The Loudest Voice Review: 2008 (Season 1 Episode 3)
Rogers dives into the dangerous rhetoric of scare politics on The Loudest Voice Season 1 Episode 3, “2008.”
Some scenes prove tough to watch, as Laurie’s psychological and physical tortures play out over the episode. One of my complaints so far has been the shielding of the assault and only hinting at it; here, the episode doesn’t flinch from showing the cruelty on display.
Laurie’s been conditioned to appreciate the job over her own safety, to a certain degree, telling others of how important and impossible it is to work at Fox News, while being abused, and filmed during those heartbreaking moments, to keep that very job.
The fact that Laurie’s phone calls are even listened in on, and her family plans cancelled on her, shows the level of control Roger and his lackeys hold on those without power. It’s such a chilling moment, like one last thing of her own being taken from her.
The Loudest Voice is about power and the struggle for dominance without the concern for who gets hurt in the process.
Roger staring with contempt at the screen as an important moment in American history plays out is another reminder of his dark heart. Instead of seeing progress as a nation in the election of Obama, Roger only sees more destruction.
Even touring his hometown, seeing how the economy hasn’t been working for it, he sees it as progressive destruction rather than jobs changing with the times. The show and Roger Ailes provides the viewpoint of change as a destructing force, when the times are fine as they are to them.
Roger’s lessons to his son, of never trusting anyone, and raising and lowering the flag every day, shows a cold distance. Roger showing off his old room as a kid isn’t an act of bonding, as it originally feels like; it’s a reminder that Roger comes from what everyone has, and achieved more. It’s another transaction moment, to tell his son that everything is up to his own drive, and not of those around him.
The precise moment the episode manages to fully seal Roger’s paranoia is when he enters the master bedroom of his home and taps at a wall installation. Is it the central air, changing it for the night? No, it’s a coded lock for steel barrier to protect the bedroom from attack, slamming shut. It’s incredibly telling of how fearful and paranoid he has become, and also keeps his son at risk, as he’s outside the barrier.
It’s most definitely not a mistake that the last words of The Loudest Voice Season 1 Episode 3, “2008,” are the slogan of the current President. Both men vie for a time in the past, without much thought for the future. The show is becoming an important history lesson of how damaging it can be to take things too far, and how a steadying hand is needed in trying times.
The Loudest Voice continues to be impeccably performed. Russell Crowe and Annabelle Wallis, especially, become major standouts for the episode, with Seth MacFarlane getting more to do and being an entertaining addition. It can be a tough watch, but the show is becoming an important series.
What did you think of this episode of The Loudest Voice? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Loudest Voice airs Sundays at 10/9c on Showtime.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.