I feel like nobody is talking about this show but holy shit is the entire cast fantastic.

You're best off going into it knowing nothing and just bathing in the anxiety and the uncomfortableness of it all. Best ensemble cast I've seen in a minute...it really has been pretty incredible.

Get on board - there's only 2 more episodes left and it FLIES by.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

For another HBO show I loved that nobody I knew would talk about, and is really hard to remember the name of now because that name is "Industry" LOL


And it's less accurate for this show, but the way these people talk to each other does remind me of Succession's snappy wit, I love that HBO's comedy is fully leaning into that style, but then there's also the Below Deck of it all that satisfies my hospitality industry triggers.


Plus I've been really surprised by Alexandra Daddario! She's always just been Woody's unexplainable trophy girlfriend in True Detective and the girl on the poster of a million trashy looking VOD romcoms, but she's probably got my favorite out of a lot of really good performances on this show so far.


Oh, and the soundtrack is amazing. Once the episodes get their momentum rolling, that mix of whimsical and dread is absolutely spot on, and it really doesn't sound like what anyone else is doing right now. I haven't seen last night's episode yet but Mike White's got a real heater here, and it fits that new TV model where if he/HBO wants to keep it going there's a lot of plug-and-play opportunity to be more of an anthology than linear story.

~~~~~~~~~
"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

She looked better with it.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

>She looked better with it.
>
>

She was almost unrecognizable.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

Because phew...these tourists are shiiiiitty. (This new season of BD? Incredible.)

Alexandra Daddario is my biggest surprise as well. The whole cast is killers (Steve Zahn murks every scene he's in, and he's like the 3rd best of the whole damn group) but I'm not sure I'd seen her beyond True Detective and she's really nailing this role.

My god...the scenes with her and Molly Shannon killed me last night.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

Reboot movie. She was also in those Percy Jackson movies.

Beyond that she hasn’t done much mainstream or big movie or series projects.

She still looks great but I did like her better when she had a little more weight on her.

>
>She still looks great but I did like her better when she had a
>little more weight on her.

Honestly, I think she looks a lot worse here.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

Judging from the 'next on' trailer I have a feeling who dies and I dont like it

Otherwise really entertaining episode but I was so distracted by the idea Kai wasn't just easily identifiable on camera like 20 minutes after he broke in there. Honestly didn't feel sold on Kai's decision to go through with it either but I can let that slide for the drama, I'm just surprised he seemed to get away with it?


I'm not a "on the next episode" watcher so if that's part of next week I'll find out then.


~~~~~~~~~
"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

I can't say I know the guy but we have a lot of mutuals and we are facebook friends. I watched this show last night and I am convinced this is how he got talked into doing something so stupid.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/nyregion/molotov-cocktail-lawyers-nyc.html




**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

as little as we know about him, it seemed out of character. even after the conversation he had with paula, i didn't really sense a lot of desperation in him. he didn't seem like the kind of kid who would have a contact to offload all this stuff once he stole it. but i chalked it up to young and dumb shit.

>Otherwise really entertaining episode but I was so distracted
>by the idea Kai wasn't just easily identifiable on camera like
>20 minutes after he broke in there. Honestly didn't feel sold
>on Kai's decision to go through with it either but I can let
>that slide for the drama, I'm just surprised he seemed to get
>away with it?

... for that type of wide-ranging, seemingly limitless litigation to be a little farfetched haha. $75k may cover the retainer for litigation that far-reaching.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

I'd watch spinoffs with at least 80% of the characters

So they can see how terrible money makes you.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

except not to take your shit kids with you

********************************************************************




"I *always* quote myself. I'm the only reliable source on *most* subjects" - OKP's First Lady of Knowledge, Janey

I guess this shit just ain't for me.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

That was my first reaction after the first episode. I generally have no interest in shows about white people dealing with white people problems.


But it becomes clear by the second episode that this turns into a hard edge critique of rich folks and how corrupt they all are. There are no heroes among them.

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

The hardest part about getting people to buy into Succession is that the first three episodes are a little darker while everybody finds their groove in the show, so a lot of people I know bounce off of it because it's just rich people and their problems. The only people I know that latched onto it immediately and didn't need coaxing are similarly acid tongued pieces of shit that got wrapped up in the way these people talk to each other rather than what they're talking about right away.


~~~~~~~~~
"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

I'm a dialogue guy. You can get me with sharp witty dialogue, but this isn't that. So It's rich white people talking about rich white shit, in regular smegular language.

Ugh. I'ma finish the season, I'm almost done anyway, but I don't think I'll be coming back.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
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@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

I think it becomes pretty clear that the writer/author/showrunner thinks the characters of White Lotus are shitty people. My wife and I were playing this game where we were looking for someone to root for and then that person would eventually do something shitty and be like damn, they all terrible. Held out for the black girl and she ended up did the most awful thing in my opinion.

Succession is different in a way you pointed out, you could watch succession and think some of these characters are cool and can get behind them.


On another note, I love how this show uses music (or sound) to build tension.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

> Held out for the black girl and she ended up
>did the most awful thing in my opinion.
>

I. CANNOT. BELIEVE. she thought that was a good idea! On any level.

She seemed so smart and aware up until that point.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

>
>> Held out for the black girl and she ended up
>>did the most awful thing in my opinion.
>>
>
>I. CANNOT. BELIEVE. she thought that was a good idea! On any
>level.
>
>She seemed so smart and aware up until that point.
>

But a statement that even in the most serene, pampered, privileged scenario possible, people are capable of making each other miserable, making themselves miserable, having personality disorders and mental illness, being total pains in the ass, etc.

IMO It's kind of a horror/tragic statement on the human condition...watching how unappreciative these people are of where they are and what they have is a basic concept but its explored with a great amount of nuance and depth

Bandcamp/IG/FB/Twitter: @hecticzeniths

The very act of becoming rich makes you corrupt because it gives you the power to make people bend to your will and its impossible to not use that power.

Like Jennifer Coolidges character wasn't a bad person and didn't mean to do harm and was oblivious to the harm that she was causing, and even tried to do the right thing by not using sister girl. But in the end she still did great harm and used her.



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

In the end, other than maybe Shane and his mom, the other rich characters weren't portrayed as bad people which is why I didn't see it as some scathing critique of rich people, but more that they were just oblivious and/or just wanted to make themselves feel good

Bandcamp/IG/FB/Twitter: @hecticzeniths

Same as it ever was

i cant believe they showed the dookie coming out his ass lol.

this whole show was wild af.

------

I dug it.

Ultimately, a bunch of terrible people doing terrible shit to almost no consequences (except for Armond...yikes)

The fact that Kai was handled offscreen and just tossed aside was kinda poetic - the Mossbruchers could just forget he ever existed, and his life is in shambles now.

Quinn being the one dude to kinda have a character arc was surprising.

Of course Rachel was gonna go back to Shane. She has nothing. She's apparently a shit writer, too. And to use Belinda as a therapist only to realize even a person who HAS to pretend to care just didnt? Good.

Jennifer Coolidge deserves an Emmy (but hahahah at her saying, "I dont want another transactional relationship" only to get into one). There's a million steps between saying you want to get into business and actually opening doors - it was shitty for her to say it, but it was also naive of Belinda to believe it.

As soon as we saw the back and forth editing of Armond partying and Shane drinking at the bar...I knew what was gonna happen, but it was still really well done regardless (whewwwww...first time I can remember someone shitting that graphically on TV?)

Good ass series. Dug it. The music direction was incredible, and the whole cast was AMAZING.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

>The fact that Kai was handled offscreen and just tossed aside
>was kinda poetic - the Mossbruchers could just forget he ever
>existed, and his life is in shambles now.

For sure. and it was an ultimate W for them. They got all their shit back, they got a cool story out of it and he's just a nameless villain, and it added spark to their marriage.

That's what i figured Paula was thinking while she was watching them at dinner after, like they're not even tripping, and Kai is fucked. She was disgusted, aside from her own guilt (over Kai). But its like no matter what,these people just win

>Quinn being the one dude to kinda have a character arc was
>surprising.

i didn't expect much from him. I liked that they gave us something from him, other than some weird incel.
I figure he stayed about another a week.


>Of course Rachel was gonna go back to Shane. She has nothing.
>She's apparently a shit writer, too. And to use Belinda as a
>therapist only to realize even a person who HAS to pretend to
>care just didnt? Good.

For whatever reason i didn't expect it even though it's the obvious outcome. That was cold though. It's like Belinda offered her help, and even showed up out of some sort of default only to tell her she was all out of fucks to give

>Jennifer Coolidge deserves an Emmy (but hahahah at her saying,
>"I dont want another transactional relationship" only to get
>into one). There's a million steps between saying you want to
>get into business and actually opening doors - it was shitty
>for her to say it, but it was also naive of Belinda to believe
>it.

Belinda's whole demeanor towards her switched when she offered to stake her. Before that she was just this smothering, weird, needy old white lady. And Belinda was kind and empathetic to her but you also felt the standoffishness. then it was like she was the key to her future, and suddenly she was legit happy when she called. I mean it was opportunism but i completely get it. Most people at some point have have had to put up with people they wouldn't normally want to be around or even dislike, like because they know that person was the key to getting a job you wanted or something like that.

>As soon as we saw the back and forth editing of Armond
>partying and Shane drinking at the bar...I knew what was gonna
>happen, but it was still really well done regardless
>(whewwwww...first time I can remember someone shitting that
>graphically on TV?)

I thought of vito Jr on the sopranos but it wasn't this levellol


>Good ass series. Dug it. The music direction was incredible,
>and the whole cast was AMAZING.

I watched all of it yesterday and today. i loved it

>(whewwwww...first time I can remember someone shitting that
>graphically on TV?)

best one ive seen since hank moody shitting on doofus's car hood in californication (this one took it up to a new realistic-looking level)

I knew too many girls like her in college and postgrad. Dying to rub elbows with the rich white folks but performatively woke at the same time. By the end I think I disliked her more than anyone

<--- Big Baller World Order

was so childish. He was gonna sell the stuff, hire lawyers and get his family's land back? even if he got full value, which he obviously wouldn't, it was a pipe dream, and there's no way that land was coming back.

i gotta assume she knew that at least on some level, and used Kai on some fuck you to her friend's family and what they represented. He wasn't gonna get caught and worse case, he comes up on some money and she feels like she's fighting for indigenous rights.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

Her plan was so terribly thought out, and the motivation for it was so impulsive and stupid. Not to mention she could have absolutely warned him they were coming - but she wanted to look out for herself.

I mean, granted...Armond took advantage of a position of power with an employee...and Kai did ultimately decide to go forth with her stupid ass plan, but clearly she was just utterly morally bankrupt.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

parents it was her idea, the parents would have been mad, but not press charges against her and likely let the boy off the hook.


Paula protected herself and moved on to the next.

I have a niece that gets taken on vacations with her classmates family and I am terrified of her ending up this way.



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Were they supposed to come off as terrible, unsympathetic people? I think they were. They certainly did, in any case.

Great series. Outstanding performances all around. Went too fast.

or you do you mean Olivia (Paula's homie)?

Those girls were both little assholes. They seemed to be poking at a certain type of berniebro style rich kid, scoffing at the generations before and how they fucked the world up, or have the nerve to not even take their ailments seriously ("Paula is an HSP")

They were fun to watch though, and did so much with just facial expressions. they were both constantly looking through everyone (and each other). Like their first interaction with Rachel

Rachel was maybe the most sympathetic guest on the show. Wonder how well she takes to trophy wife life.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

She went back. I mean, that's enough, right there, for me.

Most of the other stuff has already been covered here at this point.

Hers was definitely a necessary perspective to throw in there. And literally any reason to get Alexandra on screen is a valid one. But positioning her as virtuous, or some tragic figure? I think not.

If she plays her cards right, she could have Shane shopping for adult diapers and binkies in the middle of conference calls within a year


~~~~~~~~~
"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

but dude has mommy needs

<--- Big Baller World Order

Horribly naive and delusional? Yes.

Shane kind of nailed it in saying that after dating, wining/dining, and going through a whole wedding that he should just be okay with her not being pissed at him. Like, dude is an asshole across the board, but he was very rarely WRONG in the show.

I don't know that Rachel is a bad person - I DO think Paula and Olivia treated her super poorly for no reason - but I also don't think she's the most sympathetic of characters either. She's in it for herself as much as any of the other characters are - hell, she treated Belinda poorly in their last scene together.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

I dont believe she was delusional or naive..it wasnt like she just woke up and realized Shane was who he was and she had to have dealt with the mom before..mom even talked up how much she had been involved with their relationship from jump, doing everything butting in etc. Only when Paula and Olivia spoke on what she did and was did she suddenly have an issue lol.

>Horribly naive and delusional? Yes.
>
>Shane kind of nailed it in saying that after dating,
>wining/dining, and going through a whole wedding that he
>should just be okay with her not being pissed at him. Like,
>dude is an asshole across the board, but he was very rarely
>WRONG in the show.
>
>I don't know that Rachel is a bad person - I DO think Paula
>and Olivia treated her super poorly for no reason - but I also
>don't think she's the most sympathetic of characters either.
>She's in it for herself as much as any of the other characters
>are - hell, she treated Belinda poorly in their last scene
>together.

I know my fair share of people who can, consciously or not, ignore some facet of their life or circumstance that's painfully obvious to everyone else around them.

We're never really going to know, but sure - there's a LOT there that proves your point - how involved the mom was in the wedding, etc. But it seemed like Shane's petulant whining about the room and Armond is what made her kinda wake up (and then when mom came? forget it).

So - I still don't think she's terrible, nor do I think if someone marries for something other than love is terrible necessarily. Transactional relationships seems to be a theme in this show. She went back to him, and I read that as her basically being resigned (again?) to just being a trophy wife.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

.. Shane and Rachel got married. So the takeaway was, IMO, supposed to be that she fell for him quickly, and he popped the question quickly, leaving her little time to evaluate or maybe even realize all his shortcomings. Or to come to terms with them.

Then the show also made it a point to point out multiple times how busy everyone was planning the wedding, which IMO is very realistic. So she was swept away by having her "dream wedding" instead of having that time and energy to be able to figure out that Shane is aggressively douchey.

So the honeymoon was clearly the first time she'd had time to just clear her mind and spend her energy on *him* and he immediately proved himself to be the worst, at which point reality hit her and she started to re-evaluate whether or not she'd made a mistake.

People get divorced within weeks or months all the time in this country and I have to imagine the above scenario isn't super uncommon. A woman swept away by a rich white kid who gives her everything and proposes quickly, only to equally-as-quickly realize after the mayhem clears that she's made a massive mistake.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

>.. Shane and Rachel got married. So the takeaway was, IMO,
>supposed to be that she fell for him quickly, and he popped
>the question quickly, leaving her little time to evaluate or
>maybe even realize all his shortcomings. Or to come to terms
>with them.
>

which shows she fell in love with the money

>Then the show also made it a point to point out multiple times
>how busy everyone was planning the wedding, which IMO is very
>realistic. So she was swept away by having her "dream wedding"
>instead of having that time and energy to be able to figure
>out that Shane is aggressively douchey.
>

cmon..its to like they were separated until the wedding day...


>So the honeymoon was clearly the first time she'd had time to
>just clear her mind and spend her energy on *him* and he
>immediately proved himself to be the worst, at which point
>reality hit her and she started to re-evaluate whether or not
>she'd made a mistake.

Reality just sat in harder imo


>People get divorced within weeks or months all the time in
>this country and I have to imagine the above scenario isn't
>super uncommon.


stop it

A woman swept away by a rich white kid who
>gives her everything and proposes quickly, only to
>equally-as-quickly realize after the mayhem clears that she's
>made a massive mistake.

its 2021..not 1970-1990

However I do get it that Mike White wrote it in there that it was a quick romance and then wedding. I think that was there way of writing it so it can be like how you two have described ..meaning her reading she married a jerk..Im saying that writing that so th4y can justify this epiphany on her honeymoon is not believable aka bs writing

And actually, now that I am re-reading my previous post, what I said about people getting divorced within weeks or months is irrelevant to everything else I was saying because *she didn't ultimately even leave him* !

In any event, I have examples in my own social circle of people who married the idea of the person as opposed to actually being in love with them - whether they were blinded by the money (as was the case here, as you rightfully point out), or something else. They're all divorced now after varying (but all short) periods of marriage. A couple of them literally realized it as they walked down the aisle, per their own recollections of the mistakes they made. So. Just because you don't envision *yourself* making that type of mistake doesn't mean it's not possible for others.

All that is to say that I didn't find the Rachel/Shane dynamic and storyline to be BS *at all* and in fact found it very plausible and realistic. *shrugs*

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Because she seemed super aware of it yet clueless at the same time. As soon as Belinda showed interest in the business proposition she pulled back, but kept throwing her just enough crumbs so she'd stick around for her

Then talked about transnational relationships being unhealthy followed by a payment.

She dangled life changing shit in Belinda's face then was like nah, that's bad for me



>hell, she treated Belinda poorly in their last scene
>together.

>Because she seemed super aware of it yet clueless at the same
>time. As soon as Belinda showed interest in the business
>proposition she pulled back, but kept throwing her just enough
>crumbs so she'd stick around for her
>
>Then talked about transnational relationships being unhealthy
>followed by a payment.
>
>She dangled life changing shit in Belinda's face then was like
>nah, that's bad for me
>
>
>
>>hell, she treated Belinda poorly in their last scene
>>together.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

She wants to believe she is more than a trophy wife but she’s a shit writer, and she loves the comfort Shane provides more than she respects herself.

<--- Big Baller World Order

I damn near jumped up and cheered when Belinda checked the shit out of her. Could only take so much of the "oh, THIS is the life I married into?!?!" like she didn't know what the deal was every step of the way.

there's nothing admirable about it, but there's a lot of real estate between that and being a terrible person

"Rachel is a terrible human being."
"What did she do?"
"She married a rich asshole. Can you believe that shit?"

>She wants to believe she is more than a trophy wife but
>she’s a shit writer, and she loves the comfort Shane
>provides more than she respects herself.

if it came down to it. she absolutely knows her place as a
"beautiful white woman" and is ultimately comfortable in it and the luxuries it affords.

<--- Big Baller World Order

lol

She is the face of women everywhere that marry terrible men but get a pass because they are not as awful as their spouse but they enjoy all the fruit of their spouses awfulness.

She's Melania & Ivanka Trump the prequel. Check on her in 20 years and she will be the mom and complaining about rooms more than her husband.




**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

writing gig, or even planning to.

Shane was pretty justified in his "this is fucked up we're on our honeymoon stance"

i mean he was right to ultimately call her out for having some sort of epiphany a few days after they got married. It's not like she got dropped into some arranged marriage.

that said, i can't call how she's gonna turn out tho and still not really on team she's a terrible person lo

anyone notice that he never gets beyond like page 20 over the course of the whole week? thought it was a nice subtle detail

though i think with him it was more of a attention span thing. sadly i can relate.

the gay Filipino shark..

my boy's mom is a travel agent. she's the nicest woman in the world, but i don't know if there's a different breed for people with boat shoes.

they can be real pieces of shit

they have to try to meet the every demand of their high net worth clients, so you can imagine how they conduct themselves when communicating with vendors about their requests



>
>
>my boy's mom is a travel agent. she's the nicest woman in the
>world, but i don't know if there's a different breed for
>people with boat shoes.

--
the untold want by life and land ne'er granted
now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find

https://www.vulture.com/article/the-white-lotus-finale-mike-white-interview-departures-ending.html

Pretty good article.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

And I'm not super impressed. I haven't read much in this post because I'm avoiding spoilers. And it's likely that my concerns are addressed in upcoming episodes.

But so far, it's generally just rich people being assholes. I'm still waiting on some type of conflict that I care about. The show isn't completely terrible but it's not really grabbing my attention. I'm trying to stick with it on the strength of all the good reviews it has. But so far, it's just "meh."

I'll definitely be back as I move through the episodes. I figured I'd just note how I felt so far.

but I'm really not understanding the hype.

nowhere near the scathing class analysis I was hoping for

they didn't examine the served/server dynamic anywhere near the depths the could have. *shrug*. I don't really get what the buzz is.

good lord jake lacey's face is the worst.

--
the untold want by life and land ne'er granted
now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find

********************************

Get Out The Room!
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@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller