Jeri Jacquin
Now available on Bluray and DVD from HBO is one of the most
startling series created by Jesse Armstrong to hit our screens and a family in
SUCCESSION: The Complete First Season.
The Roy Family, led by patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is
one of the most powerful in the global media world. Adult kids starting with
sons Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), Connor (Alan Ruck) and
daughter Shiv (Sarah Snook) are still trying to find their place in the world.
Kendall believes he is
about to become CEO of Waystar Royco the
family business and sees this as a comeback from his previous life problems
with addiction. Currently separated from wife Rava (Natalie Gold), he is ready
to take the place of leadership. Of course he is in for a big surprised when Logan announces he’s
staying on.
That doesn’t last long when Logan
has an attack and it’s clear that Kendall is
going to step in. With the consent of the board, he jumps into the position
bringing along brother Roman. Upset by this move is Logan’s
second wife Marcy (Hiam Abbass) who also refuses to let anyone see Logan.
That’s when daughter Shiv decides its time to step in and
check on who Marcy really is. Shiv’s fiancé Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) supports
her decision to try and see her father. The only good thing is that Shiv has
her own life outside the family business in politics which doesn’t make her
father happy either.
Son Connor is all over the place and sides with who ever has
the most votes – on anything. His only interest seems to be on girlfriend Willa
(Justine Lupe) who has a shady past that is often brought up by the others in
the family. Watching the family dynamic unfold is Greg (Nicholas Braun), Logan’s great-nephew who
is given a job to keep him occupied.
As Logan is recuperating, Kendall is making moves when he discovers that his father
is deeply in debt. Trying to make the company more stable, he makes a major
decision that has his father furious. Tom, given a position in the Parks
department, discovers there is such a serious problems that could come back to
hurt him and uses Greg to make it go away.
Shiv and Tom are getting married and as that day approaches,
she meets up with Nate (Ashley Zuckerman) trying to prove they can still be
friends after a prior romance. Working together they want to help Gil Eavis
(Eric Bogosian) become the next president of the United States and he doesn’t like
Logan Roy.
Kendall decides the only way to keep control of Waystar Royco is by calling for a vote
of no-confidence against his father. Getting the board members to side with him
means pulling out all the stops and convincing them it is the right thing to
do. When a disaster happens, Kendall and half the board members are escorted
out of the building. That’s when he knows who he can truly depend on from this
point forward.
Connor has found a place in the desert and invites the
family to come down for a visit. Logan
feels that it is the perfect opportunity for a little family therapy and a few
photos. Everyone agrees to go except Kendall who hasn’t forgiven any of his
family members for the fiasco in the board room.
Logan
is furious when he learns that Shiv is helping Eavis with his presidential
campaign, so much so that he decides not to attend her wedding. Shiv acts as if
this is no problem but won’t stop working for Eavis either.
He is approached once again by someone who wants to bring
down Logan Roy and discovers that someone he thought a friend has been playing
a dangerous game all along. Kendall also sees
that there is an opportunity to get back in the game and after Tom’s bachelor
party, begins to move once again against Logan Roy.
As everyone arrives at a castle in Wales for
Shiv’s wedding, Tom begins to feel as if there isn’t something his bride isn’t
telling him. It doesn’t help when Greg wants to clear his own conscious either.
As the wedding approaches, they are all surprised when Logan shows up for his daughters wedding in
grand style.
Roman, who is still playing COO of the company, is pushing
to have a satellite deal all worked out to prove to his father once and for all
that he has what it takes. Conor decides that this is a good time for him to
tell everyone that he wants to run for President of the United States
which makes his siblings jaws drop.
After the ceremony and during the reception, Kendall learns
that he has give Logan
the papers that show he is once again out for the CEO position. He is then put
up against his siblings to explain what he is doing but the conversation
doesn’t go so well as Logan
enters the room and lets him know that he is ‘nothing’.
Shiv works out a deal between her father and Gil Eavis but
the details are kept under wraps. Especially after now husband Tom lays out the
disaster he knows about the family business. Roman’s satellite deal isn’t
fairing any better and he has to keep that to himself for now.
Kendall isn’t getting any
support from those who should be helping him through this latest battle with
his father. So, he turns towards the one thing he knows works for him every
time. When he can’t get his hands on the white powder, he turns to a waiter at
the party who agrees to meet up with a connection.
What happens next is the stuff nightmares are made of and
once again Kendall’s dreams are about to come
under someone’s very heavy foot.
Cox as Logan Roy is absolutely, positively and without a
doubt stunning in this role. There is nothing more frightening than a man who
isn’t afraid of losing everything and Logan
isn’t afraid of that at all. He has the uncanny way of always landing on his
feet even when most mortals wouldn’t. I can’t take my eyes off the screen when
he is about to set someone right or tell them off, either way he is riveting
and powerful. If Logan Roy wasn’t so bad he’d be so good and it’s all due to
Brian Cox!
Strong as Kendall is one
hot mess of a man who is struggling to become CEO of a company that isn’t his.
I mean truthfully it isn’t his but boy does he want it badly! So bad in fact he
is willing to continually strike at his own father without thinking things
through. I have to give him points for trying but damn boy, how many times are
you going to go down? That’s what Strong does for this character, makes us root
for him but when it doesn’t work you yell ‘stay down’ at the screen. With the
shocking finale, once the blank stare has worn off, I have to wonder how long
it will be before he is ready to go at it again.
Culkin as Roman is one step away from being considered for
some kind of special room with a view. He is sharp, witted, snappy, sloppy and
has a story to tell in the little bits and pieces of his sometimes out of sync
trains of thought. You have to keep up with this one because you never know
where he has been, where he is going and what the hell he is aiming for. Culkin
is stellar and a force in this role absolutely.
Snook as Shiv is a woman who just wants to have her family
without all the problems that go along with it. She finds safely in her
soon-to-be husband Tom and gets to be a bit of a shark in her political career.
Shiv is equally snappy with the one liners and doesn’t take smack from anyone –
except her father. I am actually rooting for Shiv to end up on the iron throne
of Waystar Royco. Snook knocks this role right out of the park!
Ruck as Connor is just completely out there and I don’t know
that he’s ever going to be coming back. He is an agree-er with the rest of the
family when it comes to decisions because he refuses to be confrontational at
any point. He is okay with his girlfriend and seems oblivious to what anyone
else thinks of it all but, the most recent jaw dropper is his announcement that
he wants to become President. Ruck just takes this role and zig zags everyplace
leaving the viewer unsure what will happen with him next.
Braun as Greg is a combination of so many of the men on this
show. Presenting himself as a big simple, he seems to always need the help of
his mother but slowly starts to rely on the Roy family. He allows himself to be somewhat
abused by them all but has a moment of clarity that might just come in handy
later. Braun keeps his eyes open and forgets to keep his mouth shut. Lets see
if he learns his lesson on the latter.
Macfadyen as Tom is one of the most insecure characters I
think I’ve ever seen on television. He loves Shiv but one moment he is drowning
her with his insecurities and the next he is brow beating Greg like it is an
Olympic sport. Once he realizes he has been exposed like fresh meat in a lion’s
cage, Tom has to decide who to trust. Macfadyen is scary one moment, head
shaking the next and jaw dropping to the end.
Abbass as Marcy is a woman I just plainly don’t like. I know
there is a story mixed into this that hasn’t been explored so I’ll save my list
of reasons I wouldn’t put up with her trash for season two!
Two shout outs: Bogosian as Gil Eavis just because I’m
thrilled to see him once again and his character has just signed a deal with
the devil so I have to see how that’s going to turn out.
Second, to James Cromwell as Logan’s brother Ewan. This isn’t a big role
but it certainly has its moments where I know Ewan isn’t about to stand by and
watch the mess without having a front row seat!
Other cast includes Parker Sawyers as Alessandro, Rob Yang
as Lawrence Yee, J. Smith-Cameron as General Council Gerri, David Rasche as
Karl, Arian Moayed as Stewy, Juliana Canfield as Jess, Dagmara Dominczyk as
Karolina, Peggy Scott as Jeane, and Harriet Walter as Caroline Collingwood.
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The DVD Bonus Features includes The Cast and Crew of SUCCESSION Break Down the Action of the First
Season’s Heart-Stopping Finale and Anatomy
of a Scene.
SUCCESSION has a strong bunch of Executive Producers
including Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Frank Rich, Kevin Messick and Ilene
Landress as well as comedy television veteran and Oscar nominee Adam McKay.
This series had me on the edge of my seat each of the ten
episodes and I absolutely hated it when it was over. I didn’t want the madness
to end. Let’s be honest, I feel like I did an amazing job raising my kids
compared to Logan Roy and his band of out of control adult kids. That being
said, I really wouldn’t have these characters any other way.
It is absolutely stunning how creator Armstrong could keep up
with what these characters were doing while writing. I imagine a huge blank
wall with a lot of post it notes and sharpie markings of all colors with arrows
pointing every which way. Actually that sounds like a pretty cool way of
keeping track of all the misfits.
Every time I thought I had them pegged, a big
nopity-nope-nope would escape my lips. Even though I have a soft spot for Kendall, he had me shaking my head so much I think I
actually have a case of whip lash. I mean seriously dude! Culkin brought me
shocking laughs with his portrayal of a kid who just lets everything fly out of
his mouth with absolutely no filter what so ever and I have to admit – I loved
it.
Snook is a woman after my own heart in that her character
really is very strong and extremely smart but still wants the heart of her
daddy on her side. Well lady, you don’t have that kind of dad. Ruck has the
role of a lifetime in that he doesn’t have to fit into any of the Roy family molds, he just
does him and he seems content with that.
They are bitchy, sarcastic, uncompromising, vicious, back
stabbing, back biting, loving, secretive, under handed but they are family!
A family that needs serious therapy, although that didn’t
work out so well in the desert, so I think the only way it would work is if
they are locked in a concrete room with armed guards so none of them could
escape and let them duke it out. In the meantime, you must, must, must put
SUCCESSION: The Complete First Season on your Christmas list!
In the end – they give the term dysfunctional family a whole
new meaning!
