Review: Succession Season 4
Henry Parker, Print Features Editor, has nothing but praise for the fourth and final season of the hugely popular Succession.
Coming off a third season, which by most people’s estimations was the weakest of the three despite it still being pretty much perfect, Jesse Armstrong and the show’s writers put themselves in the hot seat by deciding to end Succession after just one more season. Would they cement this show as one of the greats of modern prestige television with barely a slump in quality, or would it become the successor to ‘Game of Thrones’ and join the long legacy of phenomenal shows with poor endings and tremendous drop-offs?
Two episodes into the season and this is some vintage ‘Succession’. The show returns to a new status quo after the fallout of the previous finale- it is very much business as usual. The Gojo acquisition is shaping up to be the main storyline of the season, the kids are being their crazy usual selves (once again attempting to form another plan to outshine their father), and ATN News is positioning itself ready for the oncoming election.
The show returns to a new status quo after the fallout of the previous finale- it is very much business as usual.
Then episode three hits. What follows from here on out, and continues right through to the final shot, is a fast paced finale that follows the turbulent ups and downs of a single week in the Roy family’s lives. The height of the drama is unmatched, the blackness of the comedy has rarely been a darker shade, and the consequences of each political push and pull has never been higher.
Gregg turns ever more to the dark side. The broken marriage of Tom and Shiv explodes, making this some of the best relationship drama ever put on screen. You forget that Kendall Roy isn’t a real person, and that Jeremy Strong is just an actor creating one of the all-time great TV screen performances that now sits there in the upper echelon with the likes of Walter White and Tony Soprano. Then the show is stolen by Kieren Culkin in many ways, as he steps wholly out of his comedic cudgels and delivers a dynamic performance that almost outshines the others, and reminds you why you are so emotionally invested in such despicable characters. Reminded of why they are the way they are, old man Logan’s monstrous presence continues to hang over the entire show, executed by Brian Cox who has never been more imposing.
Nicolas Britell’s music doesn’t ever miss the mark and props the entire season up with an ensemble of choirs and strings that gives weight to every action and reaction, turning usual boardroom chatter into life and death struggles for victory out of the jaws of defeat.
With more pathetic power plays and more polarising politics, there is never a dull moment in this final and triumphant season of HBO’s ‘Succession’.
