It’s been one year since the end of my dear, dear world of a tv show, and I wanted to try and reflect a little bit on why I love it so much. I’m sure all of this has been said before but I love my little tv show and I love discussing it with all of you and I will be talking about it until I die!
I’ve turned succession over in my mind so much that I don’t even know where to begin. There is so much being discussed at once. Corporate greed, American politics, extreme wealth and its consequences, generational trauma, familial inheritance, the death of old media. How power and status become all that matter when money is something that never even passes through your mind. How tying your personal identity to capitalist structures so closely makes your humanity become a weakness, a roadblock to be trampled over as thoroughly as possible on your way up.
Of course, the siblings are the true heart of the show. The weight of Waystar being put on Kendall’s shoulders at age seven, only to be shrugged off by Logan in adulthood. Roman, forever the weaker dog, playing the fool to avoid fighting for something he didn’t want. Shiv’s stubborn insistence that she can be seen on the same level as her brothers despite endless evidence to the contrary. The icy, wealth insulated bubble they were raised in; never having to live as real people, but only knowing abuse, isolation, and mistreatment from their family. Their complete disregard for how their own power and wealth affects people, and their endless ability to fail with no repercussions. Clawing to their goals with everything at their disposal and nothing to lose, but still losing anyway. Learning from childhood that loving their siblings means tearing them apart and spending the rest of their lives fighting that endless uphill battle because it’s all they’ve ever known.
Does it even matter that the love is there, when all that love means to you is knowing what soft spots will hurt the most when you hit them as hard as you can?
And the worst part is, they’re fighting for nothing, they’re bearing their teeth while everyone else laughs on the sidelines because they’re a complete fucking joke. They’re unqualified children fighting for the throne of a dying empire that can only be won by gaining approval of a man who despises them for the upbringing that he brought upon them.
There are very few pieces of media that are able to depict tragedy in the true sense of greek or shakespearean classics. Where the events and actions are framed in such a calculated, gutting, beautiful way. It physically pains me seeing Succession framed as “the business show” when the humanity and tragedy of the roy siblings is written and developed so thoroughly well that I know I’ll never be able to find something comparable to it again. The characters are so fully formed that you can see their mistakes and losses coming from a mile away. Every decision made is informed by countless layers of development and backstory. Every line of dialogue matters and even seemingly throwaway lines make you reinterpret characters’ actions from episodes or seasons ago. “Dad’s view was, yours aren’t real.” One line in the last ten minutes of the series finale, completely reframing kendall as a character.
I could go on about the writing, directing, production and costume design, cinematography, blocking, the choice to shoot on film, the absolutely perfect casting… but this has already reached an insufferable length, so, another time.
There’s lots of speculation on what happened post finale, if they could ever come back from that board room. I don’t think there’s any way through life for the siblings other than hand in unlovable hand. What’s crawling back to each other one more time, after all of the hurt and betrayal that you’ve already let pass? “He never saw anything he loved that he didn't want to kick, just to see if it would still come back.” It’s the only love they have. It’s all they’ve ever known.
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