Succession Season 3 - Why Tom Made The Right Choice

This video essay reviews Tom's betrayal in Season 3 of Succession. If we look at the character development throughout Succession, it was not obvious he would take his revenge at first, but episode by episode, the writers created something very special and memorable. This video explains how and why Tom made the right choice.

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This video may contain copyrighted material; the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This material is made available under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made "fair use" for the purposes such as criticism, comment, review, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that otherwise might be infringing. All rights belong to its owners.

Timestamps:
0:00 Shiv
4:03 Logan
6:30 Greg
8:31 Betrayal

Music used:
(Vivaldi) Winter mvt 1 Allegro non molto
(Vivaldi) Summer mvt 3 presto
(Vivaldi) Winter mvt 3 Allegro
by John Harrison with the Wichita State University Chamber Players
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
*The original work has been modified with basic fades, cuts and loops*
&
Beethoven's 7th Symphony (Public Domain)

#succession #tom #successionseason3

[davec]

Best summarized by the line: "And Logan? I've never seen him get fucked ONCE."

[adityareds]

"Tom did nothing wrong because Shiv did nothing right." - Need a T-Shirt of this line.

[yeeee]

You didn't mention my favourite part. When they announce in ep7 that nobody will be going to jail and Logan walks past Tom, squeezes his forearm and quietly says "I'll remember" referring to his offer to self sacrifice early in the season. I loved that

[TheGoonSquadd]

IMO when Shiv told Logan, "Don't make tom go to jail" Logan realized she chose family over the business and that was it for her ever being CEO. at the end of season 3 Logan witnessed Tom betray his family for the business. Tom is the killer that Logan wanted one of his children to be.

[yellowbubblequeen]

Nero was also the adopted son. He succeeds his father to power.

[SARGEHALOv]

Season 3 was incredible. The whole show is a masterclass in writing and storytelling. I cannot wait for season 4. Great video as well. Very well done.

[looney]

What's tragic to me about Shiv is that I think she DOES love Tom. She loves Tom the way her father loves her, and her mother loves her, and her siblings love her, and her father loved all of his ex wives. Shiv doesn't know what true 'love' feels like and continues the cycle of abuse. Tom knows better.

[biglovekisskiss]

This Achilles heel of self obsessed narcissists is that they lack self awareness and empathy. Shiv thought she was 'dominating' and 'winning' by consistently undermining Tom. But what it actually achieved was the erosion of loyalty from Tom. Which led to her downfall.

[LuCet]

The only one who was surprised by Tom's betrayal was Shiv. The moment I saw Shiv Call Tom and tell him about their plan I started yelling at her "What are you doing stupid?!" I knew she fucked it. She told him she didn't love him, she won't give him kids and even at the moment, she won't reassure him of his position in the company. She couldn't even lie to him, that's how much she underestimated him.

[MegaShinobi]

I'm still amazed at just how much stuff they were able to comfortably cram into this season. The series respecting it's viewers' intelligence and not explicitly explaining what can be understood with subtext alone definitely helped, but they essentially had 3-4 entire character arcs this season that were worthy and deep enough to have recieved their own seasons, and yet all 4 fit well within a relatively shorter season.

[mariarohmer]

Watching Tom being crushed more each episode by Shiv was palpably painful to watch. MM is such a talented actor that every wince from Tom seemed heavier & heavier until you could just about see his tank was empty. He’s such a d-bag in so many ways but I love him. I have no idea where this is going but I can’t wait for Tom on the main stage in S4. Also do you think Tom was behind the donuts sent to Shiv, Kendall, Roman & Con in I think ep 2? Remember they were all afraid of Logan’s donuts & how he found out they were there? Had to be Tom!

[ingridbeatriz]

She is doing the same thing that Logan did: "He never saw anything he loved that he didn't want to kick it, just to see if it would still come back."

[davidburros]

the scene where Tom and Greg cement their alliance at the wedding by Tom telling Greg almost nothing, just offering him a chance to be at the bottom of the top, instead of the endless middle, is one of my favorite scenes of this season. They may be the only two people who have genuine trust, love and affection for each other in this show.

[a]

I can watch succession analysis videos all day everyday, I just can't get enough of this show

[amartyachatterjee]

Seeing Tom making the right decision after episodes of mental abuse, made me feel so good. And as expected, he took the most neglected and humiliated person under his wing, Cousin Greg. Agree or not, Kendall is not Greg's best friend in the family, it is Mr.Tom Wamsgans.

[aroyaliota]

Shiv sowed the seeds of her own downfall. For me, I welcomed this turning of the tables. Their relationship is about to become very complicated if speculation Shiv is pregnant bears out.

[rociovillarreal]

I remember in the first season, Greg goes to Logan in order to be transfered to another department because Tom was abusing their employees (him specifically) and I recall that Logan's face was kind of joyful about that matter like "he IS one of my people".

[JG-kkmr]

He finally pushed his wife down the stairs.
I'm not feeling optimistic it will work out for Tom - Logan never keeps his promises and always fucks people over - but it makes total sense why he made his decision. Sarah Snook's expression in the final shot of the season gives me major chills. I need Season 4 now!

[tclass]

Tom’s shown the most loyalty to Logan… he has the executive training and experience… and he doesn’t have a substance abuse problem… He has the total package that each of the siblings lack in some way. Makes sense that he’d become a major player.

[colinmchugh]

What really makes the Tom/Greg dynamic for me is that Tom has this aura of anxiety and insecurity when hes interacting with almost every other character, including Shiv. Greg is the only person he seems truly comfortable and open around.