I’ve written a lot of praise about Succession, but never on my blog. I shouldn’t leave this place out.
I’ve watched reviews of Succession on YouTube channels that are considered “authorities”. I’ve read the comments on forums and review pages. As far as I can see, people think this show is a simple comedy built around family drama.
Whereas Succession is actually a deeply layered business show, no different from a documentary. If you watch it with a certain awareness, it has a lot to offer.
Let me explain through one example. Let’s look at this scene between Kendall and the banker.
In Logan’s absence, the company’s stock is crashing. There’s an old loan on the books, and the condition that the share price doesn’t fall below a certain level has been given as collateral. The moment it drops below $130, Waystar Royco has to repay the entire loan.
Here Kendall makes an interesting move and decides to talk to the bank. From the moment the meeting starts, the first lesson comes from the banker: he lets Kendall speak and says, let’s hear from you first.
Kendall thinks he can fool the banker with something like, “our stock dropped because of some issues in the industry.” Of course the banker knows exactly what’s going on and doesn’t even bother to play along.
Then things get serious and Kendall tries to imitate his father, throwing around swear words to break the guy in front of him. The banker’s position doesn’t change.
Kendall hits a wall and hangs up. Then he goes and finds another fund that can become a partner in the company, sells a big chunk of shares to them, and prepares the money to pay the bank. At this point he has one last call with the banker and basically goes, “take your money and get lost.” The banker is just about to say “wait, don’t,” when Kendall hangs up.
What the banker actually wanted to see was this: “are there still people willing to buy this stock?” If there are, it means there are people who trust Kendall even without Logan, and in that case there’s no real point in calling the loan. Because Kendall fails to read the situation this way, he turns it into a show of power.
The result? The first brick in the company’s collapse is laid by Kendall’s ignorance…
There are dozens of examples like this in the show. Do yourself a favour and try to watch it beyond the personal drama. You won’t regret it.
