It's bad enough I wasted my time watching this show for four seasons, but the series finale is what really angered me, as it was the most ridiculous, underwhelming and laziest writing I have ever seen. All four seasons combined would barely make an enjoyable two-hour film, never mind the useless ending, that well, wasn't even an ending.
You have characters that started off interesting and engaging, but with the exception of Logan's character - which was played brilliantly by Cox, the rest became annoying and unrealistic very fast. There's no corporate world where Roman Roy would last as a low-level executive, let alone consideration for the top job, especially with his narcissistic and sadistic personality. Shiv's constant flip-flopping and bipolar character got tiring and annoying very fast, and would barely survive in a political environment let alone a corporate one. Ken was the only possibility to take the top job, but of course he had issues and couldn't decide if he could handle the heat and the power amidst his passive-aggressive behavior. But even with Ken as the most qualified, far be it for the writers to conclude the series that way. And there's no world - corporate or family, that would put up with Greg's annoying and infantile nerdy behavior. That kid, even to consider nepotism, would've been thrown in the basement mail room and forgotten.
Creating a bunch of clown-like characters who are privileged deranged sociopaths and inserting them in a dysfunctional corporate and family dynamic may be entertaining in the short term, but the constant revolving door of repetitive sibling backstabbing got tiring in the first season, let alone repeating the cycle constantly in every other season and dragging out the same merry-go-round narrative.
The first half of the first season was a great build-up to what could've been a very powerful and engaging series, but it fell flat with excessive repetitiveness, absurd dialogue being passed off as dark comedy, and plot holes galore within the lazy and underwhelming writing. The second season showed promise to begin with, but just ended up with the same repetitive nonsense narrative, which of Logan's kids should and would get the torch. Ken's power play move was the only defining suspense that was intriguing leading up to season three. But in season three, Ken's play was dismissed as a red herring to further an already exhausting narrative, and it was the same merry-go-round story and perceived passing of the torch, but in more scenic destinations, with the exact same usual suspects and agendas. The final season added another new (albeit refreshing) character with Alexander Skarsgard as Lukas Matsson, but that was just another red herring to stretch out the already exhausting narrative, plus they also threw in a boring political landscape just to stretch-out the rubber-band basic plot of this show to the max. This show should've just ended with Logan's death, and the reading of an actual will to his estate and named successor(s) to finally answer the four-season long awaited question, but HBO in typical fashion just kept milking a dry cow in what I feel is the most overrated show in TV/streaming history.
When you can summarize each season in one sentence or less, the multitude of episodes are all just filler. Sure there are some taboo eccentrics and dialogue, but that's not enough to justify the ridiculous high praise this show received. It's boring and tedious seeing the same characters rotating at each others throats within the same narrative, then riddle it with plot holes and useless red herrings, change up the landscapes, and call it a season.
Add to the pain that I had to put up with the amateur-hour constant annoying fast zoom-ins that are has-been camerawork from The Office era that became unbearable quickly. The only redeeming factors this show had was the incredible casting and performances (albeit mostly annoying and unbelievable characters), a great score, and some spot-on cinematography and beautiful landscapes. I'm glad this series is over, and regret ever watching it. It's a generous 5/10 for the entire series, only for the few redeeming qualities.
You have characters that started off interesting and engaging, but with the exception of Logan's character - which was played brilliantly by Cox, the rest became annoying and unrealistic very fast. There's no corporate world where Roman Roy would last as a low-level executive, let alone consideration for the top job, especially with his narcissistic and sadistic personality. Shiv's constant flip-flopping and bipolar character got tiring and annoying very fast, and would barely survive in a political environment let alone a corporate one. Ken was the only possibility to take the top job, but of course he had issues and couldn't decide if he could handle the heat and the power amidst his passive-aggressive behavior. But even with Ken as the most qualified, far be it for the writers to conclude the series that way. And there's no world - corporate or family, that would put up with Greg's annoying and infantile nerdy behavior. That kid, even to consider nepotism, would've been thrown in the basement mail room and forgotten.
Creating a bunch of clown-like characters who are privileged deranged sociopaths and inserting them in a dysfunctional corporate and family dynamic may be entertaining in the short term, but the constant revolving door of repetitive sibling backstabbing got tiring in the first season, let alone repeating the cycle constantly in every other season and dragging out the same merry-go-round narrative.
The first half of the first season was a great build-up to what could've been a very powerful and engaging series, but it fell flat with excessive repetitiveness, absurd dialogue being passed off as dark comedy, and plot holes galore within the lazy and underwhelming writing. The second season showed promise to begin with, but just ended up with the same repetitive nonsense narrative, which of Logan's kids should and would get the torch. Ken's power play move was the only defining suspense that was intriguing leading up to season three. But in season three, Ken's play was dismissed as a red herring to further an already exhausting narrative, and it was the same merry-go-round story and perceived passing of the torch, but in more scenic destinations, with the exact same usual suspects and agendas. The final season added another new (albeit refreshing) character with Alexander Skarsgard as Lukas Matsson, but that was just another red herring to stretch out the already exhausting narrative, plus they also threw in a boring political landscape just to stretch-out the rubber-band basic plot of this show to the max. This show should've just ended with Logan's death, and the reading of an actual will to his estate and named successor(s) to finally answer the four-season long awaited question, but HBO in typical fashion just kept milking a dry cow in what I feel is the most overrated show in TV/streaming history.
When you can summarize each season in one sentence or less, the multitude of episodes are all just filler. Sure there are some taboo eccentrics and dialogue, but that's not enough to justify the ridiculous high praise this show received. It's boring and tedious seeing the same characters rotating at each others throats within the same narrative, then riddle it with plot holes and useless red herrings, change up the landscapes, and call it a season.
Add to the pain that I had to put up with the amateur-hour constant annoying fast zoom-ins that are has-been camerawork from The Office era that became unbearable quickly. The only redeeming factors this show had was the incredible casting and performances (albeit mostly annoying and unbelievable characters), a great score, and some spot-on cinematography and beautiful landscapes. I'm glad this series is over, and regret ever watching it. It's a generous 5/10 for the entire series, only for the few redeeming qualities.