We knew Succession would end before it sold out. Its creator, Jesse Armstrong, and some of its writers, such as Georgia Pritchett, gave the series a maximum of five seasons of life at the time. Finally there were four. The television drama that did inherit the scepter of Game of Thrones (no, Westworld was not the lucky one) on HBO has not extended its existence beyond what is necessary. Even in that it has been elegant. Learn a little, Billions.
There has been no sense of hasty closure in Succession. His elusive tone and the wonderful construction of his plots allowed him at all times to propose an epilogue to his story. That some of the Roys (or all, why not) were left behind by their own series from one episode to the next was always an option. Why wouldn’t Succession be cruel and sarcastic until the end.
Succession, a concept present in the series since its title, was resolved in its very last section. The solution, both business and narrative, with which Waystar-Royco changes the cycle, was wonderfully anticlimactic. Pragmatic to the point of psychopathy, the neo-neo-liberal business dynamic prevailed in Succession’s history. If at any time we believed that this series could loosen the knot, we were wrong. Because money has no heart and the Roys’ hearts are dead.
But Succession also faced its own myth. Owner of some of the best season endings in history, she could not fail in the definitive closing. It had to be fun and surprising, but also logical. Since logic (especially that of megacorporations) is rarely fun or surprising, the challenge was huge. However, Succession had a perfect weapon to achieve this: it had created a collection of perfect characters. I am convinced that playing with them has been one of the greatest professional pleasures of their scriptwriters. As a spectator, witnessing that game has also been a magnificent experience. Succession’s chess, with clear rules but constant cheating, is TV history. You just had to think of a good play to finish.
Few series have given more mythical phrases, more shots full of layers of meaning and better clips that their actors can send to the Emmys and the Golden Globes. The voters of these awards are already deciding whether the final season of Succession also says goodbye showered with trophies. The series took a while to gain attention, but when it did it became an unstoppable phenomenon. He picked up the baton from Game of Thrones and did so with an absolutely adult and very non-condescending proposal. Those who rejected Game of Thrones for being a series “about bad people” (that happened) I suppose will flee from its successor like the plague. Others of us came to her week after week in search of wit, vitriol, cutting answers and very first world problems told better than ever. Succession was never out of stock, never expired and never got old. And when it soured and rotted it was the best series in the world.