Making ‘Quiet Luxury’ mainstream

The term ‘Quiet Luxury’ has gained immense traction, largely due to Succession. ‘Quiet Luxury’ is a term often used to describe the fashion sensibilities of the truly rich who wear clothes which do not carry any apparent designer motifs or symbols, but are made of the finest materials that money can buy and simultaneously exude class and elegance.

Succession fully gives into the trend, with one of its main characters Kendall Roy (played by Jeremy Strong), plunging into it the most. From wearing a pair of Dries Van Noten sneakers worth $335 to a rare $215,000 Richard Mille watch, Kendall truly embodies Quiet Luxury.

Since the inception of the show, fans have become more aware of this trend among the top per cent and have started identifying such behaviour in celebrities. The term was fully exemplified by actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s attire during her recent court proceedings. Wearing Prada blouses and skirts and an oversized coat by The Row, Paltrow has become the most talked-about celebrity at the heart of this trend.

Illustrating the futility of family legacy

Succession is widely believed to be inspired by many legacy media emperors and their respective empires. Names like Rupert Murdoch and William Hearst, to name a few. But Succession operates a bit differently. Till Season 3, Logan Roy (Brian Cox), the patriarch, constantly attempts to give away his empire to anyone other than his kids. In the first episode of the series, Logan, just before the official announcement, snatches the keys of his empire from son Kendall, even after there are solid rumours about the change in leadership.

Logan Roy seems to have an internal battle as to whether or not to keep his life’s work within the family, which is very much the USP of the firm in his eyes, or whether to hand it over to people who he deems to be much more skilled and able than his children. The public discourse has often supported the younger Roys but also sided with Logan’s thoughts.

The popularity of consultants

Succession aims at portraying the messiness of human relationships and the rich lifestyle of the well-heeled with absolute authenticity. The production has often hired consultants to impart knowledge about their respective fields. The most common consultants hired by the production are wealth and political consultants.

A recent example was the hiring of political consultant Eric Shultz for Episode 8 of Season 4 named ‘America Decides’, where a news operation takes a call on how to go forward during an ongoing election. This has prompted other shows to also do the same.

Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy

Nicholas Brittel’s music for Successionhas been a TV game-changer

Jeremy Strong’s method acting: yay or nay?

Seldom have we seen so much contention surrounding the profile of an actor. Post The New Yorker profile on Jeremy Strong, heated debate prevailed among fans about his decision to go all method while playing Kendall. Many fans argued that living through the horrors that Kendall goes through has ultimately harmed Strong’s psyche, who, through the profile, was encouraging young actors to take on method acting.

However, many others argued that Strong’s portrayal would not be as convincing and powerful if he did not go through the mental turmoil experienced by Kendall. The argument became so heated after a while that the cast and creators of the show had to weigh in and defend Strong.

Satire on media

Succession has been successful in satirising and, simultaneously, stirring up a discussion surrounding the highs and lows of the media business today. Waystar Royco is projected as the fifth-largest media conglomerate in the world, making it the perfect turf for the writers to satirise the media frenzy that surrounds us today. Like the portrayal of ATN, Waystar’s news division, which is shown to be a heavily biased news channel, and often goes out of its way to support certain individuals who are politically important to Logan.

ATN, often referred to as the “golden egg” of the firm, stands out as a mirror to many modern-day media organisations. From the owner’s perspective, ATN is the money-making machine they require to ensure the smooth running of the organisation, and simultaneously, as a platform to strengthen their political tie-ups which can help them, as and when required. They hardly care about their duty to the public and how their actions determine the future of the country. Logan Roy, asking for the president’s support when the DOJ starts investigating the cruise scandal against Waystar Royco serves as an instance where fostering such political relationships comes in handy for the powerful.

Embraces the darkness of comedy

Succession cannot be confined to a specific genre of storytelling. It is many things... a comedy, tragedy, drama, among many others. But the comedic aspect of Succession, in our opinion, stands out the most. In a series like Succession, where the characters reach the lowest of lows and the highest of highs, bits of comedic respite hook in viewers even more.

But the writers are careful to underline that comedy with tragedy. For example, what we think is the funniest scene in all of Succession — the bottle-throwing scene between Tom Wambsgans and Greg Hirsh in the episode ‘Safe Room’ (Season 2, Episode 4). Greg, after expressing that he wants a ‘work-open relationship’ where he can go and explore other departments in the Waystar canon and not just work for Tom, gets water bottles hurled at him. Though this scene is explicitly funny, it also makes the viewer wonder why Tom would do something like this to a person like Greg, who he has cared for and taken under his wing. Further pondering would make one realise that this act has stemmed from a sense of insecurity and sadness in Tom as his wife, Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) had told him on their wedding night that she wanted an ‘open relationship’. This sort of layered writing has been incredibly influential in the world of TV, prompting more shows to embrace it. Barry is one such.

The music

Nicholas Britell’s score for Succession has been a game-changer for TV. His opening theme, a blend of classic instrumental with modern hip-hop beats, has completely changed the game for TV scores. The score perfectly elevates the show to the next level, being pronounced and booming in certain crucial scenes of self-reflection, and yet being subtle and minimal during intense conversational scenes between characters.

Prior to Succession, though the visuals of the opening themes for shows were considered extremely important, the music accompanying it was not paid much attention to. But now, shows like The White Lotus do an excellent job of melding the opening visuals with some intricate pieces of music.