Why Watching ‘Succession’ Is Especially Chilling Right Now

Kendall Roy talks to a video made to look like a hologram version of his late father Logan on stage during a product launch presentation on Sunday night's episode of HBO's "Succession." It must be nice to be able to make such costly decisions on a whim, like during the “Succession” Season 3 finale, when Logan explains he’s pursuing a deal with Matsson because “I feel it in my bones.” It must be nice to act on “harebrained schemes,” as Shiv describes her brother’s theatrics. Graeme Hunter/HBO As it heads into its final episodes, “Succession” has set up a potential collision course: Kendall and Roman are recklessly attempting to torpedo the deal Logan had been finalizing with Matsson. It’s ironic, yet also weirdly satisfying, to watch Roman, who has committed no shortage of cruel acts on the show, call Matsson a “inhuman fucking dog-man.” But there’s also some satisfaction in watching Matsson expose the Roys’ incompetence, like when he compares them to “Scooby-Doo” and mockingly asks if they went to “Hanna-Barbera fucking Business School.” Matsson also dismisses Kendall as “Vaulter guy,” referring to Kendall’s failed acquisition of digital media startup Vaulter. It’s at the heart of ATN’s slogan: “We here for you.” It’s Shiv telling now-estranged husband Tom: “I may not love you, but I do love you.” Kendall is the king of throwing around empty buzzwords, like describing his vision for a new news outlet as “high-calorie info parcels”, and asking Cousin Greg to “take my cultural temperature.” In Sunday night’s episode, Kendall advertises Living+ using jargon like “integrated everyday character IP life enhancement.” Earlier, he reads out loud from a company document that calls it “personalized longevity programs.” But what Living+ really is, as he says afterward, is “planning to warehouse the elderly and keep them drunk on content while we suck ’em dollar dry.” Later, Shiv describes it even more bluntly as “prison camps for grannies.” Like the Roys, real-life rich CEOs obfuscate their misguided decisions using meaningless corporate jargon.