Succession Knows Tom and Greg Are Its Real Power Couple

The wonderful thing about fans is that, as unbiased onlookers, they often recognize patterns in the art they love before the actual artists can. Take, for example, the case of Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) and “Cousin” Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun) on HBO’s award-winning dramedy Succession. 

While the pair of Roy family outsiders (Tom is married to patriarch Logan Roy’s only daughter and Cousin Greg is…well, a cousin) initially tried to make their way into the dynasty’s good graces through its more established members, fans couldn’t help but notice that the two bit players had uncommonly good chemistry together. Thankfully, the show agreed and midway through Succession’s first season, the Tom and Greg pairing become one of the better unwitting comedy duos on television. I don’t know which Succession writer came up with the line “You can’t make a Tomlette without breaking a few Gregs” but I want to shake their hand until we both pass out from exhaustion.

Now, in a sprawling new feature from New York Magazine’s Vulture about Succession season 3, we’ve got compelling new evidence as to just how well the show understands the magic of the Tom/Greg union. 

In the feature, writer Hunter Harris visits the Succession set in the Tuscany region of Italy to take in filming of the third season’s final two episodes. While there, Harris witnesses  Macfadyen and Braun having an intimate conversation before filming an important scene. More importantly she gleans the following important bit of information:

“They run the sequence a few times, growing increasingly loose and silly as the night goes on. Tom is married to Shiv, but Greg is his real partner on the show. (When I asked costume designer Michelle Matland about pulling everyone’s looks, she said Tom’s suit was selected to complement Greg’s clothing, not Shiv’s.)”

Greg and Tom’s wardrobes complement each other! God bless us all. Back in the season 1 finale when Shiv forced an open marriage upon Tom, this likely isn’t what she had in mind but we’re lucky to get it all the same.

With Succession season 3 set to arrive on HBO this October (no official date has been set yet), we are currently living through a golden era of lengthy Succession magazine features. Previously, a New Yorker piece revealed that the show’s third season will not address the effects of the pandemic. Showrunner Jesse Armstrong confirms that bit of information in the New York Magazine dispatch  and also reveals that he has a solid understanding of what makes television a special medium for character development…or the lack thereof.

“I’m always a little suspicious about growth,” Armstrong said. The idea that we all grew through life, had more perspective and wisdom and therefore maybe took greater care of people around us — I don’t think it is true.”

Yeah, this will be a fun season.