Second-eldest Succession fail-son Kendall Roy sucks. But he’s really good at it. I mean, he’s terrible at everything. But he’s realllllllyyy good at being terrible.
Of all the jerks, assholes, and losers on Succession, Kendall Roy is perhaps the most lovable, in a pathetic sort of way.
It’s not just me saying it: there’s a whole cache of people — including a surprising number of young women — who find Succession‘s resident sad sack appealing for that very reason.
Played with impressive conviction by Jeremy Strong (who doesn’t find Kendall’s suffering as funny as the rest of us, mind you), Kendall Roy is a case study in aspirational misery.
Kendall’s approach to existential angst is unique. Here’s a guy who none of us can really relate to — unless your family has its own yacht/helicopter/limo driver — and yet we can all get where he’s coming from. The paradox of sympathetic rich people, and all that.
Indeed, no one else on Succession epitomizes misery like Kendall, whose eyes are perpetually lidded and mouth constantly turned down. Whether he’s bumbling a business deal or getting backstabbed by a sibling, no one does depression quite like Kendall.
It’s not really a spoiler to say that whatever Kendall puts his mind to usually falls apart. Sure, he gets little victories, but even still, as a guy who was groomed from birth to be a success in business, Kendall sure sucks at it.
Even when Kendall’s feeling good, he still looks like he’s about to cry, like he’s not allowed to actually feel good. Remember his cringey birthday party?
You can read the effects of generational trauma, the burden of expectations, and a lack of parental love in Kendall’s blundering, or you can simply acknowdlegdge: “He just like me.”
This isn’t mockery of Strong’s IRL mug, by the way.
Strong is a handsome, well-dressed guy (anyone who wears custom Archivio J.M. Ribot to the Met Gala is ok by me) and he’s clearly affecting a pitiable air to play Kendall, an air distinct from his own personality and appearance.
This is all to say that I’m especially thankful to the @kendallroylookingsad Instagram account for collecting screengrabs of basically every moment where Kendall looks particularly bummed out.
I’m sure other Succession characters have their own meme fan pages or whatever but this is the only one I need, thanks.
I guess 68.5k other people agree, because the Kendall Roy Looking Sad page boasts quite an impressive following. Misery loves company, after all.
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