The Roy Family of Succession Ranked from Least to Most Immoral

     

     Over the course of the past week, I started to watch the critically-acclaimed HBO show Succession. The show tells the story of a billionaire entertainment company and the corruption and mishaps that surround it. The family the show centers on are completely despicable human beings who have no problem doing anything to get ahead in the business world. Although they are all terrible human beings, they are endearing at the same time, which makes the show so addicting to watch. I am going to rank the seven members of the main family members from least immoral to most immoral. I want to give a shout out to TVLine for giving the idea to me. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on each of the characters! Let's get to it...


7. Greg Hirsch 

     The only person from the family that is more of a good person than bad is Cousin Greg. He suffers the torment and verbal abuse of Tom, and the rest of his family sees him as someone who is unimportant to the company. He always wants what is best for every one most of the time, so his heart is usually in the right place. Though he follows Tom's wishes of destroying evidence documenting the company's cruising scandals, he feels guilty about it, and he finds it morally wrong. He requests a transfer from the department to disassociate himself from the scandal should it leak.  He manages to save a few of the documents that he was told to shred because of his guilt, and if you watched the season two finale, he finally uses them against Logan and the company. Greg comes in as the most moral Roy family member.


6. Marcia Roy

     Though Marcia is a very complex character, it is no secret that she represents the old-school traditional woman who has to listen to her husband and obey him even though he may be wrong. She is the third wife of the company's patriarch, Logan Roy. As I mentioned previously, she almost always takes his side, and she mostly serves as the barrier between Logan and his children. Though sometimes she is kept in the dark of things, she seems to have her say in some of Logan's personal matters. She almost never speaks up if she finds what her husband is doing is unethical, but she spoke up recently about her unhappiness in the marriage, but it was because it affected her and no one else. Though she herself has never covered up anything or done unethical deeds, Marcia is a very unlikable character who shows no care for anyone but herself and her husband.

5. Kendall Roy
     Kendall has had a very bumpy ride throughout the two seasons of the show. He is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict in season one until he relapses. The thing about Kendall is that he has a conscience and knows that what his father does is wrong, but he chooses to help his father out anyways, even if it does kill him that he has to do those things. Before he relapses, Kendall tries several times to take the business out of his father's hands after his father lies to him about handing the business over to him, but to no avail. After he relapses, he kills a waiter in a car accident where he tries to walk away from the scene, but his father knows about the accident and blackmails him to quit his persecution of him. In season two, he brutally guts a company without flinching or even showing remorse because "his dad told him to." In the finale of season two, after proving to be a loyal soldier, Kendall finally exposes his father after his father told him to take the fall for the cruise department scandal. It seems Kendall could be behind Marcia if he does right in season three. We shall see.

4. Siobhan "Shiv" Roy

     The only daughter to Logan Roy, Shiv is probably the favorite of all the children even though she definitely gets screwed by her father constantly. Shiv is manipulative, cunning, and persuasive in how she handles others. She is unfaithful to her husband, and she takes advantage of it by saying she wants an "open marriage" after her infidelity. She constantly manipulates her husband to get information out of him that involves the day to day operations of the company. When she wants to work for a Democratic presidential nominee, her father scolds her and attacks the nominee, Gil, but Shiv blackmails her father by threatening to bring up the cruising department scandal. In the penultimate episode of season two, Shiv gets the key witness in the scandal to drop her testimony saying that the trial will ruin her life with people threatening her. In the finale, Shiv manipulates her father into not firing Tom, but her brother instead. With that being said, Shiv, like Kendall, sometimes does seem to want to do right, and I think that she would be a great successor to her father. She would not be as corrupt and would do what she wants and not the dirty work of her father.


3. Roman Roy

     Roman is such an intriguing character. He is definitely the most crass and vulgar character on the show, and he demonstrates that in the pilot episode where he teases a poor Mexican family by telling them he'll give them a million dollars if the boy can hit a home run. The boy fails and Roman rips the check up right in front of the kid's face. Roman is genuinely a terrible person who has no problem tormenting and hassling someone who is in his way. He betrays his brother by not voting his unstable father out of the CEO position, making Kendall the only one to get his hands dirty. He cheated on his wife and when she divorced him, he did not flinch and instead smirked as she walked out of the door. Though he has never spearheaded any corrupt decisions, he is always in the know of what is going on and has no issues following through with orders unless it affects him in a negative way. At some points, you can see a tiny, minuscule drop of humanity in his heart, but it is never enough to redeem him.


2. Connor Roy

     Connor is probably one of the worst and most annoying characters on television right now. Every time he comes on my screen, I want to just put my hands through the screen and strangle him. He is not a character you love to hate; he is a character you hate to hate. Apart from being micro aggressive and rude to anyone that does not have the same political views as him, he is just a complete joke. He has an outburst at a company dinner party towards the cooks where he treats them terribly and fires them because some of the food is a bit cold. This really only began my hate for him. He wants to run for president and genuinely believes he can win when he is a misogynist and does not want to pay taxes. I loved on the season two finale when his father tells him that they all think he is a joke and that his presidential campaign is a joke. It was glorious. Honestly, there are no redeeming qualities about Connor, so let's just move on to our number one slot.

1. Logan Roy

     The most immoral Roy family member is none other than Logan Roy, himself. The man is just a complete slime ball and a dishonest person all around. The whole show revolves around him and the decisions he makes. He is the puppet master of all the scandals surrounding his business, and he is the one who made his children and family the way they are. He scolds his children by telling them they are worthless particularly Kendall when he says he is not a "killer" and is unfit to be the new CEO. He lies whenever he sees it to be necessary such as during the cruising department scandal where he says he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing, yet he signed off on the papers for the victims to keep quiet. He causes his son to start using, and he blackmails him that if he does not lay off, he will rat his son out for murder and as a result makes his son do his dirty work. Not only that, but when he wants to see his son's victim's family, he prays on Kendall's heartstrings by making him feel bad for his wrongdoing knowing that he is already depressed and sorry for his wrongdoing. He berates and mentally abuses the people he thinks tipped off Pierce by making them kneel on the floor and humiliate themselves. On the finale, after being manipulated by Shiv to not fire Tom, he fires his own son and tells him to take the blame for the scandal since he is the "face" of the investigation. Logan definitely rivals the other despicable TV show villains for one of if not the most ruthless and dishonorable men in TV history. 

   

Big Brother Winners Ranked

     

So another (sub-par) season of Big Brother has come and gone recently, and we have a new champion. Where did this champion rank among all the other winners? We'll find out soon enough, but first we have to decide where to place the winners of the other 20 seasons. For this blog, I am going to rank the 20 winners of the U.S. version of Big Brother. This will not include the 1st season, Over the Top, or both celeb seasons. Let's get to the rankings...

20. Josh Martinez- Big Brother 19 Winner

     

     It should be no surprise that I feel Josh is the worst winner of the worst season. While it was extremely satisfying to watch Paul lose for a second time, it does not make Josh a good winner or even an average winner at all. Josh rode Paul's coattails all season long while never making a move of his own. When Paul told him to fight with people, he fought with people. When Paul told him not to talk, he didn't talk. He was just a non-entity the whole game, and I can't even give him credit for his goodbye messages to the jurors since it wasn't his idea in the first place. One winner has to be the last and for me it's Josh like many other BB fans.

19. Jordan Lloyd- Big Brother 11 Winner

     I have gone back and forth on whether or not Josh or Jordan is the worse winner, but at least Jordan had to win competitions on her own to get to the end. Other than that, like Josh, Jordan was a non-entity in her winning season. She simply slipped on a banana peel and landed in the final two. Plain and simple. She let the other side of the house control her side for weeks without trying to infiltrate it. The Coup det tat that her showmance got, saved her side from being bulldozed, so that docks points from her as well. There was never any strategy from her, and she would avoid talking game and not think things through before playing the game. Although somewhat likable (I was never a fan of hers), if I were on the jury, I probably would have voted for Natalie since she actually was passionate about winning the game.

18. Steve Moses- Big Brother 17 Winner

     When you think of Big Brother 17, you think of Vanessa. Steve who? Vanessa completely owned that season. Steve is probably the most cringe winner due to how awkward he was. He was just a terrible winner as well. The only pro I can give him is that he maneuvered through the game somewhat decently, but that could have been sheer luck due to no one wanting to waste an HOH on him. People like to point out that he used Vanessa as a shield pretty well, but at a certain point you have to get rid of that shield. Steve waited until 3rd place to get rid of her; she was one competition away from winning the game. Steve is just a forgettable winner who had a very undeserved win. Vanessa, come back and play again, please!

17. Rachel Reilly- Big Brother 13 Winner

     Ok. This is hard for me because I really like Rachel outside of the show, but on the season she won I did not like her at all. I think she was way too emotional while playing the game, and she did have one of the worst social games of any winner. I will give her credit for winning key competitions and making sure she stayed over Lawon when he volunteered himself to go home. She gets flack from the duo veto that saved her and Jordan when one of them was going home. If she came back nowadays, I could see her being a lot more strategic and aware of her positioning than she was on Big Brother 13. I would like to see her play again, and see what she learned from her two other times playing.

16. Nicole Franzel- Big Brother 18 Winner

     Paul should have won this season hands down even though I can't stand him now. I will give credit to Nicole where it's due in that she positioned herself quite well a lot this season, but that is all I can give her. Production really did push her through the game a lot with the team twist, safety falling from the sky, "mom and dad" (production) telling James and Natalie to work with her and Corey, Corey automatically finding the correct piece in the MacGyver comp, etc. I just don't think Nicole started playing until day 58 after Paulie was booted. I want to forget her as a winner, but she had more respect from the jury than Paul did, so I guess you can't fault her for that.

15. Adam Jasinski- Big Brother 9 Winner

     Every body ranks Adam low because of his drug ring that he started after the show when in all reality, Adam played a decent game of Big Brother. Yes. His season sucked on so many levels, but Adam played a great coaster/under the radar game. Most of his game was behind the scenes, but he did make moves on his own. He made sure that Natalie knew he didn't vote her out, and he reeled in his "partner" Sheila. He played dumb very well, and he also had excellent jury management. That sounds like a respectable Big Brother game to me. The only gripe I have with him was him not willing to have the guts to put up James on the block because he wanted to give him a chance at the veto. That was a dumb move, but it was really the only wrong call he made. He's not the most likable winner, but I think he did just enough to be a high lower-tier winner.

14. Ian Terry- Big Brother 14 Winner

     Every body remembers Big Brother 14 as the season that Dan was robbed. I, too think he was robbed, but Ian was undoubtedly the second best player in that season (there's really no competition to be honest). He won four head of household comps and two veto competitions. Some say that he was unaware a lot of the game, which I agree to an extent, but he had a strategy before he walked into the house, and he basically executed it perfectly. He also got Boogie out of the house, his own "coach" which doesn't get talked about enough. The main issue with him was that, like I said, he was sometimes clueless in the game, and he was manipulated by Dan a number of times, but he had the better jury management, so you have to hand it to him.

13. Drew Daniel- Big Brother 5 Winner

     Drew is probably the most boring and uninspiring winner of every Big Brother winner, but his game play was actually pretty good. He only had one "bad" move in the game in that he took out one of his "add-on" alliance members, but that really set him up well in the game. His showmance with Diane allowed him to be in the know of what her alliance was thinking and doing in the game. His endgame allowed him to be the leader of the decision-making such as the evictions of Karen and Nakomis. On top of that, he made one of the most cutthroat game moves of all time in evicting his showmance from making the final two. It was a spectacular and underappreciated move that allowed him to win the game. Despite being very vanilla, Drew played a good game of Big Brother, and people seem to undermine his abilities.

12. Lisa Donohue- Big Brother 3 Winner

     So many people believe that Danielle should have won this season, and I agree with them; however, Lisa is still a deserving winner. She is probably one of the best social winners of all time, and she used it as a strategy unlike Jordan. Lisa was very good at maneuvering through the game after her and her showmance were targeted. There was a house vote to give a previously evicted houseguest the chance to get back in the game - one of them was her showmance. Lisa famously decided against bringing her showmance back in the game in order to avoid getting a target on her back. It was a brilliant game move and as a result she was able to get to the final two due to the rest of the final three "wanting" her to be there because "they liked her." Overall, Lisa is a very underrated winner.

11. Kaycee Clark- Big Brother 20 Winner

     Speaking of underrated, here we have Kaycee. Now, I do believe Tyler should have won even though I liked Kaycee more than Tyler, but Kaycee was still a good player. She is tied for most power of veto wins, and though I do not think much of competition wins, you cannot deny the girl's challenge prowess. Also, I think Kaycee, like Lisa, is one of the best social players ever. In case Haleigh won HoH, Kaycee did not want to go up, so she kissed up to her and made her feel like she was on her side. Also, Kaycee had a hand in the decisions in her alliance. Maybe she never orchestrated anything on her own, but she was always involved in the decision-making. I do not think Kaycee gets the credit she deserves for her game, but I can somewhat understand why.

10. Jackson Michie- Big Brother 21 Winner

     This is probably the most universally hated winner on the list, but Jackson did play an overall decent game. After his game was blown up by his alliance, Jackson managed to bring in the "floaters/outsiders" and dominate from the final nine on. His social game was not that great, but his strategic game was pretty solid. He also told one of the best lies the game has ever seen in order to keep his showmance in the game. Though his despicable behavior, including microaggressive comments and misogynistic remarks, will forever be remembered (and not for the better), Jackson is a good winner and definitely deserved his win.

9. Andy Herren- Big Brother 15 Winner

     Andy was a part of the worst final three on one of the worst seasons ever. Big Racist 15. Yes, you read that correctly. Though Andy never said any racial remarks, his gameplay was despised by the viewers. He played a rat, floater game where he carried information to everyone in the house, so that they would go after others and not him. Is that type of gameplay annoying? Yes. Is it effective and a good strategy, though? Yes. Though I think his game is overrated by many superfans in that I think Amanda did a lot of the work that season, Andy is a respectable winner, who may be unlikable, but his strategy is respected by most.

8. Mike "Boogie" Malin- Big Brother 7: All Stars Winner

     Like Andy, I feel as if there was player on this season that did most of the heavy lifting, and that is Will; however, Will's second in command played a very good game on this season. He rode coattails when he needed to and he manipulated people when it was necessary. His best move was getting George to target Howie instead of Will by threatening that someone could use the power that was unleashed in the house against him. His fake showmance with Erika allowed him to get through the game and to the end because the jury saw her as worthless, which is how you should look at the game. Though I feel Boogie is overrated as a player overall, his all star game was very effective and very respectable.

7. "Evel" Dick Donato- Big Brother 8 Winner

     Now, I know this is a controversial ranking, especially to the superfans out there who "hate" him, but Dick is a severely underappreciated winner. Yes, many say he was helped by production, but can we not remember Eric being saved by production in order to keep their twist in the game? Dick was very good at making deals last minute so production could not interfere. He controlled most of the pre-jury strategy for his alliance, and after Eric was failed to be taken out, Dick was put on the block where many say he should have gone home. But, if Eric was not America's player, Dick would have not been on the block that week, so the twist actually did not fully benefit him that week. After that, Dick took control of the game again, and though his social game is one of the worst ever, he managed to get him and his daughter to the final two in one of the best arcs of the show. I would recommend others really dive deep into Dick's win rather than writing it off as "production interference."

6. Jun Song- Big Brother 4 Winner

     The queen of floating takes her place as the overall sixth best winner. As I mentioned, Jun perfected the floating strategy where she would play up that taking her out was a waste of an HoH. She played the sides of the house against each other and sat back and watched the chaos around her. She was only really targeted once, and she was not even the main target that week. Also, her ex- boyfriend, Jee, was in the house with him, and she played him like a fiddle, and after she didn't need him anymore, so she got him out on her HoH reign. Her and her final two partner Alison, absolutely loathed each other, but they needed each other to have an equal chance of winning. Jun was scolded for her social game due to mocking other houseguests, but her strategy was well respected, and she won the game in a 6-1 vote.

5. Hayden Moss- Big Brother 12 Winner

     I often consider Hayden to be the leader of the Brigade alliance even though people have conflicting opinions. I always say that Enzo was the one who created the alliance. No, not Matt. He was a moron. It was Enzo; however, Hayden perfected the strategy. He won the competitions for his alliance, and he came up with a lot of the moves in order to ensure the three members got to the final three. He made sure he had the votes when him and his showmance were on the block together due to his perfected strategy. Hayden was a somewhat boring winner, but his dominating gameplay will always be remembered. I think it should have been a landslide vote for him to win over Lane, who did absolutely nothing all season, but nonetheless, he did win.

4. Maggie Ausburn- Big Brother 6 Winner

     Really only superfans have Maggie this high. Many say Janelle should have won this season, and as much as I wanted that to happen, it did not. Maggie was the best player of the season by far. Was she despised? Absolutely, but Maggie took control over her side of the house at the final twelve and completely mind-f**ked them to do her dirty work. Also, she completely changed the game by telling Howie, an opposing alliance member, that one of his own people was coming after him and as a result, nominated the person, giving Maggie and her alliance the rest of the game. Maggie's cult-leader status has been commented on in the Big Brother community, and many have commended her excellent tactics. There is not much more I can say other than Maggie is an excellent player and amazing winner despite her lack of likability.

3. Derrick Levasseur- Big Brother 16 Winner

     As most of you know, I absolutely hate this season. I hate mainly everyone with the exception of Donny. Derrick is no exception; however, his gameplay has been acclaimed by fans of the show, and I can agree with them. Did he have any adversity to shut down his dominating win? No, but that is not his fault. He controlled every single decision in the house, and he got his final two partner to take him to the end rather than one of the most worthless players ever, Victoria. There really is not much more to say about Derrick only because I hate talking about this season. It just makes me feel icky when I bring it up. You just have to know that he is an amazing winner. So moving on.

2. Dan Gheesling- Big Brother 10 Winner

     Many people have Dan as there number one and I don't fault them for that at all. I can see why they do. Dan is an excellent winner and definitely in contention to be the best player of all time as that is apparent in his season fourteen game. In season ten, his whole alliance was wiped out pre-jury and then he lied and manipulated to make his way into the leadership position of one side of the house. The other side did not target him due to him making himself look weak and out of the loop. He lied to Ollie and told him he would nominate who he wanted to nominate if he gave him HoH, but he just ended up putting his best friend on the block and sending her home. He made others target each other by planting seeds of doubt, and then he made a final two with Memphis and they controlled the rest of the game from the final seven on. Dan is a universally loved winner and player as he should be. Maybe his third time on the show will come soon?

1. Will Kirby- Big Brother 2 Winner

     In my opinion, Dr. Will has played the best winning game of any season. His journey is somewhat similar to Dan's in that he alliance was wiped out very early, and then he was on his own. He stayed alive by lying, manipulating, and charming his fellow houseguests. He made fake deals with power couple Nicole and Hardy, where he threw competitions to make himself a smaller target. He let everyone around him blow up to where people started pointing fingers at each other rather than at him. He also planted seeds of doubt in others heads rather than full out telling someone who was targeting them. He threw the final four HoH to Monica so she would do his dirty work, and he would have the choice of who to evict in that there was no Power of Veto, yet. Nicole was the player who really dominated the game where she manipulated people, but Will was manipulating her all along by making fake deals with her and telling her he would do what she told him to do. The jury hated Nicole, but saw that Will was just messing with her the whole time, so they respected him for that where he became the first "official" winner. I believe that subtlety is the best form of gameplay. Not competition wins or "big moves." The best players are the ones who can manipulate people without making themselves seem like a threat. That is Will, and he only solidified himself as arguably the best player ever when he returned in season seven, where he made the final four. Will Kirby takes the number one spot as my personal best winner ever.


Thank you reading my Big Brother Winner Rankings. Stay tuned for more reviews and rankings! Have a great rest of your day!

    

The Walking Dead Season 10 Premiere Review

          If you were to ask me ten years ago if The Walking Dead was still on air, I would say you’re crazy, but here we are ten years later. I have been watching this show since season one episode one all the way back in 2010. I am so happy this show has been a part of my life for the past ten years. Yes, there have been some rocky moments through the years, but all in all, there have been mainly highs. Tonight, the first episode of season ten premiered, and all in all, it was a fairly decent episode. Was it one of the best, most groundbreaking episodes of the show? No. But it sets up interesting storylines that will be seen in this season. I am going to review my thoughts on this episode of The Walking Dead. 



            So, as well all know, this is Danai Gurira’s (Michonne’s) last season of the show. Michonne is one of my all-time favorite television characters. Ever since she made her debut in season three, I was fully invested in her character, so I am very disappointed that she is leaving. Tonight, the show focused a little bit on the relationship between Michonne and her children particularly when Judith was telling the story of Rick’s “death” to RJ. It’s going to be painful watching these kids lose their mother in some capacity whether she dies or simply leaves the show. We also saw her giving advice and wisdom to Aaron about being smart, but it being okay to be scared. I see that the writers are trying to leave the group as well as the audience with memories of Michonne being a leader and being the glue that holds everyone together, so I can appreciate what they are doing.


            The whole episode focused on the different point of views of the communities reacting to the Soviet Union satellite exploding after a whisperer skin mask was found in the children’s shell bucket and where everyone was at the time. During this time, we saw Carol and Daryl being reunited and debating if they should run away where they don’t have to fight anymore. It was a very fascinating topic because we really haven’t seen the people on the show say they are tired of fighting for a while. I know Carol is not leaving the show anytime soon, but it was interesting to see just how scared yet mad she is at Alpha. We finally see at the end of the episode how much wrath she has towards Alpha when she sees her at the bottom of the cliff, both staring each other down. It will be intriguing to see how this battle will end.


            Another scene I really like and have been waiting years for the show to do was Sadiq’s PTSD storyline. I really wished the show had a mental disorder storyline seasons ago because these are still real people, and things like this would still exist in a zombie apocalypse. I’m excited to see how this plays out for him because I can only imagine how terrifying that was for him to see all of his friends die. Maybe it wasn’t as terrifying, though as having an interaction with that doctor. Talk about cringe. The doctor, Dante, is probably that character of the season who is there to die as a “big” character death, but we shall see. Maybe he’ll get some good character development. 


            Negan is back to his old tricks of manipulating people and planting seeds of doubt to cause chaos. Why anyone would listen or believe him is beyond me. I do think he is becoming a better person, but there is still evil left in him, and I am sure it will be put into effect one way or another this season. The way he had Gabriel’s brain turning and thinking foreshadows the group probably taking advice from him at some point, and him planting seeds of doubt in Lydia’s brain shows that he can never fully be trusted no matter how much he admires Judith. 


            The second half of the episode, when the forest fire breaks out from the satellite explosion, was very fun to watch. Seeing all of these people come together and working all night really makes me love this show. Yes, we have lost so many fan-favorite characters, but I really see these new characters stepping up to the plate to fill the shoes of them, and this scene really showed it. It was a scary scene because we didn’t know if there were whisperers in the horde that was attracted to the fire. That is what is so scary about the whisperers. You never know when they’re going to come. Michonne especially is cautious when she is trying to rush everyone out of the woods after the fire is put out considering they are in Alpha’s territory which would always make me pee my wants if I was her. She is terrified as she should be. I feel like the whisperers are going to attack when no one is expecting them to. I think they’re just going to be at a random place where the survivors are caught off guard and not worrying about the whisperers being around. I actually do think that is how Michonne is going to die. Alpha is going to kill her. I really do not see her joining the spinoff movies with Rick and honestly, I don’t want her to. 




            Overall, this episode was very well written. So far, I have heard good things about this season, so fingers crossed the reviews are correct. I loved season nine, so I hope the good-season streak can continue after seven and eight were complete garbage and should be forgotten as a whole. I am praying for Michonne’s storyline to come to a proper close. Maybe she will sacrifice herself to save her children or perhaps Alpha will kill her, cementing her as the series’ most feared and terrifying villains.


Thank you for reading my thoughts on the 10th season premiere of The Walking Dead. Stay tuned for my reviews and rankings! Have a great day everyone!