“Family Death March”: Succession Series Finale
“I am the eldest boy.”
In five words, Jesse Armstrong and Jeremy Strong articulate the impulse behind Kendall Roy’s quest for power in a finale that brings all the themes of this extraordinary show full circle. Kendall Roy is not a visionary. He has no great ideas for what he’d do as CEO of Waystar. His plans to kick his father off the throne never work. He doesn’t have the business savvy of Shiv or the wit of Roman. So why does he want it? Because he believed that, as the oldest of his siblings, it was his birthright. It all came down to his entitlement and nothing else. The saddest thing is, when he finally admits it, he thinks it’s going to be enough to put Shiv on his side and vote for him as CEO. But it’s the argument of a child — and let’s face it, Kendall, Roman, and Shiv never really grew up.
Kendall throws his and his siblings’ immaturity into stark relief when, after learning that Logan promised all his kids the company at one point or another, he shares this memory:
Kendall: He fucking promised it to me. Promised. When I was seven, he sat me down at the Candy Kitchen in Bridgehampton and he promised it to me. Seven years old. Can you imagine?
Roman: Yeah, pics or it didn’t happen.
Kendall: That was messed up. Like, he shouldn’t have done that. I’m…
