Hope you all had a terrific holiday weekend – now it’s back to the grind! Sunday brought with it the series finale for HBO’s hit series Succession, and while a lot of people online were disappointed by it, I found it to be a brilliant and fitting bit of writing that landed the show in a way that felt honest, realistic, and tragic. Everyone ultimately gets what they deserve, but we’re left with a sense of hopelessness in all three of the Roy children and the disappointment in how none of them were able to overcome their weaknesses to take command of their father’s empire. It’s what the show told us for four seasons – none of these characters are good people. We wanted to see some sort of redemption, but in the end, Roman was the only one who said it out loud, “we’re bullshit.” The truth of the matter is that none of the three was deserving of their father’s legacy.
Maybe we all wanted to believe that the Roy children could successfully band together and keep the company within the family, but we should’ve damn well known that that wasn’t going to be the case. It simply was not realistic based on everything we’ve learned about these characters for four seasons. In hindsight, doesn’t it kind of feel like Logan knew this was in the best interest of Waystar? Between his flip-flopping between Kendall (who he wasn’t sold on, telling him to his face that he was “not a killer”), and then Shiv and then apparently Roman, and his decision to roll with Matsson and the GoJo deal, it sure seems like Logan knew all along that none of them were cut out for it. He told them point blank that they were not serious people.
It was right there for us to see in plain sight, and maybe we wanted that redemption to complete the arc, but it’s just not who these people are. In a way, that’s the great tragedy of it all. That in the end, they just couldn’t get there. The pieces fell into place in a way that made sense, but the Roy children couldn’t get out of their own fucking way. The toxicity that brewed between them boiled over, and it cost them their father’s company.
Roman might’ve landed in the best spot – at least, it seems as though he’s beginning to cope with the fact that they’re all bullshit. It seems like he’s finally acknowledging that maybe they weren’t cut out to do what their father did. And, maybe it’s okay for him to be a bit of a hot mess. There’s a liberated sense about Roman the last time we see him at the bar. He never had a real knack for this type of business. He was constantly blundering stuff. But, maybe this gives him the opportunity to get out and maybe try something new.
Shiv was constantly trying to stay afloat, and her scheming eventually caught up with her. She was so quick to stay a step ahead of her brothers, that she didn’t even realize that Matsson was using her as a pawn in his game to wrestle control of Waystar away from the Roys. I can’t say that I blame her. Her brothers treated her like shit. Her father didn’t consider her a serious heir to his throne. But, that ended up being a weakness that was exploited. Now, she lands within the fragments of a deeply broken relationship with her husband, and maybe there’s the hope of repair on the horizon as shown by her taking Tom’s hand at the end of the show. But, she has to swallow her pride to crawl back to Waystar, and that has to stick in her craw.
For Kendall, we learn that the pressure of inheriting his father’s empire was placed on him at an early age. Whether that was fair or not, it clearly shaped his image of his self, and we know that he’s lived his life chasing his father’s shadow. But, he was so caught up in trying to be seen as his father was seen that he couldn’t see his own faults. He lacked the self-awareness to see that he was actually a pretty laughable candidate to take over the throne. The only difference, really, between he and Roman is that Kendall actually wanted it. We saw over the course of four seasons that Kendall wasn’t deserving of it, but Kendall never saw that himself. So, perhaps the only thing that could make him see that is exactly what happened. The company was wrestled away from Roy control. There’s a feeling that Kendall is all doom and gloom after this happens, and I was like a lot of you watching that finale – I though Kendall was going to off himself and that would be the end of the show. But, the way the sun was shining on him in those final moments of the show, I couldn’t help but wonder if that was meant to be symbolic. That like Roman, maybe this was the start of a new day for Kendall, and ultimately, this was the only way to teach him the lesson that he, quite simply, needs to stop being a toxic and unserious piece of shit to really make it in the business world.
I don’t think any of the Roy bunch will be the same ever again after this, but I can’t help but wonder what Logan would’ve thought about how this all went down. None of the kids had his calculation, his will, or his strength. Did he know that? For all of these characters, not just Kendall, this is probably the only type of thing that could’ve happened for them to maybe see the error of their ways, and to maybe grow from it. Build their own legacies…that sort of thing. For as long as they were going to be at Waystar with the status quo, they were going to continue being entitled assholes.
It’s rare that a show as big as Succession gets it right. The hardest thing to do is finish the story in a way that makes sense, but also invokes a strong sense of emotion. While I think there was an element of finality lacking, I think that’s generally okay. The story isn’t about what happens to Waystar. It’s a story about hubris, albeit at a scale that most American will never relate to, but to me, the themes surrounding entitlement, toxicity, and legacy were really hammered home in the Roy children, and that’s what it was all about.
But, the really interesting thing, to me, is that in a way, the ending felt kind of hopeful. Maybe it’s just me being an optimist, but I didn’t get the same feeling of dread that a lot of folks online seemed to have. In essence, no one wins, not even Tom. Tom’s promotion felt like a symbol of how corporate business is just this never-ending circle of toxicity. But, the way it went down was the only way that would’ve forced the Roy children to wake up. They were all put in their place, but that gives them a more realistic shot at growth than anything else would have. That was an incredibly creative twist that made for the cherry on top of the fantastic ending to a fantastic show.
Also, shout out to the fucking Disgusting Brothers – get into the tournament as the 7th seed wild card and end up winning the fucking Super Bowl.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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