Braun is so good at portraying (possibly improvising?) Greg’s perpetual state of flummoxedness that his garbled manner of formal speech — “Is there doubt afoot?” — has become the stuff of catchphrases in spite of itself. Macfadyen is just as strong cruelly toying with Greg or barking at the help as he is tormenting himself over whether or not Shiv is cheating on him; he makes it clear that neither side is the “real” Tom, because both stem from the same underlying insecurities and bottomless need to feel validated. And watching Strong sidle into faceoffs with Brian Cox’s Logan or Eric Bogosian’s Gil or especially Natalie Gold’s Rava is straight-up thrilling at this point, like watching a man who’s always half a step behind what the coke and adrenaline in his bloodstream and the butterflies in his stomach are making him say try and catch up in real time. I could watch a bonafide Tom and Greg antibuddy comedy, or an actual prestige drama about Kendall. For the first time since the pilot, I think it’s possible Succession might be able to do both.
I wrote about the penultimate episode of Succession Season One for Decider. Jeremy Strong, Nicholas Braun, and Matthew Macfadyen are the show’s breakout stars no question, but for the first time the series did right by Sarah Snook’s Shiv, too. Overall it was the most I’ve enjoyed the show since the pilot.
Tags: decider, reviews, succession, TV, TV reviews