Paterfamilias Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is past his prime, and in the series’ very first episode, he almost dies. ![]() ![]() The Roy family at the center of Succession is a kind of portmanteau of the Murdoch family (owners of the News Corp empire, encompassing Fox News, the Fox Broadcasting Company, and numerous publications) and the Redstone family (majority shareholder of the ViacomCBS empire, which includes numerous TV networks as well as Paramount Pictures). The characters are so used to having obscene amounts of money, they seem unaware that not everyone enjoys the same levels of comfort. Wealth is everywhere in Succession, but it’s rarely displayed ostentatiously. If you asked even the most casual viewer of Succession to identify its core theme, “wealth corrupts those who hold it” (or something to that effect) would almost surely be part of their answer. Mode 1: A lacerating portrayal of wealth’s corruptive power Succession’s Logan Roy (Brian Cox) games out his next moves with his daughter Shiv (Sarah Snook). Those modes illustrate just how completely the series has encapsulated our modern world. Succession is many, many things, but the series has five specific modes that have made it such a darling of people who care about TV. In its portrayal of a broken family that is making the world a little bit worse every single day, the series speaks to an era where billionaires openly muse about moving to a new planet if we irreparably screw this one up. But I would argue that just as much of it stems from how ably Succession incorporates themes our culture is obsessed with right now. The show has slowly but surely wormed its way into the hearts of People Who Talk About TV Online, and that has allowed it to become the prestige drama of the moment, winning near-universal critical praise and nine Emmys across its first two seasons.Ī lot of that success is due to how easy it is to boil down the show to its most immediately hilarious jokes, awkward moments, and jaw-dropping plot twists. If you’re not a fan of HBO’s darkly comedic primetime soap, you may not be aware of all of the above, but at least one of any number of Succession memes, jokes, and flash points has probably pierced your social media bubble, even if you were completely baffled by it. Perhaps the words “boar on the floor” mean something to you? Or heard brilliant comedian Demi Adejuyigbe’s “ Kiss from Daddy,” which adds ridiculous lyrics to said theme song. Maybe you’ve seen tweets about how much the theme song is a banger. You may not have seen Succession, but maybe you’ve heard about Kendall Roy’s supremely cringey rap, or the line “ You can’t make a Tomelette without breaking some Greggs.” He is quite simply, superb.One way to know that Succession has become one of the signature television shows of the moment is just how thoroughly American TV fandom at large has digested it as a series of quick touchstones. All I can say is if the show continues at this pace and quality, we're in for a helluva season! And I'd be remiss, if I didn't offer special praise to Kieran Culkin (Roman Roy), for his master-class, and very realistic portrayal of what HAS to be one of the most rage-inducing characters of all time. With most shows, you can see plot turns coming a mile away, but I was caught completely off guard at least two or three times in this ONE episode. This episode had me running the gamut from cringing, to yelling (at weasel extraordinaire Roman Roy of course), to nodding my head knowingly, to WTF?!?, to "fist pumping" a shocking comeuppance served in exquisite blind-sided, humiliating fashion to a well-deserving recipient. I don't know if they hired new writers, or what changes they made after the first few episodes, but this show has blossomed into one one the most incredibly written shows on TV. Based on my initial rating and review of the first episode (1-rating) of season one, I continue to be astounded by the sheer level of brilliance this show has managed to attain (as show progressed, I changed my rating to 7, and then finally 10 for finale) and maintain since it's initial underwhelming start.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |