Adam McKay Had to ‘Emotionally Recover’ After Watching ‘Succession’ Series Finale
Adam McKay didn’t want to look up after the “Succession” series finale.
The “Don’t Look Up” director, who executive produces the Emmy-winning HBO series, revealed that he had to “emotionally recover” from watching the final 90-minute episode, “With Open Eyes,” which airs on Sunday, May 28.
Executive producer McKay watched the last episode to give creator Armstrong notes.
“I had to, like, emotionally recover after watching it,” McKay told Variety while promoting his upcoming “Death on the Lot” podcast. “Oh, my God. Wow! I knew what was coming. And still! Oh, my God. Wow.”
“Succession” centers on the Roy family battle to take over Waystar Royco following the death of patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox). The fourth and final season has hinged on the core Roy children — Roman (Kieran Culkin), Kendall (Jeremy Strong), and Shiv (Sarah Snook) — polluting the potential buyout of the media conglomerate by tech founder Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård), to disastrous ends.
“Succession” first premiered in 2018 and is also executive produced by director Mark Mylod, who directed the final episode. Composer Nicholas Britell confirmed the series finale clocks in at 90 minutes and will be a “huge episode, like a movie.” The final “Succession” episode will air May 28.
“There’s a promise in the title of ‘Succession.’ I’ve never thought this could go on forever,” series creator Armstrong told The New Yorker earlier this year. “I do think that this succession story that we were telling is complete. This is the muscular season to exhaust all our reserves of interest, and I think there’s some pain in all these characters that’s really strong. But the feeling that there could be something else in an allied world, or allied characters, or some of the same characters—that’s also strong in me. I have caveated the end of the show, when I’ve talked to some of my collaborators, like: Maybe there’s another part of this world we could come back to, if there was an appetite? Maybe there’s something else that could be done, that harnessed what’s been good about the way we’ve worked on this. So that is another true feeling.”
