Succession's Matthew Macfadyen Has A Theory About Shiv's Huge Finale Moment
Contains spoilers for "Succession" Season 4 Episode 10 — "With Open Eyes"
Even though trying to figure out who's going to "win" on a show like "Succession" feels like a ridiculous question, a new king was crowned during the series finale: Tom Wambsgans, played with oily perfection by Emmy winner Matthew Macfadyen. After the Roy children — Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Roman (Kieran Culkin) — all try and fail to secure their late father Logan's (Brian Cox) vacant throne, it's Tom who takes over as the American CEO when Waystar Royco goes ahead with its sale to GoJo and its billionaire leader Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skårsgard). It could never be any of the Roy children, that much is certain... but for a man who's been called everything from "Midwestern" to "a striver" throughout the series, this is certainly a meteoric rise for Tom Wambsgans.
In the end, it's Shiv that propels Tom to the top spot; though Matsson originally promises the CEO spot to her, he turns on her and chooses Tom, and it's Shiv's tiebreaking vote that allows the sale to happen. Speaking to Variety, Macfadyen had some thoughts about exactly why Shiv did that.
When the interviewer, Kate Aurthur, pointed out that Shiv basically helps Tom rise to the top with her vote, Macfadyen had another take. "It's interesting, that, because a lot of people have said that," he replied. "But that was never in my head. And I don't know what Sarah thinks. But I don't think it was anything to do with helping Tom."
Matthew Macfadyen definitely doesn't think Shiv was helping Tom
Macfadyen, as it turns out, doesn't think Shiv had any altruistic reasons for saying yes to the sale and ultimately elevating Tom to the CEO spot. He does tell her, earlier in the finale, that it will be him, but as he told Aurthur, he thinks the decision had little to do with Tom and everything to do with her disgust for Kendall.
"But I might be wrong," Macfadyen continued. "I don't know, because it's Sarah's thing, but I think it's just that she can't stomach her brother. She goes to the board meeting to vote to block the deal, and also she's just been royally betrayed by Matsson. There's something in her that snaps, or that sort of curdles, when she sees him stand up — her brother as CEO — and make that speech. And she can't do it. I don't think it's calculated. I don't think it's like, 'Oh, I can align myself with Tom.' Yeah, I think it's just like [jerks awake] — she's changed her mind."
Without Snook weighing in, there's no way to know what the actress was thinking, but based on the scene she shares with Strong's Kendall before the vote, this definitely makes sense. When Shiv tells her brother she can no longer back him, Kendall absolutely loses his mind, basically begging his sister, which is a horrifying moment — and it certainly tracks that she would pivot based on how he takes the news.
Tom Wambsgans only has one real love — and it's not Shiv
Fans of "Succession" know, though, that despite the fact that Shiv and Tom are still legally married and she's carrying his child, she was never the love of his life. That title belongs to Cousin Greg, the sky-high buffoon played by Nicholas Braun. In that same profile, Macfadyen talked about why he thinks Tom actually kind of looks up to Greg, and honestly? It kind of makes a lot of sense.
Despite the fact that Greg uses the news about Tom's upcoming coronation against his closest ally and fellow "Disgusting Brother," Macfadyen thinks that Tom is more impressed by Greg than he lets on. He ultimately forgives Greg, and it certainly seems like the two will ride off into the corporate night together. "I think he likes having Greg around — he recognizes a kindred spirit in Greg," the actor said. "They're both outsiders. And they've both taken a lot of sh*t from everybody, even though Tom would never admit that. They have a lot of secrets together — they've done a lot of stuff together: They've covered up the cruise line stuff. And I think Tom sort of admires Greg, in a demented mentor way."
So why does Tom admire someone as patently pathetic as Greg? "Greg is not without deviousness, and ambition, and all the rest of it," Macfadyen explained. "He's pretty slippery, and snake-like, and Tom can't help but admire that — and is like, 'Well, better stay with me.'"
Does Tom really win at the end of Succession?
No! Of course Tom doesn't "win" at the end of "Succession!" Putting aside the fact that nobody could ever really win whatever twisted game the Roys and their hangers-on spent four seasons playing, Tom actually gets a truly horrible deal when all is said and done.
First of all, he and Shiv are clearly staying together, despite the fact that they really seem to hate each other most of the time, and their horrible, reluctant, and depressing hand-hold at the end of it all beautifully reveals the years of resentment and bitterness to come for both of them. Beyond his flailing marriage, Tom also has to deal with the Matsson of it all. During a dinner behind Shiv's back where Matsson asks Tom to be his "pain sponge" and a "front-man" and Tom tells the Swede that he has a "high tolerance for pain and physical discomfort," Matsson also bluntly tells Tom that he wants to sleep with Shiv, and he thinks it's probably a real possibility. Finally, Tom is in charge of Waystar Royco by way of GoJo, and both companies are doomed; GoJo has been badly inflating its numbers, and Waystar Royco is nothing more than a bunch of broken parts.
Nobody was ever going to win on "Succession," and it could be argued that Tom lost most of all. As Macfadyen put it, "It's a funny thing — because it's not winning anything. I mean, that's sort of missing the point by a million miles. Not to be literal, but it's like, winning what? It's just another move in a corporate nightmare."