Jimmy_V15

A majority of the reviews here pile on to Zero with many quitting the show because of her. I don't get it. To the extent that the character is someone you wouldn't like IRL or someone with whom you have nothing in common, first off, that's the point. She was written that way. Second, so what? There are countless shows that introduced horrible characters that you watched and enjoyed. Can you imagine giving up on Breaking Bad because it had contemptible characters? Is Zero less likeable than Gus Fring? Or how about Seinfeld? Newman is a terrible person who does awful things. No one reading this would have been his best friend. But that was the point. A person whom you don't like can still drive the storyline. Did anyone say: "I'm giving up on Seinfeld because I cannot stand that awful guy, Newman. Zero is a caricature of a slice of society that actually does exist. You don't have to agree with or even like that slice. But one cannot ignore that it exists. Her belief system is what drives some of the story the same way Gus Fring's did. Maybe not in a way that you approved of. But it added substance to the storyline. Giving up on a show because you are annoyed by a character who the writers succeeded in making annoying seems silly.

I really disliked the First Episode, but I stuck with it because I assumed that it had to get better. Not only did not improve, but it actually got worse. Much, much worse. I cannot recall the last time that an episode of television made me this mad. Mad at the writers, the actors, the producers and most of all, at myself for sticking with this through the entire hour. It's the middle of 2023 and I thought that we would be beyond the level of misogyny displayed here. Out right verbal and physical torture and sexual belittlement of young women (girls in some instances) without consequence. There is nothing sexy about the way "The Weeknd" (soon to be know as "Career-End") treats his harem, and the "erotic" scenes in which he appears are mind-numbingly horrid. I am not sure who is being tortured here, Jocelyn or the audience.

And then there is the cavalier treatment of mental illness, all for the personal gain of the agents, managers, music producers and hangers-on. This is Brittany Spears/Lindsay Lohan stuff of 10 years ago. Again, we are way past that. Or at least, should be. The writing is vile, the acting horrific, and the subject matter cringeworthy. One more hour of this and the career suicide of everyone associated with this project will be complete. I already have an indelibly bad opinion of Abel Tesfaye and cannot imagine supporting anything that he does for the rest of his "career." Hank Azaria must have lost a very large sum of money at the track or casino to agree to participate in this mess. And I have usually enjoyed the quirky characters played by Jane Adams (loved her in "Hung") but here, I can't get past the vileness of character. Maybe it is a "blessing" for an actor to be able to stretch in a role like this, but at some point, good judgment must prevail. Lots of actors turned down roles in the "50 Shades" movies and probably "Caligula" too. Jane should have known better. I cannot imagine a more uncomfortable hour of TV being produced in the remainder of my lifetime. I'm Out!

It wasn't hard to figure out the ending if you buy into the King Lear parallels. But it is hard to find any sympathy for the Roy heirs. I won't give away the ending but there are only two choices. They either wrestle away control of Waystar from the Board and GoJo...and live lives of unimaginable wealth, or they fail in their quest at which point they sell their shares in the company and have nothing more to do with it...in which case they live lives of unimaginable wealth. Probably each with their own private island. The way the story set up this season, other than emotional turmoil, there is no negative financial outcome possible. They stay rich no matter what. My rating is based on some clever writing and great acting performances. But the story itself ended the only way it could-with the Roy's all being wealthy.

There was one major flaw in the plot that needs to be addressed. Again, without giving away the ending, The vote to finalize or scuttle the sale of Waystar to GoJo is tied with one voter left to cast their vote. That person held all the cards, and given the ruthlessness that played itself out over 4 seasons, it stands to reason that the person with the last and final vote would have called a "time out" and started making phone calls or having sidebar conversations. To Lukas: "I will vote to approve the sale, but only if you agree to..." And to Kendall: "I will vote to block the sale but only if you agree to..." Had this happened, the ending would have been very, very different for certain of the characters. I am not at all sure why the writers neglected to consider that the person with the tie-breaking vote would not have used their leverage right to the very end. The final scenes show this character quite despondent and not at all fulfilled, and this could have ended quite differently if that person had stayed true to form.