‘Succession’ Season 3 Made Sarah Snook ‘Gasp’ Even Though She Knew the Ending
Succession Season 3 was full of some of the show’s most shocking twists and turns yet. They were so shocking that Shiv actor Sarah Snook gasped, and she was in the scene that made her gasp. In a recent interview, Snook explained why the season finale surprised even her.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Succession Season 3 finale.]
Snook was a guest on Entertainment Weekly’s The Awardist podcast on Aug. 2 discussing her Emmy nominated work on Succession Season 3. The season finale, which involved the entire Roy family, made her gasp. Succession Season 4 is in production now.
The ‘Succession’ Season 3 finale moment that made Sarah Snook gasp
Succession Season 3 concludes with Shiv, Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Kendall (Jeremy Strong) teaming up to try to stop Logan (Brian Cox) from selling Waystar Royco to GoJo. They do not succeed.
“This is maybe not a great answer, but it’s I guess surprising for myself because I obviously know Succession,” Snook said on The Awardist. “I was there when we were shooting it. I didn’t know how they were going to edit the end of episode 9. When we cut to black, when [director] Mark [Mylod] cuts to black on Shiv, even though I know what she’s thinking, I should be the most intimately knowledgeable about this moment, the way he edited it and when they cut to black and then the music, that I really genuinely gasped of oh what’s going to happen.”
The details of the finale
There was a bit more to Logan’s betrayal of his children. He got a heads up on their plan from Shiv’s husband, Tom (Matthew Macfadyen). The siblings were counting on their shares of Waystar Royco stock outvoting Logan. But, they found out in a conference call with their mother that she’d agreed to revise her divorce settlement with Logan, cutting out the kids.
The siblings were blindsided by this. Shiv had to cope with betrayal by her parents and husband. And yet, it still surprised her.
Sarah Snook praises ‘Succession’ for making her gasp
There were plenty of other gasp-worthy moments in season 3, like Roman’s d*** pic and Kendall’s spiral. Snook gets to read all the scripts and film the scenes in Succession. By all accounts, by the time it airs, she knows what happens. Beyond that, she’s done the show for three years. Hasn’t she gotten used to the show’s drama? Fortunately, not. Creator Jesse Armstrong and director Mylod still surprise her.
“In terms of a gasp moment, I was genuinely surprised that I had a gasp moment because I shouldn’t have had that when I knew what was going to happen,” Snook said. “It’s, I guess, testament to the creatives of the show that it can still create that tension.”
