Succession is Game of Thrones on Cocaine

 

If Game of Thrones could be set in modern times, and you threw in lots of cocaine, and keep the similar amount of prostitutes, it would have to be Succession.

Who will sit on the big chair? How could so much craziness come from such a simple plot? I'm not saying it's character for character comparison to Game of Thrones, but as far as the high stakes game of which one of these ruthless rich and powerful people are going to be sitting on the throne, and become even more rich and powerful, then this show is pretty close.

The Old Man Logan Roy is Tywin: ruthless and self made rich, would sell his own sons up the river. And also a little Robert Baratheon as far as his health is concerned. Logan's plans to retire and name a successor as well as his stroke set the rest of the family in chaos trying to figure out who it is that will take over, who will the rest of the family allow to take over, and if Logan wakes up, how will they continue that plan with or without Logan's approval.

Marcia, Logan's 3^rd wife is like Olenna Tyrell, quiet but brutally honest and vicious with verbal attacks.

Logan's daughter Shiovan is Cersei, cunning and ambitious, looks out for herself first.

Logan's son Kendall is like Rob Stark, the golden boy when things were going well. Looks out for himself first, makes a few missteps and pays the price.

Logan's youngest son Roman is a mixture of Tyrion, quick witted and quick tongue, likes wine, and Joffrey, spoiled evil asshole, depending on his mood. Also looks out for himself first.

Logan's eldest son Connor is like Edmure Tully, really not stupid and ineffective, but physically unimposing, and doesn't try to rock the boat.. as far as family matters goes. We'll see where his political ambitions take him.

Frank and Gerri, Logan's general counsel and advisers are like the Lannister maesters, wise, unambitious, but loyalties unclear.

Tom Wamsgans, Shiovan's fiance and eventual husband is like Sam when talking to his wife, Ramsey Bolton when talking to Greg, and has the leadership qualities of Theon Greyjoy

Stewy and Sandy, potential partners that can save the company from tremendous debt are like the Iron bank in Game of Thrones. Or at least Kendall would like to treat them as such without realizing that a tremendous amount of money comes with a tremendous cost

Greg, grandnephew to Logan Roy, social climber, started out in a costume at the theme park, ended up under a napkin eating disgusting rich delicacies. He's like Arya, started out small and untalented, learned a lot on the way, and became like a slealthy assassin, copying dangerous and scandalous documents for himself that were supposed to be shredded to stab someone in the back if he needs to.

The Red Wedding was like an attempted coup intended to attack Logan Roy, but Logan plays a giant Uno reverse card and gets the board majority to vote against the vote of no confidence and it ends up Kendall get stabbed in the gut.

I don't really have many other specific scenes to compare, but overall the succession is filled with the same kind of Machiavellian ruthlessness, backstabbing, and outsmarting and out-thinking of one's enemies as Game of Thrones. There's no roasting of people alive, but plenty of verbal roasting. There's just the same amount of lies and secrets, and betrayal even or especially among family members.

What will happen in the end? How many floors does the Old Man piss on? Will there be fireworks at he wedding? Will Tom take the Roy name, or will Shiovan even let him? Will the stock take a dip? Will Kendall dry out? Who will win the game of thrones, I mean Succession, who will succeed?

I wouldn't go so far as to say the show is as good as Game of Thrones, maybe not even close, but of course we're talking Game of thrones seasons 1-6 here, one of the best shows ever made. There's also plenty of differences if I'm being honest. Instead, aside from the similarities, I found myself just as enthralled as I was when I was watching new Game of Thrones episodes. The anticipation and suspense leading up the attempted boardroom coup was like watching Ned Stark on the chopping block, and a number of other examples. You're on the edge of your seat, and the result is jaw dropping speechlessness. I binged the show episode after episode, and looked forward to each new episode. I've only watched season 1 but excited to get to season 2.

If you want Game of Thrones in the boardroom with cocaine and just as much wine and Machiavellian, then give Succession a watch. Not that kind of watch. 

Full video: https://youtu.be/g2OKCZ4gYtc