At one point in the fourth, and final, season of “Succession,” cousin Greg, the sycophantic hanger-on, turns to his demented mentor, Tom, and says, “History is happening. Can you smell it?”
Tom’s reply is perfect for him but also for the series and its relationship to power: “Roses and rotting corpses.”
As ever, it’s all in the details. “Succession” is a brilliant show, and the first four episodes of the new season are no different. Once again the ostensible premise is power — its use, abuse and the fight over who gets to wield it. Frankly, some of the biggest-money machinations are way beyond my power to understand, but that’s what makes the show great: it doesn’t matter.
Because at its core it remains the story of a floridly dysfunctional family, a bunch of not-too-bright, born-on-third-base siblings trying to outsmart their evil genius of a father. It never gets old, but it might have eventually, so it’s probably good to end on top.
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When is 'Succession' coming back?
But again, it’s the little things that give the show, which returns to HBO on Sunday, March 26, such vibrant life. Like when Logan Roy (Brian Cox), the patriarch, does something to infuriate his children and Kendall (Jeremy Strong) tries to wax philosophical. “You know, in Buddhism, sometimes your greatest tormentor can also be your most perceptive teacher.”
“Hey Buddha,” his brother Roman (Kieran Culkin) says, pointing at his shoes, “nice Tom Fords.”
It’s a joke, it’s a throwaway line. But it’s also an insightful probing of who these characters are. The show is full of these kinds of moments. They serve as a support system for the big swings, of which there are, once again, plenty.
“Succession” specializes in the sort of story that paints its characters into a corner and forces us to squirm with delight as they claw their way out.
The new season begins with the fallout from Season 3, with Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) having betrayed his wife, Shiv (Sarah Snook) and her siblings to side with Logan in just the latest back-biting scheme. Attempts to make these kind of deals are endless; the bad decisions they inspire plague the family like a curse in an Edgar Allan Poe story.
The minutiae of the deal doesn’t matter; it never does. What’s important is how the characters react to it, which is how they always react: In the worst ways possible. There must be 10 instances in the first four episodes of Season 4 in which one of the spoiled siblings replies to the assistant reminding them that someone with a scheduled appointment is waiting for them, “Can you give us five?”
Time and consideration of others is meaningless to them, as is money, really — they just want as much of it as they can get. Kendall, Shiv and Roman are, at least, working together now, trying to take down their father mostly just to watch him agonize.
They’re terrible at it, of course, but that’s just part of their perverse charm.
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Logan Roy is based at least partly on Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch
Logan, meanwhile, is a lion in winter, even more so this season.
Newly energized by the challenge from his children, he roars into the newsroom of the conservative TV network he owns (Logan and the Roy family are at least loosely based on Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox News, and his children) and announces that he will be playing a more hands-on role.
You’re pirates! he roars, adding his favorite profanity for emphasis. (No one does more with an F-bomb than Cox.)
That’s one way of describing Tucker Carlson and his ilk.
The writing remains razor sharp, and the acting is uniformly brilliant, though Strong’s Kendall is somewhat subdued in the first four episodes; let’s hope he lets loose with some of his unhinged lunacy at some point.
It’s a sign of a great ensemble series (“The Sopranos,” “The West Wing”) when you realize your favorite character changes over time, and changes again. “Succession” is different in that the character you find most addictively cringeworthy changes. Greg (Nicholas Braun) is certainly up there, and oldest son Connor (Alan Ruck) is still pathetically intriguing. But I think Tom, such a magnificent weasel, is tops for me.
How the series ultimately ends, I have no idea. I just hope that whatever it’s wrapped up in is not so much a neat little bow as it is a disaster that makes us squirm. That’s what we’ll really miss, after all — spending time with a bunch of awful people doing awful things, but doing them in such a fantastically entertaining way.
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When can I watch 'Succession' Season 4?
Season 4 premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday, March 26 on HBO and HBO Max, with new episodes available every Sunday.
Reach Goodykoontz atbill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook:facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter:@goodyk.
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