Event of the year
Succession Available on Sky Atlantic and elsewhere
It’s impossible to discuss the cultural events of 2023 without mentioning the fourth and final season of Succession. Even before the concluding episode, the death of a major character made headlines around the world – the Los Angeles Times even ran a mock obituary. The show was developed by Jesse Armstrong – who had previous hits to his name including Peep Show, Fresh Meat, and had contributed to The Thick of It – and charted the feuds among members of the fictional Roy family for control of the media conglomerate Waystar Royco (the inspiration was reportedly the Murdochs).
At the beginning of the series, the three main siblings, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and
Shiv (Sarah Snook), seem to have accepted that the family firm will be sold by their father Logan (Brian Cox) to GoJo, run by Swedish tech tycoon Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård). However, when tragedy changes everything, they abandon plans to move on with their own venture in favour of a power struggle to either block the deal, or grab the crown themselves. All this takes place against the political turmoil of a contentious presidential election that comes down to a dramatic conclusion.
One of the joys of watching Succession has been seeing it evolve from slapstick comedy in the opening episodes to a more sophisticated operatic drama as the story progresses. The dark humour, however, remained a constant. Whether they are selling their inheritance for a mid-ranking corporate job, or betraying their spouses and turning on their families, the characters exhibit a compulsive tendency to self-sabotage.
The final series is no different, and just when you think they are about to win a moral triumph, or exhibit some self-awareness, they always manage to throw it away, sometimes in the course of an evening. The quality of the acting and writing is so good that this moral bleakness ends up being compulsive viewing. The show will be sorely missed.