Succession was brought to a thrilling conclusion on Sky Atlantic this weekend, finally providing an answer to the four-season question; who will replace Logan Roy as CEO?
Described by critics as a “perfect, terrible goodbye” and a “satisfyingly devastating closing act”, the final episode certainly packed a punch over the course of 88 minutes on HBO, with twists and drama never far away.
The episode sees the Roy siblings continue to backstab each other to control their father’s media company as viewers finish watching the “despicable, broken, compelling” characters.
So far this season, Logan Roy has been killed off leaving tech mogul and antagonist Lukas Matsson (True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgard) in pole position to decide the company’s future.
The final episode sees the Roy children, Kendall (played by Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) continue to re-do their family betrayal while fighting for victory.
Tom became head of the company, appointed by Matsson after he decides Shiv – who he used to take down Roman and Kendall – “essentially was too much her own woman” to play his lackey.
Wambsgans, played by Matthew Macfadyen, signaled his willingness to play the puppet to his Swede overlord, a position he has become au fait with over the course of the show.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Macfadyen said: “He will put up with a lot of shit and humiliations from everybody, including his wife—you know, she asked him to have an open marriage on their wedding night—and in order to stay in the family and near his father-in-law Logan.”
But he was, somewhat unexpectedly, only given the keys to the castle when his wife Shiv voted in favour of the Gojo deal after previously committing to backing her brother’s takeover.
Early on in the final episode, Shiv – still secure in her position, at that point – takes the opportunity to call her husband and ask if maybe there’s a new way for them to move forward, signalling she still harbours feelings for Tom.
But according to Macfadyen, her feelings for the father of her unborn child had little role to play in Shiv’s decision to back Gojo, despite being betrayed by both Matsson and Wambsgans in the past.
Commenting on whether any part of Shiv’s decision to pull her vote was a last-ditch effort to prove her devotion to Tom, he said:
“No. I think it was a visceral reaction to seeing her brother in the boardroom and thinking, ‘I can’t bear him.’”
“‘I can’t let him do this.’ I don’t think it was about choosing Tom over [Kendall] at all, especially after Matsson’s betrayal of her. I think it was just, she can’t do it.”
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