Succession is over, and a brand new king has been topped.
And whereas Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) wasn’t a reputation that many individuals would possible have thought of within the working, there had been some clues earlier within the season – particularly a line from Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) and a thread that follows on from it – that will have slipped beneath the radar.
So what does the GoJo boss say, and the way does it level to his final CEO alternative? Let’s recap.
Probably the most WTF ‘Succession’ quotes of the ultimate season
What does Matsson say that factors to his CEO alternative?
Throughout a video name with Kendall (Jeremy Sturdy) in Season 4, episode 2, Matsson makes a throwaway remark that’s, in hindsight, fairly a big piece of foreshadowing. It is about sleep.
Matsson: “I can not fucking sleep. You sleep good?”
Kendall: “Actually, probably not, no.”
Matsson: “I’ve by no means met anybody I respect who sleeps good.”
Kendall: “Inform me about it. One eye open, bro. One eye open.”
Meaningless bro-talk? On the floor, sure. However that bit about sleep finally ends up being key, as a result of there’s one character who actually would not sleep effectively in Season 4.
Tom’s lack of sleep is a recurring theme in Season 4.
All through Season 4, there are fixed references to Tom not getting sufficient sleep. In episode seven, on the pre-election social gathering he and Shiv (Sarah Snook) are internet hosting, he complains by way of the night time about how exhausted he’s.
“I am drained, you understand. Election eve, it is loads,” he tells Shiv initially of the social gathering. Later, the horrendous argument they’ve begins when Tom says he will go to mattress. “I am bushwacked,” he says, “my eyes are sandpaper.”

Tom spends the whole lot of the pre-election social gathering speaking about how exhausted he’s.
Credit score: David Russell/HBO
In episode 9, Tom is unable to make Logan’s funeral on account of how busy he’s at work. Matsson even asks Shiv “The place’s your Tommy boy?”, and when she tells him Tom is at work, there is a temporary second the place you’ll be able to see the cogs delivering his head.
Later, when Tom turns up briefly on the drinks after the funeral, he is speaking as soon as once more about how drained he’s. “I am so, so, drained and I have been awake so, so lengthy,” he says to Shiv. “I simply felt like I could not depart.”
Tom mentions sleep in his ultimate pitch to Matsson.
After his meal with Matsson in episode 10, Tom is requested to pitch himself. His reply makes it clear that he’d be the precise match for the “ache sponge” Matsson is searching for, however the cherry on the cake is Tom’s remark about sleep. “I am a grinder,” he says. “I grind as a result of I fear. I fear all night time about all the things.”
With out even realising it, Tom has proven himself as Matsson’s excellent match. He sleeps badly as a result of he is continually eager about work, and he misses key occasions in Season 4 as a result of he is really working whereas the opposite characters are busy scheming.
Perhaps he wasn’t such a random CEO alternative in spite of everything.
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Originally posted 2023-05-30 10:53:09.