Still Watching: House of the Dragon, Season 2

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Arts #57

Join Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson, Chris Murphy, and Hillary Busis as they recap and analyze the most exciting series on TV and streaming, and get the inside story on how they came together through interviews with television stars and creators. 

Get in touch, email us at stillwatching@vanityfair.com

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Recent Reviews
  • CcLahrsto
    Sad to see it go!
    I listened most when the hosts reviewed AJLT, Succession and True Detective S4. I really enjoyed the episode breakdowns and looked forward to listening every week! The hosts are funny and I love to hear writers break down tv shows with their expertise and humor. I was looking so forward to the next season of AJLT just because of this podcast and now I am sad. They did lose me on Regime- I love Kate Winslet-I just could not get into that show. I hope this podcast can come back!!
  • MamaFrijole
    😫
    What the what?!?!!! Love listening to you all - I’m so sad 😞
  • lace1184
    Trump 2024
    ☝🏼
  • Cbpatts
    What? No Industry?
    You reviews and critiques are the absolute BEST anywhere. So why are you not covering the best show on TV right now. I was hoping for some Succession-type discussions. :-(
  • AshBash325
    Queen Charlotte + Fellow Travelers
    Just finished Fellow Travelers and shocked that you guys haven’t reviewed it—huge missed opportunity! Please at least do a couple of episodes on the series 🙏🏽 Also surprised you haven’t touched Queen Charlotte since it’s such a rich accessory to the Bridgerton universe. Please get these in the queue!! Love what you’re doing; so enjoy this podcast.
  • teexcue
    Good discussions but why can’t they pronounce names correctly??
    Enjoy the hosts’ discussions, but from a large publication and people that have obviously watched the show, why do they mess up the pronunciations of the character/cast names so often??
  • bri@nfb
    Just Stop
    The HotD coverage is beyond embarrassing and should be the death knell to Still Watching, an already useless podcast that is not even deserving of one star.
  • LLG_3
    This HOTD podcast is an embarrassment
    Clearly none of the hosts bothered to brush up on season 1 before jumping into season 2 because they think Aegon “isn’t as bad as Joffrey” (the man is a rapist, countless times over) and they don’t seem to remember that all of the kids bullied Aemon season 1 (his literal villain origin story). Listening to them is frustrating and an extreme waste of time.
  • Apple fan 24681012
    Not very good
    I’ve listen to a variety of HOTD podcasts and this one is not very good. If you listen to the Cast of Kings (very informative) or Oysters,Clams and Cockles (funny duo), you would be blown away by the knowledge that both these groups bring and how they break down the episode. I was very surprised a couple of the “Still Waiting” members indicated they picked Team Green…I respect everyone’s opinion…but really fumbled over their words while explaining the reason why. It was like he was saying it just to be different. Statement was made that “Rhaenyra was boring”… just didn’t understand how one could make that comment. Both the writing and acting on HOTD are outstanding. I normally don’t write reviews but after listening to SW Season 2 Ep. 3 podcast, I felt I had to inform others not to waste their time.
  • kfueonwjfufle
    Surely there are better hosts
    These people don’t know the names of the characters? Imagine hosting a podcast about a show and not knowing the characters names? Ten minutes of prep work would make these episodes 10x better.
  • K9KIP
    It’s Thursday 6/6
    Where are you?
  • Katie-MN
    Queen Charlotte
    Please review Queen Charlotte. This was as good as the first season of Bridgerton. It would be nice if it received more press. You have a fun podcast and it is nice to hear when you want just a little more from the shows.
  • ColeBritney
    Love
    Loving the Bridgerton recaps/guests
  • EmLeFay
    This is what passes for analysis/criticism?
    Far less entertaining to the listener than they are to themselves. Unendurably smug considering the vapidness of their commentary. Won’t be back.
  • David Conell
    The Regime
    Their blah blah is just vapid.
  • JMcKC
    Big fan!
    Love your podcast. Enjoy sharing ideas Love, love season 4 of True Detective and will watch anything Issa Lopez is involved in. I will follow you!!!!
  • Naptime74
    Little To No Substance (TD:S4)
    I'm giving the pod two stars only because there are a few, albeit minor, takes. However, after listening to all six episodes I can safely say that there is little to no substance in the discussion of the show. I get the sense that the hosts feel obligated to not be critical of the show as they have actors from it in the second half of each episode. Thus, anytime they do have anything critical to say (which is not very often) they follow up with something along the lines of "but I'm okay with that" or "it's for style anyways" instead of actually judging the show. Furthermore, one of the hosts (I don't want to attack anyone personally) is clearly not of the same caliber as the other two.
  • CatiraMad
    Mind blown
    I love this show. Hey team - I think the Oedipal read is a very wrong interpretation of this! I think Danvers has a motherly attachment to Peter as she has with so many. Gruff caretaker at heart. The only person who has called this out as Oedipal/sexual is Hank! He’s gaslighting this because he can’t handle that his child is pushing him away. He reminds Peter several times to choose him: he is a manipulative abuser. Meanwhile Danvers lost a son; recognizes a kid without parents and true potential in his smarts. And I think reducing this to the Mrs Robinson trope is following Hank’s lead.
  • 512 crowbird
    True Detective Night a country- Season 4
    I was hoping for insight into the imagery & Easter egg clues throughout the first four episodes, but this podcast is just nonsensical babbling. It was so bad- you could tell they don’t think about the plot and this podcast was a waste of time.
  • Ac514y
    Pod is Good, True Detective is Bad
    This is a terrible season. Why aren’t you covering Feud: Capote vs the Swans instead? Seems much more up VF’s alley.
  • Kathenwy
    Far and away the best re-cap podcast
    Updating my review for True Detective, this is such a deeper and more fun show than any other re-cap podcast. I also love the predictions and interviews. The hosts prepare, offering a ton of context and background that add so many layers to “just” watching the show.
  • Wilpud
    Chris Murphy Bugs
    I don’t know how old he is but he comes across as such a kid. Doesn’t seem to know anything that happened at all before 2000, has no context to base his opinions, and has a total over woke Gen Z perspective on everything. Which I guess is fine, but he just comes across as such a kid with no taste. And I hate the way he speaks. Try not saying “like” in every single sentence. Just heard his glowing review of Night Country and how amazing it is and I just cannot with him anymore. Unsubscribing.
  • EllenBeth81
    I want to like the podcast but …
    …the hosts are so poorly prepared and apparently not embarrassed by it. It’s okay to say that you’ve never heard of Mustique (although it’s not that off the grid) but to say it in the same breath as “I’ve heard and been everywhere” (or something to that effect) shows a lack of self awareness and sophistication. Both are things that are needed on a podcast like this. They’re in short supply.
  • jbearhatesthisapp
    Maybe hosts should like the show they’re talking about?
    The hosts discussing the final season of “The Crown” seemed to really not like the show. I don’t mind a critical reading but I’m not sure why they even watch the show, they seem to dislike everything. Also it probably helps when all the hosts have actually seen the whole series or at least a good chunk of it. There was one host who said he’d only seen a few episodes before the latest season. Was no one else available?
  • Carolyn’sDaughter
    Snarky comments
    How exactly does a cleaning lady dress? If you’re going to spend time, considering fair representation of everyone, maybe you should include class in that discussion and show more respect for people who spend their days cleaning up after you.
  • parul jones
    I love it
    I cannot bear the thought of watching AJLT (I just don’t think it’s as good a show as SATC was) but I don’t have to because my friends at VF do such a great job recapping each episode with excellent, insightful commentary and humor.
  • Clair311
    AJLT
    I loved listening to you guys every Thursday right after I watched the lasted episode. It was like discussing the show I’ve loved for years with old friends who love it just as much as me.
  • Ashley_84
    AJLT
    The female cohost is starting to get on my nerves. AJLT is in no way perfect, but being happy to be annoyed by something is weird. Why are you covering this show if you don’t like it? And all her complaints about the Aidan/Carrie relationship basically come down to being against Carrie showing growth. Carrie should not be attached to an apartment at her big age with her big money. Being able to move forward is actually a good thing.
  • jnjsmile
    Great podcast
    Thank you!
  • KnoxMB
    Negative with attempts at funny banter.
    Every episode is “negative” with attempts at funny banter amongst the 3 hosts & it feels like they never come into these episodes with any positives most of the time. Being negative & mean to seem interesting with your review on the episodes is tiring.
  • allysoneorourke
    Cup half full
    The female commentator is such a downer. She even stated she was excited to find something in the episode to be annoyed about. Sigh.. don’t get me wrong it’s not like I think this reboot is perfect or even close to it but every episode I’ve heard with her it’s pretty negative.
  • vegasgal
    SATC
    Enjoyed the two episodes discussing the top five, nice to hear your viewpoints. Two things: some one asked if BED was a real place and the reply was no; there was an actual club called BED NY opened circa 2004. Also, you guys wondered about why the writers didn’t present viagra as an option for Trey. They did. Trey’s excuse to Charlotte for not taking it was that he was a doctor and he was very aware of the implications of heart failures/issues associated with the drug so he declined it.
  • NaomiBurton
    And Just Like That
    I eagerly watched to have the ending explained. Why did Aidan look rattled when he saw Seema? What could that mean?
  • The pilge
    And Just Like That Misgendering
    Hi cast - really enjoying your AJLT recaps so far, just wanted to submit a head up on Che’s pronouns. They yes they/them, heard you misuse some on the July 27, 2023 episode.
  • Jr1372
    Great
    Richard should be on every episode
  • brianooch
    Thanks for Sex and the City episode pod
    “I love a charade” is my favorite episode even though Berger is nowhere near good enough for Carrie
  • JaneNE77
    I don’t always agree but
    Enjoy hearing another view. Sometimes it makes me consider and appreciate a different take on the episodes. However, what I can’t take is the constant preface of “sort of”. Often several times in 1 sentence. Do you ever listen to your own podcast? It is beyond annoying. It’s clear you have no idea you’re doing it. Had to stop listening. It was too painful, sort of.
  • Ltbesq
    Some bad takes, but still fun
    I enjoy this show, although predictions like “Connor will be elected President!” are beyond silly, yet hosts seem to take such absurd takes seriously. Somebody really wanted that shark jump. All the recent one star reviews from the Red Pill brigade seem orchestrated. I don’t write reviews of Ben Shapiro because upon reading his tweets, I know he is a racist, misogynist douchecanoe and I am thus not his audience. If it offends you that the writers of Succession and the hosts of this podcast think Alternative Facts media like Fox is a toxic carcinogen to politics and democracy, then turn it off and recruit Ravenhead to host one that doesn’t hurt your tender feelings.
  • vangenius
    The wrap up misses the point of Succession. It’s about the bloodline and eternal hope.
    While I think these young folks ( the hosts) are smart and ambitious, they are so laser focused on the concept of succession being only who inherits the reigns of the business as the only valuable prize. Lost on them is that the Roys are named so because Roy means “royal”. And in royal succession the bloodline is the most valuable asset to the path to power. While there may be failed generations of kings and queens, the successor provides hope for the future. When the Roy children decide to anoint Kendal in Barbados, Shiv is still thinking of Tom as an interloper. If it can’t be her, because she doesn’t have the votes (thanks misogyny) then, at that moment she only sees Kendal as their only option to preserve the Roy dynasty. But- It isn’t just a cruel insult when Roman points out that Shiv is the only TRUE bloodline and that Kendal’s kids are not “real real”. It’s a fulcrum. It is that moment Shiv realizes that it’s is not her generation that will be the successors- it is the hope her “real” child promises even while in her womb. The calculation is that Tom is be King Regent, and she will be queen mother, and one day in a short few decades, her child will be the heir apparent in the direct line of Succession. I think this very smart twist was lost on the ambitious young hosts without children who only see succession as the relationship and inheritance of themselves from their parents. They do not yet see the fullness of the bloodline’s value. And they are a bit short sighted about the future being only tied to the money and politics of the moment. Shiv isn’t being selfish with plots of future take overs from Tom. At Roman’s revelation that Kendal has no “real” (also another word based on Royal) heirs, Shiv see the only true path to family preservation comes from the unappreciated power of her womb. An unquestioned heir of the family no matter the father. The successor.
  • bwkcpwoauxbcjewo
    I’m so mad
    Listening to the succession finale recap and oh my god these people are unbearable without Joanna. So many sports and godfather references, and very little insightful analysis of the show. Bill simply impresses me with how bad his takes are. Also lots of random inaccuracies this episode. I so wish there was any analytical commentary, but this episode was basically the two hosts trying to remember everything that happened in the episode and stumbling through their notes.
  • dsafdasfasfsad
    Terrible without Richard Lawson
    Coverage of season 4 episode 9, with Lawson out, was terrible. No insight, just simplistic talk about of which characters are the most “bad” due to their ideological stances. This show is so much richer than that and you people know it!
  • Sunny_in_mpls
    Great recap, but leave your politics out of it
    I love listening to these guys, with one caveat - keep the personal political views to yourselves, please! It’s very preachy and sanctimonious to anyone that isn’t liberal. Newsflash, some of your listeners are conservative and aren’t actually evil…
  • TheMatrix
    TDS
    on steroids this week. Gaslighting career politicians for the win!
  • IKEremix
    Can’t Keep Politics Out of It
    They just can’t help themselves and consistently pull in their political views. Really ruins the pods.
  • Sarabarker7
    Suc
    Stop throwing in your woke take on everything. God you people are so arrogant
  • Papa Wamsgams
    Political observation
    I find it funny that the hosts don’t even pause for a minute to consider that some of their listeners might also be conservative. I suspect they live in this Vanity Fair echochamber where all they know is liberal groupthink. But you may want to reflect on all the Fox News bashing. They have good ratings because real people tune in. No need to alienate half of the country with your politics. That is all.
  • Bravouser1234
    Thanks for ruining the episode!
    The podcast has been slowly going downhill since COVID. I stuck around for Succession recaps. I never expected a spoiler in the title!!!!! I couldn't even avoid it, and I am on high alert for spoilers!
  • Chicmadesimple
    Spoilers
    The only podcast I know who either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that the unspoken rule of recaps, that spoilers are alerted. It’s very unpolished to put a spoiler right in the title.
  • Kopaka60
    Beware spoilers in episode titles when you follow this show
    Thanks for spoiling episode 3 of Succession when my feed refreshed. Couldn’t watch it live yesterday.
  • Tampa4356
    Thanks
    I enjoy listening to these White Lotus recaps but can we watch it on saying “sort of” and “kind of” in front of everything, it’s a verbal tic that people have started doing over the past decade. One host does it more than the other. It’s very noticeable. Just bringing it to your attention.
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