"The good if brief, twice as good", goes the saying. And that also seems to be true for Jesse Armstrong, the British screenwriter who has created one of the best series in the history of television, Succession, whose fourth season arrives tomorrow on HBO in the United States and on Monday in Spain to fill the void left by The last of us as the television appointment that one cannot miss every week.
After winning three Golden Globes last year (drama series, drama series actor for Jeremy Strong and supporting television actress for Sarah Snook), four Emmys (drama series, supporting actor for Matthew McFayden, drama script for Armstrong and cast of drama series), a Bafta for supporting actor for Macfayden and the Actors Guild Award for Best Cast, all seemed to indicate that the global applause guaranteed many more seasons from the Roy family.
However, Armstrong announced a few weeks before the premiere that the story ends with the fourth. In an interview with The New Yorker, who has also received an Oscar nomination for the screenplay for In the Loop, he said: "I didn't want the audience to get fed up with us, or think we were going to do a dumb season, or stretch the history more than necessary. I didn't want them to come to the question, as has happened to me watching other people's series, even some that I admire and love."
And judging by the criticisms in the mainstream US media, that will not happen. Even Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter has indicated that the last of these ten episodes will air on May 28, when the deadline for applying for the new edition of the Emmys ends, a detail that reveals the confidence he has in the HBO series. .
The new season finds the Roys fiercely divided. On one side is veteran tycoon Logan (Brian Cox), who is going ahead with his plans to sell Waystar Roy Co. and on the other three of his sons, Kendall (Strong), Shiv (Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin), the who have formed their own company and have plans to revolutionize the world of media with a new news conglomerate.
But as often happens in this story that not only entertains but informs about the lives of the ultra-rich and how the circles of power work in real life, nothing is ever very simple. Shiv is on the verge of divorcing Tom Wambsgans (Macfayden), who has finally broken into Roy's inner circle, something his nephew Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun) also believes has achieved, although everyone knows that for Logan, opportunities to do a good business are always more important than family ties or personal loyalties.
Oblivious to the confrontations, the eldest son of the tycoon, Connor, continues with his campaign to aspire to the presidency of the United States, something for which he is willing to spend many of his millions or make a circus of his impending wedding with Willa ( Justin Lupe).
And there is no shortage of Logan's acolytes in these new episodes who will follow him at any cost, Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron), Frank (Peter Friedman) and Karl (David Rasche). The one who has achieved a promotion is Zoë Winters, perfectly embodying Kerry, the boss's assistant that she has become her adviser thanks to a close personal relationship that she tries to keep secret, even if it is an open secret for her. others.
