I was supposed to be focused on weeb island for the next couple videos but with the recent
episode of season three I felt the need to finalize some thoughts on what makes this guy
"buckle up fugglehead" the most important character
in one of television's biggest shows Succession...
"It's cool though cause it's like I didn't cheat
because all the sperm stayed in my own body like a closed loop system"
Before getting into this I'd like to admit I'm not a big fan of things where everyone
is a terrible person, It's Always Sunny being a prime example. While some of the episodes I
find hilarious it's always been hard for me to fully buy in when all of these characters
are awful to one another you, "Dee you b**tch" So when I was recommended to check out Succession
a show loosely based on the Murdock family. It didn't seem like something appealing to me.
And to be clear Succession is the very thing I don't enjoy.
Awful terrible human beings in this cutthroat family with no remorse,
but there's also so much more than just that.
For anyone unaware of the show here's a brief layout of the characters.
Logan the CEO of the company that's getting older in age and needs a successor whose favorite phrase
is a healthy dose of f*** off every episode. Then there's his four kids Kendall, Roman,
Shiv, and Connor who are all to some degree vying to be the new CEO.
Kendall is what many would assume to be the best choice to take over until you realize
he seems to rub most everyone the wrong way and is trying way too hard to prove himself to his
severe daddy issues. "FAMILY THERAPY"
Then there's Shiv who flip-flops her motives depending if Logan is giving her favorite
privileges that day, to no surprise she's got some drastic daddy issues.
Then there's roman, "what up pricksletts it's me Dr. moron I'm a ding
dong doodle bug dip sh** my dad hates all you" Home Alone's brother, who could care less about
the company and would rather be whacking it anywhere at any time.
Who may or may not have shades of Oedipus. Actually now that I'm thinking about it
Kendall and him are kind of two sides of the same Oedipus coin.
Like on one side you've got the mother *erm* and the other dethroning his father
Oh and of course roman not just mommy also daddy issues.
Then there's Connor who seems to be the only non-daddy issues of the siblings,
that is a little, well, different like he'll show back up out of the blue to
ask his dad if he can spot him a million to get these mashed potatoes out of his pants.
He seemingly wants no part in the company other than to be rich.
He's the wild card of the operation who has a devoted fan base of con heads rooting for him.
"Knock Knock, but who's there Uncle Sam and where is his hand? in my pants"
The Others Cousin Greg is a fun light-hearted buffoon
who just wants a piece of the inherited pie. Gerri is a board member at Waystar that roman
desperately wants to be with, again getting a lot of Oedipus vibes here.
Marsha, Logan's new wife who may or may not be in it as Lil Wayne would say "the mullah baby"
Willow, Connor's girlfriend. who definitely, probably, is a lady of the night.
All these characters make for such an interesting chessboard for the writing
team to play around with every episode but the most important out of all of them is Tom.
Remember Shiv well this is Shiv's husband Tom Whamsgans.
Who also is the boss of cousin Greg. In the show there's a lot about how to
get to a better place than you are already at, and who you might have to cross in order to do that.
But to me tom has a different M.O., kind of. We don't know much about tom's background
except that he is from the Midwest, but we do know his motives as he's continually
shown to have an extreme loyalty to his wife despite her infidelity.
Now one could argue this is because he knows his place
and the higher Shiv climbs the ladder. You know rising Shiv'ss lift all Tom's.
But this is instead because Tom doesn't want success.
He already is content with where he is in the company.
Instead, Tom wants that nuclear family American blueprint with Shiv.
He wants to be in a loving relationship with his wife,
he hit the jackpot for a partner! Except tom is never happy, this is established
in the episode that won me over on the show. Tom is a pseudo-straight man for the show,
although maybe straight isn't the right word with his feelings for cousin Greg
"would you kiss me?" For a typical sitcom a straight man
operates to acknowledge the insanity of the rest of the comedic cast Jason Bateman's Michael Bluth
is a masterful example of this role in comedy in the perspective it adds to Arrested Development.
"has anyone in this family ever even seen a chicken"
now I'm not saying tom is not part of the insanity *Tom yelling*
But I am saying he offers perspective on a billionaire versus a possible millionaire.
Tom is rich and doing well for himself, but he is clearly
outmatched compared to the rest of the Roy family. You know that picture of the rice grains that is
trying to show the difference in wealth? This is Tom and Logan.
Tom is an ant to this giant presence that is the Roy family.
They continually use him as the butt of a joke or a literal
scapegoat for the failures the company has made. And the only reason you can see this hurt in a man
is because of the way he acts with Greg. Tom, presumably, thinks he worked really
hard to get where he is at Waystar, but day one this collection of three
fourth graders in a suit that is Greg is not only hired for the company he
worked hard to get his position in, but also works directly under him.
It is through this Logan to Shiv to Tom to Greg we're able to see this direct cycle of abuse.
Logan keeps toying with Shiv and making her feel insignificant.
Shiv keeps toying with Tom and making him feel insignificant.
And Tom, as a result, attempts to make Greg feel lesser than himself
and even though tom wouldn't like to admit it Greg and him are on
similar social levels in the family. There are three episodes in particular
that offer a lot of introspection on Tom's character and how Greg is a perfect pair for him,
these episodes being one from each season Prague, Safe Room, and What It Takes
Prague to me is where succession clicked. Tom's bachelor party shows the leaps of
delusion he's willing to make in the Roy family to convince himself that he is in fact happy.
Roman brings them to some New York club instead of Prague
and Tom is still trying to have fun. Shiv makes it certain that Tom is
allowed to have an equalizing hall pass to go wild for his bachelor party,
which he doesn't want to do but still rolls with the punches to enjoy the night!
"it's just you know if I for instance you know if I touch a boob do you do you grab a dick?"
"I don't know if" "just give a rough
like from Fahrenheit to Celsius" and then he's recanting his sexual
adventures to cousin Greg like some middle schooler bragging
about touching a boob and Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakel.
"and this girl we're going to the side room and we start making out
and then I'm touching her and then she goes down on me and then I splooge in her mouth you
know and I know I know and get this she kisses me and puts it back in my mouth and I swallow"
"what the c**" Only for Greg to bring tom back to reality.
"Swallowed your own load?" "yeah I heard of it but I don't I didn't know what actually happened"
"I haven't heard about it before" "I have to think this is a word for it"
Of how crummy this situation is tom is at the mercy of the Roy's even on his night Greg
is probably the only one that offers him honesty which is shown again later in season one
"I think she's gonna be an affair" "no no no" "um I mean" shut up Greg"
By this point Tom has been made aware of what his new role actually entails in the company,
because Sugar He's Going Down to Prison by Fall Guy Tom is coming to town.
He's again at the mercy of the Roy's with the promotion immediately turned into here's
all the bad stuff you have to fix. In this episode there's a possible
shooter which leads to Tom and Greg being brought to their safe room for protection.
This of course is not the same safe room that Logan and Shiv are
sent to that is an actual safe room. "no correct this is this is the safe
room okay this is the panic room here is it safe it's just a room"
Instead they're put in some random room and it's in this moment where you can see Tom
finally almost accept how much he doesn't matter to this family but this isn't what
sends him over the edge it's this. "and then I and I can come back
you know it could be like like a business open relationship"
"this is not a good
feeling Greg that you're making me have you know" Because while Tom does want to be happy,
he also wants control, but he's always given neither of those options.
There's a lot of debate about the quality of season three and quite frankly I think
this might be my favorite season, because it solidifies Tom as the
best character in succession. I was always kind of impartial
to Kendall and his patricidal quest. He almost has this Sisyphean-like
quality to his failure, which not to open that can of worms again,
but there's something fascinating to his repeated rise and fall.
I bring this up because in season 3, a small thing I kept thinking about is how Tom and Kendall serve
as diverging crossroads to one another. With Kendall accepting that he doesn't
fit as a leader he wants to be and tom begrudgingly fitting into a
role he doesn't want, being a follower to Logan. These two seem faintly paired as both were under
heavy consideration for the one to take the fall for the company in season two,
So I would assume they both feel some kind of connection in that respect.
As Kendall tries harder to reject his family and their wants
Tom is more willing to let the Roy's walk all over him and ignore his desires.
That's why I find their confrontation in this episode so fascinating
"tell her what she's doing bring her over Logan goes down shiv knows who the f'ing man is,
come on man"
"but and I don't mean to be insulting but having been around a bit my hunch is that you're going
to get f*'ed because I've seen you get f*'ed a lot and I've never seen Logan get f*'ed once."
and tom only rejecting it because he has to play for the winning side.
When the winning side is trying to send you to prison as you're saying this.
Like even Greg, someone who tom enjoys the company of,
finally reveals he's just like the rest of the family asking Tom to take the added blame if the
government tried to convict Greg to go to prison. "are you asking if you can
hook your bauble of corporate wrongdoing on one of my branches Greg?"
"I just thought if if it won't make much difference to you"
The funny part about this whole set piece is Tom doing this whole spiel at the diner
complaining about how this food he'll have to eat for the rest of his life.
Showing how beneath him this food is. Tom wants to be above everyone to be
above his Midwest beginnings, in a lot of ways he is!
He's part of one of the wealthiest and influential families in this universe,
but even though he has a seat at the Roy's table is it worth it when you're a f***ing jester?
*Tom half-hearted oinks*
I wrote this script prior to the finale of season three so there's some minor things
I need to touch on which will have spoilers so if you haven't watched the series in full
go check it out and come back later.
There's a lot of thoughts I have on the finale of season three,
but I feel like my words won't do as much justice as this will...
Greg what do you know about um Nero and Sporus
"Nero and Sporus?" Greg yeah,
Sporus was a young slave boy he was Nero's favorite
and uh you know what Nero did to him "Nero and Sporus I don't
this is not IP I'm familiar with" Well Nero pushed his wife down the stairs and uh
then he had Sporus castrated and he married him instead
and he gave him a ring and he made him dress up like his dead wife
"wow" "Plot twist didn't see that coming"
Yeah I bought a book on the romans to read in prison it's a big book.
"is it is a good book?" it's a decent book yeah
I'd castrate you and marry you in a heartbeat
Do you want to come with me Sporus?
"Can I ask for a little more information?" No don't think so...