“Succession”: Series Finale Gives Audiences Laughs, Crying, and Two Stupid Fights

Roy’s kids took a nice swim together at the end of “Succession,” which turned out to be a perfect prelude to the show’s farewell demo about the dangers of swimming with sharks and the fact that their imperious dad ultimately left shoes behind. , which they could not put on.

In the process, fans were treated to laughter, tears and two of the silliest fights in television history. All of the key relationships played out in ways that felt perfectly in tune with what the show had been building to over this extraordinary season, right down to the haunting final scene of Kendall (Jeremy Strong) alone and from behind, an echo of her father without the status and the family around you.

If that were to omit a few things – like explaining the fate of the presidential election – the show’s focus has always been the family dynasty, with politics and democracy just one of the precious resources it traffics in.

The ending was set in part by the realization that married couples Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) were willing to throw the other under the bus to win the US CEO title at Waystar Royco from Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård). , with Shiv dismissively referring to her husband and the father of her unborn child as “a highly interchangeable modular part”.

For his part, Tom went through an uncomfortable (OK, cringe-worthy) conversation with Matsson about Shiv before readily agreeing to serve as his “front man,” the smiling face of the company who would operate as a figurehead to ensure the company’s success. business approval.

Matsson’s betrayal helped align the three Roy brothers in an effort to block the GoJo takeover, paving the way for a scene where they laughed and played together in their mother’s kitchen, which was reminiscent of the bond they shared, fleetingly, after his father’s death.

Peter’s special cheese. pic.twitter.com/czQbfYUjaV

— Succession (@succession) May 29, 2023

These interactions represented one of those occasional moments when you realize you are brothers with lifelong bonds despite growing up in the most dysfunctional and unforgiving of families.

Then there was Greg (Nicholas Braun), using his translator app to discover that Matsson intended to double-cross Shiv, selling that information in hopes of saving himself and triggering the first of the night’s two hilarious slapping contests with Tom.

“It’s done.” pic.twitter.com/oFBevOPqs1

— Succession (@succession) May 29, 2023

It all built, ultimately, toward the board meeting to approve or reject the GoJo deal, which featured a sequel pulling the kind of punch that went far beyond any of the tepid fights between Kendall and Roman (Kieran Culkin): Shiv refusing to anoint Kendall as CEO, flatly telling her, “I don’t think you’d be good at this,” before reminding him that he was responsible for the death of the young waiter who called back to season one.

Realizing he was having his victory – and his “birthright,” as he put it earlier – snatched away from him, Kendall blurted out, almost childishly, “I’m the eldest son!”

However, if “Succession” demonstrated anything over its four seasons, it was the fact that the name Roy only got so far, and the kids never quite managed to escape their father’s massive shadow.

That left Shiv and Tom in what appeared to be an avowed alliance of convenience – with all the affection of a corporate merger – and Kendall a broke man, wealthy, to be sure, but never one to rule his father’s kingdom or anything close to it. As he had said, in a rare instance of self-awareness, “I’m like a cog built to fit in just one machine.”

Unlike some great TV shows, “Succession” didn’t have to set itself up to cement its legacy. But it happened anyway. That wasn’t meant to answer every unspoken question, perhaps, but to deliver a level of drama and humor that ranks among the best shows ever made. And as Tom noted early on about Shiv, series creator Jesse Armstrong clearly doesn’t like failing a test.