Succession: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Succession: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Rob(bing) Roy.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 25, 2018

Anyone remember Empire? Once arguably the hottest thing on television, that music industry family drama seems to have cooled rather precariously, to the point that I was actually surprised to see it’s still eking out a broadcast life on Fox. 20th Century Fox hasn’t supported Blu-ray releases of the series after its first season, and it had frankly completely fallen off of my personal radar as a result, but I couldn’t help but think of it, at least in passing, as I got acquainted with another fabulously wealthy and ubiquitously scheming family that has a rather substantial media presence (within the context of the show). Succession deals with Logan Roy (Brian Cox), an aging titan who has built something akin to Rupert Murdoch’s, yep, empire, with vast holdings in various media, including print, film and television. Logan’s at the point where at least his family is thinking about what comes after Logan’s demise, and that sets up most of the internecine friction in the series. Interestingly, then, the series actually starts with a “succession plan” ostensibly firmly in place, with Logan’s second son Kendall (Jeremy Strong) slated to take over his father’s sprawling kingdom. Also kind of interestingly, at least within the confines of shows like this that feature children of incredibly successful characters, Kendall seems reasonably well prepared for the transition and as is documented in the opening few episodes, has considerable business acumen himself, even if it’s colored by some brushes with supposedly previous substance abuse (guess how that one plays out). But of course there wouldn’t be a television series without conflict, and so when Logan first announces that he’s not going to step aside, instead firing a longtime aide and offering promotions to several of his other children, and then promptly experiences a major stroke which leaves him incapacitated, the real scheming begins.

Succession has a rather novelistic approach to this tale, and as such there is a fairly wide variety of characters wending their way in, out and through the story. That makes introductions brief and vignette driven, and it’s potentially arguable that a little bit more detail about the Roy family in particular may have helped define relationships in the early going. That said, things happen so rapidly in the first two or three episodes that the series’ momentum is undeniable, and it must be admitted that despite sometimes very short scenes involving some of these characters, they tend to be pretty recognizable from the get go, even if little “nuggets” about them are doled out rather sparingly as things go along. It turns out that Logan has been married three times, with his four children having two different mothers. Eldest son Connor (Alan Ruck) is the progeny of Logan’s first marriage, and he is kind of a conflict averse milquetoast who, in his own words, “goes with the flow”. Logan’s second marriage produced not just Kendall, but younger siblings Roman (Kieran Culkin), a kind of snarky but loveable jokester who supposedly wants nothing to do with his father’s business (guess how that one works out), and Siobhan (Sarah Snook), who similarly (initially) declines any real work with Logan’s organization, but who rather presciently goes by the nickname “Shiv”.

Things begin unraveling almost from the get go, as preparations are being made for a “surprise” 80th birthday party for Logan, one organized by his third wife Marcia (Hiam Abbass), an exotic “foreigner” who of course turns out to have a few skeletons in her closet. Kendall is desperately trying to close a deal with an upstart internet company that kind of sounds like Gawker, but still makes time to attend the festivities (something that invites the umbrage of Logan, who thinks Kendall should be “all business”). Unfortunately, Logan lets the kids know they have a couple of hours or so to sign a new agreement about the Logan Family Trust where Marcia would more or less have the most power after Logan’s death. Logan also lets the news drop that he is not in fact stepping aside, something that of course sends Kendall reeling. At a cricket game that’s evidently a Logan family tradition, Logan also fires his attorney and COO of thirty years, an affable guy named Frank Vernon (Peter Friedman), in order to make “room” for both Roman and Shiv, who have expressed reservations about signing the agreement (in other words, Logan is not above bribing his kids to get his way). When Logan collapses from a stroke during a heated conversation with Roman and Shiv, everything is set careening, with events threatening to spiral out of control not just due to the internecine friction between the siblings, but also due to the revelation, delivered by longtime general counsel Gerri Killman (J. Smith-Cameron), that the corporation is billions of dollars in debt due to some malfeasance on the part of Logan.

Considering the fact that Brian Cox gets star billing here (instead of, say, a guest star billing for a few episodes), it is perhaps not much of a spoiler to disclose that Logan survives the stroke and begins attempting both a personal and professional comeback. Of course, other forces have been at play at the interim, and there are any number of cat and mouse games going on throughout this first season. In fact, it’s arguable there are few too many subplots stuffed into this affair. There are several either previous or current romantic entanglements for three of the four Roy kids, with the one involving Shiv and would be fiancé Tom (Matthew Mcfadyen) assuming more prominence as the episodes progress. But there’s also a kind of annoying sidebar featuring a hapless shlub named Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun), who is seen blowing (chunks — but I digress) a chance to perform at one of the Roy owned theme parks early in the series, but who ends up infiltrating the family just as Logan is debilitated, when it’s revealed he’s the grandson of Logan’s long estranged brother Ewan (James Cromwell). (That “estranged” part seems to suggest Roy family dysfunctions didn’t necessarily start with Logan and his kids).

Also cluttering up the premises is a really odd subplot involving Kendall and an entrepreneur named Lawrence Yee (Rob Yang), who runs the Gawker like site that Kendall buys, perhaps to his dismay. There’s good stuff in any of these stories (with the possible exception of Greg, who tended to make the show grind to a complete halt for me personally), but the series may simply be trying too hard to do too many things. It’s also tonally a bit over the map, with both florid melodrama and actual shtick laden physical comedy making for an odd mix at times. Still, performances, especially Cox’s and Strong’s, are often riveting, and the writing is frequently smart and wryly funny.

Succession: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Succession is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of HBO with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. In what is often fairly unusual for many contemporarily set series, Succession was shot on 35mm. There's some really fascinating and informative information on the shoot which I found here while doing background research on the show, and I highly recommend those interested in the look of the series to read it. As is discussed in the article, there's a dark, gritty atmosphere to a lot of this first season that keeps the palette on the tamped down, almost wintry, side a lot of the time. That, combined with many naturally (and frankly dimly) lit interior scenes can also tend to keep fine detail levels at bay, at least at times, but overall this is a really interesting and quite arresting looking series, one that doesn't necessarily rely on any kind of visual "wow" factor, but which provides a nicely authentic looking presentation that captures some of the unabashed opulence of the Roy lifestyle. Compression is fine and there are no signs of any overly aggressive digital tweaking. Stylistically, I was not always a fan of some of the choices made here, which include things like lots of handheld sequences, and cutting between various "takes" of the same scene with slightly altered framings. There's also a prevalence of things like quick zooms into faces which I personally found more distracting than anything, but which others may find supportive of the general emotional unrest experienced by some of these characters.

Succession: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Somewhat similarly to the video element, Succession's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is completely competent but rarely really "showy" in any meaningful way. There's excellent use of the surround channels in helping to establish elements like some of the urban locations, with several sequences which feature a lot of characters in the frame bristling with quite a bit of activity. That said, this is a show that has a lot of scenes of people talking to each other either in person or on the phone, and as such surround activity can tend to come and go in spurts. Fidelity is fine throughout the first season, and there are no problems of any kind to report.

Succession: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This release's sole supplement is found on Disc Three of the three disc set:

• Succession Wedding Featurette (1080p; 8:29) offers some background on elements of the big wedding in the final episode, like the impressive Downton Abbey- esque estate where the episode was filmed to other details like costume design.

Succession: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a perhaps debatable plot point toward the end of the first season which is kind of unashamedly reminiscent of some aspects of Chappaquiddick, but as contrived as it may strike some viewers, it did at least propel the series into an absolutely devastating final scene (for the season) between Logan and Kendall. The series actually repeatedly is almost ridiculously hyperbolic in some of its story elements, but there's a really riveting performance acumen from many of the featured players that keeps the show consistently entertaining. Technical merits are solid, and Succession: The Complete First Season comes Recommended.