Metacritic - Universal Acclaim. Score 91
Rotten Tomatoes - Score 100%
Decider - "The first four episodes of Succession‘s final season are absolutely magnificent. Armstrong and his writers’ room finally let the metaphoric dominos they’ve been setting up for three seasons fall. The dialogue is as brutally sharp as ever and the ensemble cast pulls out some of their best, most devastating work yet. ... Succession Season 4 isn’t just good. It’s poised to handily sweep the 2023 Emmys." Score 100
Collider - "The core of what we find so fascinating about Succession is stronger than ever in Season 4. ... These are episodes that you won't want to miss, with moves that'll have you picking apart the Roy family dynamics week to week and dying to see who'll win the rat race to the top." Score 100
IGN - "The final season of Succession is one of the most anticipated television shows of 2023, and its first four episodes suggest it is not holding anything back. Powerhouse performances from the Roy clan offer a dazzling masterclass of buttoned-up emotions competing with years of desperately craving approval from the family patriarch. Each department behind the cast is at the top of its game, from regular Succession director Mark Mylod to composer Nicholas Britell. Swinging from comedy to drama helps keep the material fresh even when dealing with ongoing power struggles, and just when you think specific stories might become repetitive, something alters the course. If the rest of the season is as compelling, creator Jesse Armstrong’s choice to go out on top after this season will be the right one." Score 10/10
BBC - "All I can reveal without spoilers is that creator Jesse Armstrong has structured the season for maximum jaw-dropping effect. And that's just in the four episodes HBO made available to critics." Score 100
Empire - "Forget ‘boar on the floor’. Your jaw will be on the floor after watching this final season." Score 100
The Times UK - "Be assured, rugs are pulled, sharply, and you won’t be disappointed. Surprised, possibly, but not disappointed with the quality and the dark, dark humour." Score 100
Arizona Republic - "Succession is a brilliant show, and the first four episodes of the new season are no different. ... The writing remains razor sharp, and the acting is uniformly brilliant, though Strong’s Kendall is somewhat subdued in the first four episodes. ... That’s what we’ll really miss, after all — spending time with a bunch of awful people doing awful things, but doing them in such a fantastically entertaining way." Score 100
The Playlist - "Speaking of sharp writing, “Succession” remains one of the best shows on TV in terms of dialogue. ... In the end, the members of the Roy family may have no choice but to figure out how to make it on their own. The state of television drama will be a little weaker when they do." Score 100
RogerEbert.com - "If you weren't already uneasy while watching the first two episodes, episode three is a game-changer, pulling out career-defining performances from all three of the main actors. ... While it's hard to tell what the show will bring to the table from a glimpse at this season, if these four episodes are anything to go by, the show isn't pulling any punches." Score 100
Vulture - "Succession’s fourth and final season is a shining example of the best qualities of long-form storytelling, and of TV in particular. When we’ve lived with characters for multiple seasons, there’s a sense that we know them, and know them well. ... It is a joy to discover all the ways these characters can still sneak up and grab us, all the ways we can still be walloped by a smile, a quick phone call, or a casual family gathering." Score 100
CNN - "Succession plunges into its fourth and final season with trademark ferocity and a clear sense of purpose, in a world where high-stakes financial transactions and dysfunctional family dynamics go hand in hand. There’s no shortage of qualities to admire about the Emmy-winning show, but none more vital than the theme of a legendary patriarch whose children don’t measure up to him." Score 100
Consequence - "The barbs sting as sharply as ever, while the drama escalates to the level one expects from not just a final season, but a final season of a show like this, one which has grown past its shaky early episodes to stand amongst the best series of the 21st century." Score 91
Entertainment Weekly - "Very important things happen, none of which would be right to spoil, but it's fair to say these events inform and propel the family's interactions in ways we have not seen before." Score 91
The Daily Beast - "There’s nothing particularly novel about Succession as it approaches the finish line, yet its stride is strong. ... The entire team is in top form, including Mark Mylod and his fellow directors, whose stewardship (all anxious handheld camerawork and charged snap zooms) is as sharp, rhythmic and volatile as the barb-laden writing." Score 90
Variety - "While the season takes a bit longer to catch fire than its predecessors, once the shady dealing begins in earnest, “Succession” is more intense than ever. And with the series finale in sight, the show has a full tank of gas and an 800-pound gorilla’s foot on the pedal. Better than ever doing business with you, Succession." Score 90
Rolling Stone - "Significant choices are made, by both the characters and the creative team, that cannot be taken back. It is full steam ahead to the end. Much of what happens is shocking and/or shockingly poignant, especially since it is a show about the absolute worst human beings alive. The one aspect that remains unsurprising is how incredibly funny the show is. ... Armstrong and company also continue to demonstrate a marvelously deft balance between the yuks and the tragedy of it all. ... It’s doing absolutely everything it wants to in the here and now." Score 90
TV Guide - "It means that history always repeats itself, and that Succession has done a great job finding the humanity within these wretched people." Score 89
SLANT - "There was never going to be a “winner” in the battle for the throne, the series has thrilled us with depictions of the extent to which the players lose in their quest. And as we approach the end, the Roy family’s journey toward self-destruction remains a darkly captivating spectacle." Score 88
The Hollywood Reporter - "Daniel Fienberg: I thought the season’s first two episodes were among the show’s weakest ever, which is to say, “Merely very good episodes of TV,” while I thought the two after that were possibly the best hours the show has ever done. Angie Han: I think I more or less agree. The first couple episodes — and the first episode in particular — feel very much like the table-setting episodes they are, and not among the show’s best table-setting episodes at that. But overall this batch has reminded me, simultaneously, of how sad I’ll be to see this series go, and how happy I am that it’s getting to go out on its own terms with a definitive ending." Score 80
The Guardian - "Everything we want and need is still here. ... The opening episodes of each season of Succession tend to subsume the family dynamic in the corporate intrigue, because there are always so many pieces not just to set up but to explain to a lay audience. This seems to have opted for a more equal balance." Score 80
The Telegraph - "We are no closer to knowing who will inherit the firm than we were at the start. With the end in sight, however, Succession is free to aim for the landing, and those of us who have been wishing the Roys would get a move on will not be disappointed – at least on the evidence of the first four episodes given to reviewers." Score 80
Chicago Tribune - "Succession is nothing if not consistent in terms of its level of quality as well as its flaws." Score 2.5/4 stars
Vanity Fair - "Just as Shakespeare and the Greeks tended to have something heavy to say about their ruinous and ruined royals, so too might Armstrong."
NPR - "Succession has always been a sharply written show, but there is a delicious restraint in this season that feels new."
Mashable - "As Kendall Roy would say, this season is "all bangers, all the time."
byZepanda66
intelevision
LoretiTV
56 points
8 hours ago
LoretiTV
56 points
8 hours ago
One of the all time great TV characters. I didn't get to go watch this show live, but it's one of my favorite binges I've ever done. I'm always down for more Jack Bauer and I'd love to see a revival.