How Successions Ending “Made Sense Dramaturgically” Pt. 2

You will love this second part if you read my previous article about Ewan, Gerri, Greg, and Tom. Succession is one of the most creative tragicomedies of our times and this article explains Roman’s iconic humor, Shiv’s egotistical courage, Logan’s psychopathic behavior, and Kendall’s self-destruction.

Roman

Roman might be despicable if we think of S1E1 when he offered a million-dollar check to a boy and broke it after he failed to complete a home run. However, he is also very funny, sarcastic, and ironic, for example, in S4E1 Shiv, Kendall, and him are talking to Nan Pierce about buying Pierce Global and Nan says “Eight, nine, what’s next?” and Roman responds “It’s so confusing. What goes after nine? Nine B?”. Another silly Roman appears in S4E10 when the kids are in the Bahamas with Caroline and after Kendall and Shiv insult each other, Roman says “Well, what a lovely evening on the terrace”.

Roman’s role portrays the Mascot child in a dysfunctional family, he rarely takes anything seriously and he tries to joke about everything to diminish the impact. He has homophobic, sexist, and racist humor, which he uses to hide his true self. He also has a disturbing relationship with sex and intimacy. For example, he can’t sleep with Tabitha and even asked her to stay still while he tried to have sex with her. I think this perverted side of Roman shows how he endured abuse as a child, and he is stuck at the age where the trauma occurred. He is also very childish, and it is later confirmed that he was physically abused by Logan when he slapped him in S2E6.

We can see how Roman often lays on the floor, for example after Logan’s death in S4E3, when he was told Logan passed away. He also sat on the floor when his siblings and him were watching a video of Logan singing at the dinner table, in S4E10. I think sitting on the floor is a sign of making himself small because he feels like a child surrounded by adults who know what they are doing. For example, in S4E9 during Logan’s funeral, he forgot the empowering speech he had practiced at home, instead, he had a mental breakdown, started crying, and tried to go to the floor by shrinking until Kendall and Shiv held him like a little kid who couldn’t keep it together. Then he left the room and tried to fight the protesters by being intimidating but got stepped on. I think his last regression to childhood was when he visited his mom in The Bahamas and as an audience, we see him for the first time in a blue and green shirt. The meaning behind this shirt is not only the shock of seeing a dressed down Roman but the confirmation of a man-child wearing a $13 kids Walmart t-shirt.

In S1E8, in Prague, Roman reminded Kendall how he locked him in a cage, with a leash on and made him eat dog chow. Roman said they called it Dog Pound and he was four years old when it happened. Kendall denied it and when Roman asked Connor if it happened, Connor confirmed it but said it was something he asked for and enjoyed. Then Roman said that caused him to wet the bed and Logan sent him to military school because of it. This interaction proves how Roman endured abuse from his older siblings, but also from a father who allowed that. The military school also provides an insight into Roman’s behavior, one would think the purpose to send a child to military school is to educate him, however, Roman is very blunt with his racism, misogyny, and homophobia. He is also very open about his sexual harassment, so neither military school nor his parents taught him how to behave appropriately. Maybe, military school was used to impose authority, rather than to offer guidance. This is key to understanding Roman’s loyalty to Logan. No matter how much Logan abuses, controls, or opposes him, Roman will always do as told by his father. Logan’s priorities were never to have polite and educated successors, but rather controllable killers. He also induced his children to compete with one another, that’s why they are constantly fighting and easy to manipulate. Just like his siblings, he is on his own and he hardly ever faces consequences for his actions. That’s why he minimizes the severity of his comments, jokes, or actions.

I believe Roman experiences parental transference in his relationship with Gerri. This occurs when an individual view someone in his life as a mother or father figure and transfers his feelings onto them. Roman craves affection and his problems with intimacy come from the lack of security in showing care or vulnerability to someone. Gerri is the only person he can have a little emotional and sexual intimacy with, she fulfills the role of an affectionate, present, and supportive parent. In reality, no one supports Roman, not even his siblings. That is also why his bond with Gerri got lost, their relationship was supported by Roman’s transference and failure to commit on a friend or partnership level. He was still looking for his father’s approval, even if it meant he should fire Gerri.

In the series finale, Roman probably had the best ending because he slowly sees throughout S4 how meaningless this fight is. The competition between him and his siblings was mainly about who won Logan’s love and approval. In the end, none of them did, and he finally let go of Waystar, he never even wanted to be CEO in the first place. In a way, he finally became free. In the last episode, he can’t even look at Gerri from the disappointment he knew she had, however, at the bar, there’s a sort of remembrance of her when he orders a Martini, just like she would. It was a sign of acceptance and closure with Gerri and Waystar. Now he can openly go back to his jerk, bachelor life and enjoy his billions.

Shiv

Shiv… our capitalist girlie who is best dressed as a caring Democrat.

At the beginning of the series, we can look at Shiv with brightness on her face, long shiny hair, colorful sweaters, and joyous energy. Then, we can slowly observe her smoothly disguised narcissism. She is the sibling that resembles Logan the most. She is the killer Logan desperately needs, but being a woman interferes with her destiny.

At first, she is a politician involved with Democrats trying to go against Logan’s corruption. Nonetheless, in S2, it seems she betrayed her values as soon as Logan offered her the job. In fact, her values depend on her priorities, and she is not afraid to change her mind. That is why she tried to manipulate Gil into working amongst Logan; her approach to politics was never about improving the country’s leadership but rather to be in a social and political position where she could stay close to Waystar. She is self-centered, egotistical, and skillful when it comes to using people for her benefit. For example, she went back to Nathan and pretended to be an interested ex who didn’t forget about him entirely. She approached Nathan because she wasn’t sure about supporting Joyce, so she thought she had a better chance at being part of the winning party if she was on Gil’s team. When Gil fired her for being tone-deaf and egocentric, she got rid of Nathan and cut ties with him again. Then, after telling Tom on their wedding night she wanted an open relationship, she sent Tom to kick Nathan out of their wedding. She is the best sibling in using people like pawns, just as good as Logan.

At Logan’s funeral, she said Logan “couldn’t fit a woman in his head”, but he was “okay”. Ironically, she said the same thing to Kendall when he had a meltdown at the office, “oh yeah, you’re okay”. From the female perspective, she knows her relatives are misogynistic, and they prioritize men in the workplace. Logan didn’t allow her to train as a manager, and then she was constantly treated by him, her siblings, and the board as not having enough experience. She constantly faced incoherent stances on why she was not fit to be CEO, but out of Kendall and Roman, she is the best option. She is emotionally mature, she knows her game, she understands what it takes to manipulate people, she can handle the pressure, and she is ruthless. Unfortunately, just like in real life, patriarchy never gave her a chance. Not even marrying a man from a lower social class saved her from getting stepped on.

Sadly, Shiv was just another pawn for Logan’s tactics to manipulate Kendall. I truly believe Kendall was who Logan thought should be the successor up until the end. That is why he underlined Kendall’s name. Logan used Roman and Shiv to manipulate Kendall to become self-reliant. As soon as Logan realized Kendall would never be up to him, he disregarded him and his siblings.

Another example of Logan’s gender violence is when he recommended Tom to hire all the lawyers from Manhattan against his own daughter. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why Shiv stayed with Tom, she didn’t want to lose custody of her child and end up abandoning it, just like her mother did. Nonetheless, by trying to avoid repeating the pattern, she will end up following the same path of taught violence and narcissism.

Shiv has the deepest, strongest narcissism out of all the siblings. All the boys are lost between themselves, and they don’t know which ambition to follow. Shiv is incredibly sure of what she’s doing, she doesn’t hesitate. She doesn’t doubt herself, and that facilitates manipulating people. In the end, she didn’t give it to Kendall because she still has the possibility to be involved in Waystar, compared to her siblings who will get dismissed entirely. She doesn’t question herself; she already knows she has nothing to lose and that’s why she approached Matsson and associated with him. Unfortunately, she was so focused on her siblings, she forgot to consider Matsson’s possible betrayal. She was too busy watching her back from Roman and Kendall, she never foresaw Matsson’s misogyny and strength. Matsson chose Tom because she is no one’s puppet, she can’t be manipulated. That’s why Nan Pierce respected her enough to be head of Waystar. Nan saw how Shiv had to be tenacious and hustle harder than men, just to get half the recognition.

Shiv’s final decision might’ve been motivated by recognizing the patriarchal pact between Logan and Kendall, for example, Logan’s disregard for Kendall’s vehicular manslaughter at her wedding. She also didn’t want to lose her child, but most importantly, she knew it was better to be closer to power than not being at all. She ended up playing along and pretended to be the “Madonna” (painting, not the popstar) Logan and the industry expected, while secretly clinging to power through Tom. No matter how apathetic she is, her ending is the most unfair and depressing one. Just like the creator Jesse Armstrong explained, this was a “non-victory, non-defeat”. The image of her loosely laying her hand on top of Tom’s is devastating, and it shows how trapped she is, she doesn’t have any other option or anyone.

Her decision seemed shocking and unexpected, but it made perfect sense, especially when she initially explained it to Logan in S2E1. Sometimes, as emotional beings, we get confused with our feelings and our desires. Even if we understand something clearly, we can lie and trick ourselves to think otherwise until it’s too hard to ignore what we are seeing. That is what happened to Shiv, she knew all along the possibilities and predicted the ending yet convinced herself otherwise for two more seasons because accepting the outcome meant facing the fact of not being CEO and losing power.

Season 2 Episode 1 [Min. 43:17]

Logan: “Sell?”

Shiv: “All right, fine. From my perspective, truth be told, yeah. Selling would be great. No more blowback with my career. I’ll take my money. Five years’ time, I’d like to be free of this company and the Roy name” … “Keep running it for sentimental reasons until you nod out” … “What’s obvious is, shutter the businesses that burn cash or someone else does better”.

LOGAN: “Well obviously, I always wanted one of you kids to take over”.

SHIV: “Yeah, we’ve done that. What about Tom?” …

LOGAN: … “I have to name Kendall.”

SHIV: … “If he takes over, I’ll sell my shares. Yeah. I’ll join Sandy and Stewy… I mean, I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking kill him!… I don’t think I’m the right person”.

Her last reach for power was at Logan’s funeral when she took the chance to give an awkward speech right after Ewan, Roman, and Kendall’s shambles. Obviously, she was the last to give her speech. She had to find the perfect time to intervene and desperately stay relevant. No matter how much she tries to stay afloat, she will always be disregarded by the boys’ club.

Shiv’s final decision shows how the real succession in this family is about pride, ego, and trauma rather than a corporation. She preferred to lose power to Tom or Matsson over her brothers. She knew none of her siblings are fit to be Chief Executive, but maybe she needs to accept that she isn’t either. At the end of the day, she was the best option within Roy bloodline, but none of them knew the real value of money, work, or having to grow a business from the ground. They never had to work for it, all of them were blinded by their privilege and Logan envied them. He thought his kids were too soft and clueless about the real world, as he indeed “kept running it for sentimental reasons until he nodded out”. Shiv’s ending was incredibly bittersweet and all we can say is “Sorry Pinky”.

Logan

Logan is commonly described as a King Lear, but what if Logan was more than a greedy, self-absorbed ruler in a Shakespearean tragedy? Rather a Henry from “Dream Song 29” by John Berryman in 77 Dream Songs. This poem describes Henry as a man with a heavy heart, followed by thoughts that torment him. As Berryman wrote, “the little cough somewhere, an odor, a chime”; several things including smell, noises, and tact remind Henry what a terrible person he is. “Henry could not make good”, just like Logan felt about himself.

Throughout every season finale, the last episode is named after a verse in “Dream Song 29”. S1E10 is called “Nobody is Ever Missing”, S2E10 is “This is Not for Tears”, S3E9 is “All the Bells Say”, and S4E10 is “With Open Eyes”. All these titles are hints that predict the end of the show. We can see the real succession they are inheriting, as mentioned previously, is bigger than money and power. It is pain, generational trauma, loneliness, lack of support, and absent relatives. We learned the root of everything is Logan’s unhealed wounds.

In S1E7 we can see Logan’s back with scars from the physical abuse he endured as a child. To a certain extent, we can’t expect Logan to be different, he is a deeply perturbed man whose trauma most likely changed the neuroplasticity of his brain. He is against therapy, which shows trying to heal those injuries requires facing past experiences again, almost like reliving them. While he did not inherit a corporation, he became heir to coping mechanisms through violence. He is truly doomed and the only thing that could stop this cycle is if the kids went to therapy as well as their children.

I think the title “Nobody is Ever Missing” refers to Rose. She was never missing because of Logan. Just like Henry, Logan felt guilty because he thinks he murdered a woman, hence “hacks her body up and hide the pieces” from the poem. In “Dream Song 29”, Henry is depressed and has a distorted perception of reality, he blames himself for the woman’s death and acts on it. He is angry, neurotic and takes it out on others. Logan is also bitter and violent because he is acting out on the distorted perception of his reality, where he thinks he killed Rosie. He is convinced of his fault; he can never make good. Maybe detaching himself from emotions and people, led his brain to increase the average levels of apathy to the point he became psychopathic with a narcissistic disorder. Finally, in S4E10, “With Open Eyes”, which comes from “with open eyes, he attends blind” the writers tell us Logan’s eyes are physically open, but metaphorically closed.

Logan is blind to his reality. He didn’t kill Rosie and he must accept Waystar Royco needs change, the post-modern world is catching up to it and if the company doesn’t adapt fast enough, it might get lost forever. Although everyone is blind, all the kids think they should be CEO, even members of the board, but none of them are. They’re either too old or too privileged and delusional. Maybe that is why Tom won, he wasn’t blind towards himself, he pretended to be blind while slowly crafting a strategy to win.

By being cruel to himself, Logan cannot behave oppositely with his children, workers, and even grandchildren. He is so heartless he thought Kendall tried killing him in S3E8; so cold he made his grandson try his food in case Kendall had poisoned him. Even callous in sending his son to jail, yet as soon as Kendall didn’t go along with the plan, he didn’t feel anger but rather pride in his son’s purposeful egoism.

Logan’s real child was Waystar, it was the only thing he dedicated his full attention and commitment to. Working non-stop was his way of coping with the pain to avoid focusing on his torments. His company is what brings meaning to his life, he believes anyone will ruin his life’s work, and if it gets destroyed it means he lived in vain.

As a narcissistic parent, Logan doesn’t believe in his kids being his successors because he wants them, especially Kendall, to be an extension of himself. It is also very difficult for Logan to see his children different than him; he can’t fathom them as individuals with their own lives and decisions. That is also why he keeps manipulating them and solving their problems, to keep them useless and codependent.

We also see a deeply jealous Logan who can’t stand his kids growing up without all the pain and trauma he endured as a child, such as poverty and abuse. When he looks at his kids being depressed from the abuse they experienced, he doesn’t validate them because he compares them to himself. He thinks his kids had it much better than him growing up, he is also blind to their pain, and he thinks none of them deserve the company because they never faced as turbulent times as Logan did. For example, when he tells them “You’re not serious people, you’re morons”.

In the end, Logan wanted the most ruthless person to be CEO. Maybe Matsson showed those apathetic and narcissistic traits Logan was looking for and finally decided to sell. Matsson is the killer Logan wanted. To put it in Roy terms, “Matsson Loganed the f out of the Roys”.

Kendall

While Kendall gave us a hilarious masterpiece with L to the OG, he ought to sing K to the OG as well because he is the “OG eldest boy” with daddy issues. He is desperately trying to fulfill his father’s unattainable expectations. He is clearly conflicted between a rock and a hard place. He knows what Waystar needs to modernize itself, but he doesn’t have enough bravery to confront his father. Instead, he throws temper tantrums and backstabs his father to get away with what he wants, only to fail again.

Kendall is incredibly depressed with a bit of mania. He faced the stress of being the leader of a corporation, whilst being told by everyone and himself he is not enough and never will be. I think this lack of self-esteem also leads to his self-sabotage. When the mania hits, he feels powerful and unstoppable, he wants to exploit every individual and relative for personal gain, even if it means it would harm them gravely. But as soon as that mania goes away, depression and self-doubt overshadow that fake confidence and lead him to rely on bad habits like substance abuse, aggressive behavior, insults, and using others by putting at risk their safety, careers, or lives.

He is emotionally avoidant, and he succumbs to his sadness. Not to be another “Kendall Apologist”, but my heart hurts for him. He was groomed since infancy into wanting to be CEO, he never thought of looking into other professions to build a life for himself away from Waystar Royco. He studied for years and even lived in Shanghai learning the fundamentals of business. He was constantly brainwashed into focusing on one goal while being put down and told he’d never be able to fulfill such a role. Logan is always manipulating him by almost handing him the empire, only to take it away. Like a man offering a dog a piece of meat and right before the dog takes a bite, the man eats it instead.

Water is often shown in the show surrounding Kendall, it represents his struggle between succeeding and failing, between being safe or getting killed. Water can nourish us or drown us; it all depends on its strength or the way we interact with it. For Kendall, water represents being at the top or being at the lowest. There is no in-between, no balance. For example, we can see an ecstatic Kendall in the ocean when in S4E10 Roman and Shiv told him he will be the successor and offered him a “meal for a king”. However, we can also remember Kendall contemplating his existence when he looked at the ocean and even seemed suicidal.

I think the ocean represents the immensity of his problems and how everything is bigger than him and how he can’t control anything. Maybe when he looks at the ocean there is an unconscious desire to give in and let himself go with the waves. For example, when in Italy he got too drunk at the pool he had to be taken out before he drowned. After Logan died, it seemed like that would lessen the severity of the conflict between Matsson and the kids, but it didn’t, it only worsened the competition. In S4E6 when he got into the ocean, I think he tried to give his worries to the ocean, but that can’t happen, the only thing he has left to do is to contemplate everything and bear his feeling of emptiness. We can also see Kendall in rehab trying to heal inside the water. In literature, water is sometimes used as a representation of transformation and healing, in a way Kendall started to change. He can’t be this blind fool following a piece of meat he will never get. Most importantly, he needs to stop ruining his life and others’ for Waystar.

We can also observe Kendall shifting from powerful to powerless, for example when he stole some batteries after buying cigarettes at a store. The meaning behind stealing them is an attempt to regain some power after feeling impotent and a slave to his father’s orders. In the last episode, Kendall stared at the ocean after losing against his siblings, throwing a temper tantrum, getting kicked out of Waystar, and forever having a broken relationship with his siblings. Not to mention the emptiness of an absent family because as a negligent father, he only gave attention to the company. No family, no profession. Staring at the ocean seems suicidal, but I also think it represents Land’s phrase “man is a little thing that has learned to stammer the word ‘infinity’” (Nick Land, The Thirst of Annihilation). Kendall is viewing the ocean as a way of coping and trying to understand his situation and his feelings. He is questioning his life’s purpose. Was everything he did for Waystar meaningful? Was everything he tried to do to remain in power, even sabotaging everything, worth it? What will he do with his life now?

Kendall is also entitled. He thinks just because he is the second eldest boy and has had years of preparation, he’s fit to be CEO. Honestly, preparation and years of study don’t equal competence. Some people study for years and years and are bad at what they do. It is a logical fallacy (Ad Verecundiam) to affirm that because someone studied for decades, they are the best option. While degrees corroborate someone’s years of study, they don’t guarantee an individual’s performance as excellent.

No matter how strongly Kendall wants to come back and destroy his father, he can’t survive without approval, so he never achieves his goals. Everything is about strategy, politics, and power, but at the end of the day, they are all humans, relatives, and emotional beings. Kendall said, “People that say they love you, they also fuck you”. Everyone kept telling each other not to “fuck them over”, but in a sense, we all “got fucked” because we viewers wanted the Roys to stay in power, we all rooted for each of them, and they all lost it. That is why Jeremy Strong said “It made sense dramaturgically” because it is a painful finale, yet it was realistic and well deserved. The ending is gut-wrenching because it’s the writers’ way to remind us these people are real. These people have the control to make decisions involving powerless millions, they can choose a nation’s leader. This wounding finale is a bold awakening to the severity of real issues related to capitalism and its abusive and nonstop fundamentals that prioritizes capital over social well-being.