Blu-ray Review: SUCCESSION: THE COMPLETE SERIES

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Sep 15 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Disclaimer: “Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.”

Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment had previously released the complete series of the HBO drama Succession on DVD, but now it is offering the series in a new Complete Series Blu-ray set as well.

Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is the ruthless billionaire patriarch of the Roy family, and owner/CEO of global media conglomerate Waystar RoyCo. Logan’s adult children never really has a normal, loving father in their lives. As they gather to celebrate their father’s 80th birthday, they expect that he is going to announce his intentions to step down and have someone else take over running the NYC-based empire, but instead he tells his children he intends to stay on as CEO for several more years. He also tries to bring all of his children back into the family business as he contemplates who he will finally announce as his successor, but who will it be?

Logan’s eldest son Connor (Alan Ruck), from his first marriage, is not really part of the family business. From Logan’s second marriage are siblings Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Siobhan “Shiv” (Sarah Snook). Kendall seems to be Logan’s heir apparent and the most ambitious and power-hungry of the siblings. He is constantly trying to prove himself to his father, and when it doesn’t look like his father is going to hand him the keys to the company, he decides he’s going to take them. Middle sibling Roman (Kieran Culkin) is the most immature of the bunch, never taking his job at the company seriously, which often annoys brother Kendall. The youngest f the children, and Logan’s only daughter, Shiv (Sarah Snook) never really wanted to be part of the company, heading into the field of politics instead, but now she finds herself dragged back into this world. She’s engaged to Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen), a Waystar executive who is eager to receive recognition from his future father-in-law, but is constantly ignored and left out of Logan’s inner circle. Also trying to win over Logan is his bumbling but opportunistic grand nephew Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun), who has joined the company’s management training program, working under Tom.

The series ran for four seasons, following the ups and downs of the Roy clan as the siblings jockey for position within the company, trying to win over their father to become his successor. Even though the siblings are competing with one another, they also have this shared bond and common enemy. The series takes some interesting and entertaining twists and turns, with betrayals, scandals, and takeover attempts, along with the character drama. No matter what problems arise, the Roy family finds a way to use their wealth and power to weather the storm. Everyone in this family is despicable, opportunistic and manipulative, and it’s so much fun to see how the events play out. Going into the fourth season, the creators of the series knew it was going to be the show’s last, so the series builds to a definite conclusion. I found the ending to be somewhat satisfying, but I could also see it being a bit polarizing.

As I re-watched the series on this Blu-ray release, I found myself instantly sucked back into this world. The series finds this perfect blend between drama, satire and dark comedy. Even during some of the show’s darker moments, there is a lot of humor. The cast is great and have wonderful chemistry with one another. This definitely feels like this could be an actual (though very dysfunctional) family. In addition to the stellar main cast, the series also has some great guest stars and recurring actors over the seasons, including Rob Yang, Dagmara Domińczyk, Arian Moayed, Fisher Stevens, Holly Hunter, Cherry Jones, Adrien Brody, Hope Davis, Alexander Skarsgård, and Annabeth Gish. I also really enjoyed J. Smith-Cameron as Waystar RoyCo’s general counsel Gerri Kellman, who has this hilarious flirty relationship with Roman (which initially seems to be a bit one-sided).

All four seasons of the HBO series Succession make their way onto Blu-ray in this new Complete Series box set. Only the first season had previously been released on the HD disc format, with the remaining seasons being related to DVD-only releases. The Blu-ray release looks excellent. Colors are bright and natural, the picture looks very clean, and there is an excellent level of detail in faces, even in the darker sequences. The audio track is also very good, providing a full and immersive sound that fills the room, with clear dialogue throughout, and a rich score.

The Complete Series release spans 12 discs, 3 per season, which are placed overlapping on plastic trays in a very thick DVD-sized case, which is covered by a thin carboard slipcover. The packaging is basically identical to the previous DVD release of the Complete Series. As someone who has primarily moved on to Blu-rays and 4K discs, I find this kind of packaging really frustrating as I’ve already adjusted my shelves for the Blu-ray packaging, rather than these DVD-height cases.

No digital copy is included. However, the discs are loaded with hours of bonus material, including behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with the cast/creators, recaps of the events of each season, and some games with the cast.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (39:52:45)

All 39 episodes of the TV series spread across 12 discs:
- Season 1 (2018) – 10 episodes (9:51:09)
  Disc 1: “Celebration”, “Sh*t Show at the F**k Factory”, “Lifeboats”
  Disc 2: “Sad Sack Wasp Trap”, “I Went to Market”, “Which Side Are You On?”
  Disc 3: “Austerlitz”, “Prague”, “Pre-Nuptials”, “Nobody Is Ever Missing”
- Season 2 (2019) – 10 episodes (10:04:51)
  Disc 1: “The Summer Palace”, “Vaulter”, “Hunting”, “Safe Room”
  Disc 2: “Tern Haven”, “Argestes”, “Return”
  Disc 3: “Dundee”, “DC”, “This Is Not For Tears”
- Season 3 (2021) – 9 episodes (9:04:54)
  Disc 1: “Secession”, “Mass in Time of War”, “The Disruption”
  Disc 2: “Lion in the Meadow”, “Retired Janitors of Idaho”, “What It Takes”
  Disc 3: “Too Much Birthday”, “Chiantishire”, “All the Bells Say”
- Season 4 (2023) – 10 episodes (10:51:51)
  Disc 1: “The Munsters”, “Rehearsal”, “Connor’s Wedding”, “Honeymoon States”
  Disc 2: “Kill List”, “Living+”, “Tailgate Party”,
  Disc 3: “America Decides”, “Church and State”, “With Open Eyes”
1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; Season 1 Only: French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Castellano 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles: English SDH; Season 1 Only: French, Spanish, Castellano, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Extras:

Season 1 (2018):
- Succession Wedding Featurette (8:29)
  A behind-the-scenes look at filming the big wedding at Eastnor Castle in the UK for the season one finale. Includes interviews’ with producer/creator/showrunner Jesse Armstrong, executive producer Frank Rich, executive producer/director Mark Mylod, costume designers Michelle Matland & Jonathan Schwartz, production designer Stephen Carter, set decorator Sophie Newman, co-executive producer/writer Lucy Prebble, and stars Sarah Snook (“Shiv Roy”), Alan Ruck (“Connor Roy”), Jeremy Strong (“Kendall Roy”), Matthew Macfadyen (“Tom Wambsgans”), Brian Cox (“Logan Roy”), Harriet Walter (“Lady Caroline Collingwood”), Natalie Gold (“Rava Roy”), Kieran Culkin (“Roman Roy”) & J. Smith-Cameron (“Gerri Kellman”)./li>
Season 2 (2019):
- Inside the Episode
  Executive producer/creator/showrunner Jesse Armstrong discusses the major developments of each of the second season’s episodes.
  - The Summer Palace (2:29)
  - Vaulter (1:56)
  - Hunting (2:25)
  - Safe Room (2:21)
  - Tern Haven (1:54)
  - Argestes (2:31)
  - Return (2:52)
  - Dundee (2:31)
  - DC (2:01)
  - This Is Not For Tears (2:55)
- Invitation to the Set (1:54)
  The cast and creators discuss the second season. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with executive producer/creator/showrunner Jesse Armstrong and stars Sarah Snook, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Alan Ruck & Brian Cox.
- Meet the Roys (2:42)
  Montage of clips showcasing the members of the Roy family.
- Character Recap:
  Each of the actors introduces themselves and recaps what their character has been up to leading up to the second season.
  - Tom Wambsgans (1:55)
  - Shiv Roy (1:44)
  - Logan Roy (1:30)
  - Kendell Roy (1:53)
  - Connor Roy (1:31)
  - Cousin Greg (1:48)
Season 3 (2021):
- Controlling the Narrative:
  The cast and creators discuss the major developments for several of the third season’s episodes. Participants include executive producer/creator/showrunner Jesse Armstrong, executive producer/director Mark Mylod, and stars Nicholas Braun, Matthew Macfadyen, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Alan Ruck, Brian Cox & J. Smith-Cameron.
  - Mass in Time of War (3:31)
  - Lion in the Meadow (2:53)
  - Retired Janitors of Idaho (4:11)
  - Too Much Birthday (3:59)
  - All the Bells Say (5:19)
- Who Said It?:
  - Nicholas Braun & Matthew Macfayden (3:39)
  - Sarah Snook & Alan Ruck (3:05)
- Roy Family Food Chain (3:03)
  The cast members try to determine how their characters would rank against one another in a Food Chain.
Season 4 (2023):
- Controlling the Narrative:
  The cast and creators discuss the major developments of each episode of the fourth season. Participants include executive producer/creator/showrunner Jesse Armstrong, executive producer/director Mark Mylod, and stars Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Brian Cox, Matthew Macfadyen, Nicholas Braun, Jeremy Strong, Alan Ruck & J. Smith-Cameron.
  - The Munsters (5:02)
  - Rehearsal (5:18)
  - Connor’s Wedding (7:12)
  - Honeymoon States (4:41)
  - Kill List (5:15)
  - Living+ (3:53)
  - Tailgate Party (5:30)
  - America Decides (3:44)
  - Church and State (5:00)
  - With Open Eyes (6:35)
- Advice for Your Character (3:22)
  The cast talk about what advice they would give their characters.
- The Best of Logan Roy (4:57)
  Montage of Logan Roy one-liners.
- Who Said It?
  Castmates quiz each other with quotes from various HBO series, and they try to guess who said it.
  - Logan & Gerri (3:26)
  - Tom & Greg (3:21)
- Scene Swap: Tom & Greg (3:15)
  Stars Nicholas Braun and Matthew Macfadyen act out a scene, playing each other’s characters.
- Character Recap:
  Montages of clips for the various characters.
  - Logan Roy (2:15)
  - Tom Wambsgans (1:59)
  - Cousin Greg Hirsh (1:32)
  - Roman Roy (1:32)
  - Shiv Roy (1:30)
  - Connor Roy (1:39)
  - Kendell Roy (1:49)

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Episodes:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

Succession is a highly entertaining dramedy that blends excellent character drama and humor with intrigue and some interesting twists and turns. While many of these characters are despicable, it’s so much fun to watch their antics play out. Warner Bros.’ new Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, and finally gives physical media collectors an HD release of all 4 seasons of the series. The discs also contain a solid assortment of bonus material. The only downsides to the release are the lack of a digital copy, and the fact that the it makes use of DVD-sized packaging that may not fit on the shelf alongside your other Blu-rays. That said, the release is an easy recommendation for fans of the series, or those looking for a solidly acted and written drama with lots of humor.