REVIEW: Succession – Best Drama Series of the Year

After two seasons, Succession ranked among the best series of today. The story follows the Roy family, with Logan, the old director and founder of the news media corporation, in the forefront. His four children - Shiv, Roman, Ken and Connor - have their position in the company, but everyone wants a bigger piece of the cake. Logan is very careful about who he chooses. The second season ended in a huge cliffhanger when Kendall dropped all charges against his father, which unleashed a war not only within the company but also within the family.

The third season fully dives into a storyline, which allows the creators to show real relationships between the family members who no longer need to be violently nice to each other. This sparked a lot of great emotional dialogues, but at the same time it revealed who's best at making the most out of the cards that were dealt to them.

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In the previous seasons, we had the impression that it wasn't so much about the business side of things. In the 3rd season, however, business comes to the forefront. It's quite refreshing, since some of the family issues, drama and relationships have been getting a bit sterile at this point. The biggest con of the series is the fact that certain relationships between characters don't develop for a long time and the creators kept them going in one circle for a while.

Good example is the relationship between Tom and Shiv, which has been stuck in the same spot for three seasons without any evolution or significant changes in their relationship, although there were many reasons and opportunities for that to occur. It only happens in the final of the 3rd season but until then it's the same old song.

It seems as if the creators have to wait for certain events in order to move forward with Tom and Shiv's relationship, as it significantly affects the main skeleton of the story. Similarly, Greg, Logan's children's cousin, continues to live off of his family while showing what a slimy snake he really is.

This is a feature that perhaps all of the characters in Succession have. Prepare to find many reasons to hate them all. Nevertheless, you keep your fingers crossed for them and enjoy their success. Actors and the brilliant script and dialogues, which often leave you in silent amazement, are definitely to blame here.

The characters in Succession are taken to extreme situations, but they still come across as authentic. They never have the time to rest and are constantly exposed to a lot of stress by something or someone. And some, like Kendall, can't handle it whatsoever.

Succession is a brilliantly written TV drama with many surprising moments. The creators have produced an engaging story with several interesting diversions and supporting characters. At the center of the action is the dysfunctional family of Logan Roy. However, dysfunctional is probably not the right description. The family is corrupt and disgusting, but you can't stop watching.

This is also due to the well-written dialogues full of metaphors or inconspicuous references to the main themes of the series. At times the dialogues are also extremely funny ("A man dying of thirst is suddenly a mineral water critic?"), but they can also be a bit chaotic. Succession takes place in the world of business, large conglomerates and international trade.

The script is sometimes full of deadlines and discussions that are not entirely easy to understand. Especially in the scenes where the characters talk fast and a lot happens on the screen. It wouldn't hurt to make these business discussions somewhat more understandable.

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However, that's the only remorse we have against the 3rd season and the series as a whole. As soon as the individual relationships finally get moving, we basically don't have anything to complain about. Sometimes we feel that the characters and the world around them aren't affected by any of the decisions. Someone messes up something horribly, but until the end of the 3rd season, we didn't feel that it affected or punished them in any way.

Aside from that, Succession is basically perfect. You can still count on an excellent camera presenting the story in an extremely personal, sensitive and human style, often focusing on the close-ups of the actors' faces. From a technical point of view, whether it's editing, the above mentioned camera, scenery, or beautiful environment, again, we have nothing to complain about. Maybe except for the costumes of Shiv. Her outfits are sometimes not very suitable.

Directors responsible for the 3rd season deserve a really big bonus. Especially Mark Mylod, who shot several of the episodes, including the absurdly great finale, or Kevin Bray, who directed the 5th episode called Retired Janitors of Idaho about the shareholders' meeting. The directors of these episodes managed to make the absolute maximum out of the attractive theme. They managed to be funny, emotional, straightforward, but also striking and surprising. The shareholders' meeting is an extremely exciting ride that will get you glued to the screen.

It's mainly the actors who are perfect in their roles. We have a hard time remembering a series with so many amazing acting performances. Every single main character is brilliantly portrayed, whether it's in a humorous rendition, emotional moments, or when they have to argue or act uncertainly and confused.

There isn't a single scene in which you won't be convinced by the performances of these actors, no matter how absurd. We can hardly pick one of the actors without immediately praising the others. This is especially true for the final, 9th episode, in which everyone gave their best and you can really feel it. You won't be able to break away from the last part. It has an insanely fast pace, one great scene after another, and it all escalates into family conflict that will take your breath away.

The last 30 minutes are basically an acting showcase of all participants, topped by Jeremy Strong (Kendall), Kieran Culkin (seeing the pain and fear in Roman's eyes was really powerful) and Brian Cox (Logan). What these actors are showing in the last episode is Oscar-worthy.

Succession is an extremely well-written and perfectly directed television drama. Its strongest weapon is the actors, who play their roles beyond convincingly. The third season finally goes into the depths of the characters, and by the end, the relationships between the individual characters move forward. Our complaint about the lack of progress in some storylines isn't negligible anyway.

However, the series is so strong in other aspects that we can't accept a rating any lower than 9.5 points out of 10. Honestly speaking, we were leaning towards 8.5 out of 10, but one of the best TV finales (this season, not the whole series, since we still have to see the 4th season) of the 21st century, it made it to the final 9.5 out of 10.