I'm shocked none of us tried to talk about this show the first time around (or I'm just terrible at searching the archives tonight). Though anecdotally I did try to put it on my local TV minded friends and they found it too cynical or more importantly steeped in jargon to latch on to. But if you buy in just a bit, the comedy is even darker and gamesmanship far dirtier than Succession, while the soundtrack last season put me on to some real bangers with licenses and created some extreme tension with original compositions.

I totally admit that I'm the last person to find finance bros and gals relatable in 2022 so I was really surprised to see this show had a second season coming (and wasn't surprised that HBO seemed to keep it kind of quiet) but these Brits throw shade like an All-Star lineup of UK reality show cunts yet find a way to loop it back to letting the audience worry about whichever archetype you attach to. I wouldn't say they rely on tropes either, but they do tease them endlessly to make the sex, drugs or plain moral protest to hit in a way that feels kind of new.

Maybe it's not, maybe it doesn't. The lack of a first season thread probably obviates the former. It's attractive British folks in their early 20s making millions and doing more drugs than 99% of folks would find physically or mentally comfortable. That's not it for a lot of people.

But the music, acting, writing, plot surprises, alien world of British finance and lemme go back to the music (with a heavy, secondary nod to how they tease the HBO expectation of sex-ploitation with either weirdly inventive edging or embarrassingly sad big fucks) has me hoping the pandemic high of Succession and subsequent praise for season 3 can translate to this show. Because it's not the masterclass writer's workshop that show is...but it's probably more relatable, despite still being about rich, hot and despicable people.

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"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz