‘Succession’ actor Matthew Macfadyen shares his thoughts on show’s dramatic finale

This article contains major spoilers for the ‘Succession’ finale.

Succession star Matthew Macfadyen has shared his thoughts on the HBO show’s dramatic finale, which aired earlier this week.

After a power struggle between the Roy siblings after the death of their father Logan, the finale ended with Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) backtracking on her pact with brothers Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) to betray them and cast the deciding vote to sell Waystar Royco to Lukas Matsson’s (Alexander Skarsgård) GoJo company.

This meant that Shiv’s husband and ATN boss Tom Wambsgans (Macfadyen) became boss of the company in a major twist after Matsson betrayed Shiv, who was initially in line for the CEO job.

Speaking about the plot twist, Macfadyen told the New York Times: “Maybe she doesn’t choose Tom over her brothers. Maybe she just can’t stomach her big brother. It’s not a binary choice. She just looks at Kendall and thinks, ‘I can’t.’ I don’t think she made a rational decision. And then there’s this beautiful stage direction that Jesse wrote in the script of Tom and Shiv in the car. He talks about two bombs being transported.”

Following the deal, Tom and Shiv leave the building together in the backseat of a car. Sitting next to each other in silence, Tom extends his hand next to him, leaving it open for Shiv to hold it. She then places her hand on top of his, careful not to interlace fingers.

Speaking about the moment Macfadyen said: “Tom offers a hand. She puts her hand on top. Tom and Shiv after all they’ve been through, it felt very chilly and weird and not triumphant on Tom’s part at all. They’re going to go home and who knows?”

Meanwhile, after the finale aired, fans pointed to one scene in the show’s second season to explain the outcome when Tom ate a piece of chicken off Logan’s plate during a summit meeting on a yacht without asking.

For many, it symbolised Tom being able to stand up to Logan in a way that none of his children were able to.

Creator Jesse Armstrong also recently shared his thoughts on the outcome of the finale, saying he knew what he wanted the outcome of the show to be for a good while.

“The idea of Tom being the eventual successor, that had been something that I thought was the right ending for quite a while now,” Armstrong said.

“Even though he’s not exactly the most powerful monarch you’ll ever meet – his power comes from Matsson. Those figures that drift upwards and make themselves amenable to powerful people are around.”