by Page
The setting of Succession is nothing if not deeply cruel.
Virtually every important character is infected with this cold malice, hurting others as they’ve been hurt. Within three seasons, our central protagonists (Kendall, Roman, Shiv, Tom) have committed unspeakably horrible actions – from interpersonal abuse to corporate crimes to manslaughter, they send out shockwaves of trauma in their every move.
However, while the protagonists are both perpetrators and recipients of harm, other characters fall more squarely into the second category. Namely, Kendall’s children (especially Iverson) take no part in the high-stakes corporate crimes, yet they are both dragged into this world by virtue of their lineage. We receive hints about the troubled lives of the third-generation Roys (such as Kendall leaving cocaine on his children’s tablets), but within the show, it becomes especially palpable.
Being an autistic child casts Iverson as arguably the most vulnerable on-screen character in Succession. In Season 1, Iverson’s autistic behaviors (his difficulty with transitions and group socialization) lead to him being mocked, and eventually hit by his grandfather.
Kendall does little more than stand on and tolerate the abuse. In a later episode, Kendall himself angrily yells and curses at Iverson when he mistakes him for someone else – for an autistic child with sensory issues, this was likely a deeply traumatic experience. Iverson’s on-screen experiences with his father paint the image of someone who has been continually hurt by Kendall.
While Iverson is relatively absent in Season 2, he reappears in Season 3, in dramatic and troubling circumstances. Logan drags the unwitting Iverson into his sick games with Kendall, using Iverson to taste his food to see if it’s been poisoned. If Logan had believed that there was any real risk of poison, then Logan deliberately endangered his grandson (if it had been poison, it’s possible that it would be even more dangerous for a child.) If he hadn’t, then he made Iverson a pawn in his game to disturb Kendall. Either way, Iverson is victimized by his family in their endless power struggle.
Iverson is a punching bag for the Roys. Autistic childhood, even in better circumstances, is often made fraught by the challenges of a society built for neurotypical people. In Succession – where every show of vulnerability leads to figurative impalement – Iverson practically has a target on his back.
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