Succession season 3

[Inspector Norse]

Some good analysis of Roman here and in the previous posts. Could it be that he's done so much of this cracking wise and trying to bury his feelings that it's actually worked and he's managed to numb himself to reality to some extent?

Maybe Roman isn't a pure psychopath but I still can't see him ever facing reality and admitting he's a bad person and breaking down like Kendall. I can't picture him going to therapy and trying to make a serious go of it instead of just taking the piss (like he did withthat interviewer where the interview turned into something of a therapy session and with Roman making puke noises etc).

Has his heart just hardened or has he reached a point where he's become something of a nihilist and just doesn't give a fuck anymore?

He did have the brief plotline where he went to management training and aced it despite taking the piss and putting in no effort.

I think that for all his cynicism and sick humour, Roman's vulnerability is the most obvious to others: the walls he puts up are thinner and more obvious defences, and you get the sense that the other characters have all long ago cottoned on to his struggles with intimacy and essential loneliness. The way in which Culkin delivered the line at the end, offering "love" to Logan as a last resort, already defeated and hopeless, was devastating - he knew, really, that Logan has no interest in that. There's been a growing feeling over this third series that the children have recognised their father for the lying monster he is - they've been less inclined to buy his bullshit, having been burned time and time again. His contempt for them was laid bare here.

It was really interesting watching them actually working together in the car - one of them reluctantly admitted that they made a good team, which I've always thought - and I've always really enjoyed the small moments when the siblings can be together naturally and forget all the ugliness and bitterness: there are flashes of the rapport and sympathy they might have had had they not been manipulated so horribly by their parents.

WAMBSGANS in his white fucking armour "comforting" Shiv at the end was an incredible image. That whole bit reminded me of Pacino at the end of The Godfather. There was a real new sinister side to Tom that the bumbling doormat character we know and love hasn't really shown before. They mentioned Rex Hendon doing something behind the scenes - that was the lawyer Tom called earlier in the series after his offer to Logan, wasn't it?

WAMBGSGANS and Greg were at their best as well. The lines about "Europe's weirdest king" and "my own Greg" had me in stitches.

- I assume the whole pre-nup discussion stuff is going to have some kind of knock on into the next season

Think that was perhaps foreshadowing for the reassessment of the divorce settlement that scuppered the kids' plans.

I could see it dragging on way further than that. Wouldn't be surprised for the deal to fall through one episode into the next season and return to the status quo, that would be absolute death for me.

I think there's a pretty clear feeling that the one-series-per-sibling thing has run its course and the show needs to take a different direction now. This series was a bit more uneven than the second, less pacey and flashy, but was still powerful TV and I think we can trust them to handle the move towards a different structure.

[mjwilson]

I think there's a pretty clear feeling that the one-series-per-sibling thing has run its course and the show needs to take a different direction now. This series was a bit more uneven than the second, less pacey and flashy, but was still powerful TV and I think we can trust them to handle the move towards a different structure.

One of the main criticisms I've seen of the show this year is precisely that it doesn't have a good record of moving towards a different structure, instead we're circling the same kinds of issues and crises repeatedly. So I think it remains to be seen how they will do at dealing with a genuinely different situation.

[chveik]

The amount of focus it has gotten this season is as much an indictment on the overall quality of television atm as anything else, it's just nice to actually have a thing to remotely look forward to once a week.

yeah deffo. it's insane how much media centrists love it.

[MrMrs]

What was tom  asking greg to agree to?

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Anyways notes:
- Tom basically let Greg decide for him there? I wonder if he's set it up in some way for Greg to take the fall
- Kendall didn't seem that bothered in the final scene, the focus was very much on the other two but on the whole he still seems to have come out of the season a fair bit better than where he was the last few weeks

- Tom needs Greg for validation, as he never gets any kind of proper support from Shiv, who even made a toast to her mother at the wedding which was full of double meanings addressed at her and Tom.
- Kendall had a big confrontation with Logan two nights ago, and has a better sense of the extent of his cruelty and his manipulative ways than Shiv and Roman. As he wanted out of the company, he united with them mostly out of pure resent for his father. And it's a defeat for him, but not a surprise, and there's more resignation and weariness to him than shock.

[Pimhole]

What was tom  asking greg to agree to?

I wondered that too.

Spoiler alert

To fucking the kids over? Which Greg would be aware was on the table because of LackeySlack (shout out to easily the funniest line of the episode there).

Also, why did Shiv need to phone Tom and let him know that they were going to confront Logan? She says "we need him onside" but why? Tom isn't on the board. He couldn't affect the outcome (as far as Shiv is aware at that point).

[close]

[phantom_power]

I think Tom was just asking Greg to follow him come what may, nothing specific

Shiv needed Tom on board to get the news network to spin everything in their favour

[Blue Jam]

Tom also loves Greg even if he does have a funny way of showing it.

Just realised Logan calling Roman a f****t for daring to admit he loved his dad in the interview was foreshadowing Logan cruelly mocking Roman's suggestion of "Love?" as the reason not to cut his children out of the deal.

I really need to watch this whole season again.

[Inspector Norse]

I've read in interviews with MacFadyen and Braun that they basically have such a good chemistry together that the characters' relationship has blossomed too. Lovely stuff.

In terms of the show, I think that Tom sees Greg as a kind of "safe zone" for him, the one member of the family who he can have some influence over; he also sees his own younger self in there, maybe, and both envies and vicariously enjoys Greg's wide-eyed explorations of the world of money and power, before the jaded reality cut through.

[beanheadmcginty]

Genuinely thought Tom and Greg might kiss in that last scene they had together. Wishful thinking I guess.

[Bad Ambassador]

It's quite charming that all the actors, with hte possible exception of Strong, all seem to be great mates. There was a big joint interview on some late night show, and Cox looked like Father Christmas's even more cuddly and genial brother, hugging a delighted Kieran Culkin.

[up_the_hampipe]

It's quite charming that all the actors, with hte possible exception of Strong, all seem to be great mates. There was a big joint interview on some late night show, and Cox looked like Father Christmas's even more cuddly and genial brother, hugging a delighted Kieran Culkin.

I think Strong being a "problem" on the show might be overstated, it's more of a concern or an occasional little nuisance. Culkin sounds the harshest, but he's established in other interviews that he likes to wind up Strong in a similar way to Roman. There's some nice photos of them together at events and whatnot too. They're all in love and it's lovely.

Braun and MacFadyen seem equally charming in a magnetic way, it's no surprise they've clicked so well.

[VelourSpirit]

Kendall looks like one of those bored ape nfts came to life

[TrenterPercenter]

Not looking at the rest of the thread but just finished Season 2 last night. Outstanding show loved the finale and the Ken Rap.  Going to power through season 3 so I'm in this thread ready for season 4!

[Blinder Data]

I blitzed through all three seasons recently. It is very good stuff and the last couple of episodes of Season 3 in particular were brilliant.

SPOILERS BELOW

I've not seen it mentioned here and I can't find the image comparison, but the shot of Tom's hand on Shiv's shoulder at the end echoes a similar shot of Logan's hand on Shiv's shoulder in the credits.

I like that it's Tom who appears to succeed but usually he's one of the funniest characters and we didn't see that much in Season 3 with all the depression and jail obsession. Tom and Greg having fun is one of the few genuinely light-hearted aspects in a very dark show and this season missed the lightness their relationship brings. Hopefully, if he's on the up in Season 4, we'll see more of their fun adventures.

[Head Gardener]

Succession parody https://twitter.com/Buncahn/status/1484558831854120963

[phantom_power]

His Kendall, Tom, Greg and Roman are pretty great. Logan not so much an his Shiv looks like Jacqueline McCafferty

[Blue Jam]

Ha, that's great.

[Head Gardener]

[chip]

Is "seat-sniffer" a Peep Show callback? It's what Mark calls Jeff in the episode "On The Pull".

Finally caught up with S3 myself now, and I'm thrilled at the amount of Peep Show-isms that snuck their way into this season's scripts - and astonished that they haven't really been mentioned in this thread so far (besides the quoted)! The seat-sniffer, of course. Constant references to the 'shit-munchers'. Wambsgans referring to himself the Ghost at the Feast. Ahhh there's a few more but they escape me.

Anyway roll on season 4. To justify posting in an old thread, it looks like a lot of the smaller players will be returning, including some Pierces, the summit fascist, Sandy's Sandi, and Stephen Root's kingmaker fella.

[Blue Jam]

Finally caught up with S3 myself now, and I'm thrilled at the amount of Peep Show-isms that snuck their way into this season's scripts - and astonished that they haven't really been mentioned in this thread so far (besides the quoted)! The seat-sniffer, of course. Constant references to the 'shit-munchers'. Wambsgans referring to himself the Ghost at the Feast. Ahhh there's a few more but they escape me.

I'm pretty sure 'ombudsman' sneaks in there too.

[MrMrs]

When

[chip]

Can't place ombudsman but it's definitely in there.

Rome in the S3 finale too, when he mentions

Spoiler alert

Kerry's potential baby with Logan as being

[close]

'born old'!

Do I still need to spoiler at this point? Playing it safe anyway for anyone now catching up.

[Blue Jam]

When

HERE

[up_the_hampipe]

Mini-preview of season 4 in this HBO promo:

https://youtu.be/Bl2fh7PdYHM?t=89

[Mister Six]

Finally caught up with this series and by god, it's amazing isn't it? Gotta be in the top five shows HBO has put out.

[TrenterPercenter]

It's the best series since Sopranos/The Wire imo.

Absolutely stunning bit of TV.