After four seasons, someone new finally took the big chair on "Succession."
Was all the Roys' striving worth it in the end?
Spoilers for the series finale of "Succession" are ahead!
The characters in "Succession" reach Shakespearean heights in their tragic quests for power.
Within the Roy family, the three siblings from Logan Roy's second marriage — Kendall,
Shiv, and Roman — long for their father's approval, as well as control of his business
empire.
The eldest Roy sibling, Connor, is the court jester of "Succession," especially after he
decides he should run for president despite possessing no knowledge of politics or any
real work experience.
"He's got no track record."
"Nothing to beat me with.
I'm a clean skin."
The Roys have passionate love-hate family dynamics and would steamroll over one another
if it meant Logan's approval or a larger chunk of the power pie.
The core characters are rounded out by Shiv's bumbling yet conniving husband, Tom Wambsgans,
and the Roys' awkward second cousin, Greg Hirsch.
Logan's sycophantic colleagues, general counsel Gerri, chief financial officer Karl, and chief
operating officer Frank, switch allegiances more often than they change clothes.
Every character in the Waystar Royco hierarchy is endlessly trying to grab power, and each
thinks themselves worthy of becoming Logan's heir.
And fans who think the Roys may have some basis in reality are correct.
Jesse Armstrong explained,
"We thought of famous media families like the Hearsts, to modern-day [Sumner] Redstone,
John Malone, [Ralph Roberts] of Comcast, [Rupert] Murdoch, and Robert and Rebekah Mercer, who
founded Breitbart.
Lots of real-life moguls."
In the penultimate episode of Season 4, Kendall realizes his sabotage-filled schemes against
GoJo owner Lukas Matsson may not have as much support from his younger siblings as he imagined.
Matsson is set to purchase the entire Roy empire, but after Logan's untimely death,
Kendall wants one last run at commanding his father's legacy.
Betrayals and breakdowns abound, and by the beginning of the finale, Roman has retreated
to the tropical sanctuary of his mother, Lady Caroline Collingwood.
After convening at Lady Caroline's vacation home, Kendall, Shiv and Roman share some momentary,
authentic tenderness while discussing the company's future.
They collectively decide to block the GoJo deal and make Kendall Logan's successor, after
Kendall gets word from Greg that Matsson has decided not to make Shiv his American CEO.
Roman and Shiv blend a disgusting concoction, a meal fit for a king, that they force Kendall
to drink to "anoint" him.
"I can't drink any more."
"Well then don't."
"Wear your crown, sir."
"No no no no no!"
"Wear your crown."
"No no no no no!"
The siblings then join Connor and his wife Willa at their father's penthouse apartment,
which was sold to Connor by Logan's widow, Marcia.
Together, they quietly and tearfully watch a video of their dad.
Then, all hell breaks loose once they enter the Waystar offices.
Kendall lies to his siblings about his involvement in the accidental death of Dodds at the end
of the first season, and also physically attacks Roman.
Kendall's behavior is enough to switch Shiv's board vote in favor of Matsson.
In the end, all of the Roy siblings lose as Tom is named the new CEO of Waystar Royco.
Roman Roy is crude, mean, dysfunctional, and hilarious.
He's also often the only Roy to show genuine empathy.
For example, when Logan's mistress, Kerry, comes to collect her belongings after his
death, even Greg treats her with callous cruelty.
After Kerry drops her purse, it's only Roman who genuinely asks if she's okay.
Nevertheless, when Logan dangles the carrot of power in front of his youngest son, Roman
begins to make moves that shove his subtly empathetic nature aside.
He backs the presidential run of hard-right presidential candidate Jeryd Mencken, and
when Shiv pleads with Roman to reconsider, her younger brother doubles down instead.
In the finale, Roman is not okay.
The whole world saw his emotional breakdown at his father's funeral, and he got punched
by an election protester.
At his mom's house, he lets down his guard and authentically bonds with Shiv and Kendall.
Then, when Kendall's lies blow up the sibling alliance, Roman feels hurt and disgusted.
When we last see Roman, he's sitting alone at a bar, sipping a martini.
In a wordless moment of self-reflection, a smile briefly spreads across his face.
Roman is unburdened.
The fight for the throne is over and the looming shadow of Logan is gone.
Kendall Roy may be the most irredeemable character on "Succession."
Jeremy Strong portrays Kendall with nuanced complexity and irreparable brokenness.
After Logan cruelly snatches the throne from him in Season 1, Kendall spends the rest of
"Succession" either in the throes of self-pitying destruction, desperately trying to win his
father's approval, or trying to thwart Logan's plans.
On Election Day, Kendall decides to support Jeryd Mencken, though he doesn't agree with
his politics and a Mencken presidential win could put his daughter, Sophie, in harm's
way.
All he ends up caring about is Mencken's later-broken promise to block the GoJo deal.
Kendall's narcissism colors all of his choices, but this is the first time he seems willing
to put his kids in jeopardy.
In the finale, Kendall lies to Shiv and Roman about his vulnerable Season 3 confession and
solidifies his self-serving motivations, and then pleads with Shiv to vote in his favor.
"If I don't get to do this, I feel like that's it.
I might, I might…like, I might die."
He also hilariously and childishly declares that he's "the eldest boy," even though he
isn't, and instantaneously erases any small character growth he's experienced over the
course of the series.
In an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, Jeremy Strong said about his character,
"It's a disaster in slow motion for him and it's excruciating for me to see it all unfold
the way that it does."
Siobhan "Shiv" Roy has spent each season of "Succession" wading through a sea of misogyny
and trying not to drown.
As a former political consultant, she's the only Roy with a proven professional track
record, yet her ideas are shot down and she's betrayed at almost every turn.
Even with all that working against her, Shiv still keeps herself in an important position
throughout the show.
Sarah Snook spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the motivations of her character and
said,
"I think Shiv is only really ever going to align herself where the truest amount of power
is."
In the series finale, Shiv and Roman finally admit to each other that Logan probably didn't
want any of them to inherit his legacy.
Yet Shiv still promises Kendall she'll back his bid for the company.
But by the episode's end, she recognizes that even if Kendall's plan succeeds, she can't
let him run things.
He's a terrible person, and thus, she changes her vote.
When Tom earlier confesses that Matsson has named him Waystar CEO, Shiv knows he didn't
stand up for her.
But he's still her best shot at any semblance of power.
In her last scene, Shiv reticently places her hand on her husband's — at least she'll
have power by proxy.
Though only in the family by marriage, Tom Wambsgans is just as conniving and cutthroat
as the other Roys.
His bumbling veneer masks his aptitude to play the power game.
Matthew Macfadyen portrays Tom with such authenticity and so many subtle layers, the character comes
across as genuinely ineffectual and spineless.
Throughout Season 4, Tom worries that if Matsson takes over the company, his head will be on
the chopping block.
He tries to angle back into Shiv's good graces and win Matsson's approval, too.
Tom breaks bread with Matsson on the night before the final vote on the Waystar Royco
acquisition.
When making his case to keep his job, Tom tells Matsson his position entails "cutting
heads and harvesting eyeballs."
"I don't like to think about all these blobs of jelly rolling around in your head."
Surprisingly, Matsson offers him the CEO gig.
He says that he needs a "pain sponge," and Tom's his guy.
Years of abuse from the Roys, the ability to double-cross anyone, and an unassuming
public persona make Tom the ideal candidate.
Macfadyen told The Hollywood Reporter of saying goodbye to the character,
"It was sort of awful.
But I will say that I think it's a good ending.
I think it works."
At the beginning of Season 4, Greg and Tom come up with the terrible nickname "The Disgusting
Brothers."
They're looking to portray themselves as lotharios and change the personas they give off.
Nicholas Braun, who plays Greg, joked with TV Insider about the nickname,
"It's Greg-Tom disgusting.
Maybe as men, maybe not so much physically.
It's more the concept of them [being] disgusting."
In some ways, the name epitomizes the awkward duo.
Both will grovel to no end to climb the ladder of wealth and power.
"Cousin Greg" is Tom's protégé, and when he commits any dastardly deed, his mentor
beams with pride.
By the finale, it seems Greg's friendship with Tom may be in peril.
Greg shares Matsson's plan to skip over Shiv as his American CEO with Kendall, and Tom
is not happy.
At Logan's apartment, Tom confronts his lackey and two come to feeble blows.
But after the board vote, Tom tells Greg he still has a place in the company.
The truest friendship in "Succession" continues.
"I got just enough capital.
I got you."
Poor Connor Roy is never taken seriously.
As the only child from Logan Roy's first marriage and the true "eldest boy," Connor doesn't
quite fit in with his siblings.
He reaps the financial bounty of Waystar Royco, but otherwise remains uninvolved with its
operations.
When he suddenly chooses to throw his hat in the presidential ring, everyone thinks
he's a joke.
After Jeryd Mencken becomes the obvious GOP frontrunner, Connor is offered an ambassadorship
in exchange for dropping out of the race.
"I guess you're gonna have to find some other poor mook's paps to suckle on."
But he doesn't do so immediately, so the ambassadorship he's offered is in Slovenia.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Alan Ruck imagined that should his character receive
the position, he'll definitely have "buyer's remorse."
Connor still assumes he's going to Slovenia as a U.S. ambassador, even though Mencken
didn't save the Roys' family-run operations and has never really had a relationship with
Connor.
Even so, Connor and his much younger wife, Willa, are already making enthusiastic plans
for their long-distance relationship.
Whatever happens, there may be heartache ahead for Connor Roy.
Logan's old school executives are sycophantic hangers-on, and they've managed to survive
decades under his rule.
Yes, Frank and Gerri were both fired and rehired, but neither has ever strayed very far from
the Roys.
After Logan's death, Gerri, Frank, and Karl are still an integral part of the company's
decisions.
There's also Hugo, Waystar Royco's senior vice president of communications for Parks
and Cruises, who has aligned himself with Kendall.
It's pretty clear Tom plans to cut him loose, and Matsson has already put Frank and Karl
on his kill list.
Fisher Stevens said he thinks Hugo will turn out fine, though, and told The Hollywood Reporter,
"Hugo's got a plan.
I can't tell you the plan, because I don't want to give it away.
But I think he's going to succeed."
"Happy?"
"Woof woof."
Chances are Gerri, Frank, and Karl will find a way to survive, too.
Peter Friedman, who plays Frank, told The Guardian,
"Frank might be a good person.
So why is he with these sharks?
Why doesn't he join a [nonprofit] and spread good if he's so damn moral?"
Perhaps for the first time in their lives, the Roy siblings no longer have the enormous
pressure of succession pinning them down.
At least temporarily, each will have to confront who they are in the aftermath and grieve their
losses, both of their father and of their power.
Under Tom's leadership, Waystar Royco's future is also uncertain.
Tom may have prematurely called the presidential election, which will certainly change the
landscape at the news network ATN.
For fans, the ending means saying goodbye to a phenomenally written, intriguing drama.
Many have taken to social media to express their feelings about the end of an era.
One Twitter user summed it up nicely, tweeting,
"Roman finally free from the life he was living to please his dad, shiv holding onto tom and
therefore some power meanwhile kendall was left with NOTHING."
"Bad tweet.
Bad tweet!"
The cast and crew's feelings about the finale are just as bittersweet as fans', it seems.
"Succession" creator Jesse Armstrong told Decider,
"I think we all feel really satisfied with the shape of the season.
So, sad, but I think it's the right thing to do."
Sarah Snook shared with The Los Angeles Times that the cast didn't know that Season 4 was
to be the last until they sat down for the table read, and she said that the discovery
made her feel "a huge sense of loss, disappointment, and sadness."
Jeremy Strong spoke with GQ before the final episode aired and disclosed that saying goodbye
to Kendall would "feel like a death, in a way."
It's clear that "Succession" had a profound impact on the cast and crew who brought the
show's stories to life.
The end of "Succession" left some unanswered questions.
The characters are richly drawn and could provide endless compelling stories in the
future.
But there are no immediate plans for a "Succession" spin-off.
The head of drama at HBO, Francesca Orsi, told Deadline,
"I'll never say never but my instinct and based on a number of conversations about the
evolution of 'Succession' and these characters, at this stage, there is no intention of spinning
any one character off."
Any further stories in the "Succession" universe would also likely require the participation
of series creator Jesse Armstrong.
Members of the cast have fantasized about future projects, though.
Nicholas Braun imagined a "Disgusting Brothers" spin-off in an interview with Entertainment
Weekly, joking,
"We go off to Antarctica, and it's just the two of us trying to survive, and then we die
pretty quickly.
We die after three or four episodes."
Any number of characters could sustain another series.
Roman could look for love.
Kendall could try to start a new company.
Or what about a prequel series about Logan?
For now, though, we'll have to remain content with the 40 episodes HBO has produced, which
have allowed a glimpse of the brilliant dysfunction of the Roy family empire.