Succession: Critics praise 'brutal' fourth and final season

The fourth and final season of Succession has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from TV critics.

The latest series sees siblings Kendall, Shiv and Roman continue to battle for supremacy in their media mogul father Logan Roy's company.

Empire, the Times and the Evening Standard all awarded it five stars, while Variety described it as a "brisk, brutal and hilarious final season".

Episodes will be available weekly from Sunday in the US and Monday in the UK.

This article does not contain spoilers for season four of Succession.

"Based on the four episodes I have seen, it has plenty of surprises, fanged vipers and toast-dropping shocks up its exquisite Tom Ford sleeve," wrote Carol Midgley in the Times.

The siblings "seem extra venal and arrogant this series, if every bit as funny as ever", she wrote. "They think they can outfox their father and be major players on the global stage, yet they have barely proved they can butter a slice of toast.

"So you can tuck into the usual delicious snake pie... but if you think this sounds like more of the same old, same old, you'll be underestimating what is shaping up to be a long, glorious goodbye."

Succession is one of the most critically-acclaimed series of the last decade, and has been showered with awards including several Emmys, Golden Globes and Baftas.

The latest series picks up after season three's cliffhanger finale, which saw the three most prominent siblings shut out by their father, played by Brian Cox, after he struck a deal with tech mogul Lukas Matsson.

"It's extremely satisfying to see the trio of Kendall, Shiv, and Roman working together for a change - and to see them hold their own against the monolith that is their father," said Collider's Samantha Coley.

Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Nicholas Braun and Matthew Macfadyen all reprise their roles in the latest season alongside Cox.

The Guardian's Lucy Mangan awarded the season four stars, asking in her review: "Will any of us survive battle Roy-al?"

She said the series was returning "to a mix of lamentation and relief among even - possibly especially - the most devoted fans, who hardly have the strength to survive one more round of the densest, cleverest, most emotionally pulverising drama on TV."

The fourth season "settles into a superb array of the show's signature strengths: Machiavellian plotting, comic rationalizing and withering put-downs," said The Wrap's Bob Strauss.

"The whole gang is at their calculating best, with a survivalist urgency to the business and emotional stakes at hand," he added.

Empire's John Nugent said: "Impeccably scripted as ever, it is still rare to watch television so dense, so richly layered that watching it again immediately seems the only sensible option.

"Each sentence feels loaded with craft, from its delicious saltiness (there are at least three c-bombs in the first episode alone) right down to its marrow-deep character work."

The dialogue was also praised by Gerard Gilbert of iNews, who wrote: "I almost feel sorry for the cast, who will probably never again get the opportunity to utter such gorgeously well-crafted dialogue.

"All credit to them for never over-selling lines whose throwaway nature is part of their hilarious effect."

Variety's Joshua Alston said: "While the season takes a bit longer to catch fire than its predecessors, once the shady dealing begins in earnest, Succession is more intense than ever.

"With the series finale in sight, the show has a full tank of gas and an 800-pound gorilla's foot on the pedal."

There was slightly less enthusiasm from the Telegraph's Ed Cumming, who wrote: "You're not allowed to criticise Succession at North London dinner parties, but, whisper it, it's not perfect."

He added: "With the end in sight, however, Succession is free to aim for the landing, and those of us who have been wishing the Roys would get a move on will not be disappointed.

"Everything Succession's fans love is here: the acid dialogue, the private jets, the horror its characters feel whenever they are forced to brush up against the real world."

Joe's Rory Cashin said: "Each and every episode is laced with the expected set of exquisite one-liners, perfected performances and dramatic rug-pulls that you'd expect from Succession."

"Of course it's all brilliant," wrote the Evening Standard's Hamish MacBain. "This is a show on imperial, strident, impossibly confident form: a show that knows its audience is waiting with baited breath for an end that is nigh, and that big things are bound to happen before that end.

"Time to sit back, savour... and steer well clear of the office watercooler and your WhatsApp groups should you be even a couple of days late watching an episode."