We recently finished watching Succession, and I enjoyed it. Succession was a show where you came away hating practically every character, because they are awful in so many different ways. Except for Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun). Sure he’s awful, but he’s kind of the least awful.
The way that they were able to drag out who would actually succeed Logan Roy (Brian Cox) as the CEO of the company was well done. Sure, there were times where certain bits dragged, but I also appreciated how they didn’t tell you exactly how much time was passing between episodes. It helped keep things vague and added to the drama.
They set up early and often that you would hate Roman (Kieran Culkin) who was an incredibly gross, edge lord, right wing, sexist, racist bigot. They made you think for a long time that they would give Kendall (Jeremy Strong) a redemption arc but would hilariously rip the rug out from under him. They made you think early on that Shiv (Sarah Snook) was somebody to root for, because she had decent morals and politics. Then, they showed that her morals and politics were extremely malleable when money or power was involved.
At the end of the show (SPOILER), it made sense that Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfayden) was made CEO of the new company. Throughout the show, despite the protestations of the Roy children, Tom was regularly complimented for how well he was doing his actual job in the company. Despite any reservations you may have about him as a person, it makes sense from a business standpoint. Plus, he’s willing to do it what the boss wants.
I think my favorite moment and probably the funniest moment was when Tom and Greg are talking in an office and Tom starts throwing water bottles at him. Yes, it was terrible that Tom was actually throwing water bottles at Greg, but it was spectacular at the same time.
Obviously, this show has so many similarities to the Rupert Murdoch, his family, and the Fox Corporation. Succession doesn’t mince words about the fictional Roys, showing them to be just as vile and corrupt as their real counterparts.
