S01.E06: What's in a Name?

[gesundheit]

Quote

Glen initiates sobriety, prompting Shannon to reassess her role. Armed with new evidence, Edie and her team bring Purdue to court for a stunning conclusion.

 

[QQQQ]

I couldn't help but picture Jeanie Bueller laughing offscreen as Matthew Broderick was being attacked by her (ex) husband.

[Enero]

This was better than Dopesick IMO. I think because there was heavy focus on the investigation surrounding Purdue Pharma. I liked how they went back to the beginning and showed how the company got their start. They weren’t even a pharmaceutical company, to start, but a marketing firm for pharmaceutical companies. They were one of the major players in the early 20th century that revolutionized drug advertisement.

Uzo Aduba was excellent in this. I felt Edie’s passion and need to bring Purdue to justice. I felt so bad for Glen. He looked to have got clean on his own, but didn’t appear to be working a program, which would’ve helped, I think. That said, being that he lived in a rural area I don’t know if there would be any rehabs or NA programs he could join. 

He seemed to have good life before it all went to hell due to his addiction.  Very sad.

Edited August 12, 2023 by Enero

[gesundheit]

3 hours ago, Enero said:

This was better than Dopesick IMO. I think because there was heavy focus on the investigation surrounding Purdue Pharma. I liked how they went back to the beginning and showed how the company got their start. They weren’t even a pharmaceutical company, to start, but a marketing firm for pharmaceutical companies. They were one of the major players in the early 20th century that revolutionized drug advertisement.

Uzo Aduba was excellent in this. I felt Edie’s passion and need to bring Purdue to justice. I felt so bad for Glen. He looked to have got clean on his own, but didn’t appear to be working a program, which would’ve helped, I think. That said, being that he lived in a rural area I don’t know if there would be any rehabs or NA programs he could join. 

He seemed to have good life before it all went to hell due to his addiction.  Very sad.

He was definitely working a program, he had his 30 day chip from NA.

I was a little uncomfortable about the dramatic choice to have him request to stay with his wife and, the very night she stands her ground, he falls off the wagon and dies. I know it wasn't the intent, but a shallow read of it could feel like she should've let him stay. Obviously she shouldn't have, and I'm giving too much credence to a simplistic takeaway. But it still stuck in my craw a little.

I agree that this was better than Dopesick.

Uzo Aduba and Taylor Kitsch were the real standouts in this, I think -- interesting since they never shared the screen. Aduba just crushed me.

The coda at the end with Subconscious/Ghost Uncle beating the crap out of Richard and then the silly graphic of the Sackler name crumbling to dust were entirely unnecessary, but otherwise I think in particular these final 3 episodes were really strong.

[Enero]

6 hours ago, gesundheit said:

He was definitely working a program, he had his 30 day chip from NA.

Ah. Thanks. I went back and watched the last episode. I don’t know how I missed the scene with him at the methadone clinic  holding his one month sobriety chip. I”m glad he told the stepson it wasn’t his fault. Though with Glen subsequently dying from an overdose I don’t know how impactful that will be. Throughout the series the stepson seemed extremely emotional over Glen’s addiction even moreso than his mom. I concluded this was in part due to his guilt over his role in Glen’s injury which subsequently led to the latter’s addiction.

Quote

I was a little uncomfortable about the dramatic choice to have him request to stay with his wife and, the very night she stands her ground, he falls off the wagon and dies.

Are we sure he OD’ed the day after she rejected him? I don’t think it was made clear. I assumed a couple of days, maybe more may have gone by since he had dinner with the family.

Edited August 12, 2023 by Enero

[gesundheit]

5 hours ago, Enero said:

Are we sure he OD’ed the day after she rejected him? I don’t think it was made clear. I assumed a couple of days, maybe more may have gone by since he had dinner with the family.

I'm definitely not sure, I could've just been making assumptions because the scenes were back-to-back

[PrincessPurrsALot]

19 hours ago, gesundheit said:

Uzo Aduba and Taylor Kitsch were the real standouts in this, I think -- interesting since they never shared the screen. Aduba just crushed me.

The coda at the end with Subconscious/Ghost Uncle beating the crap out of Richard and then the silly graphic of the Sackler name crumbling to dust were entirely unnecessary, but otherwise I think in particular these final 3 episodes were really strong.

Uzo Aduba and Taylor Kitsch were both great and is such very different performances too.  They also were developed as full characters which helped.  We saw the reason she was so committed to the case.  We saw him with his family without making it a maudlin portrayal.

I didn't mind the coda.  Maybe I just wanted Sackler punched in the face repeatedly so it worked for me. 

I think they did a good job of balancing all of the different viewpoints and angles in this show.  

[sashabear21]

I liked this better than Dopesick, which I felt at times tried to dial back the evil and portray Sackler as truly believing at times that he was helping people. This basically shows what vile sacks of shit all these people at the top were. I particularly enjoyed the beatdown as well as calling Rudy Giuliani a swamp creature. 
 

One thing that has stuck out at me is I remember in Matthew Perry’s book he talks about how much and often you vomit when you’re an opioid addict and I don’t think either of the movies showed that part of what a physically miserable existence being an opioid addict truly is.
 

I also liked that Edie didn’t pull any punches with Shannon. She appreciated the evidence dump but wasn’t going to go out of her way to make Shannon feel better about the things she had done. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

The true story intros from grieving parents in each episodes have set the tone for this show - actions have consequences.

It’s scary to see how FDA is easily corrupted. Where’s is Curtis Wright now?

The Sackler family is a drug cartel in suits - the mass murderer.

Quote

“You are a drug dealer with a ponytail.”

Quote

“You will be part of a beautiful, glorious revolution of life transformation.”

This show takes a closer look into Purdue’s marketing machinations. They understand the pain/pleasure dynamic. Their supply creates the demand.

That Purdue’s sales rep character - Britt, she’s so realistic. The way she behaves, talks and manipulates.

Other than the Sackler family and their goons, another character that I truly despise is Tyler. No consequences for him. His stupidity has led to Glen’s accident, then him stealing the pills etc.

Moving performances from Uzo Aduba and Taylor Kitsch. West Duchovny has improved (slightly) from her performance in Saint X.

Two things that I don’t really understand:

• Richard’s continued conversations with his deceased uncle Arthur adds nothing much to his character. Instead, this approach turns them both into caricatures who thrive on greed/wealth/legacy.
• What’s with the on going beeping from the smoke alarms? 

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by Snazzy Daisy

[sadie]

11 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

 

Two things that I don’t really understand:

• Richard’s continued conversations with his deceased uncle Arthur adds nothing much to his character. Instead, this approach turns them both into caricatures who thrive on greed/wealth/legacy.
• What’s with the on going beeping from the smoke alarms? 

 

I kind of took these to try and show his mental status, the voice in his head pushing him to do bad thing’s supposedly for the higher purpose of the family legacy, and the smoke detector beep was the irritating external nagging in his head that he couldn’t escape what he was doing was bad but kept trying to ignore but it just wouldn’t go away.

[Maisiesmom]

Just finished this one up. What a bunch of greedy scumbags , both the pharma company and the Sacklers themselves. Poor Glen, he was doing so well. I had a feeling he was going to die when he found the overdosed people with their drugs laying around. It just goes to show how the drug reps push this shit on the doctors without even knowing what the drug can or will do. I guess they don't care as long as the money is rolling in. Years ago there was a drug called Darvocet that I used for many years for my chronic pain. It worked great! It took the pain away with no "high", and if you took too many you would just vomit it up. Then because it wasn't profitable for the company, they discontinued making it. I met with my doctor to see if there was something else I could take instead-my issues being I am allergic to ALL opiates. He suggested Oxy if I wanted to try it and I told him no-the bad press was already coming out about it and it is an opiate. So glad I never went down that rabbit hole. (We never did find something that would work, so I use good old aspirin, even when I broke my leg in 2 places a couple years ago-the nurses at the ER felt so bad for me) I looked online and Perdue pharma still has not paid their fine. And Richard Sackler had to sell his McMansion and move to a smaller one in a different state. And people are still overdosing every day. So sad.

[peridot]

Edie's boss was such a shithead, he could have given her a heads up that his bosses have forced him to take a deal.  The press conference after the trial was sickening.  I'm glad that she reconciled with her brother at the end.

I can't believe Britt came over to Shannon's house and said that she was a good person.  Seriously?? Shannon should have fought back, there's no way I would have cowered in my own home.

I'm glad Glen's wife stood her ground about him not staying over.  30 days isn't that much in the grand scheme of things.  I couldn't tell, was the couple that Glen stole from dead?

The real life stories from the people in the beginning were heartbreaking.

[greycoupon]

I just KNEW the episode starting with Glen doing so well meant he was going to die.  Too much happiness.  It was interesting that they did not show Glen's family finding out he died.  Curious story choice but maybe they thought it would detract from the intros with the parents talking about their actual dead children.

I did some research because I was wondering how true to life this all was.  I think most people know Edie was a composite character but Shannon and Glen were also not actual people.

I found this video on youtube created by a Milwaukee newspaper.  In the late 1990s Purdue created a patient testimonial video just like the one we saw Glen do.  

The Journal-Sentinel showed clips of the testimony of four patients in the video and then tracked them down and interviewed them 15 years later in 2013.

Two of the patients were dead, so their surviving family members were interviewed.  One man died in a car accident after falling asleep while driving which his wife attributed to his Oxy use.  The other guy was found dead from high blood pressure and heart disease but he had also been abusing narcotics.

The other two patients were still taking Oxy and it was still helping them.  I wonder how they are doing today.

 

[libgirl2]

On 8/16/2023 at 5:20 PM, Maisiesmom said:

Just finished this one up. What a bunch of greedy scumbags , both the pharma company and the Sacklers themselves. Poor Glen, he was doing so well. I had a feeling he was going to die when he found the overdosed people with their drugs laying around. It just goes to show how the drug reps push this shit on the doctors without even knowing what the drug can or will do. I guess they don't care as long as the money is rolling in. Years ago there was a drug called Darvocet that I used for many years for my chronic pain. It worked great! It took the pain away with no "high", and if you took too many you would just vomit it up. Then because it wasn't profitable for the company, they discontinued making it. I met with my doctor to see if there was something else I could take instead-my issues being I am allergic to ALL opiates. He suggested Oxy if I wanted to try it and I told him no-the bad press was already coming out about it and it is an opiate. So glad I never went down that rabbit hole. (We never did find something that would work, so I use good old aspirin, even when I broke my leg in 2 places a couple years ago-the nurses at the ER felt so bad for me) I looked online and Perdue pharma still has not paid their fine. And Richard Sackler had to sell his McMansion and move to a smaller one in a different state. And people are still overdosing every day. So sad.

I have taken vicodin in the past but it makes me throw up, so I never finished what they gave me. Past that, I had two surgeries in 2019 andI was given hydrocodone but very few pills (like 4) and I switched to ibuprofen right away. The pain was pretty bearable, not great, but not bad. I really do hate taking heavy duty pain pills and usually refuse them. 

I have sciatica and I would rather live with that then take anything that can ruin my life, though I might do a steroid shot and see how that works. I remember in the "ad" they showed someone mentioned taking it for sciatica.... nope. 

Edited August 28, 2023 by libgirl2

[SoMuchTV]

I won’t go so far as saying I liked this better than Dopesick, but I came into this thinking, I’ve seen Dopesick, why should I watch this?  A couple of favorable reviews convinced me to watch, and i have to say it held its own. Two different views of the same sad story. 

[Sweet-tea]

Party of one. I liked Dopesick better mostly for two reasons. I thought Michael Keaton's portrayal of the country doctor who became addicted was compelling. He owned every scene he was in. I also thought the coverage of the pharmaceutical reps was more realistic in Dopesick. In Painkiller it bordered on parody to me with the chanting "OXY" and the party scenes that looked like the pit of hell. Perhaps that was the intention, but I didn't find it as convincing. 

And although Matthew Broderick was very good here, it was almost mustache-twirling to me. I preferred Michael Stuhlbarg's more understated portrayal of Richard Sackler in Dopesick. 

Uzo Aduba and Taylor Kitsch were both excellent. It was gut-wrenching watching Glen's downfall from the confident, down to earth guy in the beginning to the addict who succumbed to his addiction in the end. His life and family were destroyed. It broke my heart. 

My oldest sister was addicted to opioids for years. I don't think she was snorting the pills, but her life unraveled due to her addiction. She left her husband and three kids, or her husband kicked her out. I never got the whole story, but she was deeply unhappy for years.

When she died at 51 she had been on Methadone or Suboxone for over three years. She didn't overdose, but I believe she was still battling her addiction and was probably taking both Suboxone and opioids. My mother was also addicted to opioids for more than 15 years. Her doctor kept prescribing them to her even after I tried to tell him what was happening. 

This was an excellent but very sad series. 

 

 

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Sweet-tea