What can one add about “Succession,” in the wake of its final season? A sublime show of thirty-nine flawless episodes (check my reviews of Season 2 and Season 3), it was a must-see-right-now as soon as it was dumped, ten weeks in a row. Once more I sank into a ferocious world of billionaires and corporate executives (the latter providing particular enjoyment for me, reminding me as it did of my three decades of corporate life … the joys the terrors, the repulsion). A stunning plot twist early in the season wrenches the narrative into a headlong plunge to a heart-stopping finale. Once more the four lead roles of father and brood are played with stunning authenticity and emotional heft. In the end I found it hard to choose between Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sara Snook, and Kieran Culkin for my most admired and my best loved. Because that is the singular feat of those actors, aligned with Jesse Armstrong’s stellar script: it allows us to love the unlovable. In the final season, Matthew Macfadyen comes into his own with an amazing performance, and Nicholas Braun is not far behind. As ever, the glossy sets and locales add to the excitement of the show. After the emotional rush of Season 4 has abated, do I think we need a tale of a rapacious media overlord and his rabid children? Indeed we do, when it is told so thrillingly and intelligently and deeply, indeed we do.
Book, movie/show, and album reviews
