Why Succession (HBO) is one of the best TV Shows out right now.
Succession is one of the best TV shows to come out in recent times. I am in love with this show for its wonderful premise, characters and writing. Now I would like to give an analogy of how Succession is like Game of Thrones but set in a corporate world. In Game of Thrones many families or houses fight to sit on the Iron Throne and be the ruler of Westeros and in Succession one family and many characters try to fight their spot in one of the largest media empires in the world. I know that I am stretching when comparing Succession and GoT but at least both are HBO shows and the premise of obtaining power is the same. Nonetheless GoT is a complex fantasy drama whereas succession is an authentic real-world drama loosely based on the Murdoch Family.
Succession follows the Roy family, owners of media conglomerate Waystar RoyCo. And it is run by Logan Roy also the head of the family and company. He has four children Kendall Roy, Shiv Roy, Roman Roy and Conner Roy also there is Shiv’s Husband Tom Wambsgans and their cousin Greg who I must say is one my favourite characters. As Logan Roy becomes old and falls ill from time-to-time a power struggle ensues between the family on who will overtake the reigns of the empire.
Logan Roy acts as the antagonist and he still wants to keep the empire on his hands till the last breath he breathes on earth and while he does that, he also is manipulative, the cunning steps that he takes shows you how much he knows about the game and the world. He has a cynical and narcissist behaviour and mindset throughout; this keeps the children in a mode of fear and through his presence everyone obeys him and can’t act on their own but if they did then he means business. This dynamic powerplay between each of the characters keeps us the viewers intrigued. This is especially evident in Kendall Roy and his dichotomy with his father which is the centre piece of the whole series.
Kendall’s character is of the most interesting I believe. His character is sort of a conundrum where he sometimes does not know what’s he doing like how he is unable to go for risk situations or how he is afraid most of the times. Also, he is somewhat broken from an addiction problem to trying to become the successor of his father’s company. But the conundrum is that he is the most aware of the company know abouts and happenings from the whole lot of characters which allows us to create an empathy towards him. He eventually wants to take reigns over the company and how he is going to do that through the course of the series is definitely interesting. By having a conniving and narcissistic father like him then yeah, we are eventually only going to root for Kendall. I also believe that he has the most poignant arcs of all the characters.
Shiv Roy is the only female of the main characters and she is also Logan Roy’s favourite child even though it is not said deliberately. She starts out with no interest in the game or anything to do with the company. But her husband Tom works in the company and overlooks one of the main sectors. This allows Shiv to see what’s going on time to time allowing her character to get a development. She initially works as a political consultant and her character is initially plotted through this line. But she too gains a certain motivation to takeover so in turn she plots her way through the top using her own methods.
Roman Roy is an idiosyncratic character. He is quirky and always has no regulatory system when words come out of his mouth. He too joins the party and tries to plan his way through the top even though he is in a state of dilemma. Initially he also isn’t that fond of the post or rather doesn’t even know he wants it but gradually as he gets involved, he too wants a piece of the cake. He has the most character dynamic with Gerri who is sort of a counsellor position in the company. The relationship between them is also quirky which makes us interested on how it will go because I don’t want to spoil anything but Gerri too eventually gets motivations.
Conner Roy is the least liked character I guess because he doesn’t want anything to do with this and we never see him much interested in anything but he does have a funny track of his own on how he wants to enter politics and as the series progresses, we can maybe see him tie up with the main plot.
Tom is an insecure guy and he has reasons to back down on certain things but his power dynamic with the distant cousin Greg who with no effort on his own other than having familial ties gets into the company and also tries to play the game in a rather funny and quirky way. They become the highlight duo of the whole series. Greg becomes an assistant of sorts for Tom and the chemistry and struggles between them is a delight to watch. Greg is also someone we can relate to in the sense that he is the “normal” in the standards of the world of succession.
The story, writing and cinematography are phenomenal and it is produced by Adam McKay who directed The Big Short (2015) and if you have seen that film then you can see it is his style and work that is covered all over.
Succession is one of those shows where morality takes a side stand most of the time and this can be compared again to Game of Thrones where when you want to play the game then morality does not have much space. It is a must watch series and if you like stories where there are power struggles and fantastic characters with great writing and chemistry between each one then it a show for you. Each episode hits with a dopamine effect making us want to see how the story progresses and what is going to happen to each character. The show now has 2 full seasons with the 3rd airing and I can safely say that it is only getting better as it goes and you would not want to miss out on this one.