Major spoilers for everySuccessionseason ahead.If someone somehow missed the entirety ofSuccession, they may be wondering just what isSuccessionabout, and the answer is, “a whole lot”. Waiting fora new HBO original showis like waiting for a big upcoming vacation. There’s a lot of happiness and expectations riding on it, there’s a specific date picked out, it will inevitably be compared to past vacations, and no matter what, it’s going to be at least pretty good, it’s vacation after all. In those terms,Successionis one of the best vacations TV fans have got to go on.
Premiering in June 2018, it only took a handful of episodes forSuccessionto find its footing, and once it did, it became can’t miss TV. Following the Roy family, the unfathomably wealthy and powerful multigenerational owners of a massive media conglomerate,Successiondepicts the family’s fight for ownership of the company. The series went on to earn 18 Golden Globe nominations, winning 9; and earn 39 Emmy nominations, winning 14.Few shows have rivaled its acclaim or legacy, and for good reason.
A Succession Series Recap
Succession Tracks The Final Years Of The Media Conglomerate, Waystar Royco
Whilethe four seasons ofSuccessionfeel like they cover decades of Waystar Royco, they actually only cover the final two, possibly three, waning years of the company. In season 1, the main players are introduced. There’s the family’s dictatorial patriarch, and company founder, Logan (Brian Cox). There’s Logan’s technical eldest and only son of his first wife, the deluded but harmless Connor (Alan Ruck). Then there are the three children of Logan’s second marriage and the arguable protagonists of the entire show.
Logan Roy’s 9 Best Scenes In Succession, Ranked
Logan Roy is the patriarch and center of Succession for most of its run, and his best scenes highlight who he is as a leader, father, and businessman.
There’s the oldest brother and recovering substance abuser, Kendall (Jeremy Strong); the willful and arrogant middle daughter, Siobhan “Shiv” (Sarah Snook); and the sharp-tongued and occasionally sociopathic youngest son, Roman (Kieran Culkin). Other important characters include Shiv’s long-suffering and grasping husband, Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen); and the Roy’s bumbling but irrationally confident cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun), who is reintroduced to the family in theSuccessionpremiere.
There are plenty of otherwonderful characters inSuccessionall worth paying attention to, butseason 1 primarily focuses on Kendall’s attempt to overthrow his father from the top of his company. His failed coup ends in a relapse and Kendall’s last attempt to take over Waystar Royco in the season 1 finale ends with him driving a car under the influence and killing his passenger. Now cowed by his father, the regretful Kendall becomes Logan’s indentured servant for season 2 while Logan pits Shiv and Roman against one another.
Season 2 ends with Logan planning to give Kendall up to the authorities to shift blame from him regarding a terrible company-wide scandal that occurred under Logan’s watch. Kendall flips the script on him and publicly decries his father, promising to take the company from him in season 3. Kendall, of course, is lost, and season 3 finds him, Shiv, and Roman working together to stop a company buyout from eccentric Swedish tech billionaire, Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård). Logan once again has the drop, and effectively cuts them out from ever having the chance to run the company.
Season 4 ofSuccessionis a whirlwind, with the siblings teaming up for one last shot at overruling their father.
Season 4 ofSuccessionis a whirlwind, with the siblings teaming up for one last shot at overruling their father. Before they can, the elderly Logan passes away, and his children are left picking up the pieces of the broken lives he left them. It’s almost an inevitability thatat the end ofSuccession, no Roy child has the company, and each one is left with their ultimate goal ripped from their grasp. The final shots show each sibling staring grimly into a future they can’t plan for.
Succession Is Loosely Based On The Billionaire Media Owners, The Murdochs
Jesse Armstrong Also Used Other Billionaire Families As Inspiration
It may come as a surprise for some to learn that the Roys inSuccessionare actually partially based on a real-life family: the Murdochs, and their patriarch, Rupert Murdoch (viaTheGuardian). The Murdoch family is a multigenerational family of media magnates and tycoons who founded and owned the world’s largest media company “News Corporation”, which eventually became the Fox Corporation. There are several undeniable parallels betweenSuccessionand the Murdoch family saga (viaNYT).
Jesse Armstrong originally wanted to make a feature film specifically about the Murdoch family.
In 2018-2019, Rupert handed off his company to Disney instead of passing it down to his family members, just as Logan refused to for his children, which became the basis of the show.Succession’s creator, Jesse Armstrong, said he included details from other media families like the Redstones, the Maxwells, and the Sulzbergers to craft his story. The Murdoch family, for their part, reportedly enjoy the show, finding the parallels amusing (viaTownAnCountryMag).
When Logan Roy kicks the bucket on board his airplane in season 4, the chaotic nature ofhis death was enough to convince the Murdochsthat they should get real with their own succession plan in the event of Rupert’s death. The Murdoch children reportedly held secret talks about what to do in the event of their father’s death. Elisabeth Murdoch, regarded by some as the inspiration for Shiv, even drafted a memo titled, “Succession Memo”.
Succession Examines Wealth, America, Families, And Ambition
Logan Roy Has Replaced Love With Money
When it comes to a show likeSuccession, it’s hard not to derive meaning and themes from even the smallest detail. The overarching themes ofSuccessionare fairly simple, however.This is a series about power, family, and wealth, all wrapped up in a critical satire of an American kind of capitalismthat grinds people into nothing. A common complaint aboutSuccessionis that every one of the characters is deplorable. While that’s true, to an extent, that’s also the point. This is a show about what happens when people replace love with wealth.
In season 3, episode 10, “All the Bells Say”, the Roy children barge into Logan’s war room to stop the merger of their family company. They use the word “love” as a reason why he should stop. Logan is almost unable to contemplate the word. When he repeats it back to them, it’s like he’s vomiting it up. “Love” does not exist in this world in any form. It’s only about the pile of money.
All his children want is to be taken seriously, and Logan fundamentally does not believe they can be.
In season 4, episode 2, “Rehearsal”, Logan sits down with his children in what will be the last time they all talk to one another. In this unusually quiet scene, Logan tells his family they are not serious people. It’s a damning phrase. All his children want is to be taken seriously, and Logan fundamentally does not believe they can be. His life is so wrapped up in the pursuit of power, that their incapability to match his own drive means he considers them less than. What’s worse is that, internally, each of his kids believes he’s telling the truth.
There Are Direct King Lear Parallels In Succession
Shakespeare Figures Heavily Into Succession
Calling good dramas “Shakespearean” is a bit of a tired way to critique prestige televisionat this point. It’s like saying novels are very much influenced by the alphabet, no duh. Any good drama is going to have Shakespearean elements, considering how influential William Shakespeare was on dramatic storytelling in general. However, withSuccession, the Shakespeare comparisons are very apt, and there are almost direct references to one of the Bard’s most famous plays,King Lear, and nods to others.
There are frequent instances of Kendall and others referring to Logan as “mad”, just like King Lear in the play. The machinations of Lear’s children angling for his kingdom are also directly paralleled by Logan’s children’s ploys to take his media kingdom.Richard IIIwas also an inspiration for Jeremy Strong’s performance of Kendall inSuccessionseason 4 (viaTHR). There’s much more. Tom and Shiv are not unlike the Macbeths. Roman imagines himself wearing a crown like Hamlet, though he’s not sure if that actually happens inHamlet.
Hamlet never actually gets to wear the crown inHamlet, dying beforehand.
Characters often use medieval and theatrical words to describe their situations too. Kingdoms, crowns, eunuchs, it’s all taken from Shakespeare and helps illustrate the tragedy and the comedy of the show.Succession isabsurd, and it’s authentic, just like many of William Shakespeare’s plays.
Succession Is Not The Greatest Show Of All Time, But It’s Not Far From The Top
There Isn’t Another Show Like Succession
So isSuccessionone ofthe greatest shows of all time? No. However, it’s certainly near the top of the list.Successiononly seems to grow in estimationas the years pass by. While some miniseries have premiered after the end ofSuccessionthat rival it, there have been no shows with multiple seasons of excellence likeSuccession. It knew when to stop, how to trust its characters, and when to follow the arc of the story rather than the hopes of the fanbase. It may not be the best show of all time, but it’s one of a kind.
Succession
Cast
Succession is a Black Comedy and Satire television show created by Jesse Armstrong. It stars Hiam Abbass, Nicholas Braun, Brian Cox, and Kieran Culkin and follows the story of an aging conglomerate owner as he deals with his declining health and the sudden realization that one of his children will soon inherit his position and run his company.
