I’m not surprised that the rich white woman … did the white woman thing. “If I can’t have it, then I’ll give it to my terrible husband!” Talking to my friends after the finale, one said that as soon as Tom told Shiv it would be him, she predicted right there that Shiv would fold. She’s never been a person of strong moral conviction and neither is Tom; Matsson was literally testing how much Tom would roll over for him by saying that he would gladly pursue and have sex with the man’s wife. I was like, “Damn, Tom, you’re not even gonna fight back?” LMAO.
However, I’m just a tinge annoyed that Greg literally has more job security than an actual journalist. Sorry, not sorry, but I did not want to see that man prosper. He is just not bright! But $200k a year to be Tom’s personal punching bag? Say less.
I increasingly respect and understand creator Jesse Armstrong and the writers’ decision to end the show here. I remember sitting in a grocery store parking lot when The New Yorker announced that Season 4 of “Succession” would be its last — and I was in SHAMBLES. The pain was palpable. But at this point, it makes perfect sense to end the series here, following Logan’s death, the culmination of Kendall’s personal journey, etc. (Because let’s face it, Logan’s #1 Boy is never coming back from this.) Moreover, I feel like after four seasons, the faction of delusional “Succession” fans would begin to project their emotions and aspirations onto these characters; it was even annoying to read some of the inane discourse on the bird app, goodness. But congratulations to the writers on creating such an incredible series. — Ruth
Yeah, I remember being a bit stunned at the news, thinking it could easily go on for one more season. But I also understood it, since so much of this show is about these characters spinning their wheels, finding new ways to not deal with their shit, and ultimately never escaping these cycles of abuse that Logan started and they’ve perpetuated.
At the same time, I was also a bit surprised by Armstrong’s admission he wasn’t 100% sure about the decision to end it, and only finalized it in the course of writing and filming what became this final season. It also made me a tad nervous that the series finale wouldn’t feel definitive since it wasn’t initially written as such.
However, lesson number one of this show: Always trust the writers. Week by week during this season, especially each episode after Logan’s death, I could see exactly why Armstrong came to the decision the way he did. To quote Jeremy Strong: “It made sense dramaturgically.”
Whether it’s within an individual season or in the arc of the entire show, the writers have always been so good at figuring out precisely when to move the chess pieces forward and position them toward some sort of endgame. It had to end here. Sure, it’s easy to imagine the contours of a fifth season: Do Tom and Shiv continue their marriage of convenience? Does Shiv have the baby? What happens to the company under the new Matsson regime? Roman probably continues to be a fuckup — or does he try to maneuver his way back in? Does Mencken actually become president? How long does the court battle in Wisconsin drag out? Etc. etc. etc. I’m sure it would all still be good television. But as Armstrong says in the post-episode commentary: These characters’ stories will continue, but it doesn’t mean we have to see them. — Marina
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