The internet can be a strange place when it comes to TV reactions. Twitter is where nuance goes to die, where ‘hot takes’ are king and misunderstandings are rife. This is no more prevalent than with Succession, HBO’s Emmy-award-winning satirical comedy-drama series about morally corrupt billionaires.
The show, is a damming comment on capitalism, billionaires, and American corporate society. Yet, some fans seem intent on missing the point. Like, recasting Shiv Roy as a feminist icon, when she is the opposite.
Succession, created by Jesse Armstrong, finished on Sunday after four seasons. The show is, in my and many others’ opinions, one of the best pieces of TV ever created: the humour, the writing, the outstanding cast performances, the way it holds up a mirror to the worst bits of society.
The finale was masterful, and served as an important reminder that no one ‘wins’ when the 1% rule media and society. Ending in a spectacular self-sabotage from Roman, Kendall and Shiv, where none of them came out as the successor to Waystar Royco.
Instead, Shiv’s husband Tom Wambsgans was appointed CEO by Lukas Matsson, and the kids walked away having ‘lost’. That is, if you count walking away with billions as losing.
A very bombastic-side-eye take has developed since the show ended, which is to cast Shiv Roy as a victim of this story, and spin it as a tale of a Girl Boss who lost to misogyny. This, I'm afraid to say, is not it.
Twitter user @catholicguilter, whose display picture is Shiv, tweeted that “Shiv’s arc was actually fucking terrifying. I’m sick to my stomach. All she’ll ever be: a mother and a wife. That’s everything she ran away from when she first decided to distance herself from her family and go into politics. I feel physically sick.”
Another fan captioned the final scene of Tom and Shiv touching hands with this quote “Often father and daughter look down on mother (woman) together. They exchange meaningful glances when she misses a point. They agree that she is not bright as they are, cannot reason as they do.
“This collusion does not save the daughter from the mother’s fate.” @sumlyn_7 joined the Shiv-was-wronged camp tweeting that “Tragic moment for women, who watched Shiv be a gladiator for four seasons only to end up this.”
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Let's recap some of Shiv Roy's behaviour in the show. She coerced a sexual assault victim into silence. She almost sent her husband to prison for historic company crimes. She backstabbed, played ‘as one of the boys’ in an attempt to gain success, and was continually a mouthpiece for patriarchy.
Shiv's character was perfectly formed; a satirical embodiment of the toxic ‘Girl Boss’ business woman. The kind of woman who calls themselves a feminist, spouts on about empowerment, but never puts their money where their mouth is, has a binary understanding of gender, hasn't unlearnt internalised misogyny, and closes the door on other women.
We are taught to hate women and femmes; both others and ourselves.
If you came away from watching four seasons of Succession believing that any of the Roy family are good people, you must be watching a different show. Logan says his kids are not ‘serious people’, and he was right. But they are also not good people. None of them are victims in this story. Nor are they heroes.
The victims of succession are the masses. People who are not in the one percent. People who are not privileged on every level. People whose democratic right and vote can be messed with by those in power, those running media conglomerates.
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Many fans have invented a Shiv Roy that is more palatable. Rewritten her as a woman who lost to ‘The Man’, when in reality, she is an extension of ‘The Man’. Her defeat is not an indictment of patriarchy. Succession is a dark comedy that shows the rotting core of obscene wealth and power. Shiv is the embodiment of what many call ‘White Feminism’ and inherently, that is not feminist.
