HBO Succession Season 4 Episode 1: Logan Roy is on their own

Notice: This text comprises spoilers for a number of Succession episodes, significantly season 4, episode one, “The Munsters.”

The primary episode of the fourth and last season of HBO’s Succession finds us — not for the primary time — on the birthday celebration of Logan Roy (Brian Cox). This 12 months, it’s not clear who organized it. Not his spouse, Marcia (Hiam Abbass), who left him in season two and is now “in Milan procuring, ceaselessly.” Perhaps it’s Kerry (Zoe Winters) — the brand new girlfriend who introduces herself as Logan’s “good friend, assistant, and advisor.” Or maybe Connor (Alan Ruck), the one considered one of his kids that he’s at present on talking phrases with, deliberate it. The social gathering seems to be extra like a piece perform or a political fundraiser than a birthday celebration — grownup youngsters Kendall (Jeremy Sturdy), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Shiv (Sarah Snook) are conspicuously absent, and we don’t acknowledge most people in attendance. And Logan is depressing. “Munsters,” he grumbles, eyeballing the visitors. “Meet the fucking Munsters.”

It’s a not-so-subtle callback to the very first episode, which started at Logan’s eightieth birthday. Marcia has deliberate a “shock” social gathering for him. He’s surrounded by his household. Even Kendall, who’s attempting to shut a media acquisition deal that he hopes will please his father, takes a breather from the touch-and-go negotiations to affix the festivities. After all, it’s not all sunshine and cake — when is it ever the place Logan’s concerned? On the social gathering, Logan tries to steamroll his youngsters into accepting a change to the belief that can give his spouse Marcia extra energy — however there’s little doubt that the billionaire CEO of Waystar Royco is enveloped by individuals who care about him and know him intimately.

If Logan is having a nasty birthday within the season 4 premiere, nonetheless, that’s of his personal making. In final season’s finale, Kendall, Shiv, and Roman tried to cease him from promoting Waystar to the streaming video firm GoJo. First, they tried to drive his hand. When that didn’t work, Roman pleaded with him, invoking love as a purpose why a mother or father who has all the facility on the planet may nonetheless stand down, present compassion, and never crush his kids. “You come for me with love?” Logan scoffed ferociously. “You bust in right here, weapons in hand, and now you discovered they’ve turned to fucking sausages. You discuss love?”

In denying the potential for his youngsters ever taking on the household enterprise, Logan crossed the Rubicon. This time, the Roy kids don’t even deign to point out up for his or her beloved father’s birthday. On what seems to be like the alternative facet of the nation, Kendall and his siblings are strategizing for the launch of their very own enterprise, a brand-spanking new digital media outlet referred to as The Hundred that guarantees to be “Substack meets MasterClass meets The Economist meets The New Yorker.” So much has modified since Italy and the top of season three, the place the children had been left sick to their stomachs on the thought that their very own father would lock up Waystar ceaselessly and throw away the important thing. They’ve all written resignation letters for Waystar and appear (considerably) enthusiastic about beginning their very own firm as they put together to fulfill with potential buyers.

Macall B. Polay/HBO

Succession has all the time been largely in regards to the ruthless competitors between the Roy siblings — scions of a strong media mogul impressed by real-life media households such because the Murdochs — to inherit the highest place at Waystar from their growing old father. Kendall, Shiv, and Roman have every suffered a litany of betrayals, manipulations, and cruelties from Logan; trauma that may be price it ultimately, the kids instructed themselves, if Logan selected considered one of them to observe in his footsteps. That every one appears to have modified, maybe irrevocably, in season 4. (For a extra full backstory on the Roys, take a look at Vox’s pre-season preview.)

The trio, who’re normally at one another’s throats, are suspiciously in sync. All through the episode they’re affectionate; they nonetheless rib one another, but it surely doesn’t have fairly the identical chew. They really hearken to what the others need to say, as a substitute of ready for the proper second to inject a devastating insult. “Let a thousand sunflowers bloom, Romie,” Kendall says early on — which means, let’s throw all our concepts on the wall. It’s not clear if he acknowledges that this phrase (attributed to Mao Zedong) is an echo of one thing his father stated in season three, egging on his terrified advisors to recommend somebody to interchange him briefly: “Let 100 flowers bloom,” Logan tells them, although it underscores how little Logan truly listens to different individuals. The youngsters, alternatively, may earnestly be equals on this new partnership and already look lighter now that they’re now not underneath Logan’s thumb. It’s jarring to see and in addition just a little unhappy — a glimpse of who these individuals may need been in the event that they hadn’t grown up the way in which they’d.

The youngsters bag a minor victory in opposition to their father

Then Shiv will get a name from Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) that units off the drama of episode one. He offers his estranged spouse a heads-up that he’s simply had a drink with Naomi Pierce (Annabelle Dexter-Jones), who isn’t solely a cousin of Pierce International Media proprietor Nan Pierce (Cherry Jones) — the Roys tried to purchase PGM in season two — but additionally Kendall’s ex. Tom makes it sound prefer it was a date, all whereas claiming it was not a date. He’s toying together with her a bit, which is comprehensible contemplating how a lot of a head begin Shiv has had within the “play thoughts video games with my partner” division. It really works, momentarily, till Shiv realizes what “a drink” truly means: Logan is attempting to purchase PGM once more.

As a reminder, right here’s the newest on the enterprise facet of issues in Succession-world: Logan is, pending a shareholder vote, promoting Waystar to tech firm GoJo, however retaining management of ATN, their broadcast information community. In season two, the Roys spent lots of vitality attempting to purchase PGM, a rival, but it surely fell by because the Pierces realized the Roys (and particularly Logan) had been poisonous and about to be embroiled in scandal.

Again on the party, Tom and Logan affirm that they’re as soon as once more near a take care of PGM. This time round, issues aren’t going properly at PGM, apparently. Nan appears to have misplaced curiosity in working the enterprise, in keeping with whispers from her circle of relatives members. “Savages,” Logan says and not using a trace of irony. “They eat their very own.”

Logan, ever the doting father, asks after his kids. “Have you ever heard from the rats?” he asks Tom. Tom lies that he hasn’t, after which in his typical unsubtle approach probes Logan about whether or not their relationship may change if he and Shiv divorce. “No matter occurs, we’ll all the time be good, proper?” he asks, making the error of so many Roy kids in in search of reassurance from a household patriarch who purposely ensures they’re by no means on certain footing.

Only a whisper of what their father is as much as, and the children are again in his orbit, able to abandon The Hundred to make a rival bid for PGM. They’re all addicts of the household feud and may’t appear to withstand scoring on their dad. Roman worries about his siblings’ vengeful motivations: Kendall needs to get again at Logan. Shiv needs to get again at Tom. Roman, as regular, is the one one who “doesn’t wish to fuck anybody.”

Kendall leans on Roman’s penchant for mischief. “Simply take into consideration how fucking humorous it might be if we screwed Dad over his decadeslong obsession,” he factors out. Unbeknownst to them, they really do have the higher hand for as soon as. Logan is downright despondent over his absentee kids and in addition indignant that he misses their presence.

Again on the social gathering, Kerry calls Roman, and the children are completely vicious to her, however she suffers the humiliation of asking them to offer their father a name. They need their father to name them, however that’s unlikely. Kerry says she might possibly get him to textual content a request for a name. It’s only one extra business-like negotiation to the Roys, yet one more recreation of one-upmanship.

Claudette Barius/HBO

After Logan is knowledgeable there’s a rival bid for PGM, a few of his verve returns — there’s work to do. Logan’s conflict council — Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron), Karl (David Rasche), and Frank (Peter Friedman) — quickly suss out that it’s the children, however how did they discover out in regards to the PGM bid? Tom tries to forged off any suspicion, however his tip to Shiv might be going to come back again and chew him within the ass.

Kendall, Shiv, and Roman journey to Nan Pierce’s dwelling. Naomi, who’s now rocking a wolf lower, tells them Nan wants 5 minutes as a result of she has a headache. In different phrases, she’s noticed that the Roys pays any worth to destroy each other and plans on milking each cent out of it. Nan additionally worries that one of many new house owners of PGM could be married to Tom, who heads its rival, ATN. With out lacking a beat, Shiv says, “I’m getting a divorce.” It doesn’t seem to be she’s introduced it to anybody else. Kendall seems to be stunned.

The bidding conflict for PGM begins, with either side attempting to determine how excessive the opposite has gone. Logan low-balls. The youngsters go a lot greater, providing a conversation-ending quantity: $10 billion. (“Eight, 9,” Nan hints earlier within the episode, “who is aware of what somebody will say subsequent?” “9b?” Roman guesses.) Logan is instructed that Nan isn’t accepting any extra bids. “Inform them I’ll go up,” Logan says. “She says they’re content material,” replies Tom. Logan can’t fathom how somebody might be content material when there’s a proposal for an even bigger quantity.

Logan lastly will get on the telephone together with his youngsters. “Congratulations on saying the most important quantity, you fucking morons,” he tells them. The youngsters know that this can be a concession, of kinds. Shiv and Kendall truly do a fist bump, whereas Roman seems to be relieved.

Shiv and Tom name it quits

At evening, Shiv returns to a darkish New York condo. Her canine barely acknowledges her. We study that Shiv and Tom aren’t dwelling collectively anymore. Shiv is stuffed with rancor, needling Tom with crass questions concerning his love life. She’s jealous, and has been all day, of the opposite girls Tom could or might not be sleeping with. She may additionally be on a mission to push ahead the divorce she guarantees Nan earlier, which Tom doesn’t find out about. However Tom is in a uncommon second of blunt honesty. “Do you actually wish to get right into a full accounting of all of the ache in our marriage?” he asks gently. Shiv has no comeback to that.

Tom has largely been a buffoon on Succession; he’s a social climber who has weaseled his approach into some of the highly effective households in America, and his regular obsequiousness is commonly performed off as comedian aid. However his harm right here is palpable, and his sincerity is obvious. Nobody can doubt that Tom actually loves Shiv, even when a part of what he loves is her energy and standing — and possibly Shiv realizes now, when it might be too late, that what she feels is love, too. Why else would his betrayal nonetheless harm a lot that she will’t even discuss it? Tom needs to debate issues, however she shuts it down. She doesn’t wish to probe by her emotions. “I feel it could be time for you and I to maneuver on,” she says, holding again tears. Tom doesn’t beg and plead. They each lie to one another, claiming they gave it their greatest attempt.

Logan doesn’t discover life humorous anymore

On the finish of a really lengthy, unusual day, Logan remains to be up watching TV. He calls Cyd Peach (Jeannie Berlin), an government at ATN, to complain in regards to the channel’s late-night protection. “Are you dropping it, Cyd?” he asks.

It’s a query Logan could be higher off posing to himself. Throughout his social gathering, he escapes the condo for a lonely night stroll within the park, his bodyguard Colin (Scott Nicholson) trailing behind him. At a diner, Logan tells Colin that he’s his greatest pal. He’s all of the sudden an previous man bitter in regards to the turning of seasons. “Every little thing I attempt to do, individuals flip in opposition to me,” he says. “Nothing tastes prefer it used to, does it? Nothing’s the identical because it was.”

It’s his birthday, and the person usually allergic to existential waxing asks his worker, “You assume there’s something in spite of everything this?”

“I don’t know,” replies Colin.

“We don’t know. We will’t know,” says Logan. “However I’ve acquired my suspicions.” It’s the primary time we’ve seen Logan meditate on the fact of nearing the top of his life, and what his legacy could be. He’s proven earlier than that he doesn’t like to think about the previous, however on this episode, he’s stuffed with nostalgia for the way in which issues had been earlier than. In an interlude in the course of the PGM bidding conflict, Logan abruptly says to the room, “No person tells jokes anymore, do they?” Karl, Frank, Tom, Gerri — a room stuffed with sycophants — take a look at him like deer caught in headlights.

“Come on, roast me!” he orders. The king needs a jester. He turns to Greg.

“You’re imply,” Greg gives feebly. “You’re a imply previous man, you’re a imply previous bastard. And also you scare the life out of oldsters, that’s your factor — you’re scaring me proper now, and that’s why I don’t even know what to do.” Logan mocks Greg, pushing him to go additional.

“The place are your youngsters?” Greg asks. “The place’s all of your youngsters, Uncle Logan, in your huge birthday?”

It’s a direct hit, however Logan is aware of how you can hit more durable. He throws Greg’s absent father proper at his grand-nephew’s face. It’s simply too straightforward. Nobody can wound Logan the way in which he can wound his peons, nobody can beat him at a recreation he invented: After they go low, he goes to the ninth circle of hell. It’s a spot reserved for only a few individuals — and he wonders why he feels so alone.