Supposedly the final words of Alexander the Great when asked who should inherit his empire were “to the strongest” and in a succession battle that has been as fierce as the heirs of Alexander fighting (albeit with fewer people being trampled by elephants despite how much they deserved it, looking at you Hugo) HBO drama Succession has come to an end. Over four seasons we have watched Jesse Armstrong’s superb drama play out, with the characters fighting to be the successor to Logan Roy and control his vast business empire. So who is the strongest…or as Logan Roy might put it, who is the killer? In this final season, Logan died and a brief union of three of his children Kendall, Shiv and Roman saw the two brothers elevated to co-CEO with Shiv a supposed equal but unofficial partner. However, the company was being sold to tech billionaire and possible sociopath LuKas Matsson, if they wanted to actually run this company they would need to halt the deal. Eventually, it came down to Kendall and Roman versus Shiv and Matsson.

What Happened?

As Shiv’s plan to have Matsson make her CEO collapsed the three siblings agreed to support Kendall as sole CEO as the only alternative. And then in the board meeting, Shiv changed her mind and supported the sale, Mattson bought it, and her estranged husband Tom was installed as CEO, but very much Matsson’s puppet.

Conference Room Conversations

The finale was a fitting end for the show, the company left family control and Logan’s three children (as usual his eldest son Connor is forgotten) are at odds, possibly hating each other whilst possibly still loving each other. As Shiv delayed her vote the three siblings went into one of the many glass conference rooms; still in sight of and audible to everyone. With this episode and the last one (Logan’s funeral), we saw just how broken both Kendall and Roman are.

Roman

After building himself for what he imagined his effective crowning, Roman crumbled into tears and panicked sobbing as he tried to give a speech at his father’s funeral and while dealing with powerful emotions is entirely normal and understandable in this situation it didn’t impress some of his allies. More telling to his damage was that his only way to deal with this was to head out into the masses of protestors on the streets of New York, provoking them to attack him, which they did. Roman vanished and actually sought comfort from his mother Lady Caroline, the same woman who had walked around Shiv’s wedding and asked how long they thought the wedding would last and when Kendall was on the edge of a breakdown and asked for help she fled the home. Roman begrudgingly agreed to support Kendall as CEO, clearly heartbroken that it wasn’t him and moments before the board meeting he broke down into tears, hugging Kendall tightly, both brothers giving off equal feelings of love and contemplating whether they could murder the other.

Kendall

In the conference room, Kendall quickly comes apart, screaming about logic and Shiv’s decision making no sense, roaring at one point that he was the eldest boy and so he deserves the multi-billion dollar business empire. Worse yet the emotionally devastating end of season 3 saw Kendall confess his role in the death of a waiter in a driving accident to Roman and Shiv and their various rivalries were forgotten while they comforted him. When this is brought up Kendall quickly says he had made the story up (he didn’t, it was completely true) and so that shouldn’t stop him; completely destroying one of the precious few moments in the show of genuine sibling care. This breakout discussion descends into violence as Kendall and Roman come to blows while Shiv goes to cast her vote.

In Kendall’s conference room pitch to Shiv he declares that he is “a cog built for one machine” meaning CEO of the company and without it he has nothing. It’s worth bearing in mind that Kendall has two children and will continue to be exceptionally and ridiculously rich and at previous points Kendall has mused about stepping away from the company to live his own life.

In an earlier scene in the finale when trying to work out which of the three of them should be CEO they each give examples of when their father had promised them the job. All three of them at various times had been lined up to be the successor…or had they? A recurring theme in the show is that Logan clearly couldn’t stand his children to have their own power or threaten his pre-eminence. Considering Kendall says that their father promised it to him when was seven (one wonders what insightful opinions this little boy had that convinced Logan he was suitable) it’s entirely possible Logan wasn’t always acting in good faith with these declarations.

Shiv (and to a lesser extent Tom)

At the beginning of the finale, Shiv was working on securing the sale of the company and being named CEO by Matsson and then when it turned out the man who literally confessed to sending bricks made of his own blood to one of his employees he had a relationship with wasn’t completely dependable, teamed up with her brothers to stop the sale. Quite what drove her change of mind is debatable – was she tired of the fighting and bile and pain that being part of this company (and family) had brought her? Was it because as she said in the show she loved Kendall but couldn’t stomach him? Was it spite that it wasn’t her getting the job? Right now, and this may well change, my opinion is a mix of she thought Kendall would be a disaster and it wasn’t her. Roman would be a different disaster, and she would have been a different disaster again, but had it been her to run the company she would have risked that disaster. We learned that it would be Tom, her estranged husband, who would become CEO if Matsson bought the company and while this was the plan Shiv and Tom had originally crafted it wasn’t meant to be like this. The fact that Shiv is pregnant with Tom’s child is perhaps a complicating factor in this decision, but despite one of the final shots of the episode being Shiv and Tom awkwardly half-holding hands, it’s virtually impossible to imagine the two of them building a happy family life.

Already the show is being lauded as one of the greatest television shows of all time with a finale worthy of that status. Personally, I think it best to give it some time before declaring something one of the greats but undoubtedly this show combined spectacular writing, directing and acting; a show so full of acting talent that it could bring in Oscar winners Adrien Brody and Holly Hunter as guest stars.

Throughout the show fans, critics and more speculated on who would and who should succeed Logan Roy, in fact, none of the characters did succeed him and none of them could. In fact, the outsider Lukas Mattson, a character only introduced at the end of season 3, most matches the criteria of Alexander the Great and Logan Roy. We were not watching a titanic succession battle for a business empire but a damaged family hurting each other.

Also Read: Iconic Scenes: Succession – “Boar On The Floor” & “Beach Scene”

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Spoiler Warning – Massive spoilers for the first three seasons of Succession

Kendall Roy

The first season starts with Kendall being the designated successor to Logan, a bit of a business-bro but has spent years learning how to run the company and is the only one of the Roy children who seems capable of getting into figures, legal issues etc. Of course, Kendall has led two, maybe three, revolts against his father, on top of that Kendall has severe addiction and mental health issues. And, biggest of all, was involved in the death of a waiter in a car accident where he left the scene and hid his involvement.

Chances of winning – 50%

Capable of doing the job – 60%

Shiv Roy

Shiv Roy seemed to be Logan’s choice in Season 2, despite not working in the company and her liberal politics clashing with a lot of the company’s business interests. Shiv has essentially zero experience in business, previously working in politics. Shiv is clearly intelligent and at times can play the game very well – setting up a rival to take the fall for a scandal, convincing a witness to company crimes to back down. The negatives for Shiv are that she has no experience and angered her father, and like Kendall, perhaps lacks the killer instinct that Logan demands.

Chances of winning – 40%

Capable of doing the job – 50%

Roman Roy

By his own admission, Roman doesn’t get the business side of the business, seemingly with little time for the boring technicalities and instead seeing his role as some sort of CEO rock star, leaning on the far more experienced Gerri Kellman for that side of things. Roman is certainly charismatic and at one point is taken hostage in Turkey but manages to negotiate a huge deal which is pretty impressive. However, Roman is impulsive and rash, and seems unable to stop himself from saying – and doing – hugely offensive things. There is a petty cruelty to Roman not seen too much in the other siblings. In Season 3 when Roman seems in the ascendance his awfulness just gets more and more awful. Roman ended Season 3 mistaking sending a dick pic to his father – meant for Gerri – in the middle of an important meeting, which sums up Roman’s liabilities quite well.

Chance of winning – 70%,

Capable of doing the job – 20%

Chance of destroying the company in a firestorm of scandal – 90%

Connor Roy

Oh Connor, the eldest of Logan’s children and until the last few years was clear in his disinterest in the company. Shiv has zero business experience but Connor has zero experience. Connor decided in Season 1 to run for President, a truly terrible idea and has persisted with this delusion, believing himself to be some outsider candidate with a chance. It’s bizarre. Connor has also shown resentment at how he is left out of the company and family decisions, Kendall is often referred to as the first-born, despite Connor actually being the first-born. Connor has little to recommend him in way of business or intelligence but is perhaps the nicest of the siblings (whilst still having huge problems), he often tries to calm the others nastiness, advocating for civility, and seems to have genuine affection for his younger siblings.

Chance of winning – 5%,

Capable of doing the job – 25% – only scores higher than Roman as if Connor simply sat in a dark room doing nothing he might last longer than Roman.

Tom Wambsgams

Arguably the most fascinating character of the bunch – Tom is Shiv’s husband and there was a stated plan that Shiv would pursue politics and help push Tom into being the successor to Logan, not in the family, but married to the family. Tom has run various parts of the Roy business empire and was disliked by just about everyone but really made a leap forward for the prize in Season 3. Very early in the show a scandal was brewing in the cruise division and Tom helped destroy evidence that would harm the company as such in Season 3 it seemed likely he would go to prison. With this in mind, Tom offered to be the person who could be sacrificed to appease public opinion and the authorities, earning Logan’s gratitude. And of course in the Season 3 finale when Kendall, Roman and Shiv gang up against their father Tom betrays his wife and informs Logan of the plan. With Logan’s children seriously out of favour and Tom already one of the most senior people in the company it is perhaps within Tom’s grasp.

Chance of winning – 65%

Capable of doing the job – 65%

Greg Hirsch

Greg – Greg is a cousin of the main siblings, his grandfather being Logan’s brother, and shows up in episode 1 looking for a job, and somehow he gets it, essentially being Tom’s assistant. Greg clearly grew up wealth off but not in the ridiculous luxury of the Roys and is mocked by all of them. The bizarre relationship with Tom starts with Tom recognising someone with less status and so bullies him but at some point a genuine and strong – if conditional – friendship develops. On paper Greg has nothing going for him – little experience, a distant family connection that is also a liability (given Logan hates his brother) and no particular skills. But…Greg has went from being unemployed to someone a position at the company in a couple of years.

Chance of winning – 5%

Capable of doing the job – either 5% or 95%, is he a genius or an idiot?

The Winner…

So who to pick? In this exercise, Tom and Roman were rated the highest, but Roman is very much the high-risk could be brilliant but could also cause a rocket to explode (which he did in Season 1). Tom is the safer choice and that is who might be the most logical candidate. But. But there is Greg…who is a constant surprise.

Also Read: Iconic Scenes: Succession – “Boar On The Floor” & “Beach Scene”

Also Read: Succession: Season 3 – Where Are We Now?

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Boar On The Floor

This is one of the most intense and uncomfortable things I have ever watched. At a retreat comprising of the Roy family and the top people in Waystar RoyCo, Logan is determined to find out if there is a traitor in the group and to demonstrate his authority. Logan picks out three potential traitors – Karl, CFO of the company; Tom, his son-in-law; and Greg, his brother’s grandson and they play the “game” Boar on the Floor. What follows could be a scene from Lord of the Flies or a documentary on a sinister cult as they break people.

Logan whips up the non-boars into chants and accusations, whilst ritual humiliation is doled out to the “boars”. It is awful to see those who could have been picked but weren’t take gleeful enjoyment out of the game and only a few of the older, more seasoned professionals present seem troubled. No one objects. This is Logan, a man known for his cruelty and ruthlessness, in his most frightening and upsetting. It’s hard to tell whether this is Logan genuinely blind with fury lashing out or this is a more calculated display of power and I’m not sure which is scarier. We see Logan’s fixer Colin quickly ushering out the wait staff and Kendall stop his brother Roman filming the display, both aware that this is not something where you want to have witnesses. Logan flicks between his usual shouting and bullying behaviour to, whenever anyone questions what is going on, saying it’s just a fun game.

Notably, it is not Logan’s children, Kendall and Roman, who are singled out, despite Kendall already launching one coup against his father and Roman having suspicious phone calls and are as likely traitors as anyone else. This perhaps suggests it was never about finding the traitor but simply exerting authority by humiliating people. The other child in the picture of taking over, Shiv, is not present and as Tom is her husband you would hope she would object to this.

Beach Scene

In the final episode of the second season, we see a heartbreaking scene between Shiv and Tom. The two characters married at the end of the first season and the second season has been hard on their relationship (see Boar on the Floor). It is one of the most honest conversations the two ever have, or at least Tom’s part of it is.

Many people, including me, thought at the beginning of the show Tom was only with Shiv for the money and power. So to hear Tom actually complain, to share how he’s been hurt by Shiv (and her family) is almost a surprise, someone only out for money would not do this. Tom delivers one of the most heartbreaking lines of the entire show, in fairness a show not known for dealing with romantic heartbreak or romantic happiness, “I just, uh, I wonder if, I wonder if the sad I’d be without you would be less than the sad I get from being with you.” It is hard to feel too sorry for Tom, or indeed most of the characters, as he’s done terrible things but it is an incredibly rare moment of vulnerability. The battle to control the multi-billion dollar business empire relies on constant lies and schemes to get power and it’s sad that Shiv and Tom’s relationship works in a similar way. In an earlier episode, Logan tells Shiv she purposefully married a man who was not her equal so she would never feel threatened by him, the only way she could trust a husband was to have one she would always have far more power then. Tom’s declaration of his unhappiness and the potential end of their relationship is probably not what Shiv had in mind.

While Shiv was not present for Boar on the Floor she was present for the discussion about who should be the “blood sacrifice” needed in the scandal engulfing Waystar RoyCo and she barely objected when Tom was put forward. Shiv’s argument that if Logan thought she was just sticking up for her husband out of loyalty that would have been worse for Tom, but I think that’s what he really wanted.

Succession can be incredibly funny and anyone looking for comedy I’d suggest these scenes – Tom and Greg testifying before congress, any scene concerning Connor’s political ambitions (Connor being the eldest of Logan’s children but showed no interest in running the business), Kendall’s rap tribute to his father, the game of Good Tweet Bad Tweet.

Also Read: Five Reasons To Watch Succession

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HBO hit Succession is about to return for its third season. Succession is the story of the Roy family – billionaire media-cruise ship-theme park magnates who are also amongst the most despicable people you will ever see on television. It’s hard to work out who is worst – is it Logan Roy, the patriarch and man responsible for their great wealth who started a version of Fox News and blackmails his children? Is it Roman “can’t even sit on a chair properly” Roy, the youngest son who in the first episode tears a cheque up in front of a child for fun? What about Tom Wambsgam – partner to Logan’s daughter Shiv Roy – who is an insufferable suck-up to every person of higher status to him and unrelentingly horrible to anyone of perceived lower status? We’ve had two seasons of billionaire excess, horrific scandals and the occasional hostage situation, how will the third season do?

Logan Vs Kendall

Season 2 ended with Kendall Roy essentially declaring war on his father Logan. Kendall was set up as the fall guy for the most recent scandal engulfing the company but instead chose to blame his father for everything – on live television. There is a theme in Succession that nearly everyone thinks they’re some sort of business genius, despite having done nothing to justify that, with the exception of Logan Roy. Kendall sees himself as the rightful successor to his father but clearly is not in the same league in terms of intelligence or ruthlessness. Kendall has two things going for him – he is decades younger (the show starts with Logan having a stroke, bringing the question of succession into sharp focus) and pretty much the whole world hates Logan Roy.

The Heir Apparent

With Kendall being the eldest son (not including the ridiculous Connor as well…he’s Connor, whose disinterest in the company at first is encouraging but that doesn’t last long) and the child who has really committed himself to the company he assumed he would take Logan’s place, but throughout season two it was his sister Shiv who seemed Logan’s favourite for taking over. Shiv is the supposedly “liberal” member of the family and briefly worked for a Bernie Sanders type politician but caused a major public transit problem because of the number of principles, people and marriages she has thrown under various buses to get this position. Roman has made progress with foreign billionaires who, to borrow a phrase from Red Dwarf, are “a bit dodgy” as well as allying himself with one of Logan’s top people, Gerri. Roman and Gerri are also engaged in an atypical romantic relationship which I have tried and failed to describe in a Safe For Work way and as such will leave to your own google searches. Tom has occasionally been in the picture (at least in his own mind) as a way for Shiv to effectively run the company but keep her other work.

Cousin Greg

Oh Cousin Greg, you innocent, guileless, easily corruptible fool. A character of such tragic proportions Hamlet himself would weep at the mess Cousin Greg has made of the situation. Greg is a cousin, grandson of Logan’s brother, and enters the show in Episode 1 after losing a job at one of their many companies. A man who originally had nothing more than enough money to get by…for a rich person, but certainly no dreams of billions has become an integral part of the show and the family business. Utterly unsuited for the backstabbing world of Roy power struggles Greg is constantly in way over his head, mocked and belittled by everyone. He is one of the very few people who ever expressed any moral doubts, feeling very unhappy at working at the news division as he clearly sees them as borderline evil but is quickly beaten down by Tom. By the end of Season 2 while still rather incompetent Greg is very much part of their awful world.

Is Succession A Classic already?

I was hooked on Succession from the first episode. A mix of the drama of billion-dollar companies and the drama of family relationships mixed perfectly into an unsettling and perhaps all too realistic portrayal of what such companies ran by families are like. A range of brilliant, if unpleasant, characters all awful in their own unique ways. The show has fantastic dialogue – and I’m not just talking about the swearing which is comparable to The Thick Of It for inventiveness and brutality (which is not surprising as the show’s creator is Jesse Armstrong, a writer for The Thick Of It). There are scenes burned into my mind because of their brilliance: from the infamous Boar on the Floor scene of genuinely insane horror, to the testifying before congress of Tom and Cousin Greg, to when Roman buys the wrong Scottish football club as a gift to his father. There is perhaps no greater signifier of its quality in that in the daily discussion of what should we watch on tv in our home if there is a new episode of Succession, it’s a very short debate. In terms of declaring something a classic I like to wait a few years to get a little perspective but Succession is definitely worthy of consideration.

Also Read: Did High-End TV Replace The Mid-Budget Indie Film?

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