‘Succession’ Creator Explains Roman, Shiv and Kendall’s True Motivations on Election Night

Succession fans have shared a bunch of references to Peep Show from the HBO series.Peep Show was co-created by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, who also collaborated together on Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat. Armstrong later went on to create HBO’s Succession, which recently wrapped its fourth and final season.Throughout Succession’s run, fans have highlighted various references to Peep Show, which starred David Mitchell and Robert Webb as dysfunctional flatmates Mark and Jeremy.A number of these references have been listed by Twitter user @PodcastPharoahs, including a character called Stefan Strauss on the investigation committee in Succession season two.

Editor’s note: Deadline’s It Starts on the Page features 10 standout drama series scripts in 2023 Emmy contention. It showcases the critical role writer’s work plays in a show’s success. All arrangements were made before the WGA strike began on May 2.

Katcy Stephan SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers from “With Open Eyes,” the series finale of HBO’s “Succession,” now streaming on Max. Connor Roy was interested in politics at an early age — but Alan Ruck isn’t convinced. “He can say anything he wants to say, but just because he was interested doesn’t mean he’s knowledgeable.” Still, in his mid-50s, Connor’s interest is finally becoming a reality — with a catch. In the finale of HBO’s acclaimed drama “Succession,” from creator Jesse Armstrong, Ruck’s character is poised to become the next ambassador to Slovenia, provided that Jeryd Mencken actually becomes president. But his new wife Willa (Justine Lupe) drops a bombshell: She will be staying in New York (in Logan’s old apartment) while Connor carries out his duties abroad.

“AI ain’t gonna write Succession, or Chinatown or The Godfather,” says Jeremy Strong of what’s at stake with the writers’ strike. “It’s just not going to,” the actor who brought Jesse Armstrong’s words for Kendall Roy to life bluntly adds.

Ethan Shanfeld SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers from “With Open Eyes,” the series finale of HBO’s “Succession,” now streaming on Max. The end of “Succession” was filmed on the coldest day of the year. “The windchill was minus-something in Fahrenheit, and it was absolute purgatory to shoot,” says Mark Mylod, the director and executive producer who has steered many of “Succession’s” greatest episodes. “Jeremy initially was feeling nothing but cold.” Mylod, who has now helmed all four season finales of the HBO juggernaut, was worried that the last scene — with Jeremy Strong’s Kendall hopelessly walking through Battery Park, and Logan’s leftover bodyguard Colin trailing behind — didn’t feel “weighty enough.”

HBO‘s Succession will not be getting a spin-off series, per the network’s Head of Drama Francesca Orsi.The news comes after the show’s final episode aired, bringing the hit series to a close. Speaking to Deadline, Orsi shared: “I know there was some talk about spinoffs, but no, not at all”.Orsi added: “I’ll never say never but my instinct and based on a number of conversations about the evolution of Succession and these characters, at this stage, there is no intention of spinning any one character off”.The HBO exec also said that while she doesn’t know what Succession creator Jesse Armstrong is planning to do next, she thinks “it will be entirely original.

Succession,” you know that things didn’t exactly play out like Kendall Roy (played masterfully by Jeremy Strong) had hoped. And now the actor is shedding light on how things could have been even darker than what ended up in the episode, telling Kara Swisher on the official “Succession” podcast: “It always to me felt like there’s no coming back from this.”Spoilers for the “Succession” series finale follow.In the final moments of the episode, Kendall, having lost the bid to block the sale to tech weirdo Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) and all chances of leading the company that his father had once promised him, sits alone, dejected, in a public park, looking out against the slate grey water. The only person with him is Colin (Scott Nicholson), his father’s former driver and now his employee.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The profanity-riddled dialogue and whip smart writing of “Succession” finally came to a close on Sunday night with one last extremely dramatic finale episode, ending with the highly anticipated answer to the series-long question over who will take over the Roy empire.

Succession.In the finale titled With Open Eyes, Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) prepare a smoothie for their brother Kendall (Strong) after agreeing to support his bid to become the new CEO of Waystar Royco.The smoothie, described as “a meal fit for a king”, contains milk, Tabasco hot sauce, bread crusts, Branston pickle, raw eggs, cocoa powder and Shiv’s spit.Kendall takes a large gulp of the smoothie, and after he refuses to drink the rest, Roman tips the leftovers over his brother’s head.Speaking on the official Succession podcast to host Kara Swisher, Strong said the smoothie contained “all those things” seen on screen, which he actually consumed for the scene.“We did it only a few times and I went outside and retched, and jumped in the ocean, and washed it off my hair,” the actor said. “Yeah, I did drink it, yeah.”After Swisher remarked that he “really was a method actor”, Strong replied: “I wouldn’t know how not to drink it.

This article contains major spoilers for the ‘Succession’ finale.Succession creator Jesse Armstrong has shared his thoughts on the outcome of the lauded HBO show’s dramatic finale, which aired last night (May 28).After a power struggle between the Roy siblings after the death of their father Logan, the finale ended with Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) backtracking on her pact with brothers Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) to betray them and cast the deciding vote to sell Waystar Royco to Lukas Matsson’s (Alexander Skarsgård) GoJo company.This meant that Shiv’s husband and ATN boss Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) became boss of the company in a major twist after Matsson betrayed Shiv, who was initially in line for the CEO job.Speaking as part of a ‘Controlling The Narrative’ featurette on streaming service Max, Armstrong said he knew what he wanted the outcome of the finale to be for a good while.“The idea of Tom being the eventual successor, that had been something that I thought was the right ending for quite a while now,” Armstrong said.“Even though he’s not exactly the most powerful monarch you’ll ever meet — his power comes from Matsson. Those figures that drift upwards and make themselves amenable to powerful people are around.”Of the future of the Roy siblings, Armstrong added: “I thought about all their stories.

Succession fans were waiting with bated breath for the final episode of series four to air.

This article contains spoilers from the series finale of “Succession.”“This show has always been a tragedy,” said director Mark Mylod of “Succession” in a segment that aired after the series finale of the Emmy-winning HBO series Sunday night.Mylod, who has directed 16 episodes of the series, called the finale “perfectly painful,” as the Roys literally came to blows before completely losing control of their father’s company. He praised series creator Jesse Armstrong, saying, “Jesse stuck the landing with this climactic showdown between the three siblings,” referring to the brutal scene where Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv (Sarah Snook), lashed out physically and verbally over the decision to sell the company. “The final ripping off of the bandage to expose that terrible, terrible truth put so simply by Roman,” he said of the scene in which Roman proclaims, “We are bulls—t.

[WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for the series finale of “Succession.”]After four seasons, “Succession” has come to an end — and Waystar RoyCo has a new CEO.In the 90-minute series finale, creator Jesse Armstrong wrapped up a string of conflicts, but ultimately had the goal of answering the question everyone has been asking since Season 1 premiered in 2018: Who will succeed Logan Roy (Brian Cox) as CEO?There were many ways the ending could’ve gone: Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) could’ve filled his father’s shoes — as Logan may or may not have wanted from the looks of the underline/cross-out on his official document, Kendall and Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) could’ve stayed on as co-CEOs, GoJo could have acquired Waystar with Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) coming out on top and naming Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) as CEO, as well as many other possibilities.In the end, the hole left by the death of Logan Roy could only be filled by one person.Spoilers for Season 4, Episode 10, “With Open Eyes” are below, so stop scrolling now if you don’t want to know who got the crown.While it was always presumed that Logan Roy’s successor would be in the family bloodline, it didn’t exactly turn out that way.Neither Kendall, Roman, Shiv — or Connor (Alan Ruck), for that matter — ended up being the heir to the media mogul’s throne.After Matsson decided he wasn’t going to name Shiv as the CEO of the company, an unsuspecting person filled her in on who it would be.“Shiv, you should probably know: it’s me,” Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) told his wife.As noted above, Greg found out by translating a conversation in Swedish that Matsson was not actually planning on giving the CEO title to Shiv, as he promised he would.Upon finding

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains spoilers for the series finale of HBO’s Succession.

Note: This article contains spoilers for series finale of “Succession.”Can’t believe “Succession” is over? Neither can the HBO hit’s creator Jesse Armstrong, who said it “feels very perverse” to end the Emmy-winning series, but that he “didn’t really have any doubts” about ending it now.After the stunning final episode, which found Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) failing to prevent the sale of Waystar Royco to GoJo, Armstrong said in the “Inside the Episode” segment, “This will never stop being the central event of [Kendall]’s life. This will mark his whole life.”“It feels very perverse to end it because it’s been incredibly meaningful,” Armstrong added.

William Earl SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from “With Open Eyes,” the series finale of HBO’s “Succession,” now streaming on Max. “Succession” has ended, and the finale answered the central question of the show: Who will take over Waystar Royco? Thanks to a last-minute change of heart from Shiv (Sarah Snook) during the tense boardroom vote, GoJo now owns the media company, and GoJo CEO Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) has anointed Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) as its American CEO. While in practice the deal will likely involve, by Matsson’s own admissions, a lot of dirty work with very little input, Tom is thrilled to take the crown. According to series creator Jesse Armstrong, it was a natural choice.

Amid the HBO Max rebrand, Succession is ending after four seasons on the premium cable network. The Roy family is at odds with each other and the drama is set to start at 9 p.m. ET and 6 p.m. PT on HBO.

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros Discovery promised to give writers and directors proper credit on its Max streaming service, but don’t expect the fix to happen anytime soon.

Alison Herman TV Critic At the close of its fourth and final season, “Succession” occupies a place eerily analogous to that of fearsome patriarch Logan Roy. After Logan’s sudden, shocking death in the third episode, his colleagues and children (who were also his colleagues) had to scramble for an answer to the question that’s haunted the entire series: What — or rather, who — now? “Succession” itself is set to leave a Logan-sized hole in the cultural landscape, with its fan base asking the same question. The future is impossible to predict, as “Succession” so beautifully showed with its anticlimactic, out-of-nowhere take on Logan’s demise. Ahead of the May 28 series finale, however, we can look back on what made the show such an era-defining, Emmy-dominating hit. “Succession” is hardly the first to explore the inner lives of the ultrarich. But at the end of its run, it stands out as the least glamorous and most realistic of the genre. It’s also the most effective as social commentary: By zooming in on the Roys’ claustrophobic bubble and toxic family dynamic, “Succession” speaks to the world they helped shape in their image.

Succession‘s major season four twist happened “too early”.The actor was referring to the third episode of the fourth and final season of the hit HBO series, in which Cox’s character Logan Roy unexpectedly collapsed and died while flying to meet Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) in Sweden.Logan’s death, which happened off-screen, served as a major shake up to the show, leaving his children scrambling to assume control of Waystar Royco.Cox acknowledged that the twist had been executed in “a pretty brilliant way”, but that he thought creator Jesse Armstrong “decided to make Logan die, I think ultimately too early”.Speaking to BBC’s Amol Rajan, the actor said that he initially viewed the decision to kill off Logan “wrongly, as a form of rejection”.“I was fine with it ultimately, but I did feel a little bit rejected. I felt a little bit, ‘Oh, all the work I’ve done’,” Cox said.In a separate interview with Barley, Cox echoed these sentiments, saying he was “fine with what happened and happy to be finished”, but added that he “would have done it later”.He explained: “In my view it is strange to be missing the main protagonist from so early on, but we are hostages to the writers in situations like this.”Elsewhere, Fisher Stevens recently revealed that he wrote a spin-off story for his Succession character Hugo Baker.Stevens has portrayed Hugo, an executive at Waystar RoyCo, in seasons two, three and four of the HBO series.Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor said he wrote an unofficial story about Hugo’s future, with the show set to conclude this month.“I do that whenever I get a part.