Kieran Culkin is the MVP of Succession‘s final season
Succession was always an embarrassment of riches, but Kieran Culkin gifted us with the show's most Emmy-worthy performance in season 4
TV Features Kieran Culkin
Kieran Culkin always fit perfectly into the mold of Roman Roy. The instant he strolled into Waystar Royco’s conference room in his first scene, with a gleeful greeting of “Hey, hey, hey, motherfuckers,” Roman’s full-bodied superficiality clicked into place. He liked to loudly own the conversation, be as silly as possible, and take jabs at everyone around him. Now, this is Succession, so the interior mess behind Rome’s goofy exterior would be on full display by the time the credits rolled at the end of the fourth and final season. Series creator Jesse Armstrong and the show’s writers evolved Roman into a man fucked up by his father’s torment … and by his tormented love for his father. Culkin repeatedly rose to the challenge throughout the series, peeling off the facade each time. But in season four, as Rome’s world shattered around him, while he shattered the world in return, Culkin managed to top himself, becoming the indisputable MVP of the legendary TV drama’s last go-round.
It should be more than enough to score Culkin a coveted Emmy win. He chose to submit in the Lead Actor category this year, moving up from Supporting Actor, where his biggest competitor would’ve been Matthew Macfadyen (who’ll most likely win). Culkin will still have to fight off potential nominees like Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul’s final run and Pedro Pascal for The Last Of Us. He’ll most notably be vying for the trophy alongside co-star and former winner Jeremy Strong. It’s also likely that Brian Cox, who technically appeared only in two full episodes, will run in the same category. We’re here to make it clear, though, that Culkin deserves the win. (The way he licked that block of cheese in “With Open Eyes” alone should be enough to seal the deal.)
Before anyone comes at us, we know it’s impossible to single out one performance in this series. The show has an abundance of talented actors. Strong’s stellar work alone will be dissected for decades as Kendall meets a depressing full-circle conclusion. In season four, Sarah Snook and Macfadyen infused unexpected depth into the show with every biting Shiv and Tom scene. Indeed, Succession’s ensemble will go down as one of TV’s most notable, in part because no superstar names were attached when the show began. But Culkin’s work, in particular, hit home this season, especially with the meaty material he was given following Cox’s early exit, which allowed him to bring a visceral feel to Roman’s emotional despair and downfall.
When season four premiered in March, Roman was ready to break free of Waystar Royco and work with two of his siblings. We bet he wanted the three of them to make this partnership work independent of the “who will become the heir?” issue so they could claw their way back into Logan’s heart. It’s why Rome was the least excited about wasting $10 billion on Pierce and reigniting the wrath of their paternal enemy. In those moments, Culkin was terrific at lending vulnerability to his alter ego, making us empathize with an objectively horrible person because he just wanted to be a loved son. See also: Rome’s final phone message to his father in episode three (“Are you a cunt?), or his attempt to fire Gerri. All hell broke loose, of course, once Logan died, and there was no holding Roman—or Culkin—back.
Logan’s children were visibly broken after losing the father they sickeningly aspired to be, whose approval they desperately sought and whose affection they rarely received. Before his demise, Logan was “favoring” Roman because he was the easiest target to manipulate. Either way, Culkin balanced his character’s fragility and false bravado, and he was glorious each time the mask dropped. Look no further than the Norway-set episode five, when good old Romulus challenged the GoJo deal by confronting Mattson (Alexander Skarsgard) on the mountain. He was ferocious with his words and gut-wrenching with his face, which he brought close to Skarsgard’s to declare passionately, but with a childlike manner, “I fucking hate you.”
Culkin’s performance made it easy to forget how despicable Roman is. Time and again, Succession focused on this aspect, from him cruelly promising and ripping off that million-dollar check in the premiere to sending unwarranted dick pics to Gerri. He was funny but irritable as hell, and he was always a nightmare. But Culkin’s compelling portrayal is often a weird salve. Don’t worry; by season four’s eighth outing, the dreaded election hour, his straight-faced, no-fucks-given attitude while rooting for and making Trump with a brain Mencken (Justin Kirk) the President was another brutal reality check. Who cares if democracy is ruined? This crumbled once more when Roman pointed to his father’s coffin in the next episode, wondering if they could “get him out of there” while crying, offering another moment of brief sympathy for a grieving monster.
Yeah, Culkin will have trouble submitting only one episode for Emmy consideration, a problem shared by everyone involved in the show. Some of his strongest work arrived in the oversized finale, in which the leading trio delivered nuanced, series-best work. Culkin shined while bumming around in a palatial beach house with Kendall and Shivvy just as much as he did while later making terrible remarks about his niece and nephew, or losing his mind when he saw Gerri return to Waystar’s executive offices. He was superior when embracing the idea that everything is bullshit and they’re all nothing (both true). The crucial moment came when, after the grand fall, he was maybe ready to rise again. In the final seconds, sitting at a bar and ordering Gerri’s drink of choice, Culkin displayed relief, sadness, and uncertainty. It was finally over. And with that, so was one of Succession’s finest performances.
44 Comments
He was always the most fun in the show, imo
He seems to be the only one who consistently remembers that no matter what happens with Waystar Royco, they’re still unimaginably wealthy and never have to work again no matter what. I think that’s what gave him the freedom to talk to Madsson, for instance, like he did. Complete lack of fear.
Yeah he seemed to be very relieved at the end that he can fulfill his destiny to be a Peter Thiel.
Roman saw the company as a symbol of his father’s love and legacy, which is why he hated Matsson so much and was willing to burn him on the deal. Sure, he walks away and he’s rich, but he wanted to feel like he was as good as his siblings (until he realized that Kendall is actually the worst of them all).
Agree he was the MVeep. But Logan wasn’t favoring Roman near the end. He didn’t favor any of them, he was just using him to break them apart and sow chaos. None of them were ever going to be annointed, least of all the masochistic, kicked dog, Roman.
If he “favored” Roman, it was because kindness from his father is what Roman craved. Kendall needed respect as a businessman, and Shiv as a crafty operator. He gave just enough of those things to each to string them along. But no, he was never going to appoint any of them to the CEO role. He had seen throughout their lives what it took us four seasons to fully absorb – none of them had the makeup to be a public company CEO, and especially not HIS company. That any of those kids looked in the mirror and thought Logan saw them as his worthy replacement showed just how delusional they all were.
Yep. Tom was figuratively and literally closer to Logan when he died than any of the kids. And he ended up with the gig.
He crushed everything this season. That cast is ridiculous, but this season was Culkin’s shining moment. He deserves to win, but I wouldn’t be sad if they gave it to Oedenkirk for his series-long work on BCS.
Agreed, but Culkin inhabited his role in a way Odenkirk just isn’t able to do…as good as the latter is, he’s just not in Culkin’s (or Strong’s) league.
Kieran Culkin’s performances throughout this season have been exemplary but none more so than in the penultimate episode. His fall from cocksure in the penthouse apartment (top of the world) to being beaten on the ground in the riot (down in the gutter) could have been too on-the-nose in the wrong hands but Culkin played it masterfully and the showrunners harnessed it to perfection.The break in his voice and slight desperation when protesting that he hadn’t “fucked it” to Kendall was heartbreaking and so well delivered. Both he and Sarah Snook have always been strong in a fantastic ensemble cast but this season they took it and ran. Both managed to reach, if not surpass Strong’s work in Season’s 1-3 and by the end, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a realistic portrayal of siblings displaying a “cocktail of influences” of both of their parents.
He should definitely submit the funeral episode as his sample of work for the Emmy. It was masterful work.
Seconded. Having lost both parents (who were not great people), I felt like he was absolutely brilliant in that scene. The “Can we get him out of there?” line deserves an Emmy in and of itself.
Snook gradually revealing how mean and petty Shiv was at her core was probably my favorite character arc. Kendall was pretty much the same throughout, a jargon-spouting bullshit artist, and Roman a fragile manchild. Shiv looked like the most emotionally developed and least susceptible to nonsense. You figured out over the course of the show’s run that was largely due to her outsized bravado.
Shiv is hardly the most emotionally developed and least susceptible to nonsense. It’s just that she, like Roman finally became self-aware of how they aren’t “serious people.”
Which is why I said “looked like” that person. She’s the quickest on her feet and seemed to have a feel for the inside game, which made her look the closest to the mercenary needed to run that company. But again you eventually realize that she isn’t any more competent then Ken, she just doesn’t spend as much time with a dopey look on her face.
Again, you are being way too generous to her. Especially compared to the other women like Gerri, Marcia, or even Willa for matter, she was never those things. She constantly bumbled and stumbled and failed upwards like the rest of them, until she ran out of room to fail to when she finally understood that she isn’t as smart as thinks she is, and that it’s better to reign in hell by staying as Tom’s wife and stop playing games with people, than to serve in Kendalls shadow, trying to topple him on the side.
Agree to disagree on the first part, but no doubt she saw life with Kendall running the company being barely more tolerable than with her dad and figured billions of cash liquidity would be preferable. Not the toughest choice.
I don’t think Shiv ever realized that she’s not as smart as she thinks. I think she’ll go to her (fictional character) grave believing that the only thing that held her back was being a woman.
Shiv is actually pretty brilliant. She’s a talented political operator that manages to earn the respect of her contemporaries. She’s also a huge nepo baby who feels entitled to her family business just because she’s smarter and more talented than her brothers and resorts to wielding raw, unearned power and influence in the areas where her expertise is irrelevant.Basically, outside of Royco, Shiv is a giant. Within Royco, she’s leftovers and she lashes out indignantly in response. Her moment of revelation was remembering that she never wanted the company in the first place and was just stuck in the same pissing match that her dad was fighting his pointless battles over his broken and rotting legacy.
No, Shiv is not brilliant, and in fact her most consistent fault is always assuming that she’s the smartest person in the room. She commands the exact same amount of respect that her siblings do to the outside world due to the invulnerability their wealth and position affords them. There is absolutely no evidence that she is more liked or respected than her brothers by anyone other than Nan Pierce. Please give some specific examples of Shiv’s “giant” status outside of Waystar so we can pick them apart.
Shiv was always smarter than both of her brothers – that is acknowledged by both the cast and Jesse Armstrong. And she actually played it right, but in the end, the only reason she got screwed was because Mattson literally wanted to fuck her. Misogyny and sexism always, always worked against her.That, and the fact she could never get out of her own damn way.
Exactly this.Shiv was arguably the most like her Dad even as far back as in early season 1 when we’re introduced to her as the “liberal” Roy, fighting for right against *the* Right. Then each season that passed we saw that absolutely everything is a play as she comfortably played her left-leaning political allies, put pressure on victims of the cruise ships when pleading sympathy in public and finally using her brothers confession against him as a final desperate attempt to stop his ascension.Put really reductively, Kendall would do anything to be accepted as King, Roman would do anything to feel something real, Shiv at all times just believed she was in control, she felt she was owed it. The problem for her is every time she gained control, that bravado (great expression for it, bfred) gave both of her would-be Queen-makers pause for thought as both Logan AND Matsson were keen to anoint her until they saw her in action.Even her Caribbean acceptance to anoint Ken was based on the fact she’d played herself into an unwinnable position and Kendall (correctly) pointed out how weak it would look for her to flip 180 in 24 hours from Matsson’s stooge to Matsson’s nemesis. Of course, as she became King-maker she had her own pause for thought when she saw Ken quickly make himself at home, anoint his pal into a high-powered role and take a huge risk by ad-libbing in the essential board meeting, leading to her belief coming back in to play.
My hate for Kendall increased every time he opened his mouth to spout some buzzword heavy business speaky bullshit. Just a completely empty suit with an entitlement complex.
His freeform strategy/idea sessions were like a MBA class gone wrong. Just terrible.
To me, while I always found
Culking excellent as Roman, he became a revelation from the season 3 finale onwards.
Season 4 is his season because, more than watching a character evolve on
screen, we got to witness an already good actor become great. It felt new
episode after episode and I didn’t expect any of the things he did with Roman
in season 4 : the anguish, the gravitas, the anger (what a performance he
gave with Skarsgård on the mountain), the childlike pain (I was most struck by the
excruciating sound of his crying at the funeral) and then, the sort of relief
after finally realizing the meaninglessness of it all… I love to discover new dimensions
to an actor, and what a treat it’s been with Culkin. To me, the fact that he took
an already good performance to another level, on the last stretch of a show packed
with stellar performances, the what-the-fuck of it all, gives him an advantage for
the Award season. I sure hope so anyway. I’ll miss watching this entire cast but I think I’ll miss watching him the most because it feels like he was just
getting started.
Going up for the big prize against his brother again… yikes. If one of them wins I hope it’s Strong. Just for his sanity.
Strong isn’t actually his brother. It’s a tv show
Really? With their similar looks and the same surname? I think you jest.
How do they have the same surname?!?!?!?!? Cause, Jeremy’s name is Strong and Kieran name is Culkin! And, they don’t look similar at all…that made no sense!
I can’t tell if you guys are winding me up.Strong is famously a method actor who, some would say, over-inhabits his roles. My comment was an attempt to humorously reference this by suggesting that he would not be able to differentiate between his acting role and the real-life situation, with which there are some parallels.
Jeremy Strong already has an Emmy for Succession….he doesn’t need another one….I would love to see Kieran Culkin get his first Emmy especially with Succession being over now!
Should have submitted in the Supporting category. He won’t win lead. He just won’t.
Yeah, I think he would easily have claimed the Emmy in supporting. Matthew Macfadyen had much more to do last season and his win then was deserved. But this season was all Roman. In an ensemble like Succession I’m not sure he can lock down the Best Actor awards, but best supporting he would have cleaned up.
Agree. No matter how much material he had this season, he’s still not considered the “main character” of Succession in anyone’s eyes. That’s going to be exclusively Cox and Strong.
He’s also up against not just those Succession co-stars, but legit series leads like Odenkirk, who I believe will get a late apology win, Jon Hamm-style, even though the show will have been long over by the time the awards roll around.
It’s Macfad-yen! Getting this correct will put you in the top percentile of Succession pundits.
Holy fuck, it sure as shit is! Was operating under the impression that it was as it was originally typed! Learn something new every day.
“It’s Macfad-yen!”
No, it’s Macfadyen.
“while rooting for and making Trump with a brain Mencken (Justin Kirk) the President was another brutal reality check.”
Jesus Christ, Mencken has not been made president.
Culkin and Macfadyen were both excellent all season, no question.
I still demand an Odenkirk victory, tho.
No, I say, Kieran Culkin deserves it way more!
I hope Culkin, Snook and Macfadyen all win. Strong is amazing too, but he already won. I feel like actors who are considered ‘serious’ like Strong are always going to have advantage over Culkin as award contenders. This not a shade on Strong, who I repeat is always great, but on academy voters. Culkin has been incredible this season, this has to be his chance (Of course I am only looking at Succession actors, I haven’t seen BCS)
Kieran Culkin has been great for a long time. See “Igby Goes Down” or “Scott Pilgrim”.
How quickly we forget his brief, yet powerful turn in the seminal 90’s torture porn thriller Home Alone.
There were multiple episodes in that final season where in the middle of a Roman scene I was out loud saying “Culkin better get an Emmy for this.” Narrowing down to one episode would be hard, but for me, either the ep where Logan dies and Rome is just in that weird fragile denial mode that felt very raw, or the funeral ep, where you just watch him crumble on screen in real time. Either way, real strong work by Culkin.