Is This The Time For Shiv To Shine? Sarah Snook Sets Up Season 3 of HBO’s SUCCESSION

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Sarah Snook, the EMMY®-nominated Australian actress who plays Siobhan “Shiv” Roy in HBO’s SUCCESSION, has come up with the perfect way to explain why Shiv keeps getting drawn into the family chaos, when in some ways the character seems too smart for it all. “Because the greatest thrill would be to win against a family member, not to win against the rest of the world,” Snook said. Wow – if there’s a better way to set up Season 3 of SUCCESSION, which debuts Sunday, Oct. 17, only on Crave, it has yet to be heard. And Snook’s analysis applies not only to Shiv, but to her conniving brothers Kendall (played by Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Connor (Alan Ruck), all of whom are seeking the approval of media magnate and not-so-proud papa Logan (Brian Cox). “You can’t choose the family you’ve got, and I think in the end, unfortunately, there’s a safety there,” Snook continued, in a virtual interview. “They (the Roy siblings) are always going to be orbiting each other, they’re always magnetized to each other, they can’t help but hang out with one another – and they do love each other somewhere underneath it all. But they’re in competition with each other. I think for Shiv, she had her own career outside, in politics, and though it was satisfying to a point, the moment there was a shred of her father’s interest in her coming into the company, she just dropped it all and came. It speaks to how attached she is to this family, and how willing she is to allow herself to be threaded into it.” So just to be clear … all this Roy family chaos represents some sort of safety circle for Shiv? Really? “Isn’t that depressing?” Snook responded with a giggle. Well, depressing for the characters in SUCCESSION, maybe, but not for the audience. The juicy, award-winning drama – which has distinct elements of both comedy and tragedy in it – has become one of the most talked-about shows on TV. The anticipation for Season 3 began the moment Season 2 ended in jaw-dropping fashion, all the way back in October 2019 (for anyone who needs a refresher, the first two seasons are available on Crave now). Yes, SUCCESSION is literally about succession: which dysfunctional kid is going to take over the aging Logan’s massive but arguably failing empire? Which sibling can save it, if in fact it needs saving? And let’s not forget about the “outsider-insiders,” such as Shiv’s nervous husband Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), befuddled cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun), and long-serving but sneakily ambitious company executive Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron). “But in the end, it is a family drama about a sister, three brothers, and a dad who struggles to show his affection for them, and they’re all vying for his attention,” Snook said. “And even if (Logan) were to give his respect, if he were to give his love, at this point I think they’re so far down the track of the journey that it would be very hard to believe. I think if Logan turned around and said, ‘Yes, Shiv, you’re CEO, and I respect you 100%,’ she’d still be looking over her shoulder. Even if he were dead, she’d still be thinking that she lived in his shadow, and never would live up to his idea of what he wanted.” Snook possibly hinted at something when she said, “I think there always has been a bit of friction between Shiv and Kendall, in the ways that siblings have those frictions. And certainly Roman and Shiv have their frictions and frustrations, but with them, there’s something about the way it’s able to be laughed off, or fobbed off – and maybe that’s dangerous. Maybe there’s something that belies a greater turmoil in the future, because they don’t take each other seriously enough.” Is there ultimately any path to happiness for Shiv? “Well, in terms of my wish and hope for the show, for the diversity of storylines for Shiv to play, I would say I hope she never finds happiness,” Snook said. “Because dealing with that baggage as a character is not fun, but dealing with that baggage as an actor is brilliant.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv