Having watched the Succession finale early today, I won’t post any details here to spoil it for anybody else, but I just wanted to praise all those involved.
I thought the acting in particular was simply extraordinary all round across all four series. From the most minor characters to the main ones, there was not a bad performance to be seen. If I was a judge in any kind of TV awards malarkey, I would have a difficult job choosing one who was more deserving than any other from among the key family members. That said, special praise must go to Blighty’s own Matthew Macfadyen, who portrayed such a multi-dimensional character so brilliantly while managing to hold on to an American accent (most of the time, to my ears).
Not the most exciting post, I know, but I wanted to thank in some way the creators of a series that has kept me engrossed for a very long time, even though on the face of it (awful US corporate squillionaires fight among each other to become even richer) this does not sound like the most interesting TV.
Farewell, Roy family and your associated underlings/serfs/minions, and bravo!
I’ve really enjoyed it, and admire the decision to end on a high instead of dragging out the series longer than it needs. Haven’t watched the last episode yet, but watching it tonight and will comment back. Looking forward to it!
I watched all of season 4 this weekend, having avoided spoilers bar one major one (thanks Bret Easton Ellis), and up early this morning for the finale, which despite a few technical hitches (thanks NOWTV – why do I pay you all this money exactly?) was one of the best series endings I’ve ever seen. There are numerous ways it could have ended, but somehow, given what’s gone before, this was perfect.
Reading Jesse Armstong’s piece in the Grauniad he says how every episode went to between 30 and 50 drafts – you can see and hear the work that’s gone into it on every level. Like The Wire or Twin Peaks, accessible to most viewers (I was a bit lost at the start of this season’s opening episode, but found my bearings about 30 mins in) but so rewatchable due to the detail and density of what’s going on, additional viewings I’m sure will reveal lots of things I’ve missed.
I think it joins the ranks of the few series who nailed their endings really well. A lot of fan pleasing ingredients were in the mix but there was a clear resolution, although always more stories that could be told.
Fantastic acting and scripting all around.
Wow, just wow. Just finished watching it, and that’s one of the best endings I’ve ever seen to a TV series. I love how it kept me guessing right to the last kick, and how difficult it was to take sides: every character is a complex mix of sympathetic and abhorrent qualities.
No spoilers, but it’s a big round of applause from me.
A TV drama that knows how to end on a high? Just brilliant.
Absolutely top notch stuff.
Matthew Macfadyen just gets better and better
Yep – agree with all of the above. For my money it’s the best tv that has ever been made.
Stunning, just stunning
All sorts of interesting takes on the ending in the various papers these last couple of days.
Probably the first and last time you will see the name of American poet John Berryman (whose Song 29 Jesse Armstrong filleted for the title of the 4 series last episodes) in the rag.
I didn’t know that, and didn’t know the poem either.its a morbid little ditty
https://poets.org/poem/dream-song-29
John Berryman was not a happy camper and eventually topped himself – threw himself off a bridge into the East or Hudson River iirc.
Fair took me back to the days of my American Studies course at Hull in the mid to late-70s when I saw The Times mention his name in conjunction with Succession yesterday
I loved it.
A quick tangent on the nature of ‘spoilers’. I find it frustrating that we can’t talk about the ending.
While I think reasonable consideration must be made to those who have yet to see the finale, surely the onus is on them not to click on a thread ‘Succession – phew, what about that, eh?’
Anyway I’ll stop moaning. Ha.
I was just thinking the same thing. I think I’ll start a new thread with SPOILER WARNING in the title so we can all talk freely about it.
Just to flag – we can see the first 3 lines of posts in the “Updates” stream. Be great if people could try to avoid spoilers at the start of their posts.