There are many things you may miss after Succession finishes its final ten-episode outing. The perfect styling, which veers between The Row-styled sophistication and terribly-fitting shirts depending on which Roy family member you are; Logan’s endless power plays against his enemies, colleagues, and closest family members; Shiv and Tom’s perpetual toxicity. But I will mostly mourn the Pierce family, the liberal newspaper-owning clan, and, when it comes to billionaire dynasties, the only people who can hold a torch to the Roys.
The Pierces entered Succession in Season 2, as Logan sought (but ultimately failed) to acquire their media empire, PGM, which offers a left-leaning alternative to ATN, the Roy-run right-wing broadcaster. It makes sense, then, that the Pierces were presented in opposition to Logan’s roost. It is a tale of new money vs. old. Logan’s family is brash, the Pierces restrained. The Roys play “boar on the floor”, the Pierces quote their favourite lines from Shakespeare before dinner. (Both of these are deeply unappealing activities, but only one is an HR violation). Succession’s neat, though not entirely ground-breaking, trick is to show that both families, though politically and socially opposed, are just as terrible as each other.
The Pierces pop up for a good chunk of Succession’s Season 4 premiere, which aired last night, as Logan and his now-estranged children separately attempt to acquire PGM once more. Kendall, Shiv and Roy actually pull that feat off, offering a sum of $10 billion. It does not seem likely that they will stick around for much of the season – the first few episodes have the distinct feeling of a curtain call – but bringing them back for a final victory lap was clearly too tempting for the writers.
No wonder. Like the Roys, there are many potential inspirations for the Pierces, including the Sulzbergers (who have owned and published the New York Times since the late 1800s), the Bancrofts (who sold the Dow Jones to Rupert Murdoch). But, also like the Roys, there’s no direct analogue, which allows the writers – headed up by show creator Jesse Armstrong – more freedom to create an actually-interesting family. Logan’s opposite is the family’s matriarch, Nan (played by Cherry Jones). She openly hates Logan but, as much as she may demur, loves money even more. Jones brings a steeliness to Nan that electrifies her confrontations with Logan. Brian Cox, likewise, is never better than when he is facing her down.
The family’s crown jewel is Naomi Pierce, Nan’s cousin who helps facilitate the initial acquisition and eventually dates Kendall. She is easily the most stylish woman on the show. All blonde bob and bootleg jeans and leather jackets, as though someone followed Instagram fan accounts of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s ‘90s street style and had the budget to channel those aspirations into a modern, aesthetically consistent look. She’s impish, and would be deeply annoying in real life, but a joy to watch on-screen.
Naomi is played by Annabelle Dexter-Jones, the daughter of jewellery designer Anne Dexter-Jones and Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones. She is Mark Ronson’s half-sister. If not an outright nepo baby, she orbits the nepo baby galaxy, and puts that to great use as Naomi. Naomi is privileged, of course, but also has a suitably tragic backstory. She survived the car crash that killed her mother, but only just. The incessant hounding from the tabloids – the very same owned by the Roys – left her in a tailspin and likely caused her drug addiction. That she dates Kendall, another sometimes-recovering addict, is another irresistibly destructive twist in her tale. (These are only storylines that an extremely gorgeous and rich character could realistically fall into.)
There’s a parallel universe in which the Pierces would have been the central focus for a show like Succession, one that would have explored the misery and prestige about managing the decline of a long-established publishing dynasty. It’s probably for the best that they are not – Succession works because of how beastly, monstrous, and new money the Roys are – but the Pierce family provides a delicious glimpse into an alternate timeline. None of this, it should be noted, is a request for a spin-off.
‘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.
