Why Succession season 3 isn’t addressing Covid pandemic

Succession is finally coming back to our screens with season 3, and the creators have admitted they skipped any references to the pandemic for a pretty brutal reason.

After a long hiatus, you can finally catch up with the Roy family’s opulent chaos when Succession Season 3 drops in October.

While more disastrous dinner fights and extravagant excursions are definitely in the offing when the series returns to Foxtel, don’t expect to hear about coronavirus at Waystar Royco.

According to a new Vulture report, creator Jesse Armstrong decided early on that the scripts wouldn’t be rewritten to include the Covid-19 pandemic.

“These are really wealthy people,” said Australian actress Sarah Snook, who plays Shiv Roy. “And unfortunately, none of the world’s wealthy people were going to be affected by the pandemic.”

Yet as the Vulture story notes, the pandemic certainly impacted Succession — cast members Alan Ruck and Brian Cox contracted the virus, and actor Mark Blum, who played cruise-division executive Bill Lockhart, died of COVID-related complications in March last year.

Sarah Snook returns for Succession season 3. Picture: HBO/Foxtel

After a very long delay, the third season was finally able to begin production in November 2020.

Earlier this summer, the cast and crew headed to Italy, where their dreams of filming the final episodes became a reality keeping in line with Succession’s habit of wrapping up its season abroad (Season 1 ended in an English castle, while Season 2 wrapped up on location in the Aegean Sea and Croatia).

“Italy, by summer’s [end] was always the plan,” the Vulture report continued.

“There were alternatives if travelling there became unfeasible — the UK, Massachusetts, Northern California — but by May 2021, it seemed safely doable, especially given House of Gucci’s successfully completed European shoot.”

Catch up on the first two seasons of Succession on Foxtel. New customers get a 10-day free trial. Sign up at foxtel.com.au

Jeremy Strong has won several awards playing Kendall Roy. Picture: HBO/Foxtel

In July, HBO unveiled the first teaser for Succession Season 3, as the Roys navigate the fallout of Kendall’s (Jeremy Strong) shocking betrayal of family patriarch Logan (Brian Cox) in the final moments of Season 2.

The series also stars Kieran Culkin, Matthew Macfadyen, Hiam Abbass, Nicholas Braun, and J. Smith-Cameron. The new season will also feature notable additions like Adrien Brody, Alexander Skarsgard, and Sanaa Lathan.

Succession is one of the most popular dramas on television, receiving 18 nominations at the 2020 Emmy Awards and taking home the awards for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Directing, and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama for Strong.

This story originally appeared on Decider and has been reproduced here with permission

Originally published as Why Succession season 3 isn’t addressing Covid pandemic