With Open Eyes

"With Open Eyes" is the series finale of the American satirical comedy-drama television series Succession. It is the tenth episode of the fourth season, and the 39th overall. Written by series creator Jesse Armstrong and directed by Mark Mylod, the episode originally aired on HBO on May 28, 2023.

Succession centers on the Roy family, the owners of global media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar RoyCo, and their fight for control of the company amidst uncertainty about the health of the family's patriarch Logan (Brian Cox), who has passed away by this point of the series. The episode follows Logan's three youngest children Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) as they attempt to sway Waystar board members before the vote on GoJo's acquisition of the company. A last-minute change to the firm's leadership plans post-acquisition shifts the Roy siblings' alliances.

"With Open Eyes" received critical acclaim for its performances, directing, writing, and emotional conclusion to the series' narrative. Many critics called it one of the greatest series finales of all time; its choice to give the series a "bad ending", in which the alliance of the three siblings implodes due to their traumas and grudges against each other, was praised as a conclusion which reflected the show's themes and remained truthful to the three characters' storylines and personalities. It received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including an Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series nomination for Strong, who ultimately lost to Culkin's performance in the previous episode.