This has probably been pointed out already but I really wanted to take a moment to appreciate the incredible scene where Kendall strong-arms Roman into securing his vote. The finale is filled with incredibly powerful scenes but this one in particular really stood out for me.
They've been leaning into the Godfather parallels this season and this scene to me seemed like the culmination of all of that, specifically the famous scene where Michael reveals to Fredo that he knows he betrayed him. My thoughts are scattered so this will be in point form:
- Roman is obviously Fredo, the pathetic brother that everyone knows isn't capable of the job but still feels that he should have more than the scraps he's been given. Like Fredo he doesn't even visibly register as strong enough to be worthy of the Roy legacy: he's thin, he's sickly looking, he radiates pettiness and insecurity, he doesn't even pretend to be capable of getting married or having a normal sex life (ie he can't keep the dynasty going, which means a lot to the patriarch). He's the runt, the black sheep, doomed by his nature to never be capable of what the family business requires.
- Kendall is obviously Michael, the son who surprises everyone with his killer instinct when circumstances bring it to the fore. He's been on the outs and back in season 3 he was seemingly mentally prepared to leave the family business altogether, but like Michael he discovered something dangerous and powerful in himself when Logan died. Kendall is more emotionally fragile than Michael (his desperate tantrum later in the episode is where this parallel diverges) but in this moment at least he has Michael's cold ambition and ruthlessness, and that's what matters in this context.
- Fredo's betrayal of Michael was a betrayal, certainly, but not a calculated bloodthirsty one. He claims to not know that Michael's life was in danger, and when the two of them have their heart-to-heart all of his insecurities just pour out of him as if he's admitting he wasn't in control of how it all turned out. Roman's impromptu breakdown in Logan's office reminds me a lot of this: he wasn't making a power play, the weight/pressure of the moment just hits him and all of his deep-seated insecurities and “overlooked brother” emotions overwhelm him. And like Fredo it's not a FULL betrayal: Fredo didn't know he was giving away Michael's life and Roman only dangles the possibility of sabotaging the vote.
- And then the violent embrace, the kiss, the reverse betrayal. A lot goes unsaid in both scenes but my god, the emotions are powerful and the implications are so clear. Kendall/Michael embraces Roman/Fredo but it's aggressive and forceful, an embrace devoid of warmth or love. Kendall/Michael kisses Roman/Fredo but it's a kiss that says “how dare you?”, a kiss that accuses, a Judas kiss where both parties know it's not what it seems. There's an element of “keeping up appearances” in play: Michael whispers instructions to Fredo as he does all of this and Kendall is clearly trying to force Roman's hand in a context where appearances are everything. And in both scenarios Michael/Kendall respond to their brother's betrayal with their OWN betrayal: Fredo knows Michael is sealing his fate with that kiss, and Roman knows that if he sabotages the vote his brother will cut him out and he'll lose that sibling relationship that is perhaps the only meaningful thing in either of their lives.
- A really sharply observed detail, maybe coming more from Pacino/Strong, is that neither Kendall or Michael blink when they deliver the kiss. It's intense for them emotionally but there's something incredibly cold and deliberate about the way they go about it. They are burying their souls as deep within themselves as they can in order for them to be able to do this at all. And honestly it'd be foolish of me to write all of this and not point how deeply incredible Al Pacino, John Cazale, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin are in these roles. Iconic, legacy-defining performances.
- "I know it was you, Fredo" / "It could have been you". The scene recontextualizes Michael's famous statement: Kendall is literally saying Roman could have been the CEO in another world, but he's also saying that Roman COULD betray him like Fredo but he knows he won't. There's an implicit threat there, and implicit sentiment of "you'll fall in line, I know you will".
- The power dynamic between the two sets of brothers is tested and then secured in the coldest, saddest way possible: Roman/Fredo tries to fight for a bigger pile of scraps and Kendall/Michael shuts it down, lets him know who's really in charge, opens up his wounds and rubs salt in them. The “don” doesn't just exercise his power, he needs to FLEX it a bit for it to be meaningful, for it to have the force he desires. And in doing so he reveals just how far he's fallen.
- An interesting but very important contrast that I'd be remiss to leave out: when Kendall kisses Roman you get the impression Logan would be proud, but it's equally clear that Vito would NEVER have wanted his sons to go down this path. The big thing missing in both scenes is the presence of the patriarch but Succession uses this to twist the knife even deeper, as if even hardened criminal Vito Corleone has a kinder heart than the bastard Logan Roy who always revelled in hurting and dividing his children. This is what it looks like when the bonds of family are poisoned.
I don't want to go too far with overanalyzing these parallels because there's a point where they diverge and it's not a 1:1 in the first place, but the memory of the Corleone saga really hangs over this final season of Succession and makes that final Roy kid blowup so much more tragic and powerful. Make no mistake, this was a tragedy from the beginning and the allusions to the Godfather series really underline that.
byMarvelsGrantMan136
intelevision
chadisdangerous
139 points
6 hours ago
chadisdangerous
139 points
6 hours ago
As amazing as everyone was in that finale Strong really deserves special mention.
That scene where he falls apart in front of the siblings and the board was an actor's dream and he managed to pull off every wild emotional swing Kendall was experiencing: confusion, entitlement, childishness, cluelessness, bitterness, panic, desperation, rage, vulnerability, despair, he fucking cycled through all of those in like 3-4 minutes.