Warning: This review contains full spoilers for Succession season 4. Seriously, in the first line!
Killing the king, or in this case, Logan Roy, in the third episode of Succession’s final season was a bold move that more than paid off. Unlike Logan, who died in the sky, creator Jesse Armstrong successfully landed the plane with a series finale that pulls the rug from beneath Kendall Roy’s (Jeremy Strong) feet while staying true to what this story has always been. It is an end fitting for characters who have the world at their fingertips and see everything – including their relationships and their family lives – as a cutthroat business deal. On some days, you win big; on others, you fail miserably. But after all this conniving negotiation around the GoJo deal, a decision is made, and Succession cements itself as one of television’s greatest shows with a finale that’s as fantastic as everything that came before.
The final season began with the three Roy siblings presenting a united front and ended with them fractured once more. There have been so many backstabbing moments that barely a patch of skin remains unscarred – and yet, despite fast-paced negotiations done in secret and changing alliances, the Roys have a way of putting all that aside at the drop of a hat and changing direction. That’s part of the compelling charm, and also an effective way to ensure the various twists and turns are impossible to predict. There was no foregone conclusion, even if it seemed unlikely that Kendall would actually become the anointed one because that’s how a lesser, more traditional show might’ve ended.
Logan only saw Kendall as his “number one boy” when he needed something from his second-born son, and the uncertainty of the ingeniously ambiguous “underline or strikethrough” on Logan’s will is this dynamic in a farcical nutshell. Kendall is always so close to getting the keys to the business, only for them to be snatched away in the last moments. Dark humor permeates every episode, and it is impossible not to laugh at this bitter irony even in this deeply selfish and immature character’s most relatably human moments.
Succession immediately upped the dramatic stakes.
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By dispatching Logan so early, Succession immediately upped the dramatic stakes. Yes, these characters are often unsympathetic due to their abhorrent behavior and willingness to do whatever they want as long as it benefits them. Kendall pushed his daughter’s fears aside to pull the lever for a fascist presidential candidate, Roman (Kieran Culkin) didn’t even contemplate the downsides of doing the same in an episode that cut close to the bone in capturing familiar political anxieties while doubling down on the Fox News parallels in astute (and terrifying) fashion.
Meanwhile, Shiv (Sarah Snook) wants so badly to be her father that she will switch alliances between her family and a hostile takeover without blinking of an eye. However, showing the siblings at their most vulnerable during the exceptional and emotional episode, “Connor’s Wedding,” briefly unites them without any pretense or flexing for power. That hour alone is one of the best-directed TV episodes of the last decade, which saw Mark Mylod capture the immediacy of the Roy siblings’ unvarnished grief with raw intensity.
Brian Cox is a formidable force of an actor, so losing Logan and his trademark candor created a vacuum for the other characters to stumble through. Death isn’t the last we see of Logan, and Armstrong used Cox effectively through his pre-taped videos. Cox still gets some typically forthright moments before the flight to Sweden, and his quiet dinner with Colin in which he discusses mortality and the karaoke bar conversation with his children linger long in the memory. “I love you, but you are not serious people” is a damning assessment, but considering the physical fight that erupts in the finale with the whole Waystar Royco office looking on, it is also pretty accurate. The siblings all want to be Logan but lack the humble beginnings that undoubtedly shaped his relentless drive and hardened exterior.
“I love you, but you are not serious people” is a damning assessment, but it is also pretty accurate.
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Succession is not a twist-type show with a treasure trove of loose ends to tie up or big reveals, in the final moments, but Ewan’s (James Cromwell) double-sided eulogy answers what happened to their sister Rose. It is an organic method for dispatching this information while painting a picture of the Roy patriarch’s complexities – and outright awful impact on the fabric of society.
Logan saw his children as entitled, spoiled, and ungrateful but was still saddened when they did not attend what turned out to be his final birthday party, and again, this man contains multitudes. Instead, Kendall, Roman, and Shiv flashed their cash and snatched up the one media acquisition their father had long desired. It could have gotten repetitive – a trap even the exceptional Sopranos fell into during its six-season run – but Armstrong ended Succession before it circled that particular drain, and the cyclical storytelling further reinforces the themes.
Succession Season 4 Photos
Condensing the events of the final season into such a short time frame – there is no official count so far, but it appears to be around the two-week mark – ups the intensity of these monumental, life-changing moments. No wonder Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) complains about how little sleep he has had. The rollercoaster ride that is Tom and Shiv’s marriage is enough to give you whiplash, one which begins with an impending divorce and ends with a pregnancy and maybe a reconciliation resulting from Shiv’s final decision to hand Tom the prize (a double-edged sword, considering it is also described by Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) as the role of a “pain sponge”). The brilliance of this coupling is that it has never been a fairy tale, but the power has shifted significantly since we first met them and the final season captures the spectrum from betrayal to giddy romance. A game of “bitey” takes flirtation to new weird heights, yet it feels so right in this scenario. Macfadyen gets to flex his inner Mr. Darcy when discussing the origins of their relationship and goes full Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in an electrifying argument opposite Snook.
In my review of the first four episodes of the season I said picking an MVP character was a tall task, and that remains the case by the finale. However, while Strong is consistently brilliant and has some shining moments from the Living+ presentation to the eulogy in the penultimate episode – his visible streaming snot in multiple scenes is a talent – it is impossible not to declare a tie between Snook and Culkin. Nailing the complexity of Shiv’s marriage and her pregnancy is one thing, but when she is trying to scramble to secure her position, Snook gets to paint all shades, from confidence to being on the back foot. The moment when Kendall calls Nate during the election is unforgettable, thanks to her stammering as she tries to dig herself out of a hole she made while trying to justify this betrayal. It is a watch-through-your-fingers scene that proves not all horror requires a literal bloodbath.
It is a watch-through-your-fingers scene that proves not all horror requires a literal bloodbath.
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In the same episode, Roman is back on top and reveling in this position with all the childish annoyance we have previously seen him exhibit, and there’s a perverse joy in watching confident Roman get a moment in the sun before that all comes crashing down. While his tearful state at the funeral is seen as a weakness within the series, the raw despair on display is one of the most powerful moments of the entire series. Roman swings between bravado and denial, so seeing Culkin depict grief this way hits hard. When he loses it against Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) on the top of a Norwegian mountain his anger dominates, and the other target for his rage is Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron). Another show might have taken time to mend this fan-favorite duo, but there is no way back for this relationship, and Roman begins to unravel at the mere sight of her in the finale. Anything else would’ve been too insincere and phony, as Roman is not a man to back down or take the right lessons from his mistakes.
Having gotten this far without mentioning Connor (Alan Ruck) feels like the Succession way, but he is not an afterthought to the writers. There is a flight of fancy nature to this character, someone who collects expensive historical artifacts and spends hundreds of millions on a presidential bid he’s repeatedly told has zero hope of victory. Yet, we also get to see the man who does get considered an afterthought by his siblings. Kendall yells he is the “eldest boy” (a hilariously self-infantilizing proclamation) because he doesn’t even consider Connor part of this equation. Connor doesn’t get to participate in the three-way hugs, hand-holding while watching videos of their father, or get to speak at the funeral – despite writing what was very likely a libelous eulogy. Connor claims he doesn’t need love or affection, and yet the haunted look Ruck gives when he finds out Logan is likely dead says otherwise. There is comedy and tragedy in all of these characters, but no one more than Connor Roy.
It would be easy to turn this review into a list of every actor performing at the top of their game, and there is no weak link in this ensemble – though if I had any notes it would be that the finale season might have benefited from more Gerri and still had issues with knowing what to do with Greg outside of his turncoat moves in the finale. Having a deep bench of guest stars, recurring cast members, and mainstays who have been around since the very first episode only adds to the richness of this world.
Scale has never been an issue either in a show that has seen the Roys travel to a host of luxurious places, and whereas Logan’s trip is aborted mid-air, this doesn’t stop anyone else from hopping on a private jet at a moment's notice. The Norway trip takes negotiations to new literal heights. In the last episode, an excursion to Lady Caroline’s (Harriet Walter) Caribbean retreat (AKA “the only hellhole in paradise”) offers a beautiful backdrop to sibling pettiness that turns into a playful late-night kitchen scene that distills the absurdity of this power grab into a blender of every condiment and item in their mother’s barely stocked fridge. It is a charming interlude that will be torn apart in a boardroom.
There have been so many attempts by Kendall to snatch the crown; despite the repetition, he has yet to learn when he’s defeated. Making the same mistakes over and over is the Succession way, and while GoJo does acquire Waystar (with Tom as an empty-suit CEO), it doesn’t feel like the cycle has been broken. Roman declares it “all bullshit” and states that “we’re nothing,” which is the closest any of them get to acknowledging their father’s assessment earlier in the season. Shiv is back alongside the husband she hate-loves, and Kendall’s one dream is snuffed out. It is a feel-bad conclusion that lets no one off. Nicholas Britell’s score has been consistently brilliant, offering an elegy for Logan and Kendall’s attempt to win with soaring changes to the signature themes.
In the end, Armstrong lets Kendall become his father, yet it is a hollow victory without any spoils. It isn’t as ambiguous as The Sopranos or as final as Six Feet Under, but this last season of Succession is one of HBO’s all-time bests.
Verdict
From the first episodes of Succession’s final journey, it was clear that Jesse Armstrong was not holding anything back. Killing Logan Roy so early in the game was a power move that proved wildly successful, as it gave space for dynamics among his potential replacements to rise and fall. Not to mention the emotional rollercoaster of every character (particularly the Roy siblings) grappling with this tremendous loss. After the ongoing cycle of negotiations and betrayals, it was impossible to predict how this story would conclude, and yet the choice to end as it did is incredibly fitting. There is no weak link in the ensemble cast, and there have been several tour de force performances from Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, and Matthew Macfadyen among many others. Nicholas Britell’s score remains one of the best in recent memory, and the scale of this season is as impressive as the Norwegian mountain backdrop. Unlike Kendall Roy, Jesse Armstrong has gone out on top.