Succession
Character evaluation after the final outcome
(Therefore, only for those who have seen the last episode as well)
Logan: The Scottish tycoon grew up in a poor background and in hard times. Self-made and ruthless, he managed to build an empire in the media. Now circumstances have overtaken him, his age is advanced and his health fragile. But he cannot accept that he will hand over his dynasty to any of his three children, since they had everything ready. So he is pushing them to see which of them has the right qualities to succeed him. Being the Patriarch, he expresses the woes of the Patriarchy: He has learned to be cruel and he does the same to his children, thinking that he is offering them "tough love" when in fact he is destroying them.
Kendall: He usually has a head start on the succession: He's the older of his two brothers who oversee the position and has the more complete resume for it. But he cannot overcome the incomparable paternal role model. This fact has the consequence that he is never confident in his decisions and thus his reactions are unpredictable and ultimately wrong. His progressively increasing obsession with the ultimate goal leads him to finally play all his cards, spasmodically and without a Plan B. His final defeat also brings his prescribed psychological collapse.
Siobhan: Careerist and with permanent gender inferiority syndrome. Quite reasonable in this toxic macho environment. On the contrary, when it comes to her marriage, she is dominant, often to the point of humiliating her husband. This backfires in the final season, which is probably due to her pregnancy. The fact that she grew up without a mother's love makes her unwilling to do the same to her child. I'm not an expert on the subject of female hormones, but her constant changes of tactics towards the end can perhaps with a basic "sexist" approach be explained by her pregnancy. However, she cannot bear to be followed and certainly not to lose to her brother, with whom she has competitive complexes. So, she chooses to be the wife of the New King in a broken relationship.
Roman: Following his Roman name, Romulus is the uninhibited young emperor. A sociopath, he is capable of the best and the worst. He certainly cannot carry the weight of the Throne on his frail shoulders and he knows it. But like a spoiled child he is there to annoy those around him and seek attention and value. Basically, he doesn't really care. However, he is the only one who, on an emotional level, shows some nuggets of humanity. Simply in this case, this is a disadvantage.
Tom: Looking at it coolly, he's the right man for the job. Laborious but firm. He doesn't mix the personal with the professional. He doesn't even have revenge against his wife who has treated him horribly or against his Disgusting Brother who betrayed him in the delays of the finale.. He never deviates from his ultimate goal, which is financial gain and advancement in the hierarchy. He will make a very good CEO and a very bad father.
Greg: Hilariously incompetent and useless. Since his kinship isn't enough to give him a foothold in the Company, he'll co-opt anyone he can along the way in order to maintain his position as a high-paid carpazo collector, and he'll eventually succeed. This attitude is also the one that is rewarded in this capitalist environment.
Connor: Logan's firstborn child was never in the succession discussion. All he can do is use his last name and his money to live in the prestige he desires and get a trophy wife.
Regarding satellite characters:
Gerri is the voice of reason. When complete chaos prevails, the mood no longer lifts her.
Karolina plays to be the likeable character of the show. He always says what he really believes and in the end, since the situation doesn't go as he thinks the good outcome would be, he discreetly leaves.
Frank and he is honest in his beliefs and subsequent expressions and is one of the few that Logan respected, as did his children. But now the business is in other hands and he has no place in it.
Carl is the opposite of the old men of the Muppet show and so he too does not fit into the final data anymore. However, it is also of particularly limited liability and practically could never offer.
Hugo is the typical subordinate of such a business. He has no opinion, he is a cog in the machine and will continue to do so.
As for Mattson, he has the elements to continue Logan's Empire: He is a self-made but loathsome capitalist who always has profit as a priority and has no qualms about working with anyone to achieve it, he is an alpha-male killer, decisive and can back up his impulsive actions.
PS I didn't like the ending either, as did many from what I read. Just when you think the brothers are getting a hug (like in the masterpiece S04E03), where Ken cracks the only real smile in 4 seasons, they end up being the same again.
But it is the most "honest" development in terms of character development so far and of course in terms of the subject that Succession deals with.
Which I think has a place in the all-time pantheon of TV series. I think its excellent cinematic aesthetic puts it in a completely separate category from a conventional TV series
