Summary: Kendall is working hard to secure votes for the board meeting, while Shiv does the same for Matsson. Kendall and Shiv track down Roman at their mother's house and try to get him to vote. Matsson doesn't want Shiv as CEO and offers the job to Tom. Tom doesn't inform Greg, who tells Kendall about Matsson looking for a CEO. Kendall tells Shiv, who is upset, and the siblings decide to band together to back Kendall and stop Matsson. They share a fun night together in Caroline's house. Shiv learns that Tom is the CEO and she tells him that they have the votes to turn the board meeting in their favour. Tom gets upset with Greg for leaking information. Roman has second thoughts before the meeting but Kendall uses pain to get him back on track. At the board meeting, Shiv ultimately backs out. Kendall and Roman follow her out to discuss and a huge fight breaks out. Shiv thinks Kendall would be a bad leader and cites his killing od Andrew Dodds, but Kendall claims it never happened, alienating his siblings. Shiv votes against Kendall. Tom ends up as the new CEO of Waystar and opts to protect Greg, keeping him close. Roman, now free from the company, goes to a bar. Shiv and Tom continue their relationship. Kendall sits in a park looking out at the water with Colin watching over him.
The Good: I loved almost everything about this. This 90 minute finale told a complete story with one last battle, one last reunion, and one last betrayal in the Roy family, ending the series with what the show does best. In the end, this was always about the relationship between the three siblings, their dysfunction as a family, and their inability to succeed because of who they are and what they represent. This finale explored these ideas masterfully, and ending with the Roys all falling apart and failing spectacularly was truly the only way that this show could have ended. The build-up to all of this was excellent. Roman's breakdown in the last episode was a huge emotional climax for the character, so I like that the episode started with the big question of where Roman was and how he's taking everything. In true "Succession" fashion, the siblings checking in on him mentally quickly turned to political maneuvering as both Kendall and Shiv fought to get Roman on their side. It's an engaging war between Kendall and Shiv, but the show hits us with a major twist as Shiv falls out of the race when Matsson betrays her and hunts down another candidate for CEO. Shiv's slow realization of this, her denial, her frustration, and her despair is portrayed phenomenally. Naturally, Shiv's total defeat allows for Kendall to do his usual thing. Kendall has always been entitled, and he always grabs onto whatever point he can to make himself look good and support his own goals. Here he latches onto Shiv's loss in an effort to promote himself, practically begging his siblings to band together and let him be CEO. And now that both Shiv and Roman have no other recourse, they both agree. What results is one of the most fascinating scenes of the entire show as we see the three siblings supporting each other and being on the same page to for the first time ever. Kendall is so happy because he has always dreamed of his siblings supporting him like this, while Roman and Shiv look so much more in their own element without the burden of trying to fight from below for the CEO position. It's so brutally tragic because the three of them look so happy, and there are genuinely great laughs like the concoction Kendall is made to drink and Roman having a weird sexual experience with Peter's precious cheese. Of course after what happens next, they will almost certainly never interact like this again. It's fitting that the show concludes with a vote at a board meeting, hearkening back to "Which Side Are You On" all the way back in season 1. Back then, it was Roman who stopped Kendall from taking over, and this time it's Shiv. I thought the build-up to this was exceptional with Kendall showing such disgusting traits that make it clear he will just be another Logan, except worse. When Roman expresses doubt, Kendall hurts him, manipulating him to stay by his side in one of the show's darkest scenes. Instead of helping his brother, Kendall enables him because it will work in his favour. Shiv is not so easily pacified, and true to what we've seen from the character, she's observant enough to notice Kendall's disrespectful, flippant, and careless demeanor in a position of power. Shiv recognizes how disastrous it would be if he has power and behaves like this, and this doubt is what leads to her acting against Kendall in the meeting. This doesn't feel cheap because we are shown in advance why Shiv wouldn't be able to handle Kendall taking over, and it is consistent with the behaviour we have seen her exhibit throughout the whole season. Shiv backing out sets up one of the most painful and stunning scenes in the entire show as Kendall, Shiv, and Roman go to the other room to have an intense personal argument (one that is amusingly overheard by everyone in the board room). This scene is downright stomach-churning to watch, with the characters unleashing some fantastic personal jabs and letting emotions run sky-high. Several moments stood out from me from this phenomenal sequence. Shiv saying she can't stomach Kendall is perfect writing because it neatly encompasses her feelings about him from the start. She loves him for sure, but she has never agreed with the way he has done things, and this line perfectly lets out the frustration she has had with him. Kendall's desperation to win her back is fantastically acted, and it leads to him saying something so horribly wrong, and yet I understood why he did it in the moment: Kendall denies his role in killing Andrew, the waiter. Shiv was completely awful to use this against him, but Kendall is so desperate to win her back that he denies it even happening, completely ignorant to realizing how this destroys their relationship. Kendall opening up to them was one of the best moments of the show because of how it strengthened the bond between the siblings, who struggle so much to be real with one another because of the constant competition between them. Revealing that this one intimate moment was a strategic play, even if this is not true, will permanently damage the relationship between these three forever. When Kendall denies it happening, not only does he lose Shiv but he loses Roman too, a tragic mistake that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Another standout moment is Roman telling Kendal that Logan believed his kids to be illegitimate. Kendall's children not being related to him is something that I suspected in the back of my mind for quite some time (just look at Sophie), but I'm incredibly impressed that the writers held out on using this stunning personal jab until the bitter end. It would have been so easy to use this in any earlier argument, but saving this for one final jab makes it so much more devastating. This almost certainly ends the relationship between Kendall and Roman, especially with how Kendall physically attacks Roman right after this. This entire sequence is deeply upsetting and one of the biggest accomplishments of the entire show. This leads me to the conclusion for the three siblings. After all that they have been through, none of them end up as CEO and the company is completely lost to them forever. Shiv is the closest to the company as she's married to the new CEO and pregnant with his child. But they are trapped in a loveless marriage, and the beautiful final scene as Tom and Shiv "hold hands" in the least intimate way imaginable makes it clear that it will be exceedingly difficult and highly unlikely that these two will be able to work through their problems and get something good out of their marriage. Roman is back where he started the series, cut off from the company, a free spirit doing whatever he pleases. His scene in the bar is great as he relishes in his new freedom, but reflects on all that he lost (he's drinking Gerri's signature drink, a beautiful touch). Then we have Kendall, who suffers the most brilliantly tragic fate. That final scene highlights his isolation, and you get the sense that he may have jumped had Colin not been there to watch over him. Jeremy Strong's acting says it all about how lost he feels, and with suicide not happening, Kendall now has to pave a new way forward, one without any connection to his estranged siblings. I also have to mention how much I love the way water has been used as a recurring motif for Kendall. Water is commonly used as a metaphor to indicate Kendall's connection with Waystar Royco, and countless scenes have indicated this (scenes from "Secession" and "Chiantishire" come to mind as examples"). But now that Kendall is no longer with the company, his final scene sees him longingly staring out at the water, a beautiful metaphorical end to this story. I haven't talked about Tom, Greg, and Matsson at all yet, but they had a significant and well written part of this episode. Tom's meeting with Matsson is terrific, and it was great to see how Tom's willingness to be a beta ironically made him a better candidate to become CEO than the drive and motivation of the siblings. His victory was satisfying to watch, and it led to a number of amusing moments. He has some funny scenes with Greg as always. It's beautifully ironic that Tom doesn't tell Greg the news, only for Greg to find out using a Swedish translator (hilarious), that Shiv is out and Matsson is looking for someone else. Then he unintentionally sabotages himself by reporting the information, leading to a hilarious bathroom brawl between Greg and Tom. Thankfully, in parallel to the fight between the siblings, this one is not relationship-ending, and it highlights the genuine bond that we have seen these two develop. As Tom is crowned at the end of the episode, it brings a smile to my face to see him still looking out for Greg and making sure that he is taken care of. For all the spite between him and Shiv, his relationship with Greg has always been far more positive, and I'm glad that these two had a happy ending. Connor in this episode is perfectly representative of his role in this series: he never gets involved, he's just there in the background offering up comedy and serving as a mirror for the siblings. Connor's presence offers this fantastic scene where the siblings get to watch a video of Connor and the other execs spending some quality time with Logan, revealing a side of him that it's clear the siblings never got to experience. They were all too busy fighting each other trying to earn their father's affections, and because of that, they never got to experience the softer side of Logan as much as they should have. All three of them convey the sadness and regret in this scene perfectly. Fantastic acting and storytelling in this scene. The Bad: I wish that Frank had played more of an active role in this final act. Kendall gave him a key offer a few episodes ago, but we never had any follow-up and Frank is now pro-Matsson without any real explanation of his motives. I wish that Frank had been handled better and given more to do in this finale. Another missed opportunity was Lawrence. They brought him up again in this finale, but he remains one of the strangest characters in this show. I wish that the show did more with him and gave him a more active role. In general, I found that a lot of the side characters that weren't directly involved with Waystar were underutilized, with Stewy and Lawrence being standouts. The Unknown: Will Connor keep Slovenia, or will he fade into obscurity once more? Will his marriage with Wylla last? What's next for all the siblings? What will Kendall do next now that he's lost the company? Does he try to commit suicide? Does he find something else to do? Does he ever repair his relationship with his siblings? What's next for Roman? He's a free spirit again, just like he was back in the pilot. What will he do? Will he be able to find his way in the world? I feel like he would be better off than everyone else. Will Tom and Shiv's relationship last? Where will Shiv go with her career? Back to politics? Is Tom going to be a long-term CEO, or will he be replaced soon by Matsson? Best Moment: The ugly spat between siblings at the board meeting was horrific, personal, and hard to watch. It's like a bomb going off. It's scary and disastrous, but you can't help but admire the sheer majesty of it all. Character of the Episode: Kendall. Conclusion: This felt like a grand finale. The extended length, methodical pacing, numerous call-backs, and heavily emotional moments turned this into a genuine epic, closing out "Succession" in a perfect way. Score: 82
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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