Then, too, the show’s judgment on elites can be read in two distinct ways, one more left-wing and one more right-wing. This consciousness came with varying levels of self-delusion, and none of these shows fully forgave their protagonists in the end. But the possibility of redemption existed for them at least notionally, and I think that’s why “Succession” seems like such an outlier among its peers. I think this critique is partially fair, and that, along with the strengths I described above, there is a savage superficiality to some of the characterizations in “Succession” that’s beneath the psychological level achieved on other famous TV dramas. When it comes to the desire for redemption and honesty and love, though, I’m not sure “Succession” is as barren as Phillips seems to suggest.

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Persons: Kendall Roy’s, Logan, Tom Wambsgans, Roy, Naipaul, ”, Damon Linker’s, Brian Phillips’s, Tony Soprano, Walter White, Don Draper, There’s, Hank, Peggy Olson, I’m, Phillips, Shiv Roy, Shiv, Tom Organizations: “ Locations: Swedish