A Theme song that will be remembered for ages. A gracious budget. Tier 1 acting and unparalleled writing all means, "SUCCESSION". An instant classic out of the gate with a unique view from the eyes of a multi-billion-dollar family & corporation. The Roy Family legacy struggles to find a new head to place the crown upon as Logan Roy ages and fights the inevitable battle of time. He's pestered throughout the series to make a world changing decision at the expense of the unchosen children and the fate of the world in naming a new CEO. Who should succeed his revolutionary 'Waystar Royco.'? The mystery never dies through 4 heavy seasons of 'Succession', and Jacob Hollingsworth Network is here to tell you why. So strap in... and enjoy the ride.
A Score Like No Other
The musical score to 'Succession' is brilliant. It balances melo-dramedy with swift, sharp-as-a-tack attacks at our character's agendas. It carries the movements of the cast when changing setting or emotional tones. It guides the audience into the next mentality of scenes and then brings the audience back to the center to give the script a chance to stand strong by reprising the theme song in different clefs and octaves. Truly... brilliant.
The Writing... Again...And... Greg'...ory Hirsch
'Succession' molds the "common" on JHN REVIEWS. When the score opens the door for the script to take center stage, it captivates with authentic lines that mask agenda with flares and realism. The writers clearly did their due diligence in creating this script. Gregory "Greg" Hirsch [Nicholas Braun] stands out. The unfamed cousin of the Roy Family stumbles... with his dialogue and dialect trying to fit into a family of which he already shares blood relation with. Such authenticity as Hirsch, like many human beings, struggle to put together a proper sentence under pressure. The script supports extremely powerful acting as Gregory could never put together a proper ideal on his tongue, yet the audience could decipher his agenda at every turn imaginable.
![Tom Wambsgans [Matthew MacFadyen] from Succession](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09d8fd_787880eb6ebb4db281bbb5f2cce47ee4~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_147,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/09d8fd_787880eb6ebb4db281bbb5f2cce47ee4~mv2.jpg)
Acting Accordingly, Tom & Kendall
Powerful. Acting so powerful and precise, you could cut the tension in the room with a knife on screen and with the audience watching. Interactions could cause cringing when Gregory struggled to express himself in conversation with individuals who are very stringent on time restraints. This is difficult as an actor or actress to have this level of control over character identity. It's easy to jump a line or rush a line when in the face of anticipation and verbalization of the role's agenda as an actor or actress when in scenes with characters who are more certain than the role in question. Kendall "Ken" Roy [Jeremy Strong] and Tom Wambsgans [Matthew MacFadyen] steal the show in the final season with flasks dramatization levels outpouring emotion once stable in previous seasons. There was never a feel of "waiting..." for either character to show their true feelings, because they always felt intentionally calm mannered when having interactions with the family and their peers around them. Kendall Roy is "pitching" himself in so many ways. It was almost like following the life of a real-life billionaire's son who's mastered the art of manipulation and sales with his tonality and grand smile that was small enough to appear to be welcoming, yet large enough to portray clear deviousness. Tom Wambsgans was also a dick, but... not as big of a dick as Kendall. Tom remained well-mannered and practiced to show he could be a part of a billion-dollar staple as a kid from Saint Paul, Minnesota. Matthew MacFadyen left little to chance and dove deeply into "Minnesota-nice" demeanor. It was undeniable. His character developed from a "lacky" into an upstanding facade of a "Dutchess of the Roy Family", finally into the seat of "Prince of Waystar Royco. |GoJo".
Undying Mystery
Always at the edge of your seat, purpose lifted each character expounding upon the never dying mystery of the potential future crown of Waystar Royco. Though Kendall Roy showed the most promise, Siobhan "Shiv" Roy [Sarah Snook] and Roman "Rome" Roy [Kieran Culkin] always made it interesting because they grew with the script and always expressed their intentions with very large tones and actions to please their father, Logan, while Ken often had his own image of mirroring his father by trying to find his own strategic advantages to advance his positions. Rome and Shiv often wanted to make plays as identical to their father as possible. The ongoing battle of these 3 left room for an outlier to potentially conclude the mystery. Could Connor "Con" Roy [Alan Ruck], the clearly dis-interested, idiosyncratic, eldest half-brother of the Roy clan finally step in and take what is rightfully his? "I am the eldest son!" No matter what Connor did, he could never prove to his siblings and even his father that he was a serious consideration to the title of "Chief Executive Officer". This was often awkward. The eldest sibling was disregarded too often in a manner that left him on the outside of important conversations in which he should have probably been notified on right away; no matter how dis-interested, or the fact of having a different mother.
Succession or Depression?
In an unappealing turn of events, Succession blunders in the final episode and destroys all context, mystery and logic the series worked so hard to create. Thinking of the potential reasoning behind the finale, no matter how you look at it, doesn't seem to make much sense. In an undeveloped change of heart, Shiv Roy turns on her older brother Ken' disregarding the previous episode completely. In an array of cheap parlor tricks, Kendall erupts. Though Jeremy Strong's acting was extremely powerful, it was shadowed by a rushed screenplay in the beginning of the final season (Episode 3; 'Connor's Wedding') and rushed script in the final episode. There was no morale to gain, as none of the primary cast members find a purpose to end the show. Sure, billionaires are antagonists and not protagonists and deserve to lose for their constant maniacal behavior, but this theory is also destroyed because of the winners of the plot aren't too much different. The title of the show is disgraced and put to shame, and the play just... ends.