S01.E02: Naming Rights

[formerlyfreedom]

Caution: This episode is available via On Demand prior to the 1/24 airdate. Entering this topic may spoil you!

Axe installs rigorous compliance measures to gird the company against the investigation by Chuck and the US Attorney’s office. When Wendy questions Axe’s methods, he compels her to prove her loyalty to the firm. Chuck’s investigation is temporarily derailed when he has to divert resources to a case against an Axe rival, billionaire Steven Birch. Axe’s black bag man and fixer, Hall, develops a mole inside the US Attorney’s office, while Axe makes an aggressive move under the guise of a charitable contribution to the symphony in order to settle an old score.

 

Promo:

 

Clips:

 

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Just watched this one On Demand, the last scene had me LOL!

[Notwisconsin]

Yeah, it's all about the FU money, ain't it?

[Primetimer]

It's not a ten-way tie for first. But it's close.

Read the story

[SlipperyPete]

Is Lara meant to be Axe's wife or his fucking hype man? On a show with far worse characters, this one in particular makes me want to rake at my own face with my fingernails whenever she's on screen. UGH!

 

For the people who got annoyed with all of Mike Milligan's speech-crafting in season 2 of Fargo: I give you BILLIONS.

 

This show is trying way too hard to be the next HUGE subscription cable show with rich, complex characters, weird personality quirks, fancy dialogue and risqué subject matter. It's so contrived that it can't seem to help but fall on its face.

 

In fact, this show is so spectacularly bad that I MUST keep watching just to see where they steer this thing as the season goes on. Especially if it only ends up getting just the one season. But I suspect that the calibre of actors they managed to get together(HOW?!?!?!) will keep people watching and get it renewed for at least a second season.

 

Oh and I almost forgot about Axe wearing a Master of Puppets t-shirt as he delivers that god awful speech about why he's screwing the Eads' out of 16 mil. If the use of subtlety wasn't officially out the window before, it certainly is now. The ham has met the fist.

[albaniantv]

Agree it's spectacularly bad, but it doesn't grip me enough for a hate watch. Seen a few great big messes this week--this one is probably the most expensive and because of The Big Short, they will probably keep trying to fix it. But even PBS has a screaming miscast mess going on at Mercy Street. Equally bad and desperate for attention is the messed up Ejector Set called Colony, being sort of written by that sort of writer, Carlton Cuse.

 

This month I'm actually having more fun exploring the comedic paranoid fantasy Mr. Robot and the comedic oddity called Baskets. Even Life in Pieces, which has good writers and actors, is way more fun than it sounds.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I liked the last scene mostly because of what Bobby said last week: what good is fuck you money if you never say, "Fuck you"?

 

I enjoyed Bryan's mini lecture on the history of General Tso's chicken because I just watched a documentary called The Search for General Tso (which is all about the history of this dish - it's available on Netflix!) a few weeks ago. I also enjoyed Bryan specifying that dandan noodles and cold sesame noodles are not the same thing, especially after Kate's bitchy remark about how he couldn't help it because he's only been to Asia. Yes, he's ONLY been to that gigantic continent with multiple countries that each have different types of cuisine. Somehow no one manages to get, say, Norwegian food and Italian food mixed up even though both countries are in Europe but it's okay to think that Asia is just one big country where everything is the same.

Edited January 25, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[portfino]

It takes a lot for me to root for layabout aristocrats, but this show makes me.

[scrb]

Staff meeting with the colorful language -- Catherine the Great and horse cock -- took me out of the scene, making me visualize the writers patting themselves on the back for this dialog.

[theajw]

Staff meeting with the colorful language -- Catherine the Great and horse cock -- took me out of the scene, making me visualize the writers patting themselves on the back for this dialog.

 

That scene was so, so bad, and so phony.  And poor David Costabile got stuck with some horrible lines.  The one about the Virgin Mary and her period?  WTF?

[calico]

After the 10th crotch-based metaphor at the staff meeting was uttered is when my husband and I both simultaneously agreed that we would no longer be watching this embarrassing mess of a show.    

[rose711]

This show may be the worst show on tv. I'm not watching again. I will read the recaps.

[molshoop]

I really like this show. I'm a die hard Damian Lewis fan.

And what good is having FU opinions if you can't say.........( just kidding)

[Bcharmer]

It's not great, but I've certainly seen a lot worse. If I'm going to watch a bad show, at least let it be with good actors.  It's my new guilty pleasure.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Bcharmer

[Duke2801]

Bcharmer, on 28 Jan 2016 - 12:38 PM, said:

It's not great, but I've certainly seen a lot worse. If I'm going to watch a bad show, at least let it be with good actors.  It's my new guilty pleasure.

 

LOL I'm glad there is at least one or 2 other people not abhorring this show. I think it's fun. 

I really don't see how this show is worse than most of the inane drivel that clogs up network TV most nights, but hey, that's just me!

[Chas411]

Axles wife is easily the worst character. What is it about Malin Akerman that I find her so one note and irritating in every role she's in.

[caligirl50]

She’s perfect for Axe and I’ve actually grown to like her in this role.  I’ve watched the show over and over.  It’s my new favorite.  Malin was also in The Comeback. Another favorite. Just my opinion, of course. I didn’t like her at first but now I think she is well cast.