by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
HBO has a murderers’ row of amazing television shows. Their original content is so rich with historically amazing shows, it’s almost a little embarrassing. I’ve loved most of the shows that I’ve watched on HBO, and I hold them in high esteem in terms of my top TV shows of all time. Some are ultimately misses, but the good-too-okay ratio is still noteworthy. Their comedies are great, their dramas are exceedingly amazing, the diversity of their shows is second to none, and the talent they’ve assembled for their content is the best out there.
Truth be told, I was on the fence about Succession. I wasn’t sure it could live up to the impossible hype I’ve heard from friends and critics I trust. I only recently caught up to ita few months ago. I like Brian Cox and Kieran Culkin, so I was willing to give it a shot. I wasn’t really into it the first part of Season 1, and even after Season 1, I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to continue. But Season 2 was amazing and had me excited for what’s to come.
Succession is on pace to become one of HBO’s top shows in a pantheon of amazing shows.
Before we get into Season 3 though…
Previously on Succession season 2:
The Roy family is united in bringing Kendall (Jeremy Strong) back into the mix after the events in England after Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Tom’s (Matthew Macfadyen) wedding. Logan’s (Cox) main focus is the acquired rival news company Pierce. He aligns himself with Rhea Jarrell (Holly Hunter). All of this while Waystar Royco is under increased fire from the Department of Justice for allegations of corporate negligence due to issues with their cruise lines. After a decidedly fierce fight during a hearing in Washington DC, Logan decides to have Kendall pay the ultimate price only for it to completely backfire at a press conference that would change the course of the Roy family forever. Season 3 picks up RIGHT AFTER that press conference at the end of Season 2, where Kendall makes his move. The main crux of Season 3 involves Kendall’s plan for Waystar Royco and its aftermath. In addition, we have the Roys getting more and more entangled with Waystar Royco and siblings taking different roles within the company.
What I appreciate most about Succession is that it’s full of a lot of great intricate stories and extremely complicated characters. It’s weird because I’ve never watched a show where I’m literally rooting for nobody. All the characters are flawed and complex to the point where it’s hard for me to want them to win in the end. This season is filled with so many turns for all the characters and they all find themselves in odd positions. Kendall, for instance, finds himself on the outside looking in and declaring war on everyone that comes at him. Roman (Culkin) finds himself on the inside track with Logan and being viewed as a go-to person instead of the village idiot he is perceived to be in previous seasons. Shiv is finding herself at a crossroad where she is finally in a place with her family where she feels powerful but, still feeling like someone who’s more of an outsider.
Then there’s Tom, who spent most of the season thinking about the possible consequences from his actions in previous seasons. He spends his time trying to scheme his way into Logan’s good graces after he is continually shamed and battered down by the Roy family. Tom also has a plan, and depending on how you view the plan after the season finale, it’s viewed as a brilliant stroke of genius with an “Et tu, Brute” level of decision making that has me very intrigued to see what happens moving forward. Logan, as usual, is the lone wolf who just makes all the moves. Cox is magnificent in this season. Logan Roy may go down as one of the best, most complex, and most despised characters in modern TV history. He uses all those around him to get what he wants regardless of how it might affect them. Cox, as always, chews the scenery like no other and his voice and command are definitely on point this season.
Some characters are still grasping for roles and I still can’t see where the end game is for some of these characters. Greg (Nicholas Braun) is a character I like, but due to his shifting allegiances, I’m still unsure if he’s meant to be comic relief, the soul of the Roy family, that when he’s completely corrupted, that’s when all is lost, or if he’s actually got a plan. He seems like he’s kind of wising up the family’s schemes but I still can’t make heads or tails of if he’s got a larger role to play in all this. Connor (Alan Ruck) is another one where I’m kind of over his storyline and it might be time for something else.
The characters this season were great. Most of the storylines worked for me. I liked the Logan and Kendall dynamics for most of the season. I especially liked the scenes when they’re together. I loved all the story beats where we focus on the business. When it ventures too far into politics, I start to lose interest mainly because I’m sick of politics. Succession has Sorkin-like dialogue during deals or board room moments or anything generally related to business, and it just oozes with tension and gravity that hooks me in each and every time. As always, family is a central theme during this season. The Roy family’s dynamic gets more and more complicated as the show progresses. Most of my story points that I wasn’t a huge fan of involve Kendall, who was a bit all over the place this season, but I’m thinking this is part of the point. He has a lot going on and makes rash decisions that aren’t always well thought out.
The season ends with an amazing finale. I’m really intrigued to see where the show goes from here and the fallout of the decisions that are made by all parties. Everyone is going to be in a complicated situation that has me wondering what is next. I didn’t think Logan would do what he did in the season finale, but it made sense why he did. I understood how Kendall, Shiv, and Roman all reacted and their plan to react to Logan’s plan. It was a great way to leave the season.
Greatest Hits: here are my favorite moments of the season in no particular order (shoutout to the show Lost for giving me the idea). I will make these as spoil free as possible:
- Any chance where we get to see Kendall, Roman, and Shiv was great, particularly at Kendall’s party and at Caroline’s wedding when they figure out what’s going on and Kendall let’s them in on his personal trauma
- Roman sends a very ill-timed and unfortunate text message to Logan
- Give me more Lukas Mattson (Alexander Skarsgård)
- Greg-weiller… classic
- In fact, most any scene with Tom and Greg is a delight
- “Who needs a soul anyway?”
- Boy that finale was great, particularly the last five minutes
- I f*cking win… what a baller move
Was Season 3 always perfect? No. Was it engaging, tense, and has me excited for Season 4? Absolutely. Shout out to episode 5 and episode 9 for truly great TV. Give Brian Cox his Emmy already for lead actor.
Season Grade: A-
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