It’s always a losing game to try and predict where a TV series might go—and given the number of stunning twists and emotional gut punches that Sunday’s Succession finale dropped on fans, even the most intuitive soothsayer can only divine so much about where its fourth season is headed.
But… what if we made some guesses anyway? Just for fun? As someone who overthinks this show for a living and also just loves a losing game, it’s my sacred duty to try.
Logan Roy’s Eldest Son
Sunday was a big night for Conman, who both asserted himself as the real eldest son of Logan Roy and finally got engaged to Willa. (She seemed to take pity on him after he trudged back to her upset that his entire family hates him—but you know what, a pity engagement is still an engagement!)
At this point, Connor is the most under-explored of the four Roy siblings—partially because we know the least about his mother and Logan’s first marriage, beyond the fact that Connor was its only child. But this season did color in a little bit more about Con’s relationship with his half-siblings, who treat him like garbage even though it seems, more and more, like he was their only emotionally available relative when they were young. Consider the opening credits, in which Connor creeps toward his siblings in a family photo only for their father to turn his back on all of them.
Multiple times this season, we hear about Connor hanging out with his siblings when Logan “couldn’t be bothered.” Roman tells a reporter that Logan brought him on a fly-fishing trip to Montana that we later learn he actually took with Connor, and Kendall’s tabloid poster about Connor at his 40th birthday party mentions the time he “shit his bag” during a camping trip.
“I took you two fucking assholes on a camping trip… and I had some bad fucking fish,” Connor yells at his siblings as they ridicule him. “This is bullshit!”
You could feel that same furious energy during Sunday’s finale, as Connor waved a butter knife in his siblings’ faces. Logan might have essentially turned him into their mother, he seems to be reminding them—but make no mistake, “I am the eldest son.” Methinks it’s high time to hear a little bit more about his mother, her marriage to Logan, and why Connor didn’t see his father for so many years—even if it’s just in passing.
How Long Has Tom Been a Plant?
If I were Shiv right now, I’d be trying to figure out exactly when my husband started selling me out to my father.
Was it just this one time, when he warned Logan that the kids were planning to oust him? Or does it go back further—like when a box of doughnuts mysteriously showed up at Kendall’s house right after Shiv told him where she was? How did she meet Tom, anyway? What twists of fate (or meddling) put him in her path? Given that we end Season 3 on a shot of Shiv trying not to act terrified with Tom’s hand on her shoulder, it seems at least a few of these questions are bouncing around in Pinkie’s brain.
Another question Season 4 will presumably answer: Just what kind of deal has Tom made with the devil for himself and Greg? All I know is, I’d rather be a Sporus than a Shiv right now.
So, Uh… Where Do Roman and Gerri Stand Now?
Each of the Roy kids faced their own unique blend of terror when they realized Sunday night that Logan had conspired with their mother to sell the company out from under them. Roman dissolved into a small child when he realized what was happening, a look of wide-eyed horror that screwed into betrayal when he realized Gerri was not going to do a thing about it.
For two seasons, Roman has gotten off on making himself vulnerable—sexually and professionally—to Gerri, who’s operated as something between a dominatrix and a mentor. He’s also, as we recently found out, been sending her dick pics—a discovery Logan was not too thrilled to make when his son accidentally flung one his way a couple weeks ago.
Roman appears to have believed he and Gerri were building a real alliance, but in the end, she returns his pleas for help with one icy question: “How does it serve my interests?”
Gerri might really want to help Roman—according to actress J. Smith-Cameron, she does—but in the end, she’s unwilling to stick her neck out too far.
Will Gerri find a way to help her favorite slime puppy? Perhaps—but based on everything we’ve seen, it’s unlikely she’ll intervene unless she finds a way to do so without endangering herself even a little. Either way, between this and her willingness to ban the Roy kids from taking over Waystar, it seems like Gerri will have some ’splaining to do next time she and Roman get a quiet minute alone.
Is It Finally Time for the Roy Kids to Act in Harmony?
For three seasons, we’ve seen what happens when Logan’s children compete with one another: they all lose, because it’s exactly what he wants them to do. Their sudden alliance in Sunday’s finale could be the episode’s most seismic shift going into Season 4—assuming it doesn’t fall apart after one upset.
Tom’s betrayal of Shiv might have been the season’s biggest shocker, but Kendall’s breakdown in the parking lot—and his siblings’ choice to support him—is still the game changer. Logan knows that his kids will carry his legacy after he dies. But as long as he keeps them unstable and disempowered, they can’t exercise that control while he is alive—so he won’t have to face the music.
“Tom’s betrayal of Shiv might have been the season’s biggest shocker, but Kendall’s breakdown in the parking lot—and his siblings’ choice to support him—is still the game changer.”
But what if Kendall, Roman, Shiv, and even Connor start acting in unison? How long could Logan, whose health is quickly deteriorating, really keep them all under his thumb? Just saying, as an idea, an alliance? It’s punchy! At the very least, let’s just hope everyone doesn’t immediately turn their backs on Kendall.
Come Back, Justin Kirk!
There’s no way we watched that Picking the President episode in the middle of this season, which guest starred a fantastically vile Justin Kirk as right-wing provocateur Jeryd Mencken, for no reason. The election seems bound to loom large in the season(s) to come—and just a guess, but I think we probably haven’t seen the last of Roman and Jeryd’s bathroom chemistry. (What is it with Roman, powerful men, and bathrooms?)
Is GoJo a Go?
Speaking of Roman’s bathroom buddies, it looks like we’ll also be seeing a lot more of Alexander Skarsgård’s Lukas Matsson, the tech mogul whose company, GoJo, will soon own Waystar Royco.
Things have been looking creaky at Waystar for a while, but watching the company’s acquisition of GoJo turn into a “merger of equals” and then a full-on buyout? It’s an embarrassment akin to pulling back the Wizard of Oz’s curtain only to find the little old guy with his pants down.
Beyond the inevitable personal squabbling to come next season, the biggest existential question Logan now faces is one of legacy. Here’s hoping his kids are ready, because Daddy does not seem the type to go gentle into that good night—and if he’s going to take the loss of control out on anyone, they’ll be first in line.
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