Succession season 4 review: Brilliant end to an all-time great drama

Succession season 4 sees the Roy family suffer their most drastic loss yet, amidst the maneuverings per usual populating the power plays surrounding the GoJo-Waystar deal.

Story

Succession season 4 kicks off with the Roy siblings ditching their new idea for a hybrid media company to dive back into the family business and sabotage the Pierce acquisition, which is a bit personal to Logan.

Later, Logan takes into command of the new ATN, rousing up the employees for the new era while the siblings decide whether squeezing Matsson for more money is the way to go or not. Connor’s wedding day arrives and the siblings attend the event, only to receive the news of their father’s passing.

Next up, a remarkable piece of paper found inside Logan’s vault shakes up the room full of executives and the siblings, who all decide what the ramifications of said paper, if at all, are. Later, they all head off to Norway to negotiate but Matsson ends up offending Roman and Kendall, who plan a sabotage.

Back in America, Kendall begins to take the helm and prepares a presentation regarding a new product launch, and nails it. Later, at the pre-election party, Roman and Kendall cook up a plan to tank the deal. This entails Roman going overboard with the election coverage, painting Mencken as the winner even when the reality is something else.

Meanwhile, at the funeral, the siblings all give emotional eulogies before trying their hardest to take new steps in their plans to succeed. Shiv comes out as the winner by the end of the penultimate episode. The finale sees her lose, and by the end, she chooses Tom over Kendall, who loses it all once again, and Roman accepts defeat too. The deal goes through, and the new CEO of Waystar is Tom.

Performances

The final season of Succession delivers on the acting department just as ferociously as it has for all the prior seasons.

Jeremy Strong as Kendall is brilliant as always, and although his cringe self is not as abundant this season, he has several moments where he shines with his delivery and dedication to the role.

Sarah Snook is brilliant as well, nailing the delivery no matter what point of the emotional spectrum the scene demands. The tragic end of her storyline in the show is rendered beautifully by the actor.

Most of all, it’s perhaps Kieran Culkin who takes all the trophies with his stunning deliveries and performances, both physical and emotional. There are many opportunities for him to truly shine, and shine he does, multiple times, as the character tastes defeat many times, the actor breaks new ground.

Positives

Succession season 4 is impeccable when it comes to the acting performances, which again earns the casting decision props as the ensemble here is just too great.

The show also pulls the siblings out of their father’s shadow and gives the viewers an opportunity to see what they make of it in the absence of their patriarch.

They make a mess of themselves, and the downfall of the siblings is just a beauty to behold. The pace of the story near the end would have many believe that they might actually win this time, only to subvert the expectations into conclusions everyone must expect to inflict such powerful, privileged, and criminal elites.

Negatives

The show does, at times, especially in this season, seem to be making the viewers root for the main characters. This comes across as rather problematic and even though by the end of the story, the characters lose and meet tragic ends, the audience feeling bad for billionaires is plain awful.

The moments of the power play and a more dramatic clash between Matsson and the Roy brothers were needed, a requirement that becomes understandable after watching the first and last clash between the two parties in Norway.

Verdict

The fourth and final season of HBO drama Succession wraps the story in one grand send-off, as the Roy family members reach their inevitable destinations in rather fitting ways. Replete with darkly comedic moments and incisive socio-political commentary, season 4 proffers some of the best-written characters and arcs in all television.

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Also Read: Logan’s death in Succession explained