Succession's 3rd season premiere seems to think it's still 2019

A pandemic, presidential election, and failed insurrection later, the once-sharp show has no new ideas

Brian Cox.
(Image credit: Illustrated | HBO, iStock)

The first table read for HBO's Succession took place on Nov. 8, 2016. The afterparty was supposed to double as a Hillary Clinton victory celebration — until it wasn't. "I think [filmmaker Adam McKay] said, 'Well, we're making the right show,'" Sarah Snook, who plays Shiv, recalled to The Hollywood Reporter.

When Succession returns on Sunday for its highly-anticipated third season, a significant four years, 11 months, and nine days — and nine Emmys — will have passed since that initial read. But while the pathetic, petty infighting between the inept and scheming Roys once resonated as a hilarious mockery of America's rotten power class, the new season's first episode doesn't have quite the same sting it once did. There are no new ideas here, nor even acknowledgment that the nation Succession critiques has undergone dramatic changes since the second season ended in 2019.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.