I feel like MOST prestige shows hit their stride with viewership around season 4; that's certainly when shows like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones hit their stride with the public. I'd throw The Wire and Mad Men in there too, but with those shows it was more like they hit their critical mass of hardcore fans at that time than fully broke through to the mainstream/being a cultural phenomenon. I'm sure there's plenty of counter examples but that's my armchair analysis.


The thing that could hold Succession back from getting recognized as the clear successor to Game of Thrones' dialogue + locations + family politics is the same thing that hurt Mad Men for a lot of people - some people just can't get over the fact that they hate the real life versions of these people. You'll never meet a Roose Bolton or a Walder Frey in real life, not totally, but you can read about a Kendall Roy whenever you want. Or, it's like of Game of Thrones was solely from the Lannisters' POV.


Succession is a much faster paced, pageturner of a program than Mad Men, but I could see it eventually stalling out before it hits that total zeitgeist level if its viewership plateaus next season. Hopefully I'm wrong, I want everyone I know to get over the hump and click with this masterpiece.


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"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
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