Succession is unlike any other show on HBO, yet very similar to many. It has the politics of The West Wing, the behind-the-scenes action of The Newsroom, the satire of Veep, the scheming of The Sopranos, and the dynastic politics of Game of Thrones. Because of that, it’s been one of the cable channel’s most lauded shows in recent years.
But ahead of the premiere of Season 4 next month, showrunner Jesse Armstrong revealed that this season would be the show’s last, per The Hollywood Reporter. However, it may not be the end of the Roy-verse as a whole. There’s still one glimmer of light.
In an interview with The New Yorker, Armstrong revealed the reasoning behind his decision to end the series after four seasons, presumedly at the height of its reception. “You know, there’s a promise in the title of Succession,” Armstrong said. “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?”
But while this is sad news for all the Con-heads out there, there’s a possibility this is just the beginning of a greater saga. Earlier this week, HBO and HBO Max Content CEO Casey Bloys spoke with Variety about the future of the brand. Originally, the most newsworthy element of that conversation was the news that House of the Dragon probably won’t return until 2024.
In light of this news, however, another quote is now vastly more integral for Succession fans. “It doesn’t seem to me that there’s something in Succession where you would go, ‘Let’s follow just this kid’ or whatever,” Bloys said. “It doesn’t seem like a natural thing to me. But if [creator Jesse Armstrong] said I want to do this, then I would follow Jesse’s lead.”
It doesn’t look like Armstrong has any interest in following one particular person in a spinoff — Succession, after all, is an ensemble piece — but who knows what the future could bring. Maybe a spinoff isn’t about the Roy family at all, but the lower-down employees working at one of Waystar Royco’s many theme parks. Maybe it’ll focus on a different family altogether. Maybe it could even follow the cast members of Willa’s ill-fated Broadway play “Sands.”
Succession may be ending on a high, but in a world where Game of Thrones can get a prequel set more than a century before the main story, there’s not much that’s off the table. We may have to take a break from the Roys, but if their creator is willing to bring them back then so is HBO.
Succession Season 4 premieres March 26, 2023 on HBO.
