a couple of these in the show. They're like kind of outside of the Roy orbit and they're truth tellers. Like she tells a kind of truth about the character, about Roman's character. She's a hostitude. Right. So she, she's worldly, right?
Starting point is 00:29:58 She can see, this is why she's so appealing. This is why Roman likes her. Well, she's friends with Naomi Pierce, which makes me think, so how did they cross past? Party circuit. Party circuit. You think she's like a socialite? Like a Paris Hilton? Yes.
Starting point is 00:30:14 I need more Tabith of the backstory. I mean, maybe we get it in season three. Spin it off. Number 10. Somebody who is a hooker. Willa. Yep. We never see her in that role.
Starting point is 00:30:28 She's definitely a call girl though. Well, that's the first few episodes. Yeah. And they're worried about it and they don't let her in a couple of family pictures and all that stuff. she is like a weirdly valuable character. Hmm. She comes in and you're like, all right. So this is just the blank slate,
Starting point is 00:30:46 Connor. Like there's some stuff going on with her. Like she, especially there's some comic stuff with her that she develops in season two, especially in the safe room episode. When she throws the iPad off the yacht in the final episode.
Starting point is 00:30:59 Fantastic. Unbelievable. Her being a playwright, her kind of fumbling along. The way she kind of navigates the relationship with her and Connor where it's like, does she like this person? Is she attracted to him?
Starting point is 00:31:11 Yeah, maybe. But by the last few episodes, season two, they do feel like a team. It's like she's kind of bought in, right? Yeah, because she loves the money. Yeah. I mean, she loves the lifestyle. I'm not suggesting that she's purely motivated just to like try and cash, but like. Oh, no.
Starting point is 00:31:27 She's purely motivated by the money. What are you talking about? Whatever her love. What else would it be? Whatever she perceives of her life options, she's fine with making whatever self-compromises she needs to live this lifestyle and be a partner with Captain Dufus. And she is like the intellectual side of that relationship. She wrote the eulogy that would not get him in hot water with the Mo Lester.
Starting point is 00:31:55 She has weirdly astute feelings on things. Some instincts that are right. Yeah. She was the one who realized that funeral, don't say anything that could hurt your election chances. Now, she was also dumb enough to think Connor had a chance to be the next president. Well, I think she was just indulging him. There's no downside for her to indulge that nonsense. Probably would have come out at some point that she was a call girl if he, if he, if he, you think, is that that? You could argue like Melania Trump, who knows nothing came out with that.
Starting point is 00:32:24 Great point. We still don't know her background. Great point. Okay. I have Will at number nine. I have throwing the iPod off the yacht or number 10. Throwing the iPad off the yacht was great. Number nine. our guy Greg the egg Yeah someone have him higher I think his usage rate Boy this is sacrilegious to some people I thought his usage rate was a tad too high A little too high
Starting point is 00:32:47 Yeah like they like If you could have toned it down 8% I think there were some fourth quarters When they were clearing out for Greg That maybe I wouldn't have I think he was more of a Come off the bench Hit a couple threes set some picks
Starting point is 00:33:00 Kind of character The highlight of him is him And Tom together I think they had some of the best stuff. Yeah, really, nearly every kind of scene. And he had, of anyone in the first 20 shows, the easiest to understand best sketched out arc. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:33:17 From the buffoon he was in the first one who didn't even have enough money to pay for a cab and all that stuff, to where he goes at the end, where he becomes Kendall's kind of, you know, side conspirator when they finally pull it on logo. The documents in the envelope. And this goes back to the ship thing where it's like, they sketch that Greg arc out perfectly. And yet the Shiv thing looks like the win expectancy chart for one of those basketball games
Starting point is 00:33:41 or people keep hitting threes. It's like it's just lines going up and down. It's like, where are we with Shib this week? I don't know. So the Greg the Egg thing, I totally agree with you in terms of his arc having, you know, a sensible kind of trajectory is something that we could wrap our minds around. And I also totally agree with the idea that his use or treat was a little high for my taste as well.
Starting point is 00:34:08 I get the idea of his, you know, naivete, whether it's, it's calculated or not, as another vehicle for us to, you know, kind of get a perspective on how these characters, you know, the true nature of the characters, we see it through Greg's naivete a little bit. And his, you know, he's batting, his batting average is pretty high in terms of his political instincts. and how to create opportunities. He's got a little bit of street hustle to him, a little bit of street sense. Saving copies of those documents, pretty smart.
Starting point is 00:34:42 Choosing not to bring, you know, he both in an early second episode, third episode, where he's sent back to the house to get some belongings. Shiv gives him, Roman gives him an instruction to bring back the papers to sign. Shiv tells him not to. He sides with Shiv on that decision.
Starting point is 00:35:03 I mean, he's got some instincts. Well, he's number nine. Number eight. This seems, I'm surprised he's not higher, but this is where we are. L to the OG, Logan Roy. Logan. Yeah, I have him eighth. At seven characters, I enjoy more than them.
Starting point is 00:35:21 Okay, let's hear it. Here's my issue with Logan, other than horrible father, a monster of a human being. And as Mallory Rubman said, all of these kids. are damaged birds because of him, solely because of him. And he pits up against each other constantly. But that makes him a great character for the show. My issue with the Logan character, and I'm about to ruin him for you a little bit.
Starting point is 00:35:46 So this guy's in such bad health, the first four or five episodes, and summons this unbelievable Larry Bird with the injured back 1992 playoffs performance just to give his speech so he doesn't seem weak to kind of stave off the coming you know, Logan,
Starting point is 00:36:05 or Kendall trying to take company from him. And he's just weak losing his fastball. He's peeing in the office on the floor. That's his, that's a house. It's at home. He's, yeah. Well, he also peed in Kendall's office. Yes.
Starting point is 00:36:18 Well, that was deliberate. Yeah. But he's doing stuff like that. And then first season, first episode season two, he's thrown fucking 95 miles an hour again. What happened? Is this guy?
Starting point is 00:36:31 He recovered. Recovered from what? He looked like he had dementia. He had a stroke. You don't recover from a stroke. The first season, he has his 80th birthday for Christ's sakes. I think it's, I don't think it's authentic enough that by basically season two, he's throwing 95, he's battling everybody, he's controlling the room, he's doing bore on the floor.
Starting point is 00:36:55 It's like, this guy was this weak old, doughtery man who was about to lose his company, and he just miraculous recovered? It's never addressed. I don't feel like it was that miraculous recovery. Where's the hospital trip? But they're like, hey, Logan's really doing great. We're so fired up. A big part of that season two thing is Kendall managing his meds because whoever it was, the assistant that was both missed one dose. So Kendall takes it upon himself. And that's part of, you know, Kendall's redemption with his father. And he puts him close to his father to be responsible for that. But he's still taking his meds. He still needs to sit down all the time. He still, they do. I mean, I hope Brian Cox is in good health, but the character is fat.
Starting point is 00:37:38 You know, he's having a hard time. You can see him laboring around. I'm surprised that you think that he's not capable. It's sheer force of will for a megalomaniac like that who believes that the world revolves around him through sheer force of will, that he's, he's unstoppable. He's literally unstoppable. And so a stroke, fuck that. He's got a, he's got a company to run. And his ego, okay. He's a planet, not a man. All right. So if we're to think that he's recovered and he's kind of back to being Logan, how does he get like his ass handed to him by Nan Pierce? How does he not see the Ray of Jewell thing at all. Why does he handle the thing with Shiv and
Starting point is 00:38:29 Kendall so badly? I think he handles all that stuff fine. And I think... He does? What's good about it? No, I mean... I would argue that he's terrible at his job. Those are the aspects that make him you know, that tie him to the story in a
Starting point is 00:38:45 way that makes it plausible. He's not infallible. He's not God. He's not capable. He's not every decision that he makes is perfect. he's paranoid and, you know, delusional and he's a narcissist, like all of the pathological stuff that goes along with him. But that doesn't keep him from making bad business decisions or questionable business decisions, right?
Starting point is 00:39:09 And we know he's people who have bad decisions with his kids. Listen, I love the Logan Roy character. Yeah. I'm just nitpicking because I wanted to put seven people above him. Okay. How about this? Goes to the fuck off thing. a little too much. Wow.
Starting point is 00:39:25 Yeah. Not for me. Yeah. Not for me. Develop some other low post moves. No. No. That one works. It can't just be fuck off twice an episode. It's a sky hook. It works every time. Fuck off works every time. It's like. It's a, it's a Kareem sky hook, Bill Simmons. It's like when good times, when JJ started saying dynamite every episode, it's like, all right, we get it. No, I like dynamite every episode.
Starting point is 00:39:46 Fuck off should be used like a nuclear weapon. When it's used, it should be this impactful, incredible thing. He's throwing it around people on the fucking street. It's a very versatile fuck off. He uses it in a dozen different ways. Terrible father. Yes. I think the best Logan moments for me are like
Starting point is 00:40:04 when he is the chess master, like the last episode of the first season, Kendall kills the guy, brings Kendall in the next day and he just navigates the room just perfectly. And all of a sudden, like the old man's got his fastball back. I think he's all over the place in season two
Starting point is 00:40:22 in a way that's kind of weird. Okay. It's like, what is good about him running a business anymore? He's ready to double down on the,
Starting point is 00:40:28 on the Nazi anchor. Hey, we stuck by our talent. I got married in Hitler's bunker. It's just which way is the wind blowing for in each moment. All he cares about
Starting point is 00:40:39 is making money for the company. And, you know, he demolishes Walter. That couldn't have been a good business decision. I don't know if it was or wasn't. Yeah, you're just a Logan defender.
Starting point is 00:40:48 Well, that's true. I am. When I get to these other seven characters, you'll see why Logan was eight. Number seven, Jerry, your favorite 64-year-old Cougar. I would put her in the top three. She's in the top three for me.
Starting point is 00:41:00 The best thing about this character is you could tell she wasn't supposed to be that important of a piece of the show in the first four or five episodes and hit everything out of the park to the point where they go into season two and they're like, we actually have to lean into this. It's the actress. We have something great. Great actress. Jay Smith Cameron. Yes.
Starting point is 00:41:18 Jay Cameron Smith or Jay Smith Cameron? Yes. Jay Smith Cameron Cameron Smith. Yes. She's great. I don't know how she pulls off sexual attention with Roman and this weird mother son kind of thing, the thing he's been looking for because he obviously has such a fucked up relationship
Starting point is 00:41:38 with his mom. It's a piercing emotional intelligence, and that's why I like her. She is present for every crisis facing the Roy family, and they are in perpetual crisis. and her as the trusted concedingly this might be part of the appeal to her might be like the lawyer in me right you know 25 years ago i went to law school and i went through all of that there is a certain stability to her right she's not up and down and all over the place in this this heaving sea of the roy family she's constantly just plowing along on the on the tugboat and not getting tossed and not getting flipped over and everybody seeks her counsel. I mean, I, plus just what she does with Roman is otherworldly.
Starting point is 00:42:28 She saved that character to me. Yeah. Because they turned, Roman was such a caricature of a jerk off, you know, New York dipshit. I loved that. Who wouldn't spend any, you know, couldn't bother to spend five minutes building any kind of business acumen or anything. And they used her, used that character, her character, to convince him. filling a mother role that just take, take six weeks, go do the business training thing.
Starting point is 00:42:57 And I'll be your, your ally in this. Yeah. That nurturing instinct, like, that's, it really adds to the richness of the whole show to me. And it saved Roman to me. Also a great political move by her. Incredible political move.
Starting point is 00:43:12 And this is different to her and shift. That character was reliable. The decision she made and the way she played scenes with different characters and just this is just how to play the room she was very consistent whereas i felt like shib was all over the map depending on the episode or the season i didn't know where i don't think she knew because it was being written all over the place jerry jerry just from the first moment even when they're talking about should we do the pierce day or not the board in the four episode and she's the one who's like yeah reservations i'm not sure but
Starting point is 00:43:50 but that's what she should have said because they had built up the equity that she was going to be the one that said that. They did a good job with her. I should mention here just for the listeners, House was devastated that she didn't get naked with Roman. There's still time.
Starting point is 00:44:05 Season two. Still time. I jokingly texting during that. I was like, we upset that we didn't get a sex scene with Jerry and she's like, upset, I was furious. It's not too late. Season three. Not too late.
Starting point is 00:44:19 Jerry's going to break it out. Time for number six. 25 favorite characters on succession. Number six, it's two people. It's the fly guys. Oh my God, of course. They're only in two scenes. They barely have any dialogue.
Starting point is 00:44:34 The first one, they show up for Tom's bachelor party and get left behind. And then the second one, they show up for the wedding. We see them getting out of a car. No, the bus. And the bus. And the bus that's not allowed to drive all the way up. Tom goes, hey, it's the fly guys. And it does like this fake punchy thing.
Starting point is 00:44:52 Just, I love that they, it's almost like the Russian in the woods and the Sopranos. There's no backstory with the fly guys. There's like clearly his idiot friends from college. Why do they go along with it? They probably buried a prostitute like 20 years ago somewhere. Oh, no. No, I don't think there's anything sorted among them. Oh, the flag guys have, terrible things have happened with the fly guys.
Starting point is 00:45:11 I don't know. The fly guys and Tom, yeah, they're too dopey. They went on a Bulgaria trip and definitely there was a murder that was covered up. I don't think that. I love the fly guys. Can we start, can we find two people in our lives to call the fly guys? It's so dumb. The fly guys.
Starting point is 00:45:28 Yeah. This is where people are getting mad that had the fly guys over Logan Roy. People are mad. It's my list. Number five, Kendall Roy. Sure. Rapper. Method.
Starting point is 00:45:39 Father. Scheming fuck up son. Not method. Co-co-co-Hod. Well, he tried meth too that day in New Mexico. A rational confidence investor. bed shitter. It's a good list.
Starting point is 00:45:55 What a character. I'll just say this. Jeremy Strong. I think the best performance on HBO since Gandalfini and the Sopranos. Wow. Yeah. In the last 15 years,
Starting point is 00:46:08 I think it's the best anyone's done on that network. Because that means you like him better than anybody in Game of Thrones. Yeah. And you didn't even hesitate. Yes. Even Dingledge.
Starting point is 00:46:20 Even Dinklage. Yeah. Wow. I think it's a much harder character. He's got to do so many things over the course of those 20 episodes. And, you know, your heart breaks for him. You hate his guts. He's a fucking asshole.
Starting point is 00:46:35 He has a weird morality to him, even though he has no morals at all. And he's just this incredibly damaged guy. And navigates it the whole way where it's never not believable. and just an incredible actor. Like honestly, just an incredible actor. The heel turn that ends season two is an all-time, wow, jaw-dropping.
Starting point is 00:46:59 It's great. And the only reason that it packs the punch that it delivers is because of him, because of the arc of him. Well, you said it, because we watched the end of it today, again, I've seen it 10 times. He's on the head, he's on the out of the headphones.
Starting point is 00:47:15 he's watching, he sees Shiv come out, and she goes over to Tom and whispers, and now he's starting to realize, oh, they're going to make me the fall guy. I'm the one. And then she's like, hey, Kendall, and he takes up the headphones, does the slow motion walk,
Starting point is 00:47:31 has the scene with the dad. And you were saying he does the Judas kiss. It looks like a Judas kiss to me. Yeah, absolutely right. He's like, why wasn't it in me? And he's like, you're saying, you don't have it in you. You're not a killer.
Starting point is 00:47:41 You're not a killer. He gives him the Judas kiss, goes back to the table, says it's me. They say, Roman, you're the new, what do they call? Chief Operating Officer.
Starting point is 00:47:53 And he gives him, like, Roman, that proud look. Like, you do a great job, Ron. Like, it felt sincere. It did.
Starting point is 00:48:01 The relationship between the siblings, I thought was handled really well. Me too. The over and over again tapped into, and you have a bunch of siblings, so you get this. Like,
Starting point is 00:48:11 there's moments where it feels like they're all like 10 years old again, right? the way they fight, make fun of each other. It's just, I, you know, not to keep saying the word authentic, but very authentic. Well, the shared experience that they have, the damage that each of them suffers at the hands of their, you know, insane sociopath father. Oh, I think you're going to say insane sociopath. And it turns out the damage isn't from their father.
Starting point is 00:48:36 It's from their mother. Who's way meaner than the father? She is a tour of force. Yeah, we're going to get to her in a second. So many good Kendall moments. I like when before he kills the waiter, when Greg
Starting point is 00:48:51 goes and basically insinuates he has Blackbone. He's, look at you. You little McAvellian, fuck. I see you, Greg. I see you, Greg. I like it. It's really good. He does. I think it means they think of me as a cockering made from Calamari. Frank, like the deadpan of it, he
Starting point is 00:49:08 is just really great. Yeah. Great character. Oh, it's all time. I can't wait to see season three. So how was he not in the top four? Well, I have Roman at four. I'm starting to vacillate now. I kind of wish I had Roman 5 and Kendall at 4 just from what you said about Roman earlier.
Starting point is 00:49:26 But Roman, they figure out that character about halfway through season one. And I think a lot of it probably would do with ad lipping from Culkin. But he gets off more funny one-liners. Oh. I mean, you can do a YouTube clip, but it would be like 20 minutes long. he becomes almost like if it was Kirby enthusiasm, he's like what Super Dave met to Kirby enthusiasm. But if Super Dave was a much more important character on the show, right?
Starting point is 00:49:54 I seriously, if I ever met Kieran Culkin, I just don't know how I could have a conversation with him and not feel like I was talking to Roman Roy. Like how does he operate in his room? I've seen him do like behind the scene stuff and he's explaining the character. And it's still to me in Roman Roy's voice, I feel like Roman Roy is explaining Roman Roy. It's an amazing, amazing character that he inhabits and is just his body,
Starting point is 00:50:23 his physical, the physical way that he presents that character is so on point and powerful and believable. And it makes me, this is the experience I said when we talked about it, I resent that character through the first four or five episodes because it wasn't until I went back and rewatched it to see. I feel like they did him a disservice a little bit. We didn't get to see like all of the rich, complex, you know, more complex possibilities for him
Starting point is 00:50:52 until really season two. But man, it's a great character. Tremendous job by that guy. He's, it's like, he's probably closer to Fredo than Kendall is. But Connors. They start there. Him and Conner kind of share the Fredo thing.
Starting point is 00:51:13 Connor's the Frado. It's not even close. But like the boardroom scene when Kendall's trying to do the overthrow. And Roman just doesn't have, ultimately just doesn't have the balls to go against his dad. And they show him in the table and he's like, his body language, he's like slinking in his seat. Because they treat him like a baby. I feel like they short changed him a little bit. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:35 But by the end of, by the, basically the bachelor party episode. is when he comes into his own. And honestly, the whole thing that goes down in Turkey feels like the, where they use that as the vehicle to give him the seasoning, the gravitas, like, you know, because he almost delivers an out for the family. But then it's smart enough to realize it's probably a house of cards and they can't do it. And it actually shows some real business acumen. It was awesome.
Starting point is 00:52:03 It was a great, great character turn. And it's just in the last two episodes of season two. I think my favorite Roman moment was after he got rid of the fly guys and he goes, all right, who wants to fuck a hobo or whatever? And Tom's like, what? There are too many of those kinds of lines. Roman is a fantastic character. All right.
Starting point is 00:52:24 Number three, the mom, Lady Caroline. Yeah, Lady Caroline. Now, you talk about incredible PR and usage rate. Every time she's on the screen, she's insulting somebody. The insults, I got to say this, scares me to say this, but she reminds me a little of my mom. This is when my mom, my mom after like four drinks where she's just like this just could kind of get a little vicious. But this, just everyone is terrified of her. It's so funny that she's the one the kids are all afraid of not their own dad. Their dad who's one of the biggest villainous, most feared media titans of the last 30 years, at least the
Starting point is 00:53:12 show makes us think. And the mom is the one that has everybody just on pins and needles. Because she cuts right to the core. She sees through every single one of them and has them all figured out immediately. She's going around the wedding, asking people how long it's going to last. With a twinkle in her eyes. Yes. She's mean for sport. She's the everyone on the show is incredibly mean, which I think is the biggest criticism against it. She's the one who's just like, I'm mean. this is who I am. I'm owning it. You can all pretend you're somebody else.
Starting point is 00:53:45 I'm the one who's going to pretend nothing. This is who I am. I am a mean person. It's great. Her toast where she says, you know, I want to tell you how much I love you because I don't think I'm going to be around
Starting point is 00:53:57 for your second wedding. But that punchline, it's fucking devastating. Incredible. And then, you know, the big payoff when Kendall goes back when they're in England
Starting point is 00:54:07 and he's fucked up because he's in the house of the kid he killed. And then he wants to convide in his mom that night. And she's like, you know, what's doing in the morning? I'm a little tired. Like she just has no empathy or any sort of sense of her kids being in danger, in trouble, what their moods are. She's a monster.
Starting point is 00:54:28 She's the biggest monster on the show. And I'm here for it. And an emotional distance, right, that's not going to be bridge. We never really do. It's not distance. It might be, she's on another point. Yeah, that's right. She has, but it's just great job.
Starting point is 00:54:44 What's her name, Lady Caroline? Lady Caroline Collingwood, I believe. Yeah, I hope we get to see her again. All right, well, the top two for me, this is really Bird versus Magic. This is Brady versus Manning. This is Ali and Frazier. Tom and Connor in the final two. I have Tom at two.
Starting point is 00:55:07 Tom, some of the best lines in the show. You can't make it. Tom, without breaking some greggs. I didn't cheat all the sperm stayed in my own body, like a closed loop system. Close loop system is you don't really hear about syphilis. You much about syphilis anymore. It's very
Starting point is 00:55:26 much the MySpace of STDs. He has like 40 of those. He's, I think, gets the most out of a character of anybody on this show. Like, even like we talked about Culkin, that guy, Romans, pretty close to Culkin, right? Tom in real
Starting point is 00:55:44 life might be a completely different human being than he is on this show. The single biggest, you know, I don't know if it's a shock to the system, but like watching the behind the scenes and hearing him and Shiv talk in their natural British accent.
Starting point is 00:56:01 And Shiv's Australian. I mean, Shiv's Australian and he's English, right? He's from the UK. Yeah. And hearing their accents is like, wow! What a wow that is. He's so, it's such a complicated character. He might be gay.
Starting point is 00:56:18 We're not, or like he might have, they're like, he's clearly like kind of in love with Greg, but I don't, I can't unpack that relationship, but he gets so mad when Greg tries to leave him. He's like, you're mine!
Starting point is 00:56:29 Yeah. He's, you know, obviously a climber, but I also think he really loves Shiv. I agree. He's made that trade. He's made a trade where he, understands that he
Starting point is 00:56:45 for the purpose of the life and lifestyle that he wants he's hit he's shib is a lottery ticket he's won the lottery ticket he has her affection he thinks that he's prepared to accept her and really the whole family on whatever
Starting point is 00:57:02 terms they serve up even when Logan insults him and says you've buried a man who's beneath you right in front of him it's perpetual humiliation yeah they humiliate him to his face relentlessly and he takes it and he takes it and he takes it but you can't feel bad for him because he's also a bad person
Starting point is 00:57:18 he's complicit in that when they think there's a shooter in the in the building in that episode he's ready to like bowl over I mean he deliberately knocked over executives coming and he's running he pushes people out of the way great character
Starting point is 00:57:33 superb absolutely I think one of my favorite HBO characters ever wow yeah okay I really think I really as good as everybody is I think Tom and Connor, for me, are up there with some of the greats over the years, like, Atabisi. We loved Atabisi. Who was better than Adam C? Speaking of an emotional and rich, you know, a depth.
Starting point is 00:57:56 What was Marty Funkhouser? Marty Funkhauser's sister? Yes. Yeah. Oh, God. You're going through the Polly Walnuts. I mean, we've had some great ones over the years. I would have Tom and Connor alongside all of them.
Starting point is 00:58:10 Tom great. In the ship thing, it's like you almost don't want it to work out. I know Tom's a bad person, but I also know Shiv's going to destroy him and he's probably to end up committing a murder or something bad's going to happen to him. I don't know why I'm rooting for him because it's not like he's redeemable, but I just, the actor is so likable. It's great character. And he loves her.
Starting point is 00:58:33 That's the thing, right? We actually see a real affection. He doesn't want to do a threesome because he just wants to. wants to be with his wife. Yeah. She tries to, you know, give him the threesome as a way of making peace for the fact that she told him on their wedding night, that she wanted an, she didn't want to be monogamous. She wanted an open relationship and maybe the threesome is, you know, a way to.
Starting point is 00:58:56 And he's like, you know what? I'm not a hippie. I just want to have my wife. I just want to be with my wife. And then that scene on the beach is just devastating. the sad that I am with you. I'm not sure that the sad I am without you is going to be worse than the sad that I am with you. Unbelievable.
Starting point is 00:59:16 Yeah, Tom can pull off that scene. He can pull off walking over to Logan and just taking his chicken. Well, that's what he does next. And then he can pull off the ate his own sperm after getting blown at his bachelor party. And then it's just reconciling with it for the next. I was hot. And he's just like searching for approval from anybody that it's okay. Okay.
Starting point is 00:59:39 Amazing. Fantastic. All right. Connor is my number one. Okay. I'll give you some reasons. This should have been the worst character in the show. All of these shows have the one character that doesn't quite work, but they're kind of stuck going down the road.
Starting point is 00:59:54 I said last week with Joanna that like Billions, Axe's wife was that character. They just couldn't figure it out. And eventually they kind of had to nudge her off. But they all have them. Every show has that one where it's like, ah, this one. Even the Sopranos, you know, when they would detour sometimes with like, what was the priest that Carmelo was in love with? We had to deal with that guy. We had to get like Furio and, you know, they all kind of detour in the wrong ways.
Starting point is 01:00:23 This show, it's perfectly cast. The detour has never really happened. But then Connor is the one who's like, all right, I get it. It's the Black Sheep half-brother. He's the flat pancake. Yeah, I get it. All right. Calls him.
Starting point is 01:00:36 But Alan Ruck is. playing him. So it's like, that's a good sign. Had a good history of that guy. Some of the highlights. The Oster Litz Ranch had to change the name. Apparently it was offensive in the 1800s. He debates Gil and he goes, I fucking smoked him. He funds a hooker's terrible play.
Starting point is 01:00:57 He runs for president. He does the presidential, what's that weird video he did? Yeah. The hype video. He does the speech at Moe's funeral. He does the speech for his dad's work event. I love you. Super much.
Starting point is 01:01:12 Super dad. Whatever that thing. He's just, he's always on. It's like he's hitting a home run every time. So the counter argument would be that he is, he's written in a one-note way, but I think that Alan Ruck just fills him with a level of surreal insanity. That he just inhabits.
Starting point is 01:01:40 He is the eccentric weirdo, out of touch, black sheep, older sibling belongs to a different mother character. Got it. Okay. That guy I know. But what Alan Ruck does with him then inhabits him. There's always a twinkle in his eye. I always want to hear what he has to say. I'm always up for a conversation between him and Willa.
Starting point is 01:02:03 Oh, yeah. It's like they can, you can spin. The great thing about this show. you could have spun off Greg and Tom and you could have spun off it's not too late it's not too late you've two spin off shows on the show
Starting point is 01:02:14 and the flag guys obviously well that's a backstory show yeah flashback show now it's just every time he's in a scene he never it's like if you're playing basketball with them
Starting point is 01:02:26 he only does what he can do he's never interested in doing anything other than helping the team win he's in the right spots if you hit if you pass up the ball in the corner he's hitting the three he's getting the big rebound he's just he's just fun to play with well he's willing to do
Starting point is 01:02:41 anything i mean he he he's so out of touch that he he'll go do any he asks his father for a hundred million dollars right because he's that i'm a little cash straps you know i'm a little illiquid at the moment if this play isn't great can i get a hundred million dollars like he doesn't ask for five million dollars you don't ask for a million i need i'm I think I need a hundred million. A hundred million. It's so good. He's a little cash trap.
Starting point is 01:03:12 He's a little liquid at the moment. I like when they're talking about Greg getting the money and he goes, hey, you can't do anything with $5 million. Five's a nightmare. You're the strongest dwarf. He just has, he just rattles it off. It's so good. I think his best episode is probably safe for him, but just in general.
Starting point is 01:03:37 Tour de Force. Great job by Alvarez. look forward to him. We love that guy. All his moments. I get it. So my top five was five Kendall, four Roman, three Kendall's mom, two Tom and one Connor. What would, what would, would your list have been different? Who would have been? Yeah, because Logan have cracked the top five for you. Logan's in the top five for me. Jerry's in the top five. Jerry's in the top five. I have Connor further down because I still, notwithstanding the richness of his comedy, how funny he is and like how surreal everything that he says is. I still, he's a bit player to, you know, the, the true stars of the show.
Starting point is 01:04:13 I mean, I'm not just going to put all five of the Roy kids. I mean, the Roy family. And I think Marcia deserves a much more prominent role. And I think she's going to be in season three. I have no basis for this. I mean, I don't have, I'm not an HBO guy, right? I don't have the advanced screeners like some of us. But I'm anticipating a bigger role for Mark.
Starting point is 01:04:34 I don't want the screeners. I want to watch it. each week along with the rest of America. All right, good, good. I'm glad to hear that. Yeah, I'm not jumping ahead. I did that. I got screeners from Mayor of East Town,
Starting point is 01:04:44 and I watched the first five. And then I was so far ahead of it, I couldn't have conversations with anybody. You feel like you're guarding like this information. Anyway, success- Good us a weekly, right? Let's have another weekly. That's a good time.
Starting point is 01:05:00 I like that. There's still something to be said for, a show comes out once for an hour. you get to digest it, think about it, talk about it, read stuff about it. And we get the text on Monday about it. Podcast, text, then we head toward the end of the week. Now we got another show coming. So there you go.
Starting point is 01:05:17 That's why in The Ringer, we're going to be doing deep dives on Wednesdays with Sean Fantasy and Joana Robinson. Awesome. And we're also going to be doing precaps on Fridays with Chris Ryan and Big Was heading into the next episode, a little pregame show. Wow. For succession. And then on Mondays, after Succession,
Starting point is 01:05:35 the watch, Andy Greenwald, Chris Ryan, different feed, one of the OG pop culture podcasts. So we're covering Monday on the watch and then Wednesday and Friday on this pod. And by the way, well, you and I will probably talk about succession. It goes without saying. I look forward to people getting upset at my list. What do you think will be the most upsetting to people? Connor number one. Connor number one would be upsetting to people.
Starting point is 01:05:59 I think so. Conner's a legend. That's just terrible take by everybody. I don't know what to tell you. I stand by it. Connor. Best character on the show. Shib at 7.
Starting point is 01:06:11 Although Shib is... No, I had Shib lower. I had Shiv at 12. Shiv at 12. That's it. Shib, not in the top 10. People get mad at that. Listen,
Starting point is 01:06:18 Shiv, stick with a plan for more than 45 minutes on the show. Maybe we'll get it in season three. Maybe season three. Yeah. I know what else you're hoping
Starting point is 01:06:27 from Shiv in season three. I'm not... Lots of affairs. You like when Shiv gets a little Randy. Randy. Yeah. The only sexual relationship I'm interested in is Jerry.
Starting point is 01:06:41 It's Jerry and Robin. That's the only one I care about. So when you see the SSC strong sexual content at the start of the show, you're like, maybe this is it for me. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed with Jerry. I hope it happens. Thank you.
Starting point is 01:06:56 That's it for the Prestige TV podcast. We will see you tomorrow with Sean Fantasy and Joanna Robinson. Until that.

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