There are a bunch of quite interesting characters in this series and I would say that almost all of them are written quite well and cast perfectly. One of the surprise actors that really kind of blows my mind at how perfect he is for the role is Kieran Culkin in his role as "Roman." I didn't know a lot about this show when I started watching it but yes, that is indeed the younger brother or Macaulay Culkin. I'll save this for another time but Kieran was in Home Alone as well.
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It's good to see that he embraced the combover long before it was necessary.
I believe Succession is a pretty great series but ultimately, towards the end of season 3 I can sense that they are kind of running out of ideas and they probably needed to wrap it up, which is what they did after 4 seasons and that was probably a wise move. After all, there are only so many scenarios of a super-powerful family screwing one another over that can possibly arise and many of the shock turns aren't really all that shocking nor are they turns.
We all have our favorites I guess but there are some characters that have evolved since the start of the show and become more engaging characters and others that have kind of faded and become a bit boring in my opinion.
Tom Wambsgans becomes more bold and interesting
Tom is the only central character that isn't blood related to the Roy's and in the first season and a half or so he is treated and behaves like an outsider even though he is actually quite helpful towards everything that he does.
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Tom is smart, there is no denying that, but he also seems the most vulnerable out of everyone in the family and that is what makes his character grow more interesting over time. He can be brutal, but for the most part he has dramatically more empathy than the other members of the family who don't seem to care at all who they crush along the way, even their own family members.
Siobhan kind of fades into the background
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This isn't to say that Siobhan isn't interesting or a crucial part of the family dynamic, but she is kind of the one person that you can count on most people not agreeing with and being shoved to the side. Keep in mind that I have no idea how this series pans out and she may end up being a mastermind of sorts. If that ends up being the case I will eat my words on this one but as it is now and for most of the series, she seems to be the person who is used and her opinion isn't valued a great deal by almost anyone.
Logan stays interesting and mysterious
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The patriarch of the family seems at times to be vulnerable but a great deal of the time it is all a ruse just to get a desired reaction out of those around him. His character doesn't seem to have any weaknesses and he pulls on the strings of those around him. Nobody really defies him and gets away with it. He uses everyone around him including his own family members to get what he wants and he is a different kind of villain. The people closest to him know how intelligent and manipulative he is as Roman says one time "are you kidding me? Dad's like 6 moves ahead of all of us!"
While they do push him to the back of the focus every now and then you can always count on him coming back and rising to the top ahead of everyone else. Brian Cox plays this role flawlessly and he is one of the best characters in a drama, ever.
Greg went from nothing to everything
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"Cousin Greg" started out as a side character, a charity project of sorts, that didn't have much to do with the main story at all. He just seemed to be someone that would get abused by everyone and they didn't really understand why he was included at all. He has too much of a "moral compass" to be a real Roy, but these sensitivities of his actually work to his benefit as the show progresses. I have gone to great lengths to not spoil what happens in this show in the next 11 episodes, but I foresee Greg playing a pivotal role.
Roman is a dark horse emerging as a leader
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When I first started watching Succession I felt that Roman was the idiot wild-child of the family that plays dress up every now and then but really has no interest or acumen to actually contribute to it. As time goes by he seems to be growing into the embodiment of his father, Logan. He is a narcissist and will not hesitate to completely and unapologetically crush anyone that gets in the way of his family business. He is able to gain the trust of other people with his garrulousness and it is precisely because he isn't seen as a threat that makes him so dangerous. He lures people in with his charm when his intention from the start was to rob them and he gets away with it over and over again. Despite being the smallest of the children he takes on a role of a leader that they do not like, but no less are forced to respect.
The fact that he has some of the best insults in the show only add to the amount of affection I have for this wonderfully-written and wonderfully-cast character.
Kendall's character is too cyclical and therefore, boring
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The most corporate of the kids by far, Kendall has basically the same plan over and over again and we, the audience are supposed to be surprised when this happens? Well, I was the first 2 times but now that sort of plot objective is something they need to walk away from. 3 different occasions of him attempting to wrestle the family business away from his father's control have all failed and in the past they have always had him crawl away to lick his wounds and then oh big surprise! he goes and has another go at it.
They need to take his character in another direction or just let him fade off into the background.
It is precisely because of the repetitive nature of specifically his character and Kendall's objectives that the overall story starts to sour a bit about halfway into season 3. We only have 4 seasons so I hope that the next big thing doesn't involve Kendall just doing the same thing that he has done so often and predictably up until this point.
So that's my list of the evolution of the characters of Succession and how much I enjoy seeing them get screen time. You may have noticed that I didn't even include Connor in this list but that is because I feel as though he doesn't really play any meaningful role in the story and is kept in the wings for episodes that they only have 40 minutes of material for and then make something up with the other brother just to fill up some time.
What do you think? Do you like the characters and if so, why?