In terms of creativity, television series is definitely a writer’s medium. Even in the hands of a director of photography like David Lynch (and, yes, “Twin Peaks: The Return” is a TV show, Are not a movie), the primary responsibility of a series is to force viewers to come back for more. It has a novel form, which is likely why some of the best series of the Peak Television era – “The Sopranos”, “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men” – culminate in the penultimate episode. and ends with an hour-long epilogue.
Those series are also sprawling. “Breaking Bad” is the shortest series with 5 seasons, but it didn’t really find a place until season 2. However, Jesse Armstrong’s “Success” was a huge hit with the first episode. It is always a closely focused, unrepentant malice examination of a corroded family. It can be redundant at times (an inevitable danger due to the inherent corruption of the characters; these people are just forever bad), but the story is never built to have a long time improve ratings. Media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox)’s chronic ill health is a storm cloud that envelopes every episode. He doesn’t stay long in this world, and once he kicks, the series accelerates towards its end. Which of his hilariously undisciplined children will claim his throne?
So it’s a bit of a surprise to learn that Armstrong didn’t launch “Succession” with a clear goal in mind – although it didn’t take him long to figure out his finishing move.
The Roys may be built to last, but our tolerance for them is not
When asked by Rebecca Mead of The New Yorker when he made it to the proper finale for “Succession,” Armstrong revealed that it took him a season to get there.
“[I] I think, developing around season 2, I’m starting to know where I think it should end. I don’t keep it a secret because that’s the purpose of the writing room: to test ideas. The show is a trick – you’re making up the story. However, there are some ideas that feel organic and some feel inorganic, and I guess the writing room process for me is a great way to make a piece feel organic to us. and with myself.
I’m glad to hear that he considered ending this process early. Too many dramatic series are discarded because they are too valuable to the network or streamers (or producers). At the end of season three, I don’t know how much more of the Roy family’s collusion I could take.
A portrait of deadly greed
“Success” is a dark comedy tragedy, and the Roys are not characters with long arcs. So it’s a relief to enter the fourth season knowing that this will be it. Killing Logan midway through was a wise decision (very stressful because I spent most of my time expecting the old bastard to trick him to death again). It reminds viewers that we have no interest in rooting.
The Roys are conspirators plotting to cause your daily suffering. It’s funny to watch them declare their familial love and betray each other in the same breath, but the bottom line on Armstrong’s show is that this is who we would become if we were born into wealth. F. Scott Fitzgerald was right when he observed that the rich are different from you and me, but the rest of his statement is false. They are not soft where we are hard. It may take time to calcify, but they will eventually turn to stone. And we will suffer because of their empty ambition.
