It really does strip him down to just find the pure corruption at his center. What begins as a moment of vulnerability turns into him putting himself above others and makes you question if it's a guise to hide his fear of the afterlife or if he's just like that (I think he's just like that but it's still interesting to think about).

That is a very terrific and extensive analysis but I don't know if I would necessarily put everybody in one box and give them one title because I think they're more complex than that but I do agree with a lot of your points here. It's just a really well-written show. Some of the best characterization on television as far as I'm concerned.

Disagree on your read on Roman and Shiv. Roman's my favorite, but he is not the best of them all. He is the most blatantly cruel of the kids (never forget him tearing that check up in that kids face in eps 1) and the most petty (see him firing gerri when she refuses to cosign his OTHER petty firing of the female news anchor). Not to mention that he was the most willing to essentially sell the entire country out to a proto-fascist just to ensure that he could kill the Gojo deal and spite Mattson. He is sympathetic because we know that all of his complexes comes from a place of trauma and abuse but as the show makes it obvious by having the one person who genuinely saw him and accepted him (Gerri) rightfully turn her back on him at the end, having trauma is not an excuse for inflicting unspeakable amounts of pain and suffering on others. Shiv is no worse than the rest. She is just as self-interested as her siblings, just as high on her own supply as Kendall and Connor, and can be just as cruel and capricious as Roman, though her cruelty is mostly reserved for Tom. The only real difference is that like Season 3 Kendall, she tells herself she's different, but self-delusion is also a trait she shares with 2/3 of her siblings. Unlike her brothers, though she has the problem of being a woman in a conservative family. It's clear from Logan's casual sexism that it was always going to prevent her from succeeding in this succession battle. That's why when the series starts she is quite literally an outsider, working in politics. Logan never had her as a serious contender, spending all of S2 dangling it in front of her just to keep her nearby, and Roman and Kendall, even when they were at each other's throats, always made time to cut her out/remind her that it'll never be her over them.The other deep irony being that though Shiv *is* genuinely bad at business, her competition is a manic depressive recovering addict and a sex pest who cracks under pressure, so the automatic rejection of her as a potential successor is farcical. Her refusing Kendall the spot of CEO isn't her going against her best interests seeing as Kendall would've likely given her a fluff role if that; but it is her allowing her true spite and resentment to guide her. The beauty of Succession to me is that all of the main kids are simultaneously sympathetic and morally repulsive, which allows the audience to understand just how much obscene wealth and unchecked power can distort people. Trying to decide who's "the best" misses the point in that all of them are terrible, broken people b/c money and the transactional mentality of business has replaced genuine human connection in their family.

@@realtalk13 that was a beautifully written analysis. Something about Shiv that I always noticed was that she puts herself above others often using her more left-wing political beliefs, yet she almost never practices what she preaches. She's a hypocrite with seemingly progressive and inclusive intentions, yet she still does just as much damage as the rest of her family. She's too rich to give a shit. Also, I made a point in the video about how much I hate Roman. A smug asshole with a blatant unawareness in his eyes. He's a sensitive person and likely the most broken, but he really isn't better or worse than the rest of his siblings. I really do agree with you that we shouldn't rank the characters based on morality, rather look at them as broken people that act mostly out of spite and hatred towards themselves due to their abusive upbringing. It's immature but deeply sad at the same time. It's a show all about empathizing with what often represents the worst of us.

@@EthanButler Yeah Shiv is a hypocrite because the show makes clear that politics for the wealthy are mostly just aesthetics. Their allegiance to any ideology is either an outright lie or subservient to their true allegiance to capital and class. Even Shiv, who was genuinely opposed to Mencken for 90% of the show, was willing to bite her tongue and cozy up to him the minute he became the likely winner of the election. Because as scary as he may be, she knows what we know: her wealth will shield her from the worst of it. I just find it odd that for some people, Shiv being a hypocrite is worse/on par with Kendall, a guy who is even less ideologically aligned who committed manslaughter, hid it, and then denied it even happened, or Roman, who is openly racist, misogynistic, and fascist leaning. And Roman is my favorite character! LMAO. Out of all the kids, he's the one who I find the most deplorable, but man oh man do I enjoy watching the little freak be a little freak. I also love watching Tom oscillate from being Shiv's punching bag to being just the worst kind of power abuser himself.

You are 100% correct 😂. When I said that "Kendall lost everything", I was referring to his morality and relationships. He'll be fine, but his soul is gone.

That's an interesting perspective. While I don't exactly agree, I think that's a totally valid takeaway.

@@EthanButlerI would have really liked if he further explained why he believes those things as opposed to just stating those opinions. I love when a YT comment goes into a discussion instead of just statements. @Chiomawoherem4625 go into some details!

Yeah, Shiv has billions, and Tom still needs her money because "pain sponge" is a dangerous position. And they really do love each other, even if they're messed up, and they've finally got something like equality.

@@TheGoonSquadd Shiv did not turn to her mother just because she is pregnant and married to the CEO. She wields substantial power and influence with her money and shares even more than Tom. She's not in a loveless relationship because like Tom said in the finale she's finally falling in love and she isn't scared to admit it to herself and Tom. Tom finally got what he wanted he could have chosen not to take Shivs offer for them to start a real relationship and got in the car alone but he didn't, which might likely be his own way of showing Shiv that despite how power hungry and servile he might be he truly loves her which was a bone of contention Shiv brought up during their argument. Tom is still going to loop Shiv in with things going on in the company even more than her brothers would have, so in that sense she's not totally locked out.

What show have you been watching? ;) Tom will never go back from how cold he grew on Shiv. The trust was broken, he was repetedly humuliated and now he is in a position of power. He doesn’t need her money, he is going to earn milions if not bilions. She only has shares and who knows what Mattson is going to do with the company „under the hood”? She was played dirtyby two dudes who are in the same team now. And she is going to have a baby which happens to be a huge deal. She has a choice: either, just like her mother, she abandons the kid and puts herself to gaining the power, which she won’t because Mattson treats her as a threat and the board doesn’t treat her seriously, or she gets siderailed. She is f”&€d, that’s Why it was such a hard choice for her. Ofcourse, still rich and has perspectives in life, but at the moment it doesn’t look great for her.

Thanks for watching! Yeah, Andante Risoluto may just be my favorite track from Britell's entire work. Just encapsulates everything that makes the show what it is. An underlying beauty, a darkness, and a little bit all over the place but commanding and confident in it's approach.

@@EthanButler - it’s a beautiful track. I couldn’t wait for the album to drop on streaming. I think overall my favorite is “Lamentoso - “Needy Love Sponges” Aside from it playing during one of the most memorable, important scenes in the series (Karaoke bar) - it’s beautifully written and performed. The scene is really something while I’m mentioning it. We get the Logan Roy line of “I love you .. but you’re not .. serious people.” Then we get Conner’s whole understanding of his place in the family while calling them all out. All the while also being darkly funny. “You’re needy love sponges and I’m plant that grows on rocks and lives off rocks that die inside me.” Lol. Incredible. The ending song is perfect, Lamentoso is right underneath it.

@@FrederickGautier "Needy Loves Sponges" is also an incredible track. Hauntingly melancholic and weirdly childlike, which is fitting since it is the "kids" conversing with their dad. I just have to say how spot on the casting is. Culkin, Strong, Snook, and even Ruck have very childlike faces and mannerisms. Like you can just imagine them as children playing in front of Logan's office, laughing and crying. Just a really nice touch.

Logan’s death is easily one of the best pieces of, not just television, but filmmaking, I’ve ever witnessed.

efap subscribes to anti-woke stuff and this is a show that criticizes capitalism and conservatives, so of course he wouldn't like it. Conservative content creators have no brain cells.

Will do. What else do you recommend?

@@EthanButler Chernobyl, The Terror, Squid Game

"Objectively"? Interesting. Could you elaborate on that? Offer something constructive possibly? I'm genuinely curious why you think that.

@@EthanButler I said most of why, but I can elaborate, yes. Keep in mind that I am a writer myself, so I do actually know what I'm talking about here. Logan's death was very dragged out, and the climax of it dissipated quite a lot. I was genuinely disappointed whilst watching Logan's death even the first time. I fucking love Succession, it's possibly the best show ever made! And yet, that episode was the weakest in the whole series. All the episodes have multiple plot points, and this one feels like it has only 1, Logan's death, and they needed to fill 50 minutes of screen time, so they decided to drag out the pacing. That was a bad idea. Succession is also a masterpiece of witty, gut-wrenching, and clever dialogue that makes you think, and this episode has almost NONE of that. It looks like Jesse Armstrong really wanted to have 10 full episodes instead of 9, like Season 3, and this episode really became the victim in terms of quality drop. Connor's behavior in still getting married during the day his father died also makes no sense and felt out of character. So don't accuse me of not being constructive. This is the most constructive comment you will recieve in years.

@@juicypineapple6995 thanks for elaborating. I honestly understand why you would feel like it is dragged out for extra sad points but personally, I think the real-time element of the whole thing made it more immersive for me. Like there was a genuine sense of dread that you couldn't escape from. It just forces you in the moment and doesn't cut to anything else. I think that makes it all the more heart-wrenching for me. I thought the performances and the claustrophobia of the shooting style really elevated the whole thing. It was just sad and it really places you in that headspace which I think is the sign of any effective work of art. I get it if it doesn't work for you, but personally, it really impacted me. Also, the point you made about Connor personally didn't feel out of character to me. It was Connor taking a stand for once. A character that has mostly just stayed impartial finally making a decision to not let his dad ruin his day. It sounds insensitive but when you put the relentless abuse Connor suffered through in his youth at the hand of Logan, it makes total sense as to why he would choose to marry the woman he loves and not let this tragedy bog down his special day. Sure it's a bit selfish but all of the characters are selfish, especially Logan. I think it felt in character for him, but if it didn't work for you, it didn't work for you. Idk what to tell ya.

@@EthanButler I accept that you disagree, but I don't think you would if you kept analyzing it more, or tried to focus less on what you felt and more on the logic of the episode's structure. I'm not saying this to piss you off, this is genuinely my response to your standpoint. The episode isn't bad, and I never said it was. The episode is good, but it is the worst Succession episode because it could have shown the same event in a better, more shocking, better paced way.

@@juicypineapple6995 I appreciate you taking your time to articulate your thoughts. I'm more of a "feel it" kind of guy where I let art kind of touch my soul and try not to be overly-analytical about something. I'm just more of a right-brained person and it's clear that you look at art through a more objective lens and that's awesome. I'm just different and there's nothing wrong with that. I think it's important to discuss conflicting ideas and understand other people's points of view because it allows us to expand how we view art. I really do appreciate you taking the time to discuss the episode with me. I wish you the best with your writing!