SPOILERS for the finale of Succession.

The entire raison d’être of Succession was in the name of the show. Succession creator Jesse Armstrong gave fans something unique in the third episode of the last season: the death of Logan Roy. Then we got to see the messy, chaotic fight for who would win the game of thrones, which sibling could wrest control of the sprawling company, Waynestar Royco, in the wake of Logan’s death. It was clear that none of the kids should have it, that they were all incompetent idiots, although one could make the case that Kendall was the arguably the best candidate. I worried that the finale would be Kendall getting everything he thought he wanted and realizing too late that he couldn’t do it, or that he only wanted it because he wanted to screw over his siblings. I’m so glad that wasn’t the case.

Kendall did come close though. He came within one board vote. It all came down to Shiv and… wow. I didn’t expect it to go down the way it did, with Kendall, Shiv and Roman literally brawling in the office. That scene… Roman repeating what his father said about Ken’s children, Roman motioning to Shiv and telling Ken, “she’s the bloodline.” Kendall’s argument of “I am the eldest boy” which… he’s not. Ken grabbing Roman by the face, Shiv marching back into the boardroom to vote for the GoJo deal (off-camera!!). It was all perfect.

The scene between Alexander Skarsgard’s Lukas and Matthew Macfayden’s Tom Wambsgans was perfect too, an excellent payoff for the weird sexual energy between Shiv and Lukas. Ultimately, Lukas doesn’t make business decisions with his d–k. He didn’t want to install an American CEO he wanted to sleep with. Lukas wanted someone morally neutral, compliant and yet somewhat connected to the family. Tom was truly the perfect candidate. Tom won the game of thrones and… he was the right choice. The scene in the car between Tom and Shiv was amazing too. And the scene on the phone, earlier in the episode, where Shiv basically asks Tom if they could possibly stay together but for real.

Anyway, I loved the characters brought back for the finale. It was great to see so much of Caroline, for Stewy to have some scenes, for Roman to freak out when he saw Gerri. I loved everything at Caroline’s house although we could sense that those sibling good-vibes wouldn’t last. They did not last an entire 24 hours. I’m not sure they lasted 12 hours? It shows that those good vibes are not their natural state. Their natural state is “at each other’s throats.”

Also: Kendall sitting alone on a bench, staring out on the water… big Michael Corleone vibes. Except that Shiv freed them all.

Photos courtesy of HBO/Succession, Cover Images.