We open on a confused man in the dark unable to find the bathroom. This is clearly a metaphor for something. However, it says everything for Succession’s writing that such clear commentary never threatens to dominate the drama.
The man pissing on his carpet is the Scottish-born, Canadian-raised and American based Logan Roy, CEO of entertainment behemoth Waystar RoyCo; a man who’s somewhat Murdoch-esque without being distractingly Murdoch-like. Since he’s played by Brian Cox, it’s safe to assume that i) he’s the bad guy of the piece, ii) we won’t be able to take out eyes off him, and iii) we will at times like him in spite of everything we either assume and/or come to know about his character.
Over the course of ‘Celebration’, we meet all four of Logan’s children - the out-of-the-picture, slightly out-of-his-mind Connor; the stifled but ambitious Kendall; the ambitious but stifled Siophan, and the charismatic, completely all over the place Roman. By the time Episode One’s in the bag, we’ll have good reasons to dislike all of them, which is a quite something especially since ‘Celebration’ closes with the Family Roy heading to hospital and Logan seemingly bound for the morgue.
As it’s remarkable the number of characters we’re introduced to in Succession’s pilot episode, it’s impressive that creator Jesse Armstrong accomplishes the feat without resort to captions, asides or clunky ‘Hey, fuck you, sis!’ dialogue.
Also extraordinary is the fact that, while so many of these people are appalling, the ways in which they’re dreadful are so wildly different. Take Tom Wambsgans - please! - Shiv’s future fiancé who we’d pity for his chronic people pleasing were he not such a complete arsehole to Cousin Greg.
Greg, who’s even more out of his depth than Tom, begins the episode throwing up inside his costume at one of the company’s theme parks. He seems just the sort of person who should be kept out of the orbit of the Clan Roy. But no, here he is at Logan’s birthday party at his mother’s insistence, so uncomfortable in his own skin that we soon resent the extent to which he causes us to cringe.
During ‘Celebration’, we’re also introduced to Logan’s current wife Marcia; Kendall’s ex-wife Rava and their kids, Iverson (!) who’s autistic and Sophie who’s adopted; Waystar VP Frank Vernon who’s known Logan since forever; Logan’s bodyguard Colin; and Greg’s mother Marianne. And then there’s Lawrence Yee, who owns a startup Logan wants and which we hope Kendall is able to acquire since, while we might not like the Roys that much, for some reason, Lawrence provokes our ire just that little bit more.
It’s as the episode draws to a close that we can weigh up what we’ve learned. Well, what’s beyond dispute is the fact that the Roys in general and Logan Roy in particular are ridiculously wealthy. We’re also aware than any notion that this wealth has brought him and his family happiness is to be quickly dismissed.
When he was asked what The Larry Sanders Show was really about, Garry Shandling replied, “People think that it’s a dark show about people trying to get what they want. It’s actually a show about people who need to find love and how shit always gets in the way.” Hey now, who’d have thought much of what would go for Logan Roy could also be said for Hank Kingsley?
Maintaining The Larry Sanders Show comparison a moment longer, what’s also apparent from the very first episode of Succession is the extent to which we’re in very good hands. Returning for a moment to that opening scene, though it can be read as a commentary upon what’s to come, it’s really just an indicator that Logan was in a bad way long before he keeled over.
Look too to the softball game and the impossibly cruel prank Roman plays on the groundsman’s son, Pablo. Later in the episode, we will visit Pablo and his parents at home. Pablo’s home is nice but it’s not that nice. The family aren’t all over one another and yet there are no raised voices and certainly no swearing. Rather than an Norman Rockwell ideal, this is pretty much just life as an awful lot of people live it. And though the TV might dominate the lounge and young Pablo might be preoccupied with his gadgets, we will rarely see a happier home over the length of Succession’s run.
Without overegging the pudding - or underplaying the wealth of the Roys - Armstrong and friends are able to demonstrate both the extent of Logan and Co’s dysfunction and the degree of their unhappiness. Fortunately for us, misery will love their company for the majority of the 28 episodes to come.