Succession is an American satirical drama television series created by Jesse Armstrong on HBO. The series centers on the billionaire Roy family, the owners of Waystar RoyCo, a global media and entertainment conglomerate. Kendall, the second eldest child and frontrunner for the successor of the company is a complex, nuanced character who’s relationship with water becomes a key and telling symbol of his mental state, particularly in relation to his father, the family business and his future as successor of the company.
Water is a symbol of wisdom, power, grace, music, creativity, purity, birth, death and chaos. It is the source of life, everything in existence was birthed from will return to water. It also represents the impermanence of all things, fluidity and its existence in various states. Water can flow, freeze, dissolve or evaporate. It has the power to become extremely potent, destructive in motion but also extremely still, formless, and calm.
Season 1, Ep10 “Nobody Is Ever Missing” at Shivs wedding’s wedding when the waiter Kendall was doing drugs with dies beside him, is the start of numerous moments in which Kendall’s state is clear to see through the way he interacts with water. The violent nature at which Kendall meets the water, the way he is fully submerged and at risk of not coming back up for air speaks to how this is a moment of chaos in his life. In this moment water is used as a symbolism of death. Death of the boy but also death of Kendall previous freedom of guilt, blamelessness and ‘innocence’. He is now partially responsible for another person’s death and has reached a new low on the spectrum of how far his self indulgence will take him. The same way a tsunami can cause a mass destruction and have a devastating, fatal effect on life is the same way Kendall can behave in his extremities. He is a natural disaster himself.
When we meet Kendall in Season 2, EP1 “The Summer Palace” in Rehab. He is just above water. Only just surviving. This could also suggest a symbolic nature of simplicity in Kendall’s life and the purification of his soul after previous events. As a result of the ending events of last season we can see him in a meditative, pensive state of ennui. In this state he is ‘being like water’ from Buddhist religion and Taoist philosophy. The water he is in is gentle, peaceful, formless with no agenda, which is the same with his character, awaiting orders from his father on how to behave.
In contrast to this, by the end of season Season 2, EP10 “This Is Not for Tears” Kendall is floating freely in bed of water. He is face up and accepting of what is in the same way water represents ‘non-resistance’. The foreshadowing told through his body, which is in the position of Jesus on the cross, tell us on how his father plans to sacrifice him. This Crucification symbolism is further explained by Shiv’s comment calling Kendall ‘Plastic Jesus’.
At the start of Season 3, EP1, “Secession” Kendall has gained control of his destiny and outmanoeuvred his father for the time being. We see him in a tight bath space but with no water. Although the absence of water suggests he has a new found freedom and nothing to pulling him down this very tight space could point to his trapped nature, he has backed himself into a corner and must now live up to his role as theres no way out or person to turn to. The episode title ‘Secession’ relates to the ancient Roman strategy used by the ‘plebs’ of the city to arrange a general strike against their masters. In this case, Kendall has staged a coup d’état to overthrow his father and gain control of the company.
By Season 3, EP8 “Chiantishire” Kendall is almost dead after his mother, Caroline’s wedding, after failing to defeat his father. He drunkenly floats facedown in his pool, and slowly lets his head sink into the water. This represents his rock bottom, completely weight down by his relationship to the company. A morbid new low. His lifeless, aimlessly floating body in the water speaks to his conquered and yielding state.
Contrary to this, in Season 4, EP6 “Living+” Kendall takes an ocean dive after successfully pitching, Living+, a luxury assisted living community that Logan had proposed prior to his death. He feels free, happy and fulfilled. This flowing state of water represents change and the passage of time. Kendall has now grown into the person he has always wanted to be. He is above water, with a loose, easy wave. Kendall has gone through a baptism in the water, a rebirth. He has re-dedicated himself to his mission, his new faith. He has transcended from earthy being to a god level. As he looks out to the water and above to the sky he has an infinite, inexhaustible wonder, full of possibility for the future. He understands he is a drop in the ocean but also the ocean in a drop and this world and everything in it, is his, with control of the company. Just as Christ walked on water to show he could do the impossible, perform miracles and be God-like, in Kendall’s case he has performed a business victory and become ‘Logan-like’.
In the season finale of Succession, Season 4, EP10, Finale “With Open Eyes”. After the loss of the one true thing he wanted, Kendall is demoralised. As he looks out into the water held back by the gate, unable to touch the water, he is truly out of the game. No contact. He is no longer above or below, wrestling or peacefully existing, he is a fish out of water. Just as before the water represented his relationship with the company and succession issue, now there is no relationship, completely divorced from each other.
Get in Touch!
