HBO's new series Vinyl is custom-made for those who enjoy Empire but want more drugs, nudity, profanity, and white people. It takes place in the 70's and chronicles the rise and fall of Richie Finestra (phenomenally acted by Bobby Connavale), a fictional record label owner looking for the next Led Zeppelin. Executive producer Mick Jaggar delivers wonderful sounds and the show is very raw but unfortunately probably accurate to the time period and industry. Thus far in the first two episodes we have seen orgies, rampant drug use, and a very graphic murder.
In this week's episode “Yesterday Once More,” Richie, a struggling addict, falls way off the wagon, presumably over guilt for his role in the murder. A guy with such high standards seems like the perfect person to then point the finger at Republicans for moral failure.
Richie: You're fine.
Jamie: Excuse me?
Richie: Your job. You're fine. You're not being fired.
Jamie: Good. I mean, that's great. Thank you. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about.
Richie: These people. Fucking Watergate. They think they can get away with something, but sooner or later the chickens come to roost. Right?
Seems pretty condescending for a guy who has broken virtually every law on the books in the past twenty-four hours. But we all know that Nixon was the most evil person to ever hold public office. Good thing HBO is there to remind us of it almost half a century later. Wonder if they will be talking about Bill or Hillary Clinton in the same way anytime soon?
