Succession's Jeremy Strong Wanted Kendall Roy To Die In The End
This post contains spoilers for the "Succession" series finale.
The swift reversals of fortune during the last few episodes of Jesse Armstrong's "Succession" were whiplash-inducing and, in the context of the narrative, darkly satisfying. Though the writers and the cast were phenomenally successful at getting us emotionally invested in the conniving exploits of the Roy siblings, there was always a lingering sense that none of them should "win." Part of this was due to their stunted nature; their media-magnate father, Logan Roy, essentially engineered them to be, at most, half-functional people. They had every advantage at birth, but as we saw throughout the series, they lacked their father's decisiveness. And when the time arrived for them to band together and seize the reins, they sabotaged each other like crabs in a barrel.
Of the three, Jeremy Strong's Kendall came closest to snatching the crown away from Logan. But for an agonizingly inconvenient air-space lockdown over Manhattan, Kendall would've attained a vote of no confidence from the Waystar board and taken over from his stroke-stricken father. When Logan unexpectedly passed during the final season, there were junctures at which it appeared each of the Roy kids had the inside track. But as the final episode neared its climax, Kendall had once again pulled ahead with the support of Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kiernan Culkin). Then Shiv lived up to her name and plunged the blade into his back.
The decimation was thorough. After trying to literally crush Roman's skull, Kendall wandered through the autumn desert of Battery Park a destroyed man. His gait was zombie-like, but not without purpose, and this is where a tantalizing what-if enters the picture. Was there a different fate envisioned for Kendall in that final scene?
A finale fit for a chump
According to Strong, there was in his mind. When the fiercely committed actor (who told The New Yorker in 2021 "I take [Kendall] as seriously as I take my own life") read the finale's script, he felt his character should take a fatal dip in the Hudson River. In an interview with Deadline, Strong said he informed Armstrong and director Mark Mylod, "I don't see any other way for Kendall. I don't see any other way out."
He then elaborated on why Kendall needed to end it:
"I think that this is different from all the other times we've seen him try and fail, all the times we've seen him lose again and again and again. Before, he's always been able to get back up. This time is different, because the loss is total on all sides. He's lost everything. He's lost his children. He's lost his marriage. He's lost his love. He's lost his father. He's lost his siblings, and he's lost the only thing he ever wanted. That thing, that job, that role was the only thing, is his reason for being. And personally, I thought that was an extinction-level event and there's no coming back from it. He's lost his soul."
For Kendall, the long denouement begins
Strong was dead serious about this, so much so that, during one take, he climbed the rail facing the Hudson, only to be pulled back by Scott Nicholson who portrayed Logan's bodyguard Colin (who, it seems, may be the only person left in Kendall's corner).
Judging from the immediate reactions to the finale, it appears a lot of people expected Kendall to jump. I certainly considered the possibility. But that would've been too final and too tidy. You get more of an unresolved ache knowing that Kendall, who is still a billionaire, will see tomorrow, perhaps many tomorrows. Obviously, it's entirely plausible that Kendall will relapse and overdose on cocaine, but watching him cast a dead-eyed gaze toward the chilly Hudson after having lost everything was the desolate terminus he deserved given the black, tragicomic sweep of the series.
"Succession" is available to stream in full on Max.