Succession creator Jesse Armstrong breaks down what’s going through Shiv’s mind after that decision in the series finale, detailing her last scene.
Succession creator Jesse Armstrong breaks down Shiv’s shocking decision in the series finale. As the Emmy-winning HBO hit came to a close, it seemed like the three Roy siblings most invested in the future of Waystar — Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Shiv (Sarah Snook) — might actually successfully put aside their differences to stop Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) from taking over the company. But at the last minute, with mounting uncertainty, Shiv uses her leverage as the deciding vote to side with Matsson and end Kendall’s dreams of ever becoming Waystar’s CEO.
In an interview with NPR, alongside executive producer Frank Rich, Armstrong addressed questions about the shocking Succession finale and talked about what’s going through Shiv’s head in that final shot with her estranged husband Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), who Mattson selected as Waystar’s CEO. The series creator acknowledges that the betrayal of Kendall could be a “clever stratagem” on Shiv’s part. But in his full response, included below, Armstrong offers a far more nuanced reading of what’s going on with Shiv and Tom at the end:
Everyone has their own view and I can tell you mine, which is that for me it was a moment of equality. Chilly, rather terrifying equality, but equality, which has never been the case in that relationship before. Tom has always been subservient. Now he has this status, but his status is contingent. That’s kind of what the whole episode has been about. Shiv’s status is as all the kids are – secure. It’s secure in a financial sense. She has billions of dollars. She has wealth that could never diminish, whatever happened to the world. And she also has a name, which will sort of haunt her and make her interesting, to a certain degree, for the rest of her life, and that can’t be taken away from her. Whereas Tom’s position could be taken away in the click of her fingers.
So for me, there’s a very terrifying equality in that, a remarkable dry hand on hand. It’s not really even human contact. It’s a sort of two pieces of porcelain or something. So that’s what it is for me. That isn’t what it would be for everyone. And certainly you could see the situation being a clever stratagem by which Shiv remains in play. Maybe that thought will occur to her tomorrow or the day after. But for me, the show’s ended at this point and the story is over and that’s where I think they end up.
Shiv Likely Chose Tom Over Kendall For Many Reasons
Shiv leaves the voting room uncertain, repeatedly saying that she just needs a moment to think and gather herself. She’s likely ticked off by the fact that Kendall is already isolating her, showing favoritism to Stewy (Arian Moayed) and acting like CEO before a vote has even taken place. Kendall doesn’t help his case regardless, openly panicking and acting erratically entitled at the mere thought of losing his vote. It could be argued that Kendall bungles his own fortune by adding fuel to his sister’s uncertainty.
It could also be the case, however, that Shiv makes a calculation for what suits her. Tom is the father of the baby she’s pregnant with. Despite the estranged couple being shockingly cruel to one another, Shiv made efforts to reconcile even before Tom became CEO. He’s likely an even more attractive option to her, considering his newfound power. Shiv’s decision is, then, both self-serving and reasonable. It’s complex and varied, as the best TV characters are.
Regardless of whatever else happened in the finale, Succession couldn’t have concluded with the happy and united Roys defeating Matsson. While it’s nice to see the trio genuinely reunited for a time, the show wasn’t a traditional drama with protagonists to root for. Shiv, Roy, and Kendall have done horrendous things, even just a few episodes before the finale. At best, now that the company that has defined their lives is in Matsson’s hands, perhaps they can take steps to let go of their destructive tendencies.
