‘Succession’ Director On The Implication Of Kendall’s Fate: ‘Screamingly Inevitable’

kendall roy in the final shot of succession

HBO


Warning: This article contains massive spoilers for the series finale of HBO’s Succession

One of the biggest TV shows of the century thus far came to a close over the weekend as HBO’s acclaimed, Emmy-winning series Succession wrapped up its fourth and final season on Sunday night with the 90-minute-long episode “With Open Eyes”.

As fans of the acclaimed dramedy now know, Kendall and the rest of the Roy children ultimately lose control of Waystar RoyCo as Shiv — in the 11th hour — ultimately decided that she couldn’t vote for her brother as CEO and instead voted to sell the company to Lukas Matsson’s GoJo, therefore making her husband/soon-to-be-ex Tom Wambsgans the new head of the company.

And according to director Mark Mylod, who has helmed all of the finales for each of the four seasons, this ending for Kendall was “screamingly inevitable” if you were paying attention all along.

“One of the things I love most about Succession is that what seems in the moment shocking and surprising is screamingly inevitable if you step back and perhaps watch the show a second time,” Mylod said in a recent interview with Variety.

“That’s the case with Logan and Tom’s interaction at the end of Season 3, or Kendall’s press conference at the end of Season 2. As soon as I watch it a second time or consider it more — how the heck could Shiv ever really vote for her brother?”

As for Jeremy Strong, the Emmy-winning actor who famously brought Kendall to life in the series, he sees the ending as an unequivocal death for the character. Furthermore, Strong confirmed that they filmed an alternate ending that saw Kendall rush the railing with the intention of jumping into the East River.

“This time, it’s the first time he’s finally lost everything. From inside of it, I felt there was no coming back from this. [Which is why] when we were there at the water, I did try to go in,” Strong told The Hollywood Reporter.

Luckily for fans, though, Succession ultimately went the ambiguous route and left Kendall’s fate up to the audience’s imagination, meaning if you want to believe Kendall pulled himself together and went on to create a happy and fulfilling life, that’s totally your prerogative. Just know that Jeremy Strong vehemently disagrees.

Eric Italiano BroBIble avatar
Eric Italiano is a NYC-based writer who spearheads BroBible's Pop Culture and Entertainment content. He covers topics such as Movies, TV, and Video Games, while interviewing actors, directors, and writers.