S03.E07: Strict Scrutiny

[Snazzy Daisy]

Synopsis:

Quote

Harsh reality collides with an opulent night celebrating fashion. Cory and Bradley visit a crucial player in the potential sale of UBA.

Airdate: October 18, 2023

 

Edited October 18, 2023 by Snazzy Daisy

[Emmybean]

You’re being played, Alex. How on earth would someone get that photo? Paul Marx is evil and he’s behind the hack.

 

The visit to Cory’s mother was excruciating

[tomsmom]

2 hours ago, Emmybean said:

 

The visit to Cory’s mother was excruciating

My thoughts exactly! What the hell was the point of it and why did Bradley have to come along? 

[crashdown]

2 hours ago, tomsmom said:

My thoughts exactly! What the hell was the point of it and why did Bradley have to come along? 

The point of it was to demonstrate that Cory grew up being traumatized by a crazy, hate-filled mother and that, all things considered, it's amazing that he's as okay as he is. Bradley had to come along as a buffer, because when you go to visit your trauma-inducing, hateful parent, you want to blunt the effects as much as you can.

I thought it was a great moment that really deepened Cory's character, but then, I've always had a distinct soft spot for Cory.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Hey, Yanko is back!

Quote

“The man just walks in here and makes you do whatever the fuck he wants. This is how you are with him. This is how you’re always gonna be. He owns you. You just can’t fucking see it.”

- Kate to Stella

Stella needs that wake-up call from Kate about trusting Paul. But this arc is truly underdeveloped. Kate is seen as whiny and bitter about Paul - she was let go after working for him for 12 years. They need to show Paul does/did something sh!tty other than buying code at incubator price.

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“You should sign it. If he came to you with an offer behind my back, it’s because he thinks he can manipulate you. Let’s let him think that. It won’t be the first time you were underestimated around here.”

- Cory to Stella

This is my favorite scene of this episode. Love their dynamic, hope the writers won’t screw this pairing up. 🤞🏻

Stella decides to come clean with Cory because she doesn’t want to be owned by Paul again. She knows she’ll be a leader in name only. Now both Stella and Cory know for certain that Paul shouldn’t be trusted. And Stella shouldn’t 💯 trust Cory either. He knows Stella can hold her own but he won’t go down without a fight.

Martha is emotionally manipulative, I feel for young Cory. Despite her flaws, she has raised a resilient CEO. Cory brings Bradley to see his mom as a buffer. But their shippers could be interpreting this move as something more. Am still waiting for the moment when Bradley will find out that he outed her.

Chip to Alex:

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“I’ve been reading your mind for 20 years. It’s like my superpower.”

Quote

“Maybe we change your name to of Chip.”

Dude, that’s cringey!!! 😬

Why the writers need to destroy Chip’s character like this? Why can’t he be a loyal, dependable friend to Alex without that unrequited love BS? He is her person.

The Alex/Paul cozy photo, has it been captured via dronerazzi?

This show continues to underutilize Tig Notaro, just like what they do with Shari Belafonte.

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Snazzy Daisy

[funnygirl]

I'm so pleased that Stella told Cory about Paul Marks' plan to oust him. 

Yeah, how would anyone know to take a picture of Alex and Paul in her skyscraper apartment without being tipped off? Jon Hamm is doing a great job depicting Paul as charming and appearing to be sincere, but he is not a good guy. 

Cory telling Bradley that they're just two people who use each other was so needed, because he's right. Except I do think that he was genuine in his support of Bradley to a point, but he now sees that she uses him. 

[txhorns79]

So Bradley and Corey drove from Manhattan to Connecticut and Ms. Evening Network News Anchor never asked who they were going to see until they were in the driveway of the house?  I know that kind of thing is a tv trope, but it's still very silly. 

46 minutes ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

The Alex/Paul cozy photo, has it been captured via dronerazzi?

I have to think Paul set it up, or otherwise had some role in having it taken.  I'm surprised Alex isn't more freaked out.  No one will take her interview with Paul seriously, and even if they were not dating at the time, people will presume she had a huge conflict of interest. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

55 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

I have to think Paul set it up, or otherwise had some role in having it taken.

If he set it up, why is he freaking out and so desperate to get it buried? 🤨

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

If he set it up, why is he freaking out and so desperate to get it buried? 🤨

Maybe plausible deniability?  After all, Alex is the one who is hurt by the picture, not Paul.

[weaver]

Somehow I cannot get invested in the storyline or any of the characters even though I love some of the actors, Paul, Cory, Stella, Mia.  Loved Holland Taylor and her character too.  

I found the Cory/mother scene boring.  I wanted to FF.  I guess the incident just didn't fit in the narrative and seemed fake to me.   There had to be other ways to show his background, if it was even necessary.  

The development of the story line just isn't smooth.  I can't pinpoint what I really don't like.  

When I think of Succession, I think of how I was involved in who the successor would be and the future of each of the characters.  Not so here.  

 

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by weaver

[gesundheit]

15 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Why the writers need to destroy Chip’s character like this? Why can’t he be a loyal, dependable friend to Alex without that unrequited love BS? He is her person.

 

This show continues to underutilize Tig Notaro, just like what they do with Shari Belafonte.

 

Agreed on Chip, I hate this "in love with Alex, sad boy" subplot.

Also agreed on Tig Notaro, but I hope this episode is an indication that she'll have more to do soon! (Regarding Shari Belafonte, I have to say that even though I was a Hotel viewer back in the day, I'm not sure I'd seen her in anything after that until her recent recurring General Hospital role, in which she was... awkward, let's say. So I was nervous to see her here, but she's acquitting herself nicely when they do use her.)

[Maurina]

22 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Why the writers need to destroy Chip’s character like this? Why can’t he be a loyal, dependable friend to Alex without that unrequited love BS? He is her person.

THANK YOU.  And at the end of the last scene where he sees Alex & Paul kissing (which btw is laughingly unbelievable, that these two extraordinarily high-profile people would be making out in an office whose walls are MADE OF GLASS, after hours or not) - the shot of Chip's reaction is straight out of a Hitchcock film where the background speeds away and the subject stares in abject horror - horror I tell you!  Oh the humanity!  Oh please.

Chip should be pissed off and maybe feel somewhat professionally betrayed - again - by Alex's subterfuge and manipulation.  But this whole "Chip's heart has been ripped to shreds once more" stuff is getting old, and doesn't serve his character or the narrative.

[Blakeston]

These UBA journalists just do whatever they want, huh?

I understand your fury, Chris, but you're a freaking morning show anchor. You get big bucks to maintain some level of neutrality, and to not pull stunts like this.

Between Chris taking "abort the court" to social media, and Bradley deleting her footage, and Alex screwing her interview subject as soon as cameras stopped rolling, it's really a free-for-all.

Meanwhile, if I were Nestor Carbonnel, I'd be begging to be let out of my contract. Yanko has nothing to do besides occasionally behave like an idiot.

[coffeebean]

On 10/18/2023 at 9:17 PM, txhorns79 said:

So Bradley and Corey drove from Manhattan to Connecticut and Ms. Evening Network News Anchor never asked who they were going to see until they were in the driveway of the house?  I know that kind of thing is a tv trope, but it's still very silly. 

I have to think Paul set it up, or otherwise had some role in having it taken.  I'm surprised Alex isn't more freaked out.  No one will take her interview with Paul seriously, and even if they were not dating at the time, people will presume she had a huge conflict of interest. 

Is that what dating is?