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Reviews
Succession: Connor's Wedding (2023)
I think it's safe to say...
...that this IS the show's best episode so far. You can see it (even feel it) as the drama unfolds that "Connor's Wedding" is anything but a straightforward event for the Roys. Since when has any wedding event gone without a hitch in the world of Succession, or any HBO series for that matter (looking at you, Game of Thrones).
I'm in the same boat as everyone in how shocking Logan's death arrived. Not because it was unexpected, but rather it came very early on, with 7 episodes to go in this final season. The thought crossed my mind that this was just another one of Logan's cruel pranks to regain the love of his children. But part of me also thought about their final time together in that karaoke bar from the previous episode and how Logan seemed to be resigned from trying to earn back his children's love.
Speaking of the children, oof... seeing Ken, Shiv, and Roman essentially reduced back to kids crying for their daddy is heartbreaking. Business may be business, but when it comes to family, you forget all your differences and problems when tragedy strikes.
The cast and crew definitely put on a masterclass with this episode. It proves why Succession (even though it is set to conclude) is the best television show currently on air.
Harry & Meghan (2022)
People will believe what they choose to believe.
Harry and Meghan just want to fulfill their life and their love as normal as they possibly can, even though (we all know) the world and the culture they have been exposed to is anything but.
Here are two people who actually, genuinely, love one another, and it clearly shows, within the first two episodes (I have yet to watch the third, but I will be doing so shortly). It is with this same love that they did (and are doing) what they have to, by leaving behind a world that does not accept them for who they are and enter one that welcomes them with open arms.
I look forward to seeing the rest of the series.
For All Mankind: Stranger in a Strange Land (2022)
Golly, I'm all over the moon (no pun intended)
I keep wrapping my head over everything that happened in this season's finale, and in my opinion, it matched Season 2's (with Gordo and Tracy).
The irony about it all is that even though Helios, NASA, Russia, and as it turns out, North Korea, made each of their death-defying trips to Mars and encountered a few (but crucial) death-defying incidents on their stay there, the real danger came to the people back down on Earth. A seemingly disillusioned group of protesters, turned domestic terrorists bomb the Johnson Space Center. This clearly echos the real-life bombing of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, as well as another space-themed film, Contact (1997). It also thrusts "For All Mankind" into a period of time that had me wondering how they were going to tackle: the age of terrorism.
Personally, Margo's brief speech to the Mission Control group felt like a thinly veiled goodbye to the NASA she spent decades being part of. Her walking down the corridor one last time had me thinking there's a chance she could become a defector of Russia after everything she has done. But the bombing certainly put that idea to bed as Aleida walked into her office in the aftermath with the whole front blown out (even taking her baby grand piano with the blast). Only at the end was the rug pulled out from under us again and it's 2003, the inevitable end of the season time jump has occurred once again and this time, "Everything in Its Right Place" by Radiohead (another favorite song of mine) is used to usher in the new decade. A still very much alive Margo wakes up, looking out into her view of what is presumably Moscow.
Is there really any doubt to what the creators and writers of this show do? Again, "For All Mankind" is not the show to shy away from significant deaths of characters (I won't spoil who they are this time). But even when it feels like they're starting to lose some ground with storylines and characters, they bounce right back and deliver. Season 4 can't come soon enough and I predict it may be its bleakest season yet as NASA (if it even exists, still) is sent on a whole new kind of mission. The only remaining question is where do we go from here?
For All Mankind: The Grey (2021)
Now that's how you end a season!
I watched the finale last night and WOW, I am still thinking about it even today! This was truly such a suspenseful and outright emotional episode of "For All Mankind."
You knew somehow that Dani is gonna go for it and dock Apollo with Soyuz anyway. You knew the entire world is gonna be on the brink of nuclear war and it's up to Margo, Ellen, and company down on Earth to figure out the right moves. And yet, that fear and dread for these characters remained and what they're going to do in order to make a difference.
But, man, oh man!
Gordo and Tracy! The dagger! Really that's how I felt. We all knew somehow it was suicide mission for Gordo, yet Tracy (never to back down from a challenge) declares "Don't you dare make me tell our boys their daddy didn't have to die." That's all we needed to know. To see them go out there together was such a brave, defining moment. When the Jamestown crew finally opens the door hatch at the end and finds them together, it just hits you deep knowing somehow that was what happened. Definitely two of the saddest deaths in the show's history, next to Shane and Deke's.
I rarely give 10/10s for episodes, but this one just deserved it! I am so excited for what's next in Season 3! After all, this is really where it has been leading to. And what a perfect way to segue into the nineties than "Come As You Are" by Nirvana! Oh, I am ALL IN!!!