Succession has once again surpassed expectations after just two episodes of the acclaimed drama’s fourth and final season. As the war against media giant Logan Roy (played by Brian Cox) builds to a crescendo, the iconic Scottish star appeared on This Morning on Monday to share what he thinks about the epic HBO series reaching its conclusion.
Cox has branded his co-star Sarah Snook “stupid” for not realising Succession was ending until late in the game.
Snook, who portrays Logan’s only daughter Shiv Roy, didn’t find out they were making the final season until the cast sat down for the last table read.
However, many viewers, as well as the cast, were already speculating the show wouldn’t go past its fourth or fifth instalments.
“Some television shows live well past their sell-by date, but this won’t happen to our television show,” Cox told Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond.
READ MORE: The Apprentice star dishes on what Alan Sugar is like behind the scene
“And that’s because of the integrity of [showrunner] Jesse Armstrong. I think it was tough for him to bring it to a close.
“A lot of people… I mean Sarah Snook, she didn’t even know it was finishing until the last read-through.
“I mean, she’s being very stupid not to realise that it was actually going to finish,” he added, when the presenters gave a sympathetic outburst.
Hammond asked: “Have there been any tears among the cast, or anything?”
“Oh yeah,” Cox replied and waved his hand. “Apparently they’ve all been crying. All that nonsense, you know… I really don’t understand it, you know?
“Are you a hugger, Brian, on set?” O’Leary chimed in.
“I mean, I’ll hug,” Cox admitted. “But I will not cry over it, I’ve got a lot of work on that I’m doing. I’m very busy.”
Ahead of the comedy-drama’s season premiere at the end of March, Snook revealed she didn’t know Succession was ending until the cast read the scripts for the finale.
“I was very upset,” she said of getting the news. “I felt a huge sense of loss, disappointment, sadness.
“It would’ve been nice to know at the beginning of the season, but I also understand not being told until the end because there was still a potential that maybe this wasn’t going to be the end.”
Season four has already seen Logan’s children Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv out-bid their father to purchase PGM after cutting them out of Waystar RoyCo.
In episode two, they finally confront each other face-to-face after eldest brother Connor’s (Alan Ruck) wedding rehearsal ends in disaster, and learn Roman has been in secret contact with their father since his birthday.
The series is once again poised to be one of the most lauded TV events of the year, and there are eight episodes still to come.
“Emotionally, all of us weren’t necessarily ready to be done with the show because we love each other so much,” Snook told the LA Times.
“But everything has to come to an end, and it’s smart not to let something become a parody of itself.”
Succession season 4 continues Sundays on HBO in the USA and the following Monday on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK.
