This article contains references to drug use and homophobia.
As one of the most popular and critically acclaimed TV shows on the air in the last few years, it is no surprise that audiences have considered alternative meanings to dialogue inSuccession. Particularly, viewers have speculated that aspiring media mogulKendall Roy’s (Jeremy Strong) relationshipwith his old friend Stewy Hosseini (Arian Moayed) may have once been sexual and/or romantic. Kendall has other romantic subplots throughout the series, while his interactions with Stewy are primarily about business.
The series focuses on the media dynasty of theRoy familyand makes it pretty clear that none of them have healthy relationships with their partners or each other. The business depicted is cutthroat and toxic, andif Kendall had a relationship with Stewy, he wouldn’t have wanted that to be public information.However, fans believe this is a possibility due to a few pieces of throwaway dialogue in the series, which, regardless, were certainly intentionally written by the show’s talented team to reveal one thing or another about the characters.
Stewy’s Bathroom Comment Is A Reference To Drug Usage… But It Could Be More
Kendall’s Early Business Meeting With Stewy Turns Suggestive
Speculation about Stewy and Kendall begins with Stewy’s first appearance in the series, whenKendall contacts him, hoping to have Stewy, a private equity investor, put money into the company.Their relationship is characterized as being former Harvard classmates who partied hard together in the old days. When they meet for coffee in season 1, episode 3, and Kendall proposes his deal, Stewy suggestively says: “Why don’t we do what we did back in the day, let’s go to the bathroom […].” Although Kendall turns him down, they go anyway, so Stewy can do cocaine.
The bathroom line refers to Stewy and Kendall’s past drug use,as they likely only encouraged each other’s bad habits in college. At this point, Kendall is trying to stay sober, while Stewy is still using. However, the exchange could still be read as Stewy initially inviting Kendall to the bathroom to have sex, something they have done in the past, also likely while they were in college. In the strictest sense, the line is meant to be about drugs, butSuccessionimplies a lot of unsaid eventsthroughout the series, so this is open to interpretation.
Stewy Is One Of Succession’s Only (Potentially) LGBTQ+ Characters
Additionally, inSuccession’s finale, when the Roy siblings are trying to secure Stewy’s vote in favor of Kendall becoming CEO, Kendall makes a comment about Stewy: “You like pancakes, waffles, and kissing guys on Molly.” This moment strangely went viral with the show’s audiences. However,it notably does suggest that Stewy is sometimes attracted to men, making him one of (but not the only) characters inSuccessionwho can be interpreted as queerbased on something that is said outright.
However, Waystar’s work environment would evidently be unwelcoming to LGBTQ+ employees. It makes sense that someone so ingrained in this setting as Stewy — and for that matter, any of the Roys — would be discreet about their sexuality if this were the case. People have pointed out Roman’s (Kieran Culkin) behaviors that they believe indicate he could be bi or pansexual, while Shiv (Sarah Snook) is very interested in having a threesome with her husband Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and another woman.
Furthermore,Kendall and Roman’s respective ex-girlfriends, Naomi (Annabelle Dexter-Jones) and Tabitha (Caitlin FitzGerald), had a fling off-screen,making their sexualities open to interpretation. It is also suggested that the Roys' cousin Greg’s (Nicholas Braun) father was gay but had to pretend otherwise. There is a lot of subtext inSuccessionin this regard, but it is also clear that Waystar is a queerphobic company, and none of the main characters would be likely to come out to the family.
Succession Fans Have Written A Ton Of Kendall & Stewy Fanfiction
Stewy & Kendall Are A Popular Pairing
Meanwhile,Succession’s fans have written an astounding amount of fanfiction centered on the Stewy/Kendall pairing, exploring various alternate scenarios between the characters that arguably bolster the show. Fanfiction is nothing if not evidence of how people engage with their favorite pieces of media, lingering on it for much longer than if they took what they saw on screen at face value.Successionhardly depicts characters who are going to live happily ever after with anyone, but it certainly succeeded in making them intriguing, prompting fans to only want to talk more about their possible romantic feelings.
