#it's been too long since I wrote an overlong tumblr post psychoanalyzing succession characters

[morethanwonderful]

Out of the main Succession cast, I think Logan, Roman, and Tom are the only ones that can actually own up to the fact that they're not "good" people by society's standard, rather than living in denial. Shiv thinks she's better than the rest, Greg still (usually) pretends to have some principles/be just a regular guy, Connor is delusional, and though Kendall can see the evil, he keeps clinging to the idea that he can be the hero and fix it (and crumbling when his "heroism" fails).

Logan, Roman, and Tom, however, can all admit that "good" is not what they're after with Waystar. But even among them, the way they approach their morality varies wildly, and I think Tom is the most lucid of all of them.

On Logan's part, I think he just genuinely does not give a damn about what's "moral." He cares about his own continued well-being and the growth of his company. He cares about profit and preserving the illusion of a family. Whether the actions taken to achieve those goals are moral is not a thing that he puts much thought into.

Logan does what Logan thinks is best, and if others want to cast him as the villain for that, then he'll be the goddamn villain. Who gives a shit? Morality is for suckers.

Roman, then, also eschews morality, because every part of him is defined by Logan. He knows intellectually that the family business is bad for society, but it's good for his dad, so why should he care? Anything his dad says goes. Good for Waystar and "the family" means something is good, and bad for Waystar and "the family" means something is bad.

But while I don't think Logan ever considers "right or wrong" as an issue, Roman is aware of the wrongness, so he purposefully doubles down. He can't let himself consider morality as something that actually matters (because then it would be bad that he's terrible), so he has to mock the people that care about goodness. Right and wrong are stupid and for sjws. All the cool dudes are awful and disgusting. Roman doesn't want to genuinely be evil, so he's convinced himself that, actually, being evil is the cool and sexy best thing to do.

Tom, on the other hand, knows that he's terrible, and I don't think he has any illusions about it. That is a man that has a moral compass (see the cruises press conference idea). It's just that he often makes the active choice to do the wrong thing if he thinks that wrongness will benefit him.

Roman grew up in Royland, and he's probably been telling himself that being awful is awesome for almost his entire life. It's second nature at this point; it's just how he is. But Tom is still relatively new at this. He's been a corporate sleaze for a while, but has only recently ascended to the ranks where he starts to get his hands in all the really nasty shit. His rationale isn't "bad is best." It's "being bad gets me money and power, and the wealth and power are the things that make me cool." He doesn't like the idea of being terrible on its own, but he likes the idea of being rich and powerful and important, and he's accepted that being terrible is what will get him to that end goal.

Tom embraces and delights in being an awful because he knows how important and powerful the terrible people around him are. Having principles is stupid, he thinks, because principles won't get you a guest seat at the RECNY ball.

He'd probably be happier if he could tone down the evil, but if doing awful things is what wins him Logan's favor, so be it. He'll be awful and try to make the best of it. He's awful On Purpose in a way that requires more direct intent than Roman's automatic scumminess.

Tom might like to think deep down that he's a nice guy, but when he sets that aside to do something reprehensible, he is explicitly aware that he has chosen to side with the genuine Badness. He's not covering his eyes when he looks toward his moral compass. He's looking at it and choosing to go the wrong way because that's What Rich Important People Do.

Tom is fucking awful, but for all his repression and insanity, I think he's the most lucid about his own awfulness.