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Kieran Culkin: "Succession"

 I like to think about the mechanics of plot; I'm going to suggest something here.


One of my favorite stories is "Floating Bridge," by Alice Munro. In this story, a woman believes she is dying of cancer. In a way, she welcomes the news; she is frozen within her life, and she is tied to a guy with a roving eye, a guy who tends to belittle her. Halfway through the story, she is upset to learn that her cancer is actually in remission--and she will have to live.

It's in a phase of deep bitterness that she meets a man on the road; the man eventually kisses her. She is startled by her own moment of adultery; she finds herself looking at life in a new way, with "tender hilarity." She laughs at the ridiculousness of her own problems; we last see her bobbing awkwardly on a floating bridge.

What I like in the story is that we're led to think we'll get a big answer: Will the heroine stay with or leave her spouse? But that's not actually crucial. What is crucial is that the heroine wakes up from her slumber; major news causes her to reassess her life, and she can laugh. It's maybe her first real laugh in two or three years.

"Succession" is a tricky word. It refers to a process that can take five or ten years. The story of "Succession" begins when Logan shows signs that he can't do his job anymore. Of course, the signs turn out to be cloudier than we first imagined. And Logan both does and does not want to divide the estate; he takes some steps toward a decision, but then reverses course, and then dies.

I'm not sure we'll get a clear answer about who runs Waystar next week. I do think we'll get one more portrait of "the poison dripping down." I think Roman, like Rose, could end up dead. ("Dad made me breathe funny.") I think Shiv, like Uncle Ewan, could have some kind of partial awakening, and could try to distance herself from a maniacal sibling, Logan-by-the-new-name-of-Kendall. ("How bad was Dad? Was Dad a bad guy?") But I wonder if this is too much plot for ninety minutes. I just don't know.

Can't wait to see.

P.S. Please feel free to predict here! What is your hunch?

P.P.S. Interesting to note the role of childhood in two of three eulogies. "We were threatened with death if we spoke....We were silent for three days, and I was five years old....""My siblings and I would play outside Dad's office, I think because we wanted him to hear....He would come out, and he was so terrifying...He kept us outside, but he kept everyone outside..."
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