“What are people?” Logan Roy (Brian Cox) asks his bodyguard, Colin, late night at a restaurant, halfway through the first episode of Succession’s new and final season. Colin looks a little perplexed. They are economic units, according to the media founder, as beleaguered as he is indefatigable. He is 100ft tall, other people are pygmies. “But together, we form a market.”
It is a classic Logan Roy ramble: a little highfalutin, and you could probably poke holes in it, but it makes sense, because Logan has conviction. I’m not sure he always believes what he says, but he sure as hell makes everyone else believe it. It’s also a good test for how much Succession you can take: you either love these fanciful diversions, or you don’t. If you’ve made it to Season 4 – Season 3’s finale attracted a record-high of 1.7 million viewers in the US – then chances are you’re into it. And if you’re into it, it’s a pretty good summary of this show’s main vibe: all the characters exert their power over one another to form a shifting, vicious market. So far, there has been only one winner.
Succession kicks off this season, its main, murky divide between Logan and his children, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv (Sarah Snook). After last season’s failed attempt to oust their father from Waystar Royco, the children are scrambling. But they’re scrambling together. We open, mid-brainstorm, as they argue about their new media venture, perfectly named The Hundred. Kendall describes it as “Substack meets Masterclass meets The Economist meets The New Yorker” (perhaps the least appealing assemblage of descriptors ever). Making jokes about new media, and those who brand and back new media, is shooting-fish-in-a-barrel easy, but it doesn’t really matter because soon they pivot to another lead: the acquisition of PGM, the media empire owned by the frosty, WASPy Pierces. Logan, in the middle of his sad birthday party, is hoping to close in on a deal, one that was raised and thwarted in the second season.
Shiv heard from the now-estranged Tom (Matthew MacFadyen) because he had drinks with Naomi Pierce (a wonderful Annabelle Dexter-Jones) who is now Kendall’s ex. Taking over a media company with an established legacy seems like a safer bet, at least to Shiv and Kendall. None of the Roy children have the vision to create anything truly new, but they can recognise the prestige. They fly out to meet the Pierces, and encounter some mind games with matriarch Nan (Cherry Jones) in a home which is perfectly casual and likely costs thousands to maintain.
Nan is an astute creation; we don’t see any of the overt beastliness of Logan, but she’s still hungry, and willing to manipulate everyone around her. At first, she thanks the kids for flying out, but says she already has a buyer. It doesn’t take much to sway her. Kendall’s assertion that they won’t screw her brands like Logan helps, but money is the real sweetener. There is a lot of back and forth, but the Pierces eventually go for the offer of 10 (billion, that is).
It’s not clear as yet just how much of a Pyrrhic victory this is. There’s a certain pleasure in screwing their dad over (successfully, for once), but have they recklessly overpaid – to borrow Roman’s parlance, an old lady for her newspapers? It seems like their pride and paternal resentment will be their downfall. This generation of Roys has always been inept. Kendall is a delusional loose cannon, Shiv is at least 25% less intelligent than she believes herself to be, Roman sends dick pics to his dad. It’s not a total pivot to frame them as the most stupid beings alive, and it’s certainly what the writers have decided to do. With an ending in sight, it’s a neat suggestion of closure, if not one that rings especially true just yet.
The premiere ends on two highs, provided by a pair of quieter emotional notes. After a long overdue, fraught conversation about their separation, they decide to move on. “That makes me sad,” Tom says. Shiv’s response: “Sure.” In a show where no one means what they say, and everyone shouts about everything, their silent hand holding said the most. Finally, Logan is up late, watching his favourite child: his news channel. But he is not happy with the content, so he calls up Syd Peach, an editorial lead at Waystar’s broadcast service ATN, to ask if she’s losing her touch. It’s a thrill to see Logan’s analysis of the news – his knack of giving the people what they think they want was surely the making of him – and seems like a natural focus for Succession in this final stretch.
What else is going on with the sprawling cast? Marsha is in Milan, “shopping, forever”. Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) brings a selfie-taking Tinder date to Logan’s birthday party; assistant and adviser Kerry (Zoe Winters) has to remind him that it’s not a Shake Shack. Connor is holding at 1% in the polls, which is not the lowest number (there are decimals, after all). His wedding with Willa (cast highlight Justine Lupe) is a concern. He wants it bigger, she’s not so sure. Willa also has some worries about her fiancé’s electoral budgeting. After dropping $100 million, will he still be rich? Even this writer, with a mere maths GCSE, could tell you: he will be $100 million less rich.
‘Succession’ airs weekly on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV
Henry Wong is a senior culture writer at Esquire, working across digital and print. He covers film, television, books, and art for the magazine, and also writes profiles.
