discussion Succession | The Final Season | “With Open Eyes”

[eclipsed]

When something is this good I'm usually nervous for the ending. A satisfying conclusion is pretty rare but I'm excited and hope they can stick the landing. Great start to the season, they got straight to the point. 

 

7 hours ago, RunUpDoneUp said:

Shiv is my fav but seeing her humbled is always wonderful as being my fav doesn't mean you're above my ire.

My exact thoughts. Shes a modern day Cersei Lannister.

[mokitsu]

This STOMPED on S3 already.

 

Naomi is that girl

[Ampersand13]

I admire Nicholas Braun's character, but I've personally never found Greg to be that interesting, compelling, or funny. He's always just kind of been there as a device more than a complex person. Which is totally fine, people really love him and I can understand why, but this episode just kind of reminded me why I don't care for him nearly as much as the rest of the characters.  

 

The performances on this show are always note perfect, however, Sarah and Matthew (who are both always incredible) went even further this episode. I was completely engrossed by them, truly next level. Very excited to see what the rest of this season has in store for us! An awesome premiere! 

[eclipsed]

8 minutes ago, Ampersand13 said:

I admire Nicholas Braun's character, but I've personally never found Greg to be that interesting, compelling, or funny. He's always just kind of been there as a device more than a complex person. Which is totally fine, people really love him and I can understand why, but this episode just kind of reminded me why I don't care for him nearly as much as the rest of the characters.  

 

The performances on this show are always note perfect, however, Sarah and Matthew (who are both always incredible) went even further this episode. I was completely engrossed by them, truly next level. Very excited to see what the rest of this season has in store for us! An awesome premiere! 

When the show first started I expected him to evolve from being this dumb, naive guy to learning the ropes and becoming a vital part of the company, maybe even a threat but he just stayed consistently stupid. I'm not mad about it, I don't mind him now and then for a little one liner but when he pulls focus I find him annoying. The way I thought things would go probably would have been pretty predictable but hes lack of growth is the reason hes not one of my favs. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up inheriting everything in the end out of sheer dumb luck.

[ANTisocial]

that was a great premiere 

[Ampersand13]

6 hours ago, eclipsed said:

When the show first started I expected him to evolve from being this dumb, naive guy to learning the ropes and becoming a vital part of the company, maybe even a threat but he just stayed consistently stupid. I'm not mad about it, I don't mind him now and then for a little one liner but when he pulls focus I find him annoying. The way I thought things would go probably would have been pretty predictable but hes lack of growth is the reason hes not one of my favs. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up inheriting everything in the end out of sheer dumb luck.

Agree with all your points! 

[RunUpDoneUp]

I would hate for the egg to get everything, like honestly.

 

I'd be fine with a backstabbing move from anyone of the siblings over that.

 

Also if Logan doesn't end up pushing daisies(kp.)

[MAXIMO]

Not them bidding for Pierce at 6 to 10 billion, when Logan was willing to pay 25 billion for it back in S02. The way they went down so fast. 

[Beyonnaise]

The episode was so good. This season will be one of the best of all time huh  Logan facing his mortality spells the end for him, he reminds me so much of Cersei toward the end.

 

Roman being consistently the smartest of the kids is so interesting. He even called Kendall and Shiv out for just wanting revenge but went along with the terrible deal just to appease his siblings.
 

The Shiv Tom scene was devastatingly realistic. They both deserve Emmys, especially Sarah.

[Destiny]

Finally got to watch the premiere. It was wonderful and just as great as the previous season openings. The bidding war was so entertaining and dead at Nan Pierce pretending to be disgusted and dislike what was happening.... she enjoyed every minute of it pls  

 

I can't wait to see how this season unravels all the way to it's conclusion.

 

 

[Lil Mxnster]

The premiere was sooo good, I want to re-watch it again  

 

I was LIVING with this scene! 

 

 

 

[DoctorIce]

"You can pop it back in your mouth now, we're getting on the plane" took me TF out. 

[Destiny]

“Who wants to smell Greg’s finger?”

[McNulty]

great premiere

 

I felt bad for Shiv and Tom at the end but not surprised, their marriage was doomed from the first season

[Haburo]

I really love this show and will be disappointed when it ends. I thought the first episode of this final season was okay. It obviously had a really difficult act to follow. I rewatched the season finale from last year a couple of days before the new episode, and unfortunately nothing can beat the episodes in this show when the things from previous episodes/seasons begin to fall into place.

 

Before this season started, I watched all the episodes from Veep (well, nearly all the episodes, I'm on the last season now) and listened to some podcasts about that show. From those podcasts I realised that a lot of the writers from Veep were called upon to write Succession and that the writers of the premier glossy US-drama show are actually British comedy writers. It's really interesting.

 

Another interesting thing I heard from these podcasts was one writer describing that, in order to write for mega-rich characters, they (the working/middle-class English comedy writers team) had to rely on 'rich' consultants. These were people consulted to ask about what rich people do. Some interesting things, I thought, were:

 

1. Rich people don't have coats. They walk from their car service into their building from their helicopter. They never need a coat.

2. The bottom of rich people's shoes (for example, the way the bottom of Louboutins are red) are never scuffed for the same reason.

3. Rich people don't 'duck'. The actors had to be told not to 'duck' when getting into the helicopters.

4. Originally, in the Thanksgiving dinner episode (I think it may have been episode one), the writers had written that Marcia calls everyone to dinner. The consultant said Marcia would not know when dinner was and that this would have to be directed by staff.

5. Also in that episode, originally the staff had been dressed in maids costumes. The consultant asked one writer 'where have you seen that? That would never happen' and the writer realised she made the assumption from p*rn. The consultant told them that the 'help' would be attractive young men in chinos and a shirt.

 

I'm about to listen to the official HBO podcast for season 4 episode 1. Even though I should be studying!

[Almodusa]

Hm cute episode 

[TROPICUM]

Everyone is raging on Roman but I just feel the smartest decision is to side with Logan...

 

Shiv and Ken are just doing it to finally win over their dad but Ken KNOWING the deal will fail if they continue and yet still not caring just to get back at his dad is... 

 

That Greg scene was fun too, although I'd appreciate a little more arc on his character... he should not be this inept after all these seasons 

 

 

[eclipsed]

Loved the episode, especially the scene in the karaoke bar. I don't even know if Logan means it when he says he loves his children which is truly just sad. I'm guessing Logan will die by the end but either way if this is going to be like a Game of Thrones situation and someone takes Logans throne by the end I feel its going to be Kendall. Kendall wouldn't be my preffered choice but it feels like it was always going to go that way. I just can't see Kendall pulling these moves with Mattson only to spite his dad and him taking a backseat and playing backup to Shiv and Roman I just don't see it. I think hes going to pull something and I could see it going down similarly to the season 2 finale. I could even see the boy he killed in season 1 coming into play as well.

[Gui Blackout]

12 hours ago, TROPICUM said:

Everyone is raging on Roman but I just feel the smartest decision is to side with Logan...

 

Shiv and Ken are just doing it to finally win over their dad but Ken KNOWING the deal will fail if they continue and yet still not caring just to get back at his dad is... 

 

That Greg scene was fun too, although I'd appreciate a little more arc on his character... he should not be this inept after all these seasons 

 

 

Yep, Roman is the only one making rational(ish) decisions. He was the one fully committed to the platform they were launching, he was the one being reasonable with Pierce deal (which they end up overbidding), he's the one being cautious about blowing up the merger.... while Shiv wants to be a girlboss and Ken wants to kamikaze Logan at any cost  Truth is all the siblings would backstab each other at any point, only reason they are together now it's cause they got ****** together. 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2023 by Gui Blackout

[Ampersand13]

The confrontation at Karaoke and the subsequent outcome was some truly amazing television, but I have to say I was not even remotely interested in everything leading up to it like Kerri’s or Connor’s subplot, nor did I find the jokes particularly funny during the ATN sequence. I don’t know, I kind of felt like I was just watching caricatures being funny, buying time until the climax (which again, was superb), which is not something I typically associate with the show. I also want to recognize that I’m probably being overly critical because I hold this show in a higher regard than many others. Enjoyed the episode, just wasn’t truly invested until its final moments. 

[RunUpDoneUp]

Um, this episode is probably my most hated of the show, lmao. 

 

First off, roman upsets me to high heaven. I mean, what a cowardly lion but ultimately he's the most like Logan. The exterior Logan has is man-made, it's the "top dog" armor developed from low-down behavior and unethical practices. It's what Ewon despises and ultimately will be what makes Roman succeed. The others will become the ewons of his becoming. 

 

Siobhan, like holy f, whining and mewling about Tom using her dad's underhanded tactics like she wouldn't do the same. What upsets me is that she didn't see it coming, like c'mon, you know what timing Tom's on, act like it. She doesn't deserve to be ceo of sht until she can behave like a competent crappy human being. 

 

Kendall is honestly a dummy, he has no reason to agree with shiv other than to sate his own ego. He's too emotional about this and not in the good way. He wants back in the line of sight of the despot, so he joined shiv but like explicitly said, a flighty, whim driven moron like Matsson isn't interested in playing business. He would be up on this if he wasn't on shiv's idiotic timing. 

 

I still do have a soft spot for Connor but MAN is it hard to walk past it without carving it out, lol. Dude made me REALLY sad with his emo speech, that's a wounded deer monologue if I ever heard one. Like, yikes. I'd bet on him getting the support he needs but look at the damaged goods he had around him, can't even pretend to be a family on rehearsal night. 

 

Logan is still disgusting, that speech on the floor was something you'd hear at a terf rally about nebulous figures you need to oppose because...idk, just because, ok?! He's a nasty bastard but he's right about not doing a blood feud with Matsson ONLY because he's going to the grindstone on his little sector of atn but why tf would the kids help him ease that in? That'd be dumb, especially when he can't even bring himself to pretend to even apologize. 

 

I can't do another episode like this one. I get why people are acting the way they're acting but I honestly don't like watching it. Melodrama makes me itch.

[Essential]

Y'all definitely missed the point if you think the sibs going for Pierce (even if overpaying) was the wrong move. It was 100% the safest choice to go for it than to try yet ANOTHER media endeavour when Shiv has no experience in the field, Roman only poorly oversaw a movie studio and Kendall's entire downfall started with a similar project (Vaulter). The writers even made it clear with Shiv's "this doesn't have to do with dad, but if it hurts him, i'm okay with it" (sic)

 

And once again missed it if you think blowing up the deal is the wrong move when the only true winner with it is Logan and his FOX News-like spin off. Sandi and Stewy have been on this for a while, it seems, and they don't need no personal reasons to do it? They're just here for the money, while Logan is after f*cking up his literal children. Besides, they will need more money from the sale to back up their purchase, it's purely logical, everything else (the divorce maneuver, the Matsson videocall) is accessory.

 

I think the main meat in this second episode was brilliant, Logan coming to terms on why the personal drama is actually bad for business and having to perform for his children to fulfill his goal of leaving them on their own. Kendal bringing up the way he has constantly thwarted their lives individually and collectively was so effective, especially with Logan's face crack at the end, and the aftermath with the sibs discussing their sh*t and Connor's devastating monologue. The fact that Logan thought a simple "I'm sorry" would suffice shows how terribly out of touch he is with... people.

 

Now... Roman started to grow some backbone in S3 and we finally got to see him stand up before his father in All The Bells Say but he has always been the weak link in any effort to bring down Logan and it's showing once again. It's heartbreaking to see it manifest in a f*cking Happy Birthday text but that's how this family rolls, and the old man knows that.

 

Anyway, can't wait for Logan to croak and see how Jesse always envisioned the Succession to go. Very hyped for the next 8 Sundays.

 

And Sarah Snook's Lead Actress in a Drama Series campaign should be rolling over starting now. If she goes Supporting again, it's over for her.

[RunUpDoneUp]

Newfound appreciation after rewatch:

 

Logan said they were unserious people but he's an insincere person. Like a demon in skin.  

 

Hugo and Gerri laughing at The real Kerry of New Jersey.  

 

Stewy's cab driver and heckler gag bit actually hurt my soul. I loved it. 

 

The night of 1000 wobbles line is going into my quote book.

[Destiny]

Solid episode. Nothing much really but i'm really liking Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Brian Cox's performances this season. Amazing work

 

Roman is kinda the best character for me and he's really finding himself between a rock and a hard place, i'm really curious of his decisions going forward.

[Destiny]

Episode 3: Connor's Wedding

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by Destiny