S01.E07: 2016

[Guest]

Airs August 11, 2019

Quote

Fox fires Roger after Gretchen Carlson's lawsuit becomes public, but Roger's plans come to fruition as Donald Trump wins the presidency.

[sadie]

Well done. They really painted Ailes female assistant in a horrible light, obviously her 2M a year salary explains why she didn’t care about all these women being abused . I guess in the a lot of them were happy to take the money and run including Gretchen Carlson. What a monster this  guy was, his wife was most infuriating to me. Just a really great series, I hope it gets the attention it deserves. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I really loved how Rupert chastised his own son for unnecessarily exposing NewsCorp to untold liabilities.  This was the most fascinating dynamic of the saga, to me.  

The next best thing in this ep was the unseen Megyn Kelly.  She was haaaated by the workers/staff at Fox News, largely for being a supreme political animal.  Her silence was seen as a calculation that the Murdoch sons were going to drive the situation AND start running FN.  She was correct.  She also became protected and THE CHOSEN ONE.  Regardless, it had to be delicious payback given Ailes' refusal to back her as he really should have when Trump went after her in that first debate.  NewsCorp (the Murdoch lads) discovered what she was about soon enough.

The portrayal of Gretchen Carlson as some naive housewife who was shocked, SHOCKED to see the invasion of SAT trucks/vans at her home was rich.  She had no such scruples when she was the anchor and others were routinely treated to that very circumstance.  Not saying it was right or wrong.  Only that TPTB made it look like there was a sniper waiting to take out her family.  Puh-leeeeeeeaze.

It was good to see a last few pieces of Ailes' political wisdom and acumen.  He was so right about Manafort.  Ironically enough, Manafort's ouster led to a bit of political history:  Kellyanne Conway became the first female campaign chairperson to lead a successful presidential election.

Crowe's portrayal of Ailes was excellent.  When he displayed Ailes' charm, it was easy to see why so many looked the other way and/or became acolytes.  I very much appreciated how often Crowe's choice that "less was more" paid off.  It made Ailes a more menacing, and powerful, threat.  More monstrous.  Kudos.

Overall, I would recommend this mini-series to anyone who cares about any of media, politics, culture, and history.  Aside from the hero treatment for GC, TPTB stayed well within a reasonable interpretation of matters.  They still showed us the disgusting man/monster he truly was.  And they gave him his due as a brilliant media and political mind.  His accomplishments were not, could not, and should not, be dismissed.

It would be a great thing if folks who see this presentation choose to closely examine our culture and their individual contributions to it.  I have.  The manipulations have only become worse.  I'd bet everything I have there are more Ailes' out there, too.   

[lovinbob]

It is so interesting that this series has not gotten more press, at least from what I have seen. A-list cast, great performances, sensational story -- I wonder why so few people are talking about it? 

[car54]

This show was really well done and I watched all of it, but after the past few weeks of horrible news I was really glad to see Ailes die last night.

Judy, the secretary, was my favorite character throughout the show--she had very little dialogue but that actress was a real presence in every scene she was in--and to have her get that final note at the end was kind of fantastic--I have a feeling that she probably knew where ALL the bodies were buried at Fox and they were probably afraid not to pay her.

[sadie]

2 hours ago, lovinbob said:

It is so interesting that this series has not gotten more press, at least from what I have seen. A-list cast, great performances, sensational story -- I wonder why so few people are talking about it? 

I know, right! No one I know is watching this and I keep telling them how good it was. The actors all brought their A game, especially Crowe who I literally forgot was Russell Crowe and felt like I was actually watching Ailes. This has been one of the best series this summer. Riveting. 

[tvisme]

4 hours ago, car54 said:

This show was really well done and I watched all of it, but after the past few weeks of horrible news I was really glad to see Ailes die last night.

Judy, the secretary, was my favorite character throughout the show--she had very little dialogue but that actress was a real presence in every scene she was in--and to have her get that final note at the end was kind of fantastic--I have a feeling that she probably knew where ALL the bodies were buried at Fox and they were probably afraid not to pay her.

I thought the Judy character was interesting too and the actress really pulled it off, but it was kind of funny that she was the only character who didn't seem to age AT ALL as the series progressed!

[Guest]

This was a really well-done mini-series and my criticism of Russel Crowe's performance in the first episode didn't stand the test of time—I think he did an outstanding job overall. But the real winner in the series, for me, was Sienna Miller who truly made Beth into an equally horrifying, unsympathetic character. I did think Naomi Watts was a letdown as GC. GC strikes me as a woman with a much more robust personality and Watts just wasn't bringing it in that department.

I read most of Gabriel Sherman's New York magazine articles (though never read his book) and don't recall if he got Beth to ever speak to him. (I sincerely doubt it.) So, I wonder if her bathroom breakdown was added for dramatics since she still maintains that all of Ailes' accusers were lying.

While Roger Ailes might be dead (thank god), his AI, Fox News, lives on. The lies, the paranoia, the cheap show-patriotism—it's all on display all day, every day on the legacy he left for the world. 

[lovinbob]

What was the significance of Judy being invited to dinner and Beth saying no? It seemed to foretell that she might turn on Roger, but she didn't. Did she just not have anything in her life besides the dog and Roger? 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

3 hours ago, lovinbob said:

What was the significance of Judy being invited to dinner and Beth saying no? It seemed to foretell that she might turn on Roger, but she didn't. Did she just not have anything in her life besides the dog and Roger? 

I took it as the first time RA ever crossed the professional relationship line with her, after allllll those years.  

We had already seen Beth as being supremely protective of the manor they built.  Remember how she freaked out when Rupert showed up?  THAT, was a violation to Beth, as, I imagine, having Judy welcomed there.  Never mind, of course, the unending actual violations by her husband of others.

[lyric]

5 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

I took it as the first time RA ever crossed the professional relationship line with her, after allllll those years.  

We had already seen Beth as being supremely protective of the manor they built.  Remember how she freaked out when Rupert showed up?  THAT, was a violation to Beth, as, I imagine, having Judy welcomed there.  Never mind, of course, the unending actual violations by her husband of others.

I'm not sure what it signified, but Beth got snippy about the birthday cake too "...wasn't necessary...we already celebrated at home."  She seemed jealous or insecure about Judy, which is kind of ironic since she seemed to be the only woman Roger didn't pursue, or force himself on, sexually. 

[Janc]

When Judy put on her coat and was escorted out, it showed her stacks of yellow legal pads were gone:  did she/Ailes destroy them, or did Fox get their hands on them, or did the investigators, ???

[Lonesome Rhodes]

8 hours ago, Janc said:

When Judy put on her coat and was escorted out, it showed her stacks of yellow legal pads were gone:  did she/Ailes destroy them, or did Fox get their hands on them, or did the investigators, ???

I took that as her insurance policy if Fox refused to pay her off as they had so many others.  

This was a great bit of subtle storytelling, imo.  It could have several meanings and we were not hit over the head with exposition - we were allowed to think for ourselves!