This episode of “Succession,” the penultimate of the series, feels final in a way many before it didn’t. It tosses any shred of empathy we may have had for these characters into a trash can, steps away from the context of their short-sighted melodrama more completely than ever, and finally puts the Roy family in a situation so sticky they might not survive it. However, due to a timing coincidence, the episode also feels like a cutting commentary on a real-world situation: Donald Trump’s recent CNN town hall.
To be clear, I have not seen Trump’s town hall and do not plan to. The former president, who has been indicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, charged with various levels of sexual misconduct by 26 women and openly encouraged behavior that led to the January 6 insurrection, is not in court. nowhere on my must-see TV list, and I’m not alone.
When CNN decided to broadcast a live event featuring the man, the network received a tremendous backlash for featuring someone who seems to grow stronger with each new obvious misinformation he’s been given a pedestal to speak on. After all, the road to Trump’s initial election was paved with moments where the candidate was clearly given airtime because, as Roman Roy would say, he makes “good television.”
