History YMMV / Succession

** Tom is Princess Diana.[[note]]Both are awkward outsiders who married into an Uber-rich family that constantly belittles them; screenwriter Georgia Pritchett made the connection in an interview, and it soon caught on with fans. A common joke is calling Tom's linen suit in the S3 finale his "revenge dress".[[/note]]

* NarmCharm: Despite the cringeworthy lyrics he spouts out during "L to the OG", several viewers have noted that Kendall's rapping skills are actually pretty solid. Worth noting, several guests seem to genuinely enjoy the performance.

* EvilIsSexy:
** Shiv is just as bad as the rest of her family, but she’s played by the beautiful Sarah Snook who gets to wear some gorgeous outfits throughout the show.
** Kendall's also acquired a surprisingly high number of fans because of this trope. Bound to happen when you're a brooding bad boy.
** Though his often goofy and put upon demeanor may downplay it, Tom is still played by the handsome Matthew Macfadyen and has his share of fans in part because of that. He ramps this trope in "All the Bells Say" when he [[spoiler:cements his new [[TookALevelInBadass level in badass]] with a magnificent betrayal]] all while wearing a very dapper white suit.
** Stewy's a knowingly amoral douchebag and the combination of Arian Moayed's good looks and his disarmingly cool charisma has attracted many fans.
** Though pretty much everything about his character may negate his sex appeal, Lukas Mattsson is still played by famous Adonis Creator/AlexanderSkarsgard.

** Finally, there’s one with ''Series/TheRighteousGemstones'', both being HBO series about three dysfunctional rich kids fighting for control of their aging father’s empire.

** "If it is to be said... so it be, so it is."

** "Connor Roy was interested in politics from a very young age" and its many variants.[[note]]Connor insists on this being the only quotation Pantsil is allowed to extract from him at Lester's funeral, which he doubles down on by reading a deliberately generic and bland eulogy. As it happens, Jeremy Strong's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Strong_(actor) page]] on [[Website/Wikipedia The Other Wiki]] states that he "was interested in acting from a very young age", which he actually was.[[/note]]

** "Connor Roy was interested in politics from a very young age" and its many variants.

** One that has gradually become more serious as the series has gone on: is Greg [[MagnificentBastard a genuinely Machiavellian-level master manipulator]] who is merely ObfuscatingStupidity in order to slip under the radar and is, in fact, the dark horse who will end up winning the series overall? Or is he [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder a snake with absolutely no loyalty to anyone]] who constantly refuses to pick sides until he feels there's a clear winner and, far from being any kind of mastermind, essentially "fails upwards" in the company and will eventually be kicked to the curb?

* CryForTheDevil: Logan Roy doesn’t have much in the way of redeemable traits, but it’s hard not to feel bad for him when you see his scar-riddled back. He’s awful to his children, but it’s clear that he’s suffered from abuse himself, and it’s quite easy to guess that this treatment player a role in his hardened, cold personality.

** [[spoiler:Tom instantly became one after his expertly handled power play at the end of Season 3.]]

** "I'm the eldest boy!" [[note]]Kendall's desperate final appeal to seniority to get Shiv to block the [=GoJo=] deal in the series finale. The quote is often repurposed and applied to other series with eldest sons demanding they get their way.[[/note]]

** Has Roman suffered much more severe abuses and traumas than what has already been shown/stated? Logan slapped him on camera, when Roman was a grown man. Kendall once locked him in a dog cage for an extended period, Logan 'beat him with a slipper until he cried'. Roman was the only Roy child apparently sent to boarding school, and we learn this may have been because he was the 'weaker' child, but what that means isn't clear. Is it possible he was sent away to protect him from something? And/or that while he was at school, he suffered more abuse?

** Creator/HollyHunter’s popular turn in season 2 went unrecognized, being one of many performances that have been screwed over by the Emmy’s current guest rules. Hunter was disqualified from Guest Actress due to being in too many episodes, but had a role that was fairly small for a supporting actress, putting her at a disadvantage compared to supporting players who appeared in much more of their seasons, including her nominated costar Sarah Snook.
** Though it's amended by the similarly acclaimed Jeremy Strong winning, there were still a decent amount of fans rooting for Brian Cox to take the Emmy for Season 2. He did at least get the Golden Globe.

* CryForTheDevil: Logan Roy doesn’t have much in the way of redeemable traits, but it’s hard not to feel bad for him when you see his scar riddled back. He’s awful to his children, but it’s clear that he’s suffered from abuse himself, and it’s quite easy to guess that this treatment player a role in his hardened, cold personality.

** Tom is a smug ass, but it can be easy to forget that when you see just how miserable and abused he is. The fact that he’s often pretty docile around his family can also help, and even his most villainous actions (destroying the cruise papers) can be seen as sympathetic when you remember that he originally wanted to do the right thing and publicly release them before the company stopped him.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: It sounds pretty implausible if you've never heard of it, but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortolan_bunting ortolan]] really ''is'' eaten whole with a napkin over your head to shield yourself from God's judgment on your decadence (among other possible reasons). Most people who do know about this do so thanks to Creator/AnthonyBourdain. Ortolan is also eaten - with napkin over the head - in that ''other'' show about unpleasant people with too much money, ''Series/{{Billions}}''.

* BrokenBase: It was somewhat inevitable given that it's the driving question of the show, but the question of who will ultimately win (and, on a smaller scale, who ''deserves'' to win) by the end of the series has increasingly devolved into this with each of the siblings (even including Connor) having their camp of supporters, along with several other characters[[note]]mostly Greg, Tom, Gerri, Frank, or someone outside the company like Mattson[[/note]], to the point where it's likely that no matter the ending, a number of fans will be disappointed. In particular, the idea of Greg potentially becoming the successor by the end is, depending on who you ask, either the single worst idea conceivable and on a par with [[Franchise/GameOfThrones Bran becoming king]] in terms of narrative randomness, or a brilliantly fitting way of following Logan's apparent wish to keep the company within the family without passing it to his children. And of course there's the camp [[TakeAThirdOption who feel the only satisfactory end would be to see the company destroyed so there is no winner...]]

** While his getting OffTheWagon has tragic consequences, almost everyone loves high Kendall at the end of “Austerlitz”, where instead of being a tightly wound self-interested ExtremeDoormat, he riles up Logan with a smile, walks in like he owns the place, and it’s the first time he shows off BigBrotherInstinct, defending Shiv after their dad makes her cry and telling him to give Roman some credit for once.

** After spending the latter half of Season 3 sucking up to Mattson, it's immensely satisfying to see [[spoiler:Roman eventually blow up at him in Season 4, calling him out for his behaviour during the negotiations and for refusing to let the Roy siblings have any substantial time to grieve for their father, forcing them instead to fly out to Norway less than 48 hours after Logan's death and then spending the entire time patronising and insulting them. Even though Logan was a terrible human being and father, Mattson is very clearly no better and the scene is treated almost as if Roman is finally standing to up to Mattson and Logan simultaneously, rejecting their equally cold-hearted way of doing business, and it's implied that for all he might try and hide it, Mattson was genuinely rattled by the outburst.]]
** Ewan shows up at [[spoiler: Logan's funeral]] and gives the speech despite the rest of the Roys trying to stop him and it's immensely satisfying, especially in the regard that he is the only one ''not'' trying looking for a business angle or even just laying out TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, but to give a fair, human [[spoiler:eulogy for his brother]].

* DieForOurShip: Poor Shiv. She’s definitely not a good person, and an awful wife, but from the way tomgreg shippers talk about her, you’d think she was pure evil and not heavily abused exactly like Kendall and Roman, who aren’t good people either but get a lot more sympathy and context than she does.

** Rhea ended up earning quite a few fans for being a grade A DeadpanSnarker, an excellent but realistically flawed ManipulativeBitch, and for [[spoiler:wising up and leaving Waystar Royco when it’s clear that no good can come from staying]].

** Frank’s got his fans due to being one of Waystar Royco’s smartest employees and being one of the only people in the company who actually seems to be [[TokenGoodTeammate a decent person]].
** Despite being a {{Slimeball}}, Karl wound up with his share of followers thanks to being such a hilarious ButtMonkey who's thoroughly uncomfortable with his ever worsening surroundings.

** Karolina earned some attention from fans despite her relevant lack of screentime due to being one of the more level-headed employees at Waystar Royco, an impressive feat given her unenviable role as the head of Public Relations.

** Willa's extremely naive but genuinely good hearted nature has caused fans to point to her as both one of the series' most endearing and funniest characters.

** Confirmed by Jeremy Strong in a Rotten Tomatoes TV interview, but Kendall’s arc in season three is a reference to “The Crack Up”, essays about a self loathing man in mania trying to reinvent himself, but breaking down and realizing he's not a good person.

** Many TV critics were initially put off by the series as just another show about rich white people, and many viewers found the first several episodes dull. By the end of Season 1, as the pace picks up and the tone solidifies, both critics and fans were onboard. Season 2 was even more critically lauded, and was named either the best or one of the best shows of 2019 by a variety of publications.

** Shiv and Kendall’s hug in “Safe Room” and him asking her to look after him becomes sweeter in “All The Bells Say”, where she’s the most gentle with him even before the InternalReveal of what happened with the waiter.

* HollywoodHomely: Greg (Creator/NicholasBraun) is told that he's too ugly for Comfrey (Dasha Nekrasova), who is "way out of his league", by both Kendall and Tom. In all fairness, Comfrey doesn't seem to mind when Greg does ask her out.

** There are questions to be had about Frank and Logan. It’s not a giant leap to assume that Logan’s deep and constant homophobia might be a cover of something, Frank always comes back and Logan always wants him back, and in a moment of piss-mad self-aware, he confuses Kendall for Frank and says he’s the only one allowed to be mean to Frank.

** [[https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/nicholas-braun-succession-cousin-greg-encounter.html Not just a fandom thing]], as Nicholas Braun gave a hilariously detailed character answer on which sibling he’d fuck, marry or kill, and ended with fucking Kendall, cos “he’s been through a lot and he’d be grateful”.

** Kendall Roy is a selfish, petty, hypocritical asshole who accidentally killed someone thanks to his drug use, a shitty father and husband, and someone who appropriated sexual abuse victims for his own self loathing and daddy issues, but he’s been so abused by his father that he barely knows what else he’s for, has a childhood trauma stutter and is prone to crying even when people are kind to him, can’t differentiate between abuse and love and thinks about killing himself multiple times.
** Tom is smarmy, full of himself, and willing to abuse anyone under him, but he’s also a horribly insecure punching bag to the rest of his step family, with his own wife constantly treating him like shit, and even making him commit to an open relationship on their wedding night, an arrangement that is highly one sided to her and makes him high uncomfortable. When Tom finds out about some highly problematic past issues in the company, his attempts to bring them to light are denied. Once the info actually leaks, he’s publicly humiliated when questioned about it and [[spoiler:nearly forced to take the blame]] despite being the only person aware of the controversy who wanted to do the right thing. By the end of season 2, Tom admits to Shiv that he’s unhappy most of the time, and despite genuinely loving her, he’s considering leaving her due to her frequent abuse against him.

** Shiv is a cocky, narcissistic woman who frequently cheats on and is generally horrible to her loving husband, but it becomes clear that she’s just as desperate for Logan’s approval as her siblings, as she spends much of the second and third season being emotionally manipulated by him over and over. And despite being and all around awful wife to Tom, she still legitimately loves him and is greatly disheartened and shocked to find out that he’s willing to leave her behind. She also has to deal with a lot of misogyny in season three (Roman’s incest jokes getting worse, Kendall humiliating her with “Rape Me”, Tom wanting to baby trap her, gendered abuse from both her parents, Waystar wanting to use her as a BlondeRepublicanSexKitten face for the scandals), which is tough to watch.

** After failing to make a decent living, the well meaning Greg comes back into his family's fold to seek employment there. He quickly becomes overwhelmed with their absurdly brutal lifestyle and struggles to survive amongst them whilst enduring all kinds of abuse, particularly from his new friend Tom. However, this is balanced out by Greg gradually embracing his {{Jerkass}} nature more and more, losing whatever moral high ground he once had over people who make his life Hell.

** His son Roman is a knowingly slimey grade-A prick who likes to pick petty fights with everyone around him whilst reveling in his repugnancy. However, the combination of his genuine wit and Kieran Culkin’s delectable performance makes him highly entertaining.

* MagnificentBitch: [[SouthernFriedGenius Rhea Jarrell]] is a "subtle dagger" in the world of blunt force that the Roy family occupies. The CEO of Pierce Media (PGM) who orchestrates a merger between PGM's owners the Pierce family and [[Characters/SuccessionWaystarRoyco Waystar RoyCo]]'s owners the Roys, Rhea plays both sides to earn herself the highest payday. When the Waystar cruise scandal causes the deal to fall apart and the Pierce family to fire her, Rhea quickly manipulates herself into the good graces of [[Characters/SuccessionLoganRoy Logan Roy]], isolating him from his kids and turning him against them one at a time to set herself up as his successor. Even though she is announced as Waystar's new CEO and set to gain new levels of power, Rhea ultimately rejects the position [[EvenEvilHasStandards when she sees how truly awful and toxic the company is]], and Rhea abandons the Roys with her dignity intact after Logan tries to force her to silence abuse victims.

** Tom is Princess Diana.[[note]]Both are awkward outsiders who married into an uberrich family that constantly belittles them; screenwriter Georgia Pritchett made the connection in an interview, and it soon caught on with fans. A common joke is calling Tom's linen suit in the S3 finale his "revenge dress".[[/note]]

** [[https://dotmatrices.tumblr.com/post/699545992857550848/tomgreg-isnt-queerbaiting-its-like "Queerthreatening."]] [[note]] A Website/{{Tumblr}} post asserting that rather than queer''baiting'' the viewers by enticing them with all the HoYay between Tom and Greg, the show is, if anything, queer''threatening'' that the HoYay could go even further, much to the terror of the viewers. The term "Queerthreatening" quickly caught on for Tomgreg shippers, and has even been used in other fandoms. [[/note]]

** Jesse Armstrong himself is openly annoyed with comparisons to “Game Of Thrones” and thinking the characters are all more Machiavellian than they really are. The point is often made that these people merely ''think'' they're genius-level chessmasters and grand manipulators, when in fact they're often just hapless, over-privileged bumblers who are ultra-wealthy enough to be cushioned from the consequences of their actions and who have accumulated enough wealth, influence and privilege to be able to bully their way into getting what they want most of the time.

* NoYay: Kendall and Logan are at the very least actor-confirmed as enmeshed, but a HBO Max ad in Portugal took the subtext to the next level [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNeofN3XsAAmA15?format=jpg&name=small by having a heart around their heads]].

** Her onscreen daughter doesn’t get it great either, Sarah Snook [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwMvcEcOX7A expressing confusion]] over how many people acted like it was right for Caroline to blame her thirteen year old daughter for choosing an equally abusive father.

* RootingForTheEmpire: As horrible as Logan Roy can be, some find themselves siding with him either because they find the his children are completely hopeless and entitled, or simply because they just like seeing what he'll do next.

** Logan shutting down [[spoiler:Kendall, Shiv, and Roman's new alliance to stop his sell of Waystar]].

** The only particularly noticeable criticism of season 2 is that Marcia‘s noticeably more OutOfFocus there than she was in the first. She's then in far less of the third season. Granted, this lessened role does have plot importance as it shows how Logan's actions have alienated so many, including a woman who genuinely loved him.

** Stewy isn't lying to Logan when he says "Everyone fucking hates you". However, Logan is widely seen as a brilliant villain, with his hateful qualities earning him quite a few fans, including some who even root for him.

** As predicted, the ultimate ending [[spoiler:which sees Kendall lose ''yet again'' thanks to a last-minute betrayal by Shiv, the sale of Waystar to [=GoJo=] go through, and Tom become the successor]] has resulted in this, with some fans thinking that it's a perfectly fitting end to the series, some fans annoyed that it renders [[spoiler:a lot of Season 4 and character development for all the siblings but especially Kendall into a particularly cruel ShootTheShaggyDogStory]], and [[TakeAThirdOption a third camp]] feeling that while the ending makes sense from a character/narrative standpoint, especially given the creator's oft-stated philosophy that no one ever really changes, they'd still have liked to have seen things go differently.
** [[spoiler:Shiv's betrayal of Kendall in the final episode has resulted in a particularly ugly version of this. Given that Shiv was already arguably the most divisive of the trio in the fandom, some fans see the move as, for better or worse, totally in keeping with her character while others claim that there wasn't enough build-up to her changing her mind and that it was a sloppy DiablusExMachina used purely to keep up the show's theme of dangling a win in front of Kendall and then snatching it away.]] And again, there is a third group who feel that while the move made sense given everything we've seen regarding the characters involved, it might have been nice to see things go down differently in the final episode.

** "There is no way they're closing the portal". [[note]]A tumblr post stating "do you guys think Kendall is going to close the portal or is it over for New York" as a joke regarding the events of an episode. It's since spiralled into the portal being a metaphor for the cycle of abuse the Roys are stuck in, with people often using it as shorthand for how bad Kendall is doing that week (i.e., "there is no way he's closing the portal", "if anything Kendall is making the portal bigger".[[/note]]

** AMBIGUOUS DISORDER [[note]][[https://64.media.tumblr.com/094735be01f55d95ecb63f188eb2fe1c/0190131bd6c9ac6f-d4/s2048x3072_c0,0,100000,93750/b0df2810510ac6d82496c2ba3121eeebca4c2edc.gif A gif]] that was originally in a Tumblr gifset of Kendall Roy's characters tropes, but has been taken out of context as a bizarre reaction gif. It's even been extended to [[https://successiondaily.tumblr.com/post/684402486124134400/succession-2018 the other characters.]]
[[/note]]
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