Succession - Family, Power, Fame, Position

 

In recent times, not a lot of shows have been successful in grabbing my attention. After watching countless shows with multiple seasons over my binge night sessions, it became very easy for me to predict the direction in which a particular show is headed. I was yearning for a show that’ll prove all my predictions wrong and that’s how I stumbled upon Succession.

To be honest, not a lot of shows have had such kind of brilliant writing. To name a few, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, House of Cards and Suits have really phenomenal screenplay but what Succession brings to the table is pretty unique and relatable.

Succession in simple terms is nothing but a chaotic, intelligent fight for power and position. You’ll usually find this setting in a political scenario but here we are talking about the biggest media and entertainment conglomerate which is controlled by the Roy Family.

Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is the main man. We can refer to him as the most vicious, selfish and manipulative founder of Waystar RoyCo. Even though he has 4 successors and has crossed the age of 80, he still wishes to continue in the rat race as he feels none of his children are ready to take the CEO position. The story further continues on how he bids his own children against each other for the position of CEO and how they conveniently change sides when something is offered.

It seems a simple story but in reality, it is quite convoluted. Never in the entire show was I biased towards someone. This singular quality makes this a brilliant show because you yourself will change sides and try to understand that each and every character has grey shades. Not even 1 character is likeable and you’ll have a hard time watching the show because we are often tuned to watching shows with a single character who is in lead and rest everyone is a part of his narrative. Succession becomes successful in breaking this stereotypical concept in a fashionable and sensible way.

Let’s get down to the wonderful and talented cast of this show and along the way I’ll explain the above said statement for better understanding.

Logan Roy has 4 successors (1 from his 1^st wife and 3 from his 2^nd wife. Guess what he also has a 3^rd wife and may go for a 4th)

1) Connor Roy (Alan Ruck) – First Son but has no inclination to join his father and has absurd ideas revolving in his head like becoming the president for starters. Clearly not fit to be a CEO and is often overlooked and made fun off.

2) Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) – Eldest son from Logan’s 2^nd marriage and the direct heir to the throne (CEO). A little dramatic, power hunger but unstable according to Logan. He has a history of substance abuse and a recovering drug addict. Although he is fit to be the CEO but due to his lack of confidence and belief in himself, he often screws the pooch. Later, Logan has to make efforts to clean the mess made by Kendall and this always makes him infuriated.

3) Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) – The middle son who has great ideas and often thinks in the same direction as his father but has no respect for the people around him and also his jokes are always outlandish and immature. His lack of seriousness and ability to shrug off responsibilities is what Logan is always upset for.

4) Siobhan Roy (Sarah Snook) – The Last and only daughter of Logan Roy who is sensible, smart but cunning and vicious like her father. Out of all his children, she is a perfect replica of her father. Someone who is manipulative and ends up taking bold steps without thinking of its repercussions.

Apart from all these, we have Tom Wambsgans (Matthew McFayden) who has been married to Siobhan but eventually realizes how stuck he is in the relationship with her and Logan. He works in Waystar RoyCo and slowly climbs the ladder in a fundamentally perfect way. I really appreciate how they’ve shown this character to actually…. ok no spoilers.

The entire show has a huge star cast and surprisingly all have done an amazing job of portraying their individual characters perfectly. Naming all of them would be impossible but they’ve genuinely put efforts in playing their characters.

This show deals with the question of how one’s family can actually be so deceitful to each other that they forget to be a family. How power and position driven people can humiliate each other in front of the world without keeping in mind that they are all related to each other.

The best part of the show is that whenever I’m watching it, I always feel that even I could have been a part of this deceitful web. Somewhere I see that if I was in a similar arrangement; supposedly a part of the Roy Family, then there is a lot of similar shit that I could’ve managed to pull out. This simply means that the storyline is relatable and actually makes you wonder what the character will do. I feel the screenplay of this show should win all accolades for this superior and fresh storyline.

Coming to the main man, Brian Cox has portrayed Logan Roy with Finesse. It’s like cakewalk for him. 

Also, I feel all the 3 actors viz Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook should win an Emmy for their amazing performances. They’ve genuinely done a good job. 

It’s impossible to write anything more without spilling out some spoilers so its best if you watch this show.

Earlier it was available on Disney+ Hotstar but after the sad breakup of HBO with Hotstar, currently it is streaming on Jio Cinemas on a subscription basis. So do yourselves a favor and watch this show. It has 4 seasons and 39 episodes. 

Also, comment down any other shows which has such intelligent script and amazing cast which elevate the story to an unimaginable level.