Succession: Television’s Most Relatable Unrelatable Series

Remember when Game of Thrones went off the air back in May and everyone wondered if HBO would ever have another hit show that captured the cultural zeitgeist? Well, who would have thought it would only take them a few months to clean-up once again? For those of us who fell in love (or fell in hate – there’s a lot of complicated feelings surrounding the show and characters) with Succession back in the summer of 2018, we certainly saw this coming. Sure, Succession isn’t pulling down Thrones‘ numbers, and dominating the watercooler conversations in the same way, but it’s ignited many an impassioned social media discussion (which is the new watercooler, anyway) and been the source of many think pieces (is a show even a real television series if there aren’t at least fifty think pieces online immediately after it’s season finale?) this week, which has to be everything HBO dreamed it could be. And best of all? It’s a genuinely great show.

I wrote a love letter to Succession after its first season finished up last year, begging folks to give it a go while acknowledging it’s certainly not for everyone. If you are one of those people who needs “likeable” characters and a vested rooting interest in seeing a good guy win, this ain’t your show (and that’s perfectly fine – although I don’t quite understand this line of thought myself). But if you enjoy watching a series that delves into (but takes pains not to celebrate) the rich, powerful, and morally bankrupt, well, what are you waiting for?

For those not in the know, the series follows the Roy family, a Murdoch-type media dynasty (if one can have a dynasty that only spans two generations). In the first season, patriarch (and company CEO) Logan Roy (Brian Cox, turning in a Shakespearean performance) suffered a stroke, prompting questions regarding just which of his three children (he has four, but his eldest, Connor – played smashingly by Alan Ruck – is definitely not cut out for running a multi-billion dollar corporation . . . but does think he could be president) should succeed him as the head of the company. By the end of season two, things are, naturally, in complete disarray and the question has changed from who will succeed Logan to will the Roys even manage to continue to control their company at all?

A lot has been written questioning just why people are gravitating to a series that highlights the excesses of the .01%, luxuriating in the backstabbing and generally awful behavior of these decidedly not good people. And, honestly, I don’t really have a deep answer to that question. Rather, I think the draw to Succession is pretty simple: It’s excellent television.

This is a series full of very talented actors (the cast list is a murderers’ row: Kieran Culkin as the baby in the family, Roman Roy; Sarah Snook as Siobhan Roy, Logan’s only daughter and the one we all thought was the moral choice for success; Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy, the clear choice for successor despite a host of personal flaws and failings; J. Smith Cameron as Gerri Kellman, the company’s general counsel who often seems like the only adult in the room while also cultivating a strange relationship with Roman; Matthew Macfadyen’s Tom Wambsgans, Shiv’s husband who is so not meant for this world; and Nicholas Braun, the show’s breakout star, who plays cousin Greg), characters with shocking depth (despite the constant refrain that these are horrible people and you can’t root for them – which is true – there’s so much interesting character work throughout the first two seasons), and storylines that make sense while continuing to surprise. Hell, without giving it away, the second season ended with a major shock – but it was a shock that we all should have seen coming, as it was the only legitimate conclusion for that story to reach.

It’s fun to watch insanely rich people snip at each other and stab one another in the back, and that was definitely the initial calling card of the series. But what emerged somewhere around the middle of season one was a series that was less about the rich being boorish and became a family drama that was all too relatable. We all have relatives we can’t particularly stand. We’ve all witnessed family feuds. We just don’t normally deal with all of those things where billions of dollars hang in the balance. So, while the Roys aren’t us – could never be us – there’s just enough there to relate to. It’s fun to watch the Shakespearean tragedy play out because we are just enough removed from the reality on screen – but there’s a humanity at the heart of the story that keeps us coming back and relating to the seemingly unrelatable characters.

Seeing Shiv and Tom’s marriage begin to crumble as they realize they were never really on the same page about just what they wanted is a real, human problem. Roman finally starting to recognize that years of abuse have messed him up far more than his sarcastic, quippy emotional shield would suggest isn’t just something reserved for the richest of the rich. Kendall’s struggle to define himself while constantly trying to measure himself by what his father wants and expects him to be is something many people deal with. But the magic of Succession is that we see all of these human elements and still don’t want these characters to win.

Yeah, I’d love to see Roman get some professional help to work through his issues, but I know that’s not going to turn him into a sympathetic character. Same for Kendall – that would only make him into someone as driven, focused, and cut-throat as Logan once was. And Shiv? Well, she had her chance to get out from under her father’s thumb and she ended up squashed. It’s likely too late for that marriage, and I suspect she’s just realizing how much she’s lost.

There’s no other show on television like Succession. It’s not an anti-hero drama a la Breaking Bad or Mad Men, where there’s a troubling central figure whose actions we excuse because we have conditioned ourselves to live vicariously through him. It’s not a strict comedy, although its biting dark humor is great. It’s something wholly unique and wonderful. It’s the rare show that can cause you to drop everything and sit still for an hour and not touch your phone. It’s a dopamine hit that lasts for hours after as you try to figure out what move Logan or Kendall or Shiv will make next (or just how smart Greg really is).

Succession isn’t going to become the new Game of Thrones (nothing ever will, if we’re honest), but it’s a sure sign that HBO is going to be just fine. They’ve got something truly special here, with this strange, wonderful, complicated series, full of actors at the top of their game and a writing staff with the talent to match. Actually, you know what? Succession is the new Game of Thrones. Because just like in Westeros, if you’re a Roy and you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.