Succession creator Jesse Armstrong has revealed that he had hoped to be “argued out of” ending the series, despite describing the currently airing final season as a natural conclusion. Armstrong aired his thoughts on the trajectory of Succession’s fourth season — which debuted its first episode today (March 26) — during an interview with Variety earlier this month. 

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“The word that comes to mind for me is ‘natural,’” Armstrong said. “I hope people, when they see this season, will feel that it has a natural shape to it.” While the showrunner revealed that he had sought a “feeling of completeness and rightness to the shape of” season four, he was nonetheless willing to be talked out of finishing the HBO series, since he “love[s] working with these people.” 

“[I was] kind of hoping I’d get argued out of it so we’d see a way to do more seasons, because I love working with these people,” Armstrong said. “I think there’s a feeling of completeness and rightness to the shape of the show.”

Armstrong went on to reveal whether he had drafted multiple versions of the final season, which will end with its tenth episode and series finale on May 29.

“I had the last scene pretty early,” Armstrong said. “We talked about how the show would end a lot, and I never wavered from that. I wavered on what were the best lines, the best way to express it, but that ending from the first draft is the one you’ll see when the episode comes out.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Armstrong referenced the series finales of fellow HBO titles like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under, saying that although the series are among “some of the shows I most admire,” the final season of Succession “had to be bespoke, obviously.” He continued: “Each show is different… It’s got to feel right for that story.” 

The fourth season of Succession will see the return of the main cast as the Logan family, with the likes of Jeremy Strong, Brian Cox and Sarah Snook all reprising their roles as members of the media empire. The season four trailer for the Emmy-winning series was released in January, and promises all the familial tension and power dynamics that fans could hope for.