A very wealthy, very human man who, rather naturally, views of everyone he meets as morons, is at the center of HBO’s Succession and the show has always been about individuals trying everything in their power to assault and dethrone him.
Over the course of three seasons, Succession has driven home the point that no matter how many times Logan Roy’s potential successors try to corner him, he will always find a way out.
In earlier seasons, when it seemed like the program was still discovering new, unknown depths to the Roys, this pattern of repetition gave Succession a kind of Sisyphean pessimism by placing everyone back in their proper places just when they thought things were going to change.
But, in its final season, Succession follows so closely to its traditional narrative script that it occasionally feels like it lacks the courage to make risky decisions. The show fully appreciates the audience’s familiarity with these individuals and their relationships and it provides those interactions frequently.
The Roys Reunite: A Throwback to Succession’s Pilot
The opening half of the fourth season of Succession feels like a throwback to the show’s pilot, which established the basic power dynamics between media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his three ambitious, emotionally scarred offspring.
Complete and utter futility Because he was often the heir apparent to the family’s journalism empire in times when his addictions weren’t getting the best of him, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) still seeks his father’s validation more than any of his siblings.
As the consummate game player, Siobhan (Sarah Snook) is able to achieve what she wants while pretending to do as little damage as possible.
Roman (Kieran Culkin), despite his theatrical dirtbaggery and propensity for showing up when no one expects him is at his most secure when everyone believes that he is concerned about them as a group rather than just himself.
And nevertheless, Connor (Alan Ruck), Logan’s oldest and most bearded child hangs around on the outskirts of his family’s never-ending fights, doing what he can to find significance in political projects that everyone knows are certain to fail.
Logan’s three youngest children, Shiv, Roman, and Kendall, spent a lifetime being pitted against one another, but the third season of Succession left them reeling from their father’s power play to shut them all out.
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The Roys’ Isolation: Analyzed in Season 4
As the fourth season of Succession begins, the Roy children are still a united front hellbent on trouncing their father. However, the show wastes no time zeroing in on interpersonal frictions designed to make you question how committed the children are to win as a team, let alone whether they can.
For Shiv, who along with Roman and Kendall has no one to support her but her brothers, since their last attempt to topple their father was foiled by her husband Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen’s craven leech of a spouse), this is especially true.
Kendall’s background has effectively made him a persona non grata in the eyes of his peers, and whatever tenuous and twisted type of affinity Waystar RoyCo’s recent temporary CEO Gerri Kellman (J. Smith-Cameron) held for Him appears to be dead.
Season 4 does a good job of not relying solely on these character beats and instead uses them to further explore why the Roy kids feel so isolated from everyone else.
Even in their current predicament, where it appears that Logan plans to sell to GoJo’s Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgrd), the Roys siblings continue to second-guess one another and Succession continues to delight in the witty, biting tragicomedy of it all, despite it often feels like more of the same.
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Succession: Analyzing the Comic Relief of Greg and Tom
Moments of genuine humor and cutting edge character development shine out, such as when Logan’s cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) fulfills Logan’s wish to be roasted by asking him why, at a time of need, his children are nowhere to be found.
Yet, these instances are few and far between, and for the most part, Succession is content to let Greg and Tom bumble around as a pair of comic relief jesters.
Succession, based on the four episodes made available to the press, appears to be contentedly mired in a holding pattern, seemingly determined to drag out this saga for as long as possible despite making just slight progress.
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