Does succession help identify narcissistic perverts (to better avoid them)?

Contextualized in an environment of the ultra-rich, Succession follows psychological developments that can go beyond the notion of class to apply to several forms of interpersonal relationships, in the intimate or in the work. On closer inspection, it is possible to use this series as a toolbox to decipher the toxic behaviors and narcissistic perversions at work between people – and therefore, here, between characters. From fiction to real life, follow the guide.

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Logan Roy: domineering toxicity

Logan Roy (Brian Cox) Warner Bros.

The character of Logan Roy is that of the patriarch of the family, father of a lineage that dreams of replacing him, and omnipotent boss of an ultra-influential media empire: he is in the line of the big bosses of television series, such as JR in Dallas or Blake Carrington in Dynasty, of which he could be a contemporary version. Watching him evolve, we understand more the ways of doing a toxic personality: Logan Roy is a dominator, who wants attention to be focused on him, permanently, who avoids the solutions of others to privilege his own and surrounds himself with characters at his service. His status as boss and owner of the media allows him to adopt this central position. Does it free him from listening to others? What often happens is that he pretends to listen to better disqualify the other, whoever he is. This invariably leads to feelings of fear in those around him, stress very visible throughout the series, and resentment towards him. And when, sometimes, his children have the hand, he never ceases to humiliate them by his word, which he ensures remains central.

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The Roy children, or the toxicity of paranoia

Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong), Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) and Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) in Succession Warner Bros.

Oedipus complex? Attraction of power? Put an end to the judgment of the elderly? The Roy children are at war, throughout the four seasons, to take their father's place. But also to earn his love and respect. But also to know which of them is the best. But also to exist independently of each other. But also to form a sibling finally united. Caught up in these contradictory injunctions, which are similar to the "double bind" theorized by the anthropologist and psychologist Gregory Bateson, which makes an individual torn between desires that cannot be settled at the same time, their behavior begins to be those of narcissistic perverts: they do everything, each in turn, to draw light on them.

Everything in their attitude is signs of exacerbated narcissism: need for attention, denigration of others, manipulation of the entourage, over-self-esteem, recurring lies. Their behavior is irremediably placed under the sign of an insoluble paranoia and instability dictated by the economic turmoil of their father's company. They have to constantly adjust and to get there, their main strength is their exaggerated narcissism.

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The perverse promises of change

Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) Warner Bros.

Much has been said about Shakespeare's Succession: A Family Drama, the series echoes the playwright's great plays, portraying political and intimate passions. However, Succession is also a quasi-clinical study of human behavior in the face of extravagant promises of a better life. The characters are driven by what they think is the possibility of change. The story they tell each other is basically the one that a pervert inflicts on his victim who believes in it as long as it is impossible for him to leave the relationship. In their father, the children see a promise: that of taking his place, but also that of a better world to come after him. For children, the turmoil is permanent. Their utopia guides them, but reality constantly catches up with them and constantly violates them. As Lacan said, "The real is when you bump into each other". And the Roy family bumps into each other all the time, all against themselves.

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Right-of-way mechanics

Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his son Kendall (Jeremy Strong) David M. Russell / David M. Russell

What is at stake in the series is a powerful desire: that of power. How to take it? How to store it? How to sell it? Who will take it? So many questions that, once asked, make it possible to identify patterns according to which the characters of the series evolve, and which, put in parallel with real life, allow the viewer to use them to identify the behaviors around him.

Above all, Succession proposes a rather pessimistic philosophy of the world: to the questions it asks, to the problem of power, inheritance and passing, it implicitly says that there is no answer. The characters are caught in permanent turmoil and their drama is to live in the illusion that they will find an answer. In contrast, Succession teaches its viewers that sometimes you have to know how to go beyond questions - and especially not to look for answers.