Back when Donald Trump was in office, there were a number of common refrains you’d hear. “What will be the first great piece of art about the Trump administration?” “Who will portray him in the inevitable biopics?” “Which actor will one day win an Oscar for playing US president Donald J Trump?” Well, it may not be the first great piece of art about the tumultuous Trump era, but with its antepenultimate episode, “America Decides”, Succession has produced one of the definitive artistic statements on the rise of Trump. And – what’s more – it didn’t mention his name once.
The episode picks up hours after the close of its predecessor. In the world of Succession, it’s election night, with bland liberal frontrunner Daniel Jiménez (Elliot Villar) coming up against right-wing firebrand Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk). We already know from last season’s “What it Takes” that Mencken is seriously bad news. He’s racist. Sexist. You name it, he’s probably said something depraved about it. He’s worked his way up to become the Republican presidential nominee, thanks in part to the backing of the late Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his Fox News-esque right-wing TV network ATN. He enters election night as an underdog. By the morning, and against all odds and polling predictions, he’s been declared president. Sound familiar?
