For eight years, Game Of Thrones reigned as the crown jewel in HBO's Sunday night lineup, becoming the most popular, addictive and nuanced pro-incest show in television history. Since ending in 2019, there has been a gaggle of shows that have aimed to fill the gap, including fantasy epics like The Nevers, His Dark Materials and Lovecraft Country. And yet the show that has emerged as the closest thing to a successor happens to be... Succession.
On the surface, the two couldn't seem more different: one is all about dragon cosplay and the way disposable water bottles can destroy the verisimilitude of a fantasy epic; the other is all about the pathetic inner lives of billionaires and the way disposable water bottles can be thrown for dramatic and comedic effect. But at the core, they share many of the same themes and interests, including looking at the debilitating long term impact of having an abusive bad dad, and the way people fight for power without any real understanding of why they are doing so (nor any awareness of the people they are trampling by doing so).
Both shows are also unabashedly Shakespearean in heft: while GOT was happy to throw long, tragic monologues at Peter Dinklage, Succession lets Brian Cox huff and puff like King Lear on a Learjet. GOT ultimately dressed up its classical dramatic ambitions in the cloth of a fantasy epic—the swords and costumes and magical elements all hooked people early on before the human drama got under their skins (to be fair, so did the copious sex scenes).
Similarly, Succession uses humor to lure in the audience: the quotable insults, the memes, everything Cousin Greg says or does ("If it is to be said, so it be, so it is") is the key to what makes watching the show bearable. The show has always danced on the edge between entertaining schadenfreude and complicit ickiness—are we supposed to be laughing at these ridiculously privileged people, or horrified at their grotesque behavior?—but the humor would feel shallow and cruel if the show were not so invested in the character work and the tragedy of it all.
If this show were just Veep but about the media industrial complex, that would be one thing. But it demands that we take the characters—their agony, their petulance, their often pathetic but sometimes noble attempts at self-actualization—seriously. That's one of the major things that makes this show rise above so many others.
"It's looking at our culture through the lens of this very powerful family and the allure of power and the perils of power," star Jeremy Strong, who plays Kendall Roy, told Gothamist when the show first premiered. "What if you have a family where the language of that family and the glue that holds that family together is essentially corporate... the currency of this family is not love. It's business."
Like GOT, Succession is a show all about how people in baseball caps jockey for power (and also so much more). So all season, we'll follow along with weekly Succession Power Rankings, to have some fun deconstructing the show until a character finally gets a kiss from daddy.
After the video below, check out our spoiler-filled season three, episode one Succession Power Rankings.
1. Logan Roy: At the end of season two, everyone was wondering what it meant when Logan gave an enigmatic smile as he watched Kendall's press conference on TV. I think we have a pretty clear indication now: it meant that Logan was impressed that Kendall had made a real move, that he had gotten the jump on his dad. But make no mistake: this is war now, and he's "gonna grind his fucking bones to make my bread."
Logan keeps things close to the chest for much of the episode, trying to suss out whether anyone else in his inner circle was part of Kendall's season two coup. He ultimately decides to temporarily step back as CEO while insinuating he'll basically be running it from behind-the-scenes. In that sense, installing Gerri really does seem like good cover for him for now, and a way to further delay a decision over which of his extremely large ne'er-do-well children will ultimately succeed him.
I've seen some people frustrated that the show is still playing footsie with the line of succession, arguing that it's treading water instead of just blasting ahead by placing Logan aside. But the show is at its best when it is about the various family members smashing into each other, lobbing profane emotional bombs and then running for cover. And I found this episode utterly thrilling and breakneck even without any huge plot twists (Gerri's ascendence should count as a big plot turn, even if it is just temporary).
By the end of the episode, despite his declaration that he's going "full fucking beast," Logan seems vulnerable while standing in the middle of the parking lot of a Sarajevo hotel. This certainly isn't him at his strongest position, but this is Logan Roy we're talking about: as long as his family remains in orbit around him, he'll remain the most powerful person on the board.
2. Gerri Killman: It's Gerri Time baby! Everything's coming up Gerri! She's got the good chromosomes. She likes cooperating with the government. Shiv blew it with Lisa Arthur, so that means it's Pruney Time! Actress J. Smith-Cameron was in both Margaret and Rectify, so I am willing to sign off on this move.
3. Gerri & Roman's Will-They-Won't-They Vibes: We'll get to Roman a little farther down the list, but there is a ton of great Roman-Gerri action this episode (it's truly a testament to Succession that arguably the only "ship" worth caring about is both completely inappropriate and also weirdly sweet). Obviously Roman goes to bat for Gerri when he talks to his dad on the phone, but it's the scene where Roman basically propositions Gerri that things get truly steamy: "There's a bed through here if you want to give it a go...I'd lay you badly, but I'd lay you gladly." Gerri seems to be trying her best to ignore the, uh, sexual tension in the room because she's a professional lady, but there's no denying it's there. And based on the video below, it's everywhere now.
4. People Staring Out Windows During Long Car Rides To Or From Airports: Slightly edging out "Establishing Shots Of Giant Skyscrapers In New York City" and "People Power-Walking Brusquely Down Glass Hallways" to take the top spot for this week's conceptual power rankings.
5. Kendall Roy: This should be Kendall's moment. He's finally stood up against his dad and aligned himself with the forces of good. He's gathered his own war council, filled with attorneys, PR specialists and Greg. He's pitching the NY Times on op-eds about an "alternative corporate manifesto." He wants to hire some "BoJack guys and Lampoon kids" to make his Twitter feed an off the hook "little powderkeg that people need to check in with." He's got the most in-demand lawyer in town, and he's trending ahead of tater tots. "What if you are the best man in the world," his girlfriend, Naomi Pierce, asks.
But Kendall is not the best man in the world. It says everything that he starts off the episode trying to compose himself in the bathroom with breathing exercises. He can barely keep his hands from shaking. He looks like he could fall apart (or relapse) at any moment. Kudos to Jeremy Strong for conveying so much tension in his movements and scatterbrain rants.
Kendall is clinging to his own self-righteousness like a life raft, interrupting people left and right, and acting like the most cringe version of himself from season one. But he gives away his entire game at one point when he says he is being "cheesy as fuck, but I need people to see this was part of a coherent philosophy, not just punching an old guy in the fucking nose."
When Greg is the one saying, "You're doing everything right man, you're on top of the world," that is a BAD sign.
6. Roman Roy: Who would have thought the day would come that Roman would be in a stronger position than Shiv? He talks a big game early in the episode, really goading on his dad to play hardball with the government and throw Kendall under the bus: "This is not a nice thing to say about your son, but maybe you chop him into a million pieces and toss him into the Hudson. You destroy Kendall, it falls apart."
Despite that bluster, Roman withers when his moment comes to pitch himself as CEO directly to his dad in a supremely uncomfortable phone conversation. "I think it should be me, but, if you don't think I'm ready...which um...I would understand...and I'm not saying I agree with that but...maybe a couple of years under the wing of an older hen could see me crack out of the old egg." His alliance with Gerri seems to be paying off immediately at least.
7. This Video Of Kieran Culkin Summarizing The Third Season:
8. Lisa Arthur: The hottest lawyer in town, played by Sanaa Lathan, is courted by both Kendall and Logan's teams this episode, and ultimately decides to join "Team Genius" despite her, uh, "friendship" with Shiv. But she truly has no idea what she has gotten herself into—Shiv's warning that she should be careful who she hitches her wagon to (Shiv throws in the word "honey" here like a dagger) was ominous enough, but Kendall's inability to focus or sit still should be giving her giant red flags.
9. Hugo Baker: When you need to get a plane to Sarajevo, or some other country with no extradition treaty with the U.S., Hugo is your guy! Hugo is certainly the most useful lackey this week.
10. "I Smiled At Her By The Photocopier - Now I'm Facing Chemical Castration": I wanted to give a special shoutout to the ATN News headline from the intro. The specter of Fox News is always hovering in the background of the show—it really came to the fore last season when Tom had to deal with ATN anchor Mark Ravenhead and his support of Nazism—but the show generally shies away from being TOO direct about the parallels. The exception to that is "The Raisin," the unnamed president who sounds a little more like Trump than not. Anyway, in the screener version of the premiere, this read "Gender Fluid Illegals Who May Be Entering Country 'Twice,'" but they made a change before it aired.
11. Shiv Roy: Despite being one of the three major people in the running for interim CEO (along with Roman and Queen Gerri), this was not a great start to the season for Shiv, who already seems far removed from the decisive player she was early in season two.
She lays everything on the table when she meets lawyer and "friend" Lisa Arthur, revealing that she really just needs someone to talk to outside the family circle. It's important to remember that for the period up to and including the first season, Shiv was on the outside of the family business—she was purposefully distancing herself from her family to forge her own career. On top of that, she was working as a consultant and fixer for left-leaning politicians, people who are basically the opposite of her dad.
And while she puts up a tough front at all times with her family, she reveals in this scene just how much she is in over her head: "One world, I'm in a position to come out here as CEO. Or I might have to leave the firm to protect my reputation. I don't know what my dad did, I don't know what my brother did, I don't know what the firm did, I'm in a fucking fuckpie here Lisa. Can I clean it up? I don't know. I have a plan. But I could easily get crushed between these two fucking men."
That seems like a pretty ominous prediction for the rest of the season. Or as Roman later sings to her, "Your friend doesn't like you, boo-hoo boo-hoo, dad wants to fire you, boo-hoo boo-hoo."
12. Tom Wambsgams: Tom is in pretty neutral territory this episode, mostly playing middleman between Shiv and the war council as they try to pick a new interim CEO. He's kinda family, kinda new blood according to Logan; his relationship with Shiv is definitely in an awkward place following his admission last season that he was unhappy with their relationship.
Tom is one of the most complex, pathetic, and somewhat likable family members. He's constantly aware that he's deemed less important than the blood relations (mostly because everyone treats him this way, especially Roman and Shiv), and he's also nakedly, desperately in need of acceptance. The question with Tom always comes down to whether he really knows what he's doing or if he's just a puppy dog following Shiv around and trying to impress her—in other words, does he know how to play reverse banjo, or is he just faking it until he makes it?
13. The Concept Of "No Comment": You don't have to say "no comment," you just don't say anything, got it?
14. Greg "NO COMMENT" Hirsch: Does Greg want to break down the bathroom door? No. Could Greg break the bathroom door down? He's not sure.
Greg starts off the season in a familiar place in the family hierarchy: close to the bottom. But it is important to remember that despite his bumbling, Greg does have an ace up his sleeve: the cruises documents.
For now, he remains first and foremost a reliable comedic presence. His tactical abilities remain wanting. "I had no prior warning, and I was surprised at his comments, but now I am obviously concerned and interested to hear more," he tells Karolina in the car when asked if he knew what Kendall was going to do.
Greg seems to be all-in with Kendall after last season, and no one seems as excited about Kendall's revolution as him: "This is crazy, this is like OJ, except if OJ never killed anyone."
Kendall has him take his cultural temperature, and hilarity ensues. "Slide the socio-political thermometer up the nation's ass and take the reading. I'll get seasick. Just feed me the metadata, anything that's gonna move the market on my reputation," Kendall says incoherently to a stupefied Greg. And because Greg is truly the most special extremely tall adult child, he reports back the big picture at media monitoring: "The Internet is big, obviously, and I couldn't read it all....nice memes, good memeage and so on!"
15. Mashed Potatoes: Frank Vernon is both the "soul" of the company (according to Kendall, who notably reaches out to him before anyone else from the family) and also Logan's least trusted advisor. Frank was already fired twice in season one before being brought back into the fold to help with the PGM deal, and it sounds like he gets fired offscreen even more than that: "I got fired, he got fired, she got promoted, I got rehired, she got demoted, right..."
16. Karl Muller: Truly, the most useless of Logan's inner circle. The man can't get through two plane rides without desperately jonesing for a sandwich. He gets one really good line describing the fallout from Kendall's press conference ("This is the full Baskin Robbins, 31 flavors of fuck right there"), but it's immediately one-upped by Logan's assessment of him: "Karl, if your hands are clean, it's only because your whorehouse does manicures."
17. Libertarian Power Couple Connor Roy & Willa Ferreyra: The biggest failson of them all still doesn't really have much of a role with the family business, but it is sweet when Willa tries to remind Logan that Connor exists. They seem like they really are on the road to becoming a real couple...and then, of course, Connor brings up Willa's disastrous play. He offers up a new strategy to market it by embracing "the whole hatewatch angle" and highlighting reviews like "kill yourself if you got a ticket" to bring in the hipsters and dipshits, and dear lord, no tortured turn of phrase better fits Connor than "iron-o-cycle."
18. Rava Roy: First her ex-husband commandeers her apartment to be his personal war room, then he tries to lean on her for emotional support, then he awkwardly tries to banter with her about the "male razors" in her bathroom, then he even more awkwardly saddles her with his new girlfriend Naomi Pierce. And to top it all off, Greg opens up a vintage bottle of wine her godfather gave her: "It's like when someone breaks something beautiful, and it reminds you that nothing lasts." (To be fair, her apartment looks pretty swanky, so she clearly did well in the divorce, hence why she isn't at the bottom.)
19. Karolina Novotney (a.k.a. The Head Of PR For Waystar Royco Who Is Not Down For Kendall's Fucking Revolution): No weevils in the fucking flour sack!
20. Sophie Roy & Iverson Roy: As much as I wanted the weevil up above to be at the bottom of the list, there is no doubt in my mind that the two people who are truly the least powerful, most neglected members of this entire fucked up family are Kendall's little-seen children. (As for Roman's kid from the pilot, I choose to believe that she was not his biological child, but rather his ex-girlfriend's, because Roman has no business being a dad.)
Roy Family Moment Of The Week: "Dad, want me to ride with you?" Roman asks with eagerness, like a kid who just wants to make his dad happy. "You want to suck my dick?" Logan responds with the dry wit of a rich asshole. As Logan's car starts to drive off, Roman mumbles to himself, "...is what he said to his son as the sexual assault allegations poured in."
Family Members In Absentia: No sign of Logan's estranged wife Marcia Roy, who really let him have it at the end of last season because of his dalliance with Rhea Jarrell (Holly Hunter). Also no onscreen appearances by Kendall's frenemy Stewy Hosseini, or estranged matriarch Lady Caroline Collingwood. All of them will appear eventually, and so will a bunch of new characters and special guest stars, including Alexander Skarsgård, Adrien Brody, Hope Davis, Ziwe and Justin Kirk.
Did Anyone Get A Kiss From Daddy This Week? Sadly, no cheeks were blessed with the faint touch of Logan Roy's lips. Though he did muss up Roman's hair at one point in a somewhat affectionate manner. Does that count?
Next week on Succession, Kendall gets a chance to have a chat with all his siblings. Until then, don't forget: candy is for daddies, not for little babies.
