‘Succession’ & Cousin Greg: The Final Girl

The final girl trope is used to describe the final victim in a film that ultimately survives, even after they confront the killer. The trope is usually used to signify the brunette main characters in slasher movies, but I believe it can go deeper than that. So, in the most serious way possible, I present to you: Cousin Greg in Succession as a final girl.

For those who don’t know, Succession is an HBO comedic drama that can be explained simply by the premise of the rich desperately going through all the hoops to get richer and the consequences that follow. Following a multi-billion dollar media company owned by Logan Roy and the rest of his unhinged family that runs it, each episode is wrapped around the concept of control and the loss of oneself for material gain. There’s enough family drama to put reality shows to shame.

Before moving on to the theory, it’s important to understand where the other characters stand. 

Kendall Roy, the second eldest child and seemingly his father’s favorite, has tried TWICE to scam his own father and failed. Both times. The Number One boy lacks the support to really get a handle on his own life, and his self-destructive tendencies leave him to be the most…Unreliable? Unconfident? Weak? The list is endless.

Shiv is, well, Shiv is actually pretty smart. But she worked in politics, and she plays like a politician. She’s disloyal on all sides of the spectrum and likes to play favorites when it conveniences her. Her downfall came from her own hubris when she snapped during a family dinner, leaking plans about Logan potentially stepping down and letting everyone see her most insecure side.

Roman faces younger sibling syndrome. He wants to be the best, he wants to show everyone that he can get the job done, but his need to prove this to everyone overshadows his ability to actually work efficiently. I don’t think Roman has done anything productive in this entire show other than getting Gerri, a counsel to the company, to be attached to him both sexually and professionally. Weird.

I’m not even going to mention Connor Roy, who is completely detached from all of this in the worst possible ways. Despite everyone’s awfulness, he manages to be my least favorite character, after daddy dearest. 

Then there’s Cousin Greg.

He’s the outlier that’s made his way through to the inner circle so subtlety that you’d think he’s a mastermind if it wasn’t for his awkward demeanor and insistent need to politely hug his other cousins. He’s also much younger than the Roy family, which just makes everyone brush him off. But in just the first season, Greg manages to squeeze himself into a career at Waystar, find himself as a pawn in a massive cover-up of crimes, and then flip it over by using that same cover-up as blackmail to get a better position at the company. 

Then, later on in season two, he makes suggestions to improve the network, becomes allies with Kendall, and finally, uses the evidence he kept from said cover-up as a golden ticket to save him from any backlash while ultimately bringing down the reigning Logan Roy.

Cousin Greg is not as aloof as he seems. I can’t quite put together how many of Greg’s actions were quick thinking and how much was just him plotting all along.

Back to the definition of a final girl: While the Roy family tears each other (and themselves) apart, where does Cousin Greg stand in all this? He stands right by the side, watching it all unfold. Succession likes to focus on Kendall gaining control, but where would he be without dear Cousin Greg at his side, holding the evidence that could ultimately break his family? When Greg becomes the last of the Roy family to be standing, he’ll be the one to call the final shots and end the Roy family reign once and for all.

Hopefully, we’ll find out just how much this theory stands later this year with Succession’s third-season release!

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