“Succession” and “Barry” both came to an end Sunday night, two of the best and most-important shows in recent television history.
What a night.
Obviously SPOILERS ABOUND. “Succession” stole a lot of the thunder and critical ink, but was its ending actually better? Was the show?
I dunno about that.
But I’m pretty happy with both.
First off, I’m *delighted* that Tom is the new CEO of Waystar Royco, even if he is a figurehead, not a partner. Of course he is. And always has been. Has anyone ever been better suited to such a position? He is the epitome of one of those people about whom you say, ironically, “They’ll probably be the boss of all of us one day,” and lo and behold one day they are.
Shiv’s waffling and eventual betrayal of Kendall — if anything can be considered a betrayal anymore, so often have all of these characters stabbed each other in the back — felt a little deus ex machina to me, as did the 11th-hour Kendall-killed-a-guy gut punch. (Not that he didn’t. The timing was just last-minute weird.) Still, Shiv was right. Kendall is not up to the task. No way, no how. Though another season of watching him flail would be righteous.
The swimming-party detente between the Roy siblings felt a little out-of-nowhere, too. You have to swim against the tide sometimes, I guess, to get to your destination.
And the destination was pretty swell. Who knows what will become of Roman, storming out of the signing ceremony? Tom strutting down the hall like a wannabe Michael Corleone was just fantastic. The scene with Tom and Shiv in the back of the town car, roles reversed and both looking perfectly miserable, was a great play on the final scene of “The Graduate,” only sadder.
Then, of course, there is Kendall. We’ve seen him floating face down in the water, swimming in victory and, ultimately, just sitting there watching the waves crash, an outsider now. (Bonus points for framing Colin standing off to the side in the final shot. “Forlorn” is a word that came to mind.)
I’m not sure any ending to “Succession” could be considered completely satisfying, because it’s the kind of show you don’t want to end. (Although I’d love to see how much of a pay cut Greg winds up with.) But Roman sums things up pretty nicely: “We are bullshit. … I’m telling you this because I know it. We’re nothing.” The truth hurts.
As for “Barry,” I predicted, along with everyone else who has ever seen the show, that Barry would die. What I would *not* have predicted is that Gene Cousineau would be the one to kill him.
Bill Hader, co-creator of the show, its star and, for every episode this season (and several in previous seasons), its director, was an off-screen presence for much of the final episode. Yet Barry was top of mind for everyone throughout (including viewers).
He arms up, hilariously, for a showdown that — for him, at least — never comes. He never fires a shot in the entire episode. Shots are fired at him, however. “Oh, wow” are the last words we hear from him (and they give the episode its title).
Hader has messed with us the entire series. I’d argue that he did again in the finale, particularly in the ending. “Succession” is touted, rightfully, as a brutal commentary on media, among other things. (See the “America Decides” episode this season.)
But “Barry” is the show that ends with what can genuinely be described as fake news. His son watching a movie in which Barry is the victim — eventually buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery — is a cruelly twisted version of the truth. It’s unsettling, disturbing. As so much of the series has been. (RIP NoHo Hank, for one thing.)
“Succession” was a big swing, the classic HBO water-cooler show. It was great, but we’ve seen this kind of thing before.
“Barry” was dark art, something different, something weirder. Maybe it’s not the show everyone was tweeting about Sunday. But I have a feeling it’s going to be the one everyone talks about years from now. At least it should be.