Katie Watches: Succession
Full disclosure: I’ve been told again and again to watch this critically acclaimed HBO series through friends’ recommendation since its premiere in 2018. A part of me wonders how appealing can this show be. A rich white family where the patriarch’s children try to take over their dad’s media conglomerate? Sounds great, but I wasn’t entirely sold. I mean, rich white people always bring in the drama. How great can this be?
But I vowed to them I would get around to it. That’s usually code for, “maybe months later when I have nothing else to do”. Empty promises. Echoing the words of the show’s patriarch Logan Roy, they were fucking words. Fucking. Words.
Then came the pandemic and the itch to binge-watch something to pass the time was severe. I had finished “Veep”. “Succession” came up next on the list, also available for free on Hulu for a limited time. Why not, I tell myself. Why not give it a try?
Boy oh boy. How truly of a gem this show is.
As a media student, there’s a real charm about satirizing one of the most powerful media families that owns the most controversial news network in America. I saw this fantastic analysis of “Succession” on YouTube by my favorite film/TV analyst, Nerdwriter, who noted this beautifully:
This media family is ironically terrible at communicating.
They’re terrible at communicating to each other, hiding under layers of hidden meaning leading to over-analysis and paranoia. They’re terrible at communicating to themselves about what they actually want, from Shiv Roy’s uncertainty to be in politics to Kendall Roy’s constant teetering from wanting acceptance from his father to overtaking him as the new CEO of Waystar.
The company is terrible at communicating. ATN is a direct mirror to Fox News, spewing conspiracy theories and throwing journalism ethics out the window.
It’s fitting with the times. While the show has a Shakespherean tragedy element to it, we see real-life reflections in the series, from the gloomy shelving of innovative media organizations (“Vaulter”), the deep partisan divide (“The Safe Room”), the real fear of a media conglomerate having a monopoly of all things media (“Tern Haven”), Waystar attempted to cover up the Brightstar Cruises’ #MeToo scandal all season…the list goes on and on.
There’s a lot happening in the media professional world. We live in a time where there’s a president who’s antagonistic of the news media. It’s no surprise that our own pieces of fiction also mirror this anxious time.
Who is my favorite, you ask? The number one boy, Kendall Roy.
Score: A
