Over the next number of weeks here on Balls.ie, football scribe John Brewin will review and rate the main characters in the latest episode of the final series of Succession. As ever, please note this article does contain spoilers.
Great to catch a sight of Logan Roy’s menace in a promotion clip meant to advertise Living+, a business that resembles a metaverse Center Parcs for American octogenarians with a thirst for streaming content. “Somewhere you’re really living, you’ll have your keys but you won’t need them. How about I told you it was going to last forever?” explains Kendall Roy as the pitch goes far further off-piste than Logan ever intended.
In the hands of an excitable Kendall and his attempt to ward off Lukas Mattson’s takeover, such a project is required to become even more grotesque and ambitious. A place where Americans can actually live forever, a fate that evaded Logan himself but a concept popular among the crankier end of his billionaire class? Sign here and live in a place that causes Mattson, himself a spoiled, irresponsible brat, to invoke Godwin’s Law.
A welcome chance to look under the bonnet of the empire Logan left behind, with his movie studio at odds with his TV station’s right-wing tendencies, and the brilliant set-piece of Kendall’s presentation, it’s an episode to recall the comic capers that won so many viewers in the programme’s early days.
The Roy siblings are reminded just what their father created and what they have to live up to, having never had to fight for anything other than with each other, and all while everyone else is trying to snatch a piece of the action. It takes a computer-regenerated Logan, some Cousin Greg skulduggery to give Living+ the credibility it badly requires.
Kendall Roy 9/10
“It’s enough to make you lose your faith in capitalism.”
When Kendall starts throwing hip-hop shapes, making theatrical demands and dressing up for the occasion in a flight jacket before entering to the tune of Public Enemy, entertainment is sure to follow. As are wild and crazy business decisions when Kendall gets as hyped as on his trip to Waystar-Royco’s Hollywood base. There are shades of Spinal Tap’s Stonehenge in his set design agitation, and then comes a hologram of Logan, reminding of that recent trend of musicians performing alongside apparitions of their departed colleagues; Macca and Lennon last year at Glasto, for example.
And yet Kendall pulls it off by going “unplugged”, brushing aside Matsson’s tweet faux pas by being able to make his Nordic nemesis look “very European”.
On the New York Stock Exchange, the idea of “warehouse the elderly and keep them drunk on content while we suck ’em dollar-dry” goes down a storm. A Zen Kendall is able to celebrate with a calming swim in the Pacific after carving a No 1 figure in the sand.
kendall roy @ the sand #SuccessionHBO pic.twitter.com/YkpdCgne4k
— yo 🏴☠️ (@imjustnobeard) May 1, 2023
The final reckoning: Living Minus
Roman Roy 6/10
“If I cringe any harder, I might become a fossil.”
Another harsh lesson in being the big man for Roman. “I’m going to love bomb that stuck-up bitch, hooray for Fuckywood,” he says before a fragile ego leads him to sack Waystar Studios chief Joy after she smirks about his nepo-baby status. He then does the same to Gerri, with regret even if wild-eyed Kendall is on board for that “baller move”. While Kendall takes the plaudits, Roman can at last grieve, an internet meme with a computerised Logan saying “Roman Roy has a microdick” acting as a trigger for tears. Freudian stuff.
The final reckoning: Burn, Hollywood, burn
Connor Roy - n/a
No on-screen sight of the oldest son, but with Logan’s funeral to happens he’s bound to be back centre-stage soon.
The final reckoning: Missing you.
Shiv Roy 8/10
“Don’t criticise my jet interior.”
The enigma of the family plays several roles: special friend to Matsson as “my girl on the inside”; grieving daughter setting aside down time to cry for Logan; temptress to ex-husband Tom in a publicly sadomasochistic game of “bitey”; snarky theatre critic when Kendall takes centre stage. Shiv keeps busy while keeping big secrets. Her brothers may keep her out of the loop, but she is wise to them, while playing off Matsson expertly, too.
The final reckoning: In a trailer park with Tom.
Tom Wambsgans 7/10
“He’s just promised them eternal life.”
Tom is able to step beyond the fourth wall of Roy family politics to show a human side, even admit the folly of wanting to be rich. In terms of his relationship with Shiv, it’s proving a successful strategy, adding gravitas. “I think I got my chisel on you,” he tells Shiv. She suggests Tom had never had “dark meat” before her. She is making him suffer for betrayal but he’s on a promise. His own Waystar presentation resembles a holiday camp compere but he gets away clean.
Rehearsing #bitey for #Succession episode 406. pic.twitter.com/JL78b8Jv0l
— Georgia Pritchett (@georgiapudding) May 1, 2023
The final reckoning: An ATN person
Cousin Greg 7/10
“It’s hard to make houses seem like tech.”
Back among the “quad squad”, asked by Kendall and Roman to be their “pitchbot”, Greg actually makes himself useful in ordering a techie to doctor Logan Roy’s piece to camera. This is becoming a habit. “Make it happen,” he growls, eyeing the “good books” of his cousins, later resuming as Tom’s faithful fluffer.
The final reckoning: I-Robot
The Suits 7/10
“Numbers aren’t just numbers, they’re numbers.”
As the brothers assume control, the chorus line must wait for its cue. Gerri plays the price for not pandering to Roman. “You cannot win against the money,” she warns him. Karl pulls rank on Kendall. “You have my dick in your hand, but I have yours in mine,” but then has to garland his young boss with praise: “He’s special.” Accountant Pete, asked to cook the books, gets a roughest ride, kept up all hours by Kendall pumping stuff up.
The final reckoning: Fired, rehired
