One of HBO’s most popular series is closing in on its endgame.
Succession creator Jesse Armstrong revealed some shocking news on Thursday:
Succession will end with its upcoming fourth season.
“You know, there’s a promise in the title of Succession,” Armstrong said in an interview with the New Yorker.
“I’ve never thought this could go on forever. The end has always been kind of present in my mind. From Season 2, I’ve been trying to think: Is it the next one, or the one after that, or is it the one after that?”
Armstrong was conflicted about the future of the show, so he turned to the writers, “and I sort of said, ‘Look, I think this maybe should be it. But what do you think?’ And we played out various scenarios: We could do a couple of short seasons, or two more seasons,” he recalled.
“Or we could go on for ages and turn the show into something rather different, and be a more rangy, freewheeling kind of fun show, where there would be good weeks and bad weeks.”
“Or we could do something a bit more muscular and complete, and go out sort of strong. And that was definitely always my preference.”
Armstrong felt it was important to reveal the news ahead of the Succession Season 4 premiere on Sunday, March 26.
“We don’t hide the ball very much on the show. I feel a responsibility to the viewership, and I personally wouldn’t like the feeling of, ‘Oh, that’s it, guys. That was the end.'”
“I wouldn’t like that in a show. I think I would like to know it is coming to an end.”
HBO has yet to comment, but given that this is coming from the creator, the show will be over in the next few months.
The series has been a roaring success, but HBO has been known to follow the visions of creatives in the past, and that could explain why their shows are a cut above the others in terms of quality.
The award-winning and highly-rated series explores themes of power and family dynamics through the eyes of patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his four grown children, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Siobhan (Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Connor (Alan Ruck).
“The sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) moves ever closer,” reads the logline for Succession Season 4.
“The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is complete.”
“A power struggle ensues as the family weighs up a future where their cultural and political weight is severely curtailed,” the logline concludes.
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.