Succession – The Pleasure of Hating Vile Rich People

Succession is back for its final season on HBO, and while I’ll miss the show’s treachery and vile characters, I have to agree with the show’s producers. You can’t go on screwing over family members forever. 

This highly entertaining show is headed by the old, cranky, and demanding character of Logan Roy, who runs a media empire based loosely on the news corporation of Rupert Murdoch, who, coincidentally, is also old, cranky, and demanding. 

The plot of Succession revolves around the conniving troupe of Roy’s three sons and a daughter, who are vying for control of the company’s billions of dollars, and an inner circle of people who work for the company and are trying to secure their own piece of the pie. 

The family members are people who have lived in a privileged bubble their entire lives and don’t really understand the value of money. The clueless elder son Connor is running for US president. He asks his siblings whether 100 million is worth spending to get 1% of the vote. Meanwhile, the inner circle is trying to figure out who of the family members to back and possibly save their own jobs after the old guy has lost control of the reins. 

Mirror Image

The Roy family, and its messy succession situation, is a mirror image of the real-life Murdochs. The three younger Murdochs are reportedly in their own battle for control of News Corp. Complicating the battle, Fox News, which is a brand owned by News Corp, is embroiled in a lawsuit over the last election that will cost the loser up to 1.6 billion US dollars.

The ironic real-life twist is that while the senior Murdoch says he’s never seen Succession, the younger Murdochs are reportedly big fans of the show. Having your family’s lives become a popular streaming program must be a strange ego boost.