It’s been roughly a year-and-a-half since “Succession” aired its final episode, and in that time the hit HBO drama has rarely felt irrelevant. Quotations from the show like “I’m the eldest boy” or “Bad tweet!” or “You are not serious people” or “She’s brought a ludacriously capacious bag” still knock around in my head on a regular basis — and based on the fact that @nocontextsuccession on Twitter still has consistently high engagement, it seems I’m not the only one. Plus, the talented actors it catapulted and/or cemented into celebrity status are as busy as ever, with Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin both receiving Academy Award nominations in 2025.
But never has “Succession,” a show about ultra-wealth siblings vying for power in their father’s conservative media company and leveraging control in the political landscape, felt more appropriate to the times. And, especially after the Inauguration last week, one specific clip from the show has felt way, way too relevant for me as a Jewish person.
Yep, I’m talking about the scene where Tom has an uncomfortable run-in with a Nazi.
In the scene from season two, Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) is vetting Mark Ravenhead (Zack Robidas) after reports come out that the popular ATN anchor has ties to the Alt Right and is a supporter of Nazism. “OK, so, this is embarrassing, but just for the record and just so we have it: You are not and have never been a member of the Nazi Party of the United States, have you?” Tom asks, utterly self-consciously that he has been tasked with figuring out whether or not an employee is a literal. freaking. Nazi.
Mark answers that he is not and Tom is clearly relieved.
“Thank you, I’m sorry to have to even ask,” he says. “Oh yes, and the Hitler dog thing?”
“OK, the dog thing is bullshit,” Mark replies, responds to the accusation that his dog is named after Hitler’s dog, Blondi. He pauses and adds, “Different spelling.”
The air goes out of the room. Tom swallows hard, but nevertheless he persists. The conversation turns to Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” which Mark says he has read “a couple times, I guess.”
“Are there Easter eggs in there you didn’t get the first time,” Tom laughs, hard. Too hard. Oh my God, this guy really is a Nazi, is practically written across his face. Mark then proceeds to share that he’s interested in that period of history for the scale of its tragedy.
“What tragedy, specifically?” Tom inquires.
“Europe decimated. 7 million Germans, 20 million Russians, 5 million Poles,” Mark trails off, and then looks up at Tom, purposefully ending his thought without mentioning the word “Holocaust” or “Jews” or even the “6” part of “6 million.”
To be sure, the scene is funny. But nowadays, it’s not quite funny “haha.” It’s more funny “uh oh.”
Of course, I’m talking about the fact that President Trump’s adviser and richest man in the world Elon Musk sieg heil-ed TWICE at a post-Inauguration rally last Monday. And then, instead of apologizing, he rattled off a bunch of Nazi puns. AND THEN, he virtually attended a campaign event for Germany’s far-right AfD party, whom many consider to be a Neo-Nazi movement, and warned people that there’s “too much of a focus on past guilt.”
Don’t mind me, I’m just recreating the “I’m in danger” meme in my living room as I type.
Granted, none of what Musk has done recently is actually surprising based on his past behavior. Musk has previously endorsed the AfD, reinstated antisemites and bigots on Twitter, espoused agreement with antisemitic conspiracy theories and more. Watching it all unfold, however, I do feel exactly like Tom Wambsgans as he realizes in real time, Oh shit, this Nazi has almost zero shame. That’s not good. Based on the fact that I’ve seen this clip circulating on social media in recent days, I know that I’m not the only one who feels this way. And at the very least, there’s a little hope in that.
…Right?