The theme of the Succession series, and Logan Roy’s (Brian Cox) refusal to retire, could only be about what his replacement would look like after his death. And it came as it is in life, suddenly, in the cruelest way possible. And Logan was surrounded only by his leeches, indifferent to what was going on and it was the least “fairness” we could have had after everything he’d done in three sessions.
Brian Cox deservedly gained worldwide recognition after an amazing career as an actor, mostly in minor roles. As the unscrupulous Logan Roy, an evil King Lear, he made us hate him in every scene, so much so that the writers played with our emotions, reflected in the repetition of Roman’s (Kieran Culkin) doubt, who didn’t believe he had even died. But it was true. As I mentioned, I was still cursing Logan when I realized that it made sense and that his time had truly come.
The episode opens with the patriarch being himself. “Today is the day,” he says before jumping in and casually using Roman once again as a pawn in his emotional manipulations. Ignoring his own son’s wedding and embarking on closing the deal with Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård), Logan is articulating his future without suspecting that his time has come.
If we thought that in the first three seasons, there was a battle for succession, ladies, it is now that we will see the main theme of the series. They are the heirs against the company’s Board, formed by cold people (just notice how they were on the jet without worrying about the dead tycoon) and as we saw in the trailer, they will try to stop the children from being so humiliated and exposed by Logan over the years, have a place of decision in business. In a way, he exaggerated the abuse of his family as there are arguments against everyone effectively taking his place at Waystar RoyCo. The actor himself, Brian Cox, warned in an interview with the Deadline website about who will be the successor: “My suspicion is that it will not be the children, I think they will be blocked”, he said.
It’s not even a spoiler, after all, there are no less than seven episodes left and the fragile family unit has every face of breaking up in the near future. If you thought that cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) or Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) weren’t playing high, it’s good to rethink the series. The two look like fools, but they are not there for nothing.
Tom plays with emotional abuse all the time, just like Logan, but passive aggressively. It was positive that not only did he warn the children of what was actually going on, but it created an awkward parting moment for the three of them. I don’t believe he did this without calculating that he would put him on their side, should they gain strength. Seeing Shiv (Sarah Snook) act like a child and Kendall (Jeremy Strong) deviously leading them on is spectacular. Not to mention Connor (Alan Ruck), always an outcast and tormented by his inadequacy in the family.
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