What’s been happening off-screen
The big news is that this fourth season will be the show’s last!Succession creator Jesse Armstrong made the announcement inan interview withThe New Yorker last month,after privately toying with the idea since season two. “I’ve never thought this could go on forever,” he said.
Of course,it’s been met with mixed reactions from fans. Though many have admired Armstrong’s decision to go out with a bang – what he calls a “muscular season to exhaust all our reserves of interest” – others aregoing full f—ing beast about the fact one of the best shows on television only has 10 eps to go.
Though totally respectful of Armstrong’s decision,some members of the cast have also seemed a bit down about it all.
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In typical Cousin Greg fashion,actor Nicholas Braun toldEntertainment Tonight he was “pretty bummed” and his last day was “sad as hell”. But,he went on,“the ending is fire”.
Sarah Snook has also revealed she didn’t know the show was definitely ending until the final table read.
“I was very upset,” the Australian actress who plays Shiv toldThe Los Angeles Times this week. “I felt a huge sense of loss,disappointment and sadness. It would have been nice to know at the beginning of the season,but I also understand not being told until the end because there was still a potential that maybe this wasn’t going to be the end.”
Scottish actor Brian Cox,however,has been a lot more chill,saying he“felt nothing” while filming the final scene andpraising Armstrong for not indulging “the American inclination to milk it for all it’s worth”.
“HBO would love us to go for as long asGame of Thrones,but thank God it won’t happen,” he toldVariety. I would find it hard-going to be saying ‘f--- off’ to people for the next 10 years.” As is now customary in every interview with the frank 76-year-old,he also reaffirmed his disdain for the kind ofmethod acting his co-star Jeremy Strong is known for,saying “I don’t put up with all that American shit ... Just do the job.”
What to expect from the final season
In this final press tour,Armstrong has acknowledged there’s always been a “promise in the title ofSuccession”. But audiences expecting a neat ending,with one of the Roy failsons being given the keys to the kingdom,will surely be disappointed.
Snook hastold us as much in a recent interview. “I think with this ending,there’s just as many questions thrown up about where these characters go from here,” she said.
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But we do have a few pieces of information to tide us over from the season four trailer:
- The kids are licking their wounds and preparing for the next “knife fight” against their dad,this time in an Avengers-style super-alliance with his old foes Sandy,Stewie and Nan Pierce.
- There’s still an election on the horizon and Connor,The Eldest Son™,is battling Nazis (for the wrong reasons) and desperately clinging to his whopping one per cent of the vote.
- Tom and Shiv are,understandably,on the ropes.
- Greg,Tom’s true love,is rising up the ranks of Waystar Royco... but still has the general vibe and demeanour of a lost child wearing a large adult skin suit.
- Logan is as bullish as ever,screaming about pirates while “terrifyingly moseying” around the newsroom and threatening a Night of the Long Knives.
It’s truly wild to think this whole show kicked off with him on his deathbed. My head says the show will end with him dying,but my heart says he will outlive us all.
Succession premieres March 27 on Binge,with new episodes dropping every Monday. Our recaps will be published every Tuesday,and make sure to followour podcast The Drop for special Succession episodes every week.
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