Succession Star Reveals Their Perspective on Series Finale, “I’m Not the Winner”

It has been a couple of months since the series finale of HBO’s , but fans haven’t been able to stop discussing the series’ ending — and, in particular, who they feel “won” when it comes to the future of Waystar RoyCo. While the series ended with Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) ultimately being appointed CEO, many fans feel that it’s really Shiv Roy — Tom’s wife and the youngest Roy sibling — who won, at least by proxy. Now, however, Sarah Snook is opening up about how Succession ended and says that she doesn’t see it that way. To her, Shiv isn’t the winner.

Speaking with Variety, Snook explained that while she’s heard the theory that Shiv’s decision in the series finale knowing that Tom will end up being the choice for CEO is the character “thinking 10 steps ahead” to get herself into position to gain power, it’s not something she thinks is applicable.

“I never really considered that Tom becoming CEO is Shiv, by proxy, winning,” Snook said. “For Shiv, that is so not a win! That is ‘I’m once again power adjacent. I’m not the winner.’”

Snook also went on to say that, when she watched the finale, she ended up crying for Shiv out of sadness for the character.

“Because I was sad for Shiv,” Snook said. “She just tried so f-cking hard, and ended up where she is — in this kind of gilded cage, next to the thing that she wants. And the journey’s not over for her. It’s not over for any of them, but still, she’s in the orbit of the CEO, and that will be really painful for her.”

Alan Ruck Has Also Commented on What He Thinks Came Next for His Character, Connor.

Snook isn’t the only Succession star who has spoken out about the series’ finale. Ruck, who played Connor Roy, has also spoken out about where he feels things went for his character after the series ended.

“I think Connor was happy for a while,” Ruck said of his character. “I think he and Willa were kind of happy for a while and then I think the pink clouds dissipated pretty quickly, and it’s really obvious at the end of the show that she’s not happy about the idea that he might not go to Slovenia. She was counting on him being away. So, I don’t know how long they’ll last. But, you know, they had that one little moment that none of the rest of them really got. I mean, the whole family is a disaster when it comes to relationships.”

Ruck went on to say that he grew to appreciate Connor’s loyalty to the rest of his family, even when they didn’t deserve it. 

“He is loyal. He loves his family, and he knows that they are really incapable of loving him,” Ruck explained. “They’re like, ‘Connor, yeah, we love him.’ But they think he’s an idiot, and they’re very dismissive and they’re so wrapped up in their own egos. They are not really capable of loving anybody. Loving people wasn’t useful to Logan, so he didn’t do it. And I think that’s true of Kendall and Roman and Siobhan, too. They’re just cold. They’re missing those love chips. Maybe Roman has a little bit, maybe there’s some little ember of love still alive in Rome.”

Succession is Up For 27 Emmy Awards

While the Emmy Awards ceremony has been postponed due to the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Succession is dominating the nominations with a total of 27 overall — the most of any show this year.

Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, and Kieran Culkin were all nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, while Sarah Snook was nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actress category. Nicholas Braun, Matthew Macfadyen, and Alexander Skarsgard joined Ruck in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category. J. Smith Cameron also earned a nomination for her performance as Gerri. Guesting acting nominees include James Cromwell, Arian Moayed, Hiam Abbass, Cherry Jones, and Harriet Walter.

What do you think of Snook’s comments? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.