Succession episode 10 (finale) preview: Why the show is primed for a big future
As for why we are focused on so much of the future, a lot of it has to do with the reaction to the show in the present. Succession has a chance to be that rare show that generates a reasonable amount of attention for itself in its first season, but viewers don’t really start to fully get it until the time that the finale airs.
Going into the series, we do think there was somewhat of a mixed sentiment. Not every viewer was on board with the first couple of episodes, and with the rather blasé title and a premise of a feuding family media empire, it wasn’t the meatiest subject matter for everyone out there. Yet, it’s really given its characters time to blossom out where you love them even if you hate them, and there really are plenty of people here to hate.
If we were to create a somewhat-unfair comparison between Succession and another show of the past several years, it has the potential to be the The Americans, a show that grows with critical acclaim and awards-show attention with each passing year. It also has the potential to grow the ratings a la Breaking Bad. A more grounded comparison here is Billions, largely because it may be a little bit more attainable just in terms of the TV landscape these days. Billions is a very good show, so ending up in the same sort of place as it is hardly something to be upset about.
On the finale tomorrow night, be prepared in the aftermath of a wedding for fights between characters to come to a head; also, we wouldn’t be shocked if at least one major character is gone from the show moving into next season. You can read more about it over here.
Do you think that Succession could be poised to become a breakout hit over the next few years? Be sure to share right now in the comments!
Also, be sure to like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you want some other information regarding the series. (Photo: HBO.)
Maaz Kalim
August 5, 2018 @ 9:24 am
Whoa, whoa, whoa…
Hold your horses!!! The issue is not much of a diamond under mine which you accidentally discovered!
As someone who’s not an American yet watched enough of American TV, guess I can be confident to have a sound judgement. First of all, let me tell me you that non-linear original TV programming is so horrendous in my country that I totally rely on international programming as a means of escapism! (Ever heard of +PewDiePie, then guess I won’t have to be embarrassed as the hint will do..)
So, first of all — blasé title! Couldn’t. Agree. More. ?????? ???????? I remember that like almost-universal plots of family-legacy in my country’s TV, there was an entire show dedicated to it. I wasn’t that much into TV back in young age so I didn’t gave much attention to that show but after a particular event (i.e. in a rarest event in my country’s TV market, a show was shifted to another channel of the very same broadcaster to merely make way for a new season of local adaptation of “WWTBAM”), I was intrigued enough to try it out as the show got shifted from a higher-rated because mass-market, primary entertainment channel to its lower-rated because niche content offering sibling. I watched it and yawn, typical soap-opera where domestic-affairs are predominant over the productive-affairs! Left it ASAP.
When I heard this show, I first of all did see it as a not-so-serious show from its trailer (and a catchy beat among OSTs eerily similar to one of my favourite cinema-OSTs) and it got me a while (Thanks to my STML) to hit it that: the title is exactly (but not literally) an English translation of that show!
I thought: Huh.. Poor HBO® is going into soap-opera business just like Showtime® already did and tasted success in ‘The Affair®, so much so that they’re inadvertently plagiarizing a commercially-successfully=creatively-bankrupt […] industry. Definitely not an iota of mistake given regardless of whatever the ‘pop-Interweb’ may say and indeed believe, that’s exactly what matters in real-universe! So I thought, huh..
Basically an Americanization of the idea, but since it’s premium-cable: let’s differentiate it by ADD: Profanity and coarse language (the most cost-effective for bumping up age-ratings!), Sex and Nudity! (it’s HBO®, baby! They’ll make you do it anyhow, if ‘True Detective®’ case is to be believed..) and Gore and Violence (since, obviously — to “monkey-balance” the preceding one, or are they somehow always connected for other reason?).
Clearly I missed “Drug and Substances” given my disinterest.
Tried watching, nah.. Couldn’t get to watch episodes in full earlier and from whatever I watched, same old trite — no regrets to leave! Had nothing else to latch onto so came back at Episode 7’s end, was definitely swayed by their execution of not-so-indigenous scene. (As said, I already watched bits-&-pieces so had a fair-idea of what was going on, after all — it’s not an arthouse to be subtle.)
Hooked ever since! Same old trite in a fresh new packaging and a new composite-flavour.. But who gives a […], man?!? I love this soap-opera as it takes it inspiration from news-cycles and I’ve noticed, they do have hired many experts (“consultants”) for the sake of authenticity.
Unlike ‘The Affair®’, this show really keeps things at sane-level and not making everything to be an excuse for characters-humping, i.e. “premium-esque” domestic-affairs. Even violence i.e. brawl on that show ultimately leads to bo––ng after touring the whole-universe. As if, every other setup and plot is just a filler to ultimately get dissolved in characters’ interpersonal mingling.
I wish this show indeed a much more success than ‘The Affair®’ — but given what I’ve expressed, that seems practically unlikely.
Best served as a “one-time watch” for arthouse/indie audiences who’re normal enough to not be absolutely-intolerant of refined-mediocrity. Think about ‘The Affairs®’ then [if this is “one-time watch” at best]?.. But Thankfully, they aren’t huge in numbers so it doesn’t matter much. Else, a show like ‘Here and Now’ would’ve renewed much before this one.
So yes, ultimately I love this show as an engaging-fun but comparing it to such titles seems like an overreach. Although, I also do believe that ‘The Americans®’ is merely a glorified propaganda-lite being a foreign viewer but.. Well, did I tell that I also loved its theme music and its renditions?!? (Although, I happen to love most of the music from things I don’t even care enough to watch, such as from an obscenely-rich production values of a mediocre story called ‘Game of Thrones®’.) And even worse, the arguably-cliché camera technique called “Snap Zoom” during oft-silent moments (“dramatic silence”) makes it more dramatically-appealing (notching up the “dramatic feel”) for me.