Succession [No Spoilers]

[Aros]

Really? I thought it was one of the best of the season.

We're watching the beginning of the end of the entire Roy dynasty implode before our eyes. There was always an ebb and flow with the three children's constant emotional tug of war with their father, but they always were unified in the end.

That's gone, now it's all out war between Shiv and Roman, and Ken's caught in the middle......as well as everyone else around them now being swept up in hurricane of dysfunction.

Oh the sibling dynamics still make it watchable and compelling and Tom and Greg are deliciously cringy but I felt claustrophobic with the entire episode being filmed in the broadcast building (I get that other episodes are filmed at times in primarily one environment) with the election/vote as the focal point. Get me outta that CNN-ish building and I will be happy, lol.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Oh the sibling dynamics still make it watchable and compelling and Tom and Greg are deliciously cringy but I felt claustrophobic with the entire episode being filmed in the broadcast building (I get that other episodes are filmed at times in primarily one environment) with the election/vote as the focal point. Get me outta that CNN-ish building and I will be happy, lol.

ATN is a conservative news media station, so it's a parody of Fox, not CNN.

I mean, the entire show is loosely inspired by the Murdoch family.

How the Rupert Murdoch Family Drama Inspired Succession

All the ways the Murdochs (and other real dysfunctional dynasties) mirror the Roys, from Fox News scandals to fake therapy to family score-settling.

nymag.com

 

[Maelstrom787]

Oh the sibling dynamics still make it watchable and compelling and Tom and Greg are deliciously cringy but I felt claustrophobic with the entire episode being filmed in the broadcast building (I get that other episodes are filmed at times in primarily one environment) with the election/vote as the focal point. Get me outta that CNN-ish building and I will be happy, lol.

I actually really liked it, but specifically because I find elections exciting. Kind of activates the same part of my brain that the draft does.

I can see how somebody who doesn't like that sort of thing would've disliked the episode, for sure. Several great moments regardless of setting, though. The shot of Ken calling Nate and then looking back at Shiv was one of the best shots of the season.

I have some concerns about pacing with only 2 episodes left, but when considering the increased length of the finale, coupled with Mylod's direction and world-class writing, I am sure they'll wrap it up nicely but in a way where we still want more, as any great show should. Probably going to be some really insane episodes, considering how much of the series has been inspired by King Lear and how that story goes.

 

[Aros]

Yeah you are right, elections is not my jam so it did taint my experience but yes, there was some still juicy moments and scenes for sure. I'll be looking forward to tonight's episode and of course the series finale next week. Is it going to be a 2-hour one?

 

[Aros]

Enjoyed this last episode much better. I literally laughed out loud when Shiv said she was pregnant and he said "Is it mine?"

At first I thought his character was way too over the top but he's grown on me and now I find his crassness funny.

 

[Maelstrom787]

Yeah you are right, elections is not my jam so it did taint my experience but yes, there was some still juicy moments and scenes for sure. I'll be looking forward to tonight's episode and of course the series finale next week. Is it going to be a 2-hour one?

This past one was 75 minutes and the next one, the finale, is 90. Feature length.

Glad I'm actually catching a show as its ending in real time, rather than binging it years after the fact. Way more exciting and dramatic to be surprised along with everyone else. I remember being like 11 when The Sopranos was finishing up, and you couldn't get away from the hysteria around that show.

Anticipation really adds to the experience. I rarely have time to anticipate with streaming these days.

 

[knownone]

I enjoyed the first three seasons, but the fourth season has been a bit of a slog after episode 3. As a result, I've lost all hope for any meaning or depth to the series finale. I mean, what is the series' message? None of the characters are likable (besides Karl and Gerri). The writers do a great job of satirizing various subcultures, but the critique falls a bit flat without providing a clear moral of its own.

 

[Aros]

Yeah I am feeling similar. Not very high hopes for the finale. Just the usual dynamics but how does it all end? I guess we will find out Sunday.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I enjoyed the first three seasons, but the fourth season has been a bit of a slog after episode 3. As a result, I've lost all hope for any meaning or depth to the series finale. I mean, what is the series' message? None of the characters are likable (besides Karl and Gerri). The writers do a great job of satirizing various subcultures, but the critique falls a bit flat without providing a clear moral of its own.

This is the series message.

As well as an entire social/family dysfunctional dynamic that plays out within that toxic corruption of power and greed.

Not a new Shakespearian-esque tragedy, but it's definitely a modern one.

 

[knownone]

This is the series message.

As well as an entire social/family dysfunctional dynamic that plays out within that toxic corruption of power and greed.

Not a new Shakespearian-esque tragedy, but it's definitely a modern one.

That's certainly a theme. But we don't see the corrupting effects of power. The characters were corrupt from the start. The character development is static. Compare that to King Lear, where he starts as stubborn and infallible and slowly comes apart while trying to do the right thing by his daughter. Meanwhile, Succession is of the more cynical variety, with already corrupt characters continuing to do what's best for themselves. If they fail, it's kind of a hollow tragedy (IMO).

 

[Sgt. Largent]

That's certainly a theme. But we don't see the corrupting effects of power. The characters were corrupt from the start. The character development is static. Compare that to King Lear, where he starts as stubborn and infallible and slowly comes apart while trying to do the right thing by his daughter. Meanwhile, Succession is of the more cynical variety, with already corrupt characters continuing to do what's best for themselves. If they fail, it's kind of a hollow tragedy (IMO).

The entire thing has been falling apart, and is REALLY unraveling now that the one person who knew how to manage and wield the power is gone.

Why? Not due to the outside forces, or even inside the company forces. But because of the family and those around them self corrupting forces.

As far as the character development, IMO that's the point. No matter how hard every character tries to change, or desperately tries to do the right thing.........that ultimate corrupted power is too strong, and they fail.

Again, that's the point. There is no redemption from ultimate corruption and power. It all unravels in the end, either financially, politically, personally........or all three.

 

[fenderbender123]

Just started watching this series. It's pretty damn good.

 

[Aros]

The finale was pretty damn good.

Spoiler

At first, I thought the ending sucked. But after listening to the executive producer talk about how there really was never meant to be a happy ending, I started to understand. He was right after all. And while Shiv pulled a Lucy to Kendall's Charlie (I'm surprised he didn't lose his shit and attack her physically after she reneged and voted yes), swiping the ball away at the last moment, I suppose The Meek Shall Indeed Inherit The Earth after all with Tom seizing control (and that horrifically cringy Greg continuing his perplexing and perpetual surfing of his coat tails).

The episode made me wish the series wasn't over. It held several scenes and dynamics that made the show what it was. I do still feel they lost their pace a touch in the final season here and there, but they ended on a high note.