#brenna rewatches succession

[tomwambsmilk]

Two halves of a whole idiot

[tomwambsmilk]

I hate it so much when people say Succession is “filmed like the office” (or worse that they “don’t know what steadicam is” or similar). Like yes obviously mockumentary style filming relies heavily on handheld cameras, including the use of zoom, but it’s frustrating because the reasons it works so well for documentary filmmaking is the same reason it works so well for Succession. Documentary filmmakers (whose filming style ‘mockumentaries’ are obviously based on) don’t have the luxury of pre-planning or rehearsing their shots, or doing multiple takes. They have to try and capture what’s happening the moment as best they can. And so consequently, they have to move around a lot, and they have to use rapid camera zoom to try and highlight spontaneous moments that are important but might otherwise be lost on the viewer.

And part of the reason this works so well for Succession is it makes the audience’s relationship to the characters feel genuine and organic, rather than pre-planned or rehearsed. It makes the moments that a camera captures a face or reaction feel more intimate and more genuine. And it highlights the moments characters might want to keep hidden from others in a particular way, in the same way a documentary camera might be able to capture a specific moment. And sometimes, like the office, this is also used for comedic effect. But the point is that the filming style is SO incredibly deliberate, and the idea that they’re just trying to rip off the office or straight up don’t know what they’re doing misses the point entirely.

[tomwambsmilk]

“I’m too dumb to know how to fix the whole company but I’m smart enough to know what needs changing and find the people who can change it” is a Roman line I’m obsessed with, largely because that’s actually what makes someone a good organizational leader. There is no one person out there who has all of the skill sets and knowledge needed to make an org work, and anyone who thinks they can, or tries, is going to fail. Great leaders are good at exactly that - they spot the problems, and they can identify who’s best suited to fix them. I don’t think Roman is at all ready to be CEO in Season 1, but out of the ‘golden trio’ I think he’s maybe the only one who, from the start, recognizes that he can’t possibly hold all the solutions to Waystar; both Kendall and Shiv, in their respective bids, perceive themselves as ‘saviours’ of the company, and eschew or ignore the input of other people in the process. (And it’s especially fascinating that this attitude, which I think would contribute to Roman’s potential success, would probably be looked down on by Logan if he knew about it).

[tomwambsmilk]

The cinematography for this episode was done by Andrij Parekh, who also directed some of my favourite Succession episodes, and I love his work because you can see some of the interesting ways their using the camera to communicate things. One of the techniques he particularly uses a lot that I find so fascinating is shooting through glass:

There's this shot with Shiv looking at Logan as they're ushered away at the beginning of the episode - we think she's looking at Logan, but then we see:

Succession often uses shooting through the glass as a way of communicating some sort of distance, and here it's subtly highlighting the particular relationship and intimacy Marcia enjoys with Logan that his children do not. And I think it's particularly telling that Shiv is the one taking note of this - there's understandable envy there that's rooted not just in her being Logan's child but in the way Logan prioritizes the women in his life. We're already laying the groundwork for the particular strange middle ground Shiv finds herself in as a woman who is not a sexual prospect (like Marcia or Rhea) but is also not "one of the boys" (like Gerri).

Obviously, there are all the scenes of the kids looking at Logan through the glass in the suite, but other people have already discussed those at length, so I'm not gonna get into most of them here, except:

This shot here once again represents both the distance between the kids and Marcia - but there's also something in Marcia looking up at them. Watching the watchmen, etc.

And it's also interesting to look at the Kendall lines that are shot from Logan's side of the glass versus the ones where we're in the room with Kendall:

"I know you don't want to talk about this" and "we rather precisely can"... Highlight the discomfort and maybe borderline inhumanity of discussing the CEO position and the value of a human life while a man is possibly dying by drifting back over to where Logan is and shooting through the glass. Highlighting the ways in which the kids are removed from their father and subtly hinting that the business is a big part of why.

[tomwambsmilk]

“My dad’s a bastard - they need to know I’m a bastard too” is such an interesting line because it is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of Logan’s relationship with the outside world - but it also cuts to one of the core questions in the early days of “Succession”. Logan can get away with being a bastard because the power and wealth he’s accumulated allows him to behave that way, and others have no choice but to fall in line. Half that power comes from the interpersonal relationships he’s developed, which Kendall simply doesn’t have.

(And you can hear that in the bank manager saying “we’re not crazy about how your father has treated our relationship” - it’s not actually that they respect Logan, it’s that they simply have no choice but to play along, because Logan can bring all hell down on them if they don’t. Kendall can’t, so they aren’t obligated to play along with him.)

It’s pretty clear that as of the beginning of Succession, Logan’s accumulated such a critical mass of power than he can do whatever he wants and still be successful. He can bend the world to his will. But the very interesting implication is - he wasn’t always like that. He didn’t always have that power. So at some point, there was some genuine skill and acumen that he leveraged to get to the position where he could accumulate power. And then, when the skill and acumen started to wane, it wasn’t visible because that critical mass of power covered for it. Which obviously sets up a massive problem for whomever takes over - the way that he’s running Waystar now is deeply problematic and out of touch, and when he dies he takes most of that influence with him. And I’m not sure any of the characters really realizes that; they treat Logan as a god, but I don’t know how cognizant they are of how little power and influence Waystar as a company really has.

[tomwambsmilk]

Just noticed that in 1.04 when Tom opens his office door Greg specifically stands up and pretends to rifle through folders so he can wave hi to Tom…. Homeboy was down so bad

[tomwambsmilk]

Greg keeping those photocopies of the cruise docs in the office means that he definitely had them sitting in one of the drawers of a HIGHLY insecure cubicle for the better part of a year before he got an office of his own with a door that theoretically locked. It’s an absolute miracle nobody found those papers

[tomwambsmilk]

So I just realized that there's a clock on the wall of the room in the hospital that the Roys are eventually sent to wait in:

This is the first shot of the clock, here, shortly after they've been moved into the suite, and we can see it's almost 2am. It's almost halfway through the episode at this point, so that makes sense.

This is the next somewhat clear shot of the clock I could find - 3:30am, during the conversation about the Vaulter piece where Ken tries to persuade Roman and Shiv to get behind him. Kendall calls Laurence Yee to threaten him after the first shot (2am), which means Vaulter put together that story more or less from scratch in under 90 minutes, which is incredibly impressive (props to that journalist).

Next shot is Greg coming back with slippers, at 4:30am. We don't know exactly when he left to get them but I would guess probably 1am at the latest, which means he spent at least 3 and a half hours, if not more, fetching the slippers.... procrastinating king. (He's just like me fr).

This is the last shot, and while there's not a great shot in this scene, I'm guessing it's maybe 4:50am here? This is the scene where Kendall persuades everyone to go for him and Roman. Both Tom and Greg are missing from this scene btw. I know this objectively means nothing, but I'm choosing to believe that they're having coffee down the hall or something because neither of them has anything better to do.

[tomwambsmilk]

I’m going to elaborate more on this when I get further in this rewatch but I want to put a pin in the idea that a) the best way to eventually become CEO of Waystar is to never give any indication that you might want to be CEO, while simultaneously moving high enough in the company that you are a logical choice for CEO when Logan is eventually incapacitated - because regardless of how loyal you are to Logan, as soon as you indicate that you might want to be CEO, he’s going to see you as a threat and that’s the beginning of the end.

And b) this isn’t really an option for any of the Roy kids because their reasons for wanting to be CEO are very much tied up in their desire to be loved by Logan, so if they become CEO by default rather than appointment by Logan it sort of defeats the purpose of the whole enterprise

[tomwambsmilk]

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the first three episodes - even having seen the show more times than I'm willing to admit, I do still think "Celebration" and "Lifeboats" are Succession's two weakest episodes. "Shit Show at the Fuck Factory" gets a slightly higher ranking, but it's still a bottom ten episode for me. And admittedly, a big part of that is that these three episodes need to do a lot of heavy lifting in terms of establishing characters, dynamics, and setting, which doesn't leave much room for the kind of interesting and engaging storytelling that really makes Succession a good watch. One thing that highlights this is that there isn't a single wasted scene in "Celebration" - every scene, line, and interaction tells us something important, something fundamental, about who these people are, the world they operate in, and their relationships to each other. But as strong as this is from an economical-storytelling standpoint, it's a big part of why so many people (myself included when I started watching) really struggle to make it past the first three episodes - especially considering you don't truly understand the importance of what you're seeing until you've finished at least the first season, if not the third.

But, all that being said, I can't think of another show that does such a good job of efficiently and effectively establishing what it needs to. Aside from the Kendall and Logan scenes, we have the aforementioned baseball scene with Roman, as well as his introductory scene, which establishes him as not caring about being in the business - and then his one-on-one with Logan, which shows us that he does care very much about his role (or lack thereof) in Waystar, despite pretending not to. We have Shiv's first scene with Tom, which establishes the tenor of their relationship and the degree to which Logan hangs over it; and her own one-on-one with Logan, which tells us how badly he wants her in the business, the fact that he doesn't have much respect for Tom, his lack of respect for her work, and her own disinterest, not necessarily in the business, but in playing second fiddle to her brothers (hence needing 'the top job'). We learn that Connor is disconnected from the rest of the family (the ranch, not realizing that 'old bread' is not a good gift for Logan) as well as his chronic need to avoid confrontation (I'm water, I flow).

Tom's scenes with Logan further highlight both Logan's lack of respect for him and the keen desperation with which he wants that respect, even though (as we'll soon learn) he's been dating Shiv for quite a while; his scene with Greg simultaneously establishes his twin desires for power and friendship when he currently has neither, as well as his failure to live up to the (highly sexual and to a certain extent sexually violent) ideal of "masculinity" prized by other members of the Roy family. And Greg's scenes communicate his status as a chronic failure and his discomfort with nepotism (he 'doesn't want to get into it' when his mom asks if he told the park managers who he was) as well as the desperation that causes him both to push forward with Logan despite that discomfort (and the ambition that makes him ask for much more than is reasonable, given his situation) and to tolerate Tom and the incredibly confusing and borderline abusive conversation the two of them have at the baseball game.

Of course, the first time we watch, we don't realize that's what we're seeing. That's because one of the rules of filmmaking is that you generally need to communicate something three times before the audience understands it - so while certain things (such as Kendall's relationship with Logan) are readily apparent from the get-go, a first-time viewer doesn't yet have enough information to properly interpret most of what they're seeing. But that doesn't change the fact that the screenwriters do an incredible job of throwing a lot of important information at us in the course of an hour without making it feel overwhelming.

The other really interesting thing about the first three episodes is that they do a good job of establishing the characters in certain archetypes - which they then spend the rest of the season unravelling. Coming out of the first episode, Logan is a well-meaning but misguided father and a brilliant businessman who has disappointing children; we understand that he's not a great father, but his frustration with his children feels somewhat earned, given what we know about them so far. Kendall is the heir with great potential but also substantial flaws who is cut down by Logan and will (probably) have to learn to overcome those flaws to assume his rightful place. Roman is the irresponsible and childish son who isn't meant to be taken seriously and doesn't have the emotional depth of the other characters. Shiv is the responsible and sensible only daughter, not as susceptible to her father's manipulations, relatively innocent by virtue of removing herself from the company, and ultimately supportive to Tom. Connor is the harmless, oddball son whose impact on the family is negligible. Tom is the sycophantic and power-hungry asshole who cares more about Logan than Shiv. Greg is a wide-eyed, innocent burnout who has no idea what he's getting into.

But then, over the course of the first season, Succession slowly unravels all of these archetypes. While there is some truth to each of them, nothing is truly as it initially appeared to be. As the show progresses, the characters develop in ways that are simultaneously unexpected, and yet, in hindsight, perfectly in line with what we've learned about them so far. And in doing so, the show gives depth and nuance to those archetypes and engages us in these people and their lives and their relationships, making us empathize with them, despicable as they may be - and the fact that our initial assessments were somewhat off only makes the gradual reveal of their true characters more impactful.

[tomwambsmilk]

Obsessed with Roman and Kendall’s body language at the end of the board meeting… they spend the whole episode confidently (or semi-confidently) moving through the interactions they need to have with various stakeholders, recruiting people for this vote of no confidence - but in the presence of Logan (and particularly in the presence of him winning) their body language becomes deeply reminiscent of children who are being scolded. A visual representation of the infantilizing effect that Logan has on his children

[tomwambsmilk]

Love all the little ways we get reminded of how insulated the Roys are from the wider world. In “Which Side Are You On” there’s a terror threat so significant and plausible that the NYPD is evacuating several blocks of the financial district (something that would potentially have a real economic impact, and so something they would not do lightly) and air traffic has been grounded. This not the kind of thing that happens - ever. And yet we learn absolutely no details about what’s going on because everyone is so absorbed in the board meeting that the terror threat completely escapes their notice, beyond the ways it inconveniences them

[tomwambsmilk]

I hate montages in general but. I have to say that absolutely no one does a montage like Succession. I’ll go fucking bonkers over a Succession montage, I don’t care

[tomwambsmilk]

Someone who knows more than me about Ancient Rome correct me if I’m wrong, but iirc there was a strong connection btwn prostitution and the theatre in antiquity, both in terms of actresses also working as escorts, actresses being on the same social level as escorts, and prostitutes working outside theatres after performances. So with all that in mind, and considering the relationship the Roys have to antiquity, having Willa be an escort who also works in theatre is an interesting choice

[tomwambsmilk]

We don’t talk enough about Tom’s mother trying to negotiate tiered Waystar share buy-ins tied to his sperm count as part of the prenup

[tomwambsmilk]

Tom proposing to Shiv in the hospital so that he has an excuse not to ask Logan first (and also having the whole convo with Marcia about ‘do you think his body would like to be asked’ presumably so she can tell him about it when he wakes up) will never not be funny to me