Succession
Overview
Succession is a 2018 satirical black comedy drama television series created by Jesse Armstrong for HBO, centering on the Roy family, the dysfunctional owners of a global media and entertainment conglomerate called Waystar Royco. The series is a sharp critique of wealth, power, and family, often compared to King Lear for its portrayal of an aging patriarch and his scheming children. The series begins with Logan Roy (Brian Cox), the powerful, ruthless, and aging founder of Waystar, suffering a health crisis. His four children — Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Connor (Alan Ruck) — all believe they should succeed him. The series follows their desperate, backstabbing attempts to win their father's approval and control of the company. Kendall is the eldest son and the heir apparent, but he is desperate, insecure, and prone to grand gestures that fail spectacularly. He attempts a coup against his father, testifies before Congress, and accidentally causes a waiter's death. Jeremy Strong is famous for his intense method acting, and he won an Emmy for his performance. Shiv is the only daughter, a political consultant who thinks she is smarter than everyone else. She is manipulative and cold, and her marriage to Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) is a transactional nightmare. Roman is the youngest son, a crude, immature, and deeply damaged man who uses sarcasm and perverse humor to hide his insecurities. He is also secretly the most loyal to his father. Connor is the oldest son, a buffoon who is not taken seriously by anyone, running for president as a vanity project. The series is famous for its dialogue, which is full of vicious insults, corporate jargon, and hilarious profanity. Lines like "You are not serious people," "I love you, but you are not serious people," and "I am the eldest boy!" have become iconic. The series ended with its fourth season, which is widely considered one of the greatest final seasons in television history. The finale, "With Open Eyes," sees the Roy children lose control of the company to Tom, who has betrayed Shiv. Succession won 19 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series three times. It is a masterpiece of television, a savage, funny, and heartbreaking portrait of a family torn apart by greed.
