The Envelope - The Reel: 'Succession’ on HBO Captures America’s New Gilded Age

The Reel: 'Succession’ on HBO Captures America’s New Gilded Age

08/09/19 • 24 min

HBO’s “Succession” wears its contempt for the billionaire class on its sleeve.

Back for its second season, heroes are in short supply while an ensemble of entertainingly loathsome and amoral characters backstab and sabotage each other as they battle for power and control within a global media empire.

The scheming family serve as stand-ins for the Murdochs or the Redstones. But the siblings’ angling for affection and love of their father has distinct echoes of President Trump’s adult offspring.

“Succession” takes you inside the privileged bubble of the .1 percent without glorifying that lifestyle.

The critically acclaimed series was nominated for five Emmys, including best drama, and Times TV editor Matthew Brennan (@thefilmgoer) says it’s the show you need to watch this summer.

Mark Olsen (@IndieFocus) talks with Brennan and Meredith Blake (@MeredithBlake) about the show that’s hitting the political and cultural zeitgeist right on the nose.

HBO’s “Succession” wears its contempt for the billionaire class on its sleeve.

“Succession” takes you inside the privileged bubble of the .1 percent without glorifying that lifestyle.

The critically acclaimed series was nominated for five Emmys, including best drama, and Times TV editor Matthew Brennan (@thefilmgoer) says it’s the show you need to watch this summer.

Mark Olsen (@IndieFocus) talks with Brennan and Meredith Blake (@MeredithBlake) about the show that’s hitting the political and cultural zeitgeist right on the nose.

Previous Episode

The Reel: 'Can 'Hobbs & Shaw' expand the 'Fast and Furious' family business?'

"The Fast and the Furious" franchise had a humble beginning with muscle cars and sweat, and two guys in Los Angeles who found common ground. But the series long ago added an espionage element that took it to another level of wild storytelling and even wilder action.

Now in its first spin-off, “Hobbs and Shaw,” the multi-billion dollar franchise has also added science fiction and a heavy dose of comedy, mainly the lead characters — Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw, played by Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, respectively — slinging insults at each other.

Vanessa Kirby, best known for "The Crown," plays Hattie Shaw, one of the more complexly written female characters in the franchise.

Johnson, who is also one of the producers, uses the film to showcase his Samoan heritage.

Mark Olsen (@IndieFocus) talks with Times film critic Justin Chang (@JustinCChang) and Fast and Furious superfans Jen Yamato (@jenyamato), film reporter for The Times, and BenDavid Grabinski (@bdgrabinski), a filmmaker and showrunner.

Next Episode

The Reel: Craig Mazin on 'Chernobyl' and the 'Cost of Lies'

From the very first line of dialogue, Craig Mazin makes clear that “Chernobyl” is far more than a dramatization of the 1986 nuclear meltdown in the USSR.

Mazin, the creator and writer of the HBO miniseries, tells a story of the “cost of lies” and the real-life dangers that result from a culture disconnected from the truth. The Soviet system was built on propaganda and misinformation, and the heroes of the nuclear disaster are the people who sought the truth and stuck to the facts — even at great personal cost.

As he developed the story in 2016, Mazin saw parallels in American politics, with whole segments of the public growing untethered from the truth.

The five-part series resonated with viewers, and has drawn the largest audience for an HBO miniseries since “Band of Brothers.” It’s been nominated for 19 Emmys.

Mark Olsen (@IndieFocus) talks with Mazin (@clmazin) about how the medium of episodic television gave him the space to tell a mystery — as well as a story of a culture, a system of government, and the nature of love.