Jeremy Strong explains violent Kendall-Roman hug in ‘Succession’ finale: ‘That’s what he needs in that moment’

The following post contains spoilers about the series finale of “Succession”

In the “Succession” series finale, why did Kendall hug Roman (Kieran Culkin) so tightly that he opened up Roman’s stitches?

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Speaking in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kendall actor Jeremy Strong said the shocking moment – which left some viewers confused about its meaning – was another example of the Roy family’s traumatic relationship with love and pain.

“I also think I’m doing that because I know that’s what he needs in that moment,” Strong said of his impression of the sequence. “[Roman] wants to be hurt. He wants to be hurt, because that’s how we [as a family] recognize love. That’s what our father gave to us, that’s what our mother gave to us. It’s a warped love expression.”

Throughout the series, Roman sought out sadomasochism as a trauma response – including in episode nine, “Church and State,” when he intentionally instigates a fight with a group of protestors following the presidential election. That skirmish leaves Roman with a deep cut over his eyebrow that has been stitched up offscreen by the time the series finale begins.

“I feel like people are gonna be like, ‘Why isn’t it me?’” Roman says to Kendall toward the end of the episode, after it has been decided that Kendall will serve as CEO of Waystar Royco instead of his brother or sister, Shiv (Sarah Snook). 

“It could’ve been you, Rome. It could’ve easily been you. It’s just marginal, presentation shit,” Kendall says in reply. 

After Roman admires his stitches, he expresses some surprise at how well he’s healed. “I look okay, this looks fine,” he says. “It’s fucking stupid but, why isn’t it me?”

At that point, Kendall pulls Roman in for an embrace, pushing Roman’s stitches directly onto his shoulder. Kendall holds Roman tightly and keeps pushing until he’s obviously hurting his brother. 

“I love you, man,” Kendall says after letting go.

“I fucking hate you,” Roman replies, dabbing the blood on his forehead from the stitches having opened up.

“It’ll be okay. We’re gonna do good,” Kendall says.

“Teamwork makes the dream work,” says Roman.

“It could’ve been you,” says Kendall.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Strong said the Roy family was raised to use violence to express themselves – physically, verbally, and psychologically. He pointed to a later scene when Shiv – having turned her back on Kendall at the last second, thus ensuring he wouldn’t become the company’s leader – tells Kendall that he wouldn’t even be a good CEO, an attack as savage for Kendall as Roman’s hug.

“I don’t think she believes that. I think she’s exerting power to get back at him, a vindictive retribution from childhood that is old and also feels like maybe these people just don’t have the ability to express love and positive reinforcement, when all they’ve gotten is negative reinforcement and a kind of abuse,” Strong said. “It’s like when I’m hugging Roman, but I’m also hurting him.”

In his own interview, the episode’s director and “Succession” executive producer Mark Mylod said the Kendall-Roman relationship was akin to a “brutal love story.”

“The dynamic between the brothers is so complex,” he told Variety. According to Mylod, discussion about what the violent hug meant didn’t occur. “We specifically avoided it, and we tend to do that a lot with the most complex choices of the characters,” he said. “We set it up carefully with the blood work and the practical elements. To me — and this is just my subjective opinion — the hug is a relief. It’s a loving gesture. It’s a brutal and self-serving loving gesture, but nonetheless, I think it is a gift that Kendall is giving to Roman to give him the out that he unconsciously craves.”

Mylod added, “The awful sadomasochism of the moment is that what starts as a hug is a trap, once Roman realizes what Kendall is doing — that this hug is actually to tear those stitches apart. The nihilism that we saw from Roman at the end of episode nine, going into that crowd, is another expression of it. He deserves that pain, but that pain is also a relief from the responsibility of his destiny to be the CEO. So there is a very complex dynamic there, and I love it for that.”

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