Editor’s Note: This article contains significant spoilers for the fourth episode of “Succession” Season 4, titled “Honeymoon States.”
UJ
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Following the shock, the subsequent chaos, power struggles, and, importantly, humor ensued as “Succession” adjusted to life post-Logan Roy in an episode that truly embraced the HBO series’ title.
The sudden loss of Logan Roy left his adult children and subordinates in a frenzy as they each presented themselves to potentially fill the gap, all the while concerned about how their choices would resonate with the company’s board.
Simultaneously, they grieved the larger-than-life figure they had lost, acknowledging his often terrible treatment of them. This episode also saw the return of Logan’s wife, Marcia (Hiam Abbass), marking what felt like “Marcia Strikes Back,” while his much younger girlfriend, Kerri (Zoe Winter), was blatantly dismissed. This latter moment was reminiscent of the musical “Evita,” where the titular character expels Peron’s mistress, who laments about “another suitcase in another hall.”
Above all, this episode highlighted the brutal humor that defines “Succession,” with Shiv (Sarah Snook) reading her father’s obituary, reflecting, “Dad sounds amazing. I wish I could have known him,” while brothers Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) comically interpreted Logan’s descriptors, translating “a man of his time” to mean “racist.”
The episode also displayed the executives at Waystar Royco, who awkwardly contemplated what to do with a document containing Logan’s wishes and handwritten notes on his preferred successor. They hesitantly joked about tossing the paper in the toilet while clearly yearning to do just that.
Tensions escalated as Carl (David Rasche) mercilessly berated Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), barely concealing that his criticisms were actually directed at Tom’s future prospects.
However, amidst the turmoil, there were poignant reflections, as the troubled Kendall expressed his conflicted emotions to Waystar executive Frank (Peter Friedman), stating, “He made me hate him, and now he’s gone. I feel like he disapproved of me. I let him down.”
“Succession” also illuminated the delicate nature of not just life but also corporate heritage, with public-relations teams discussing strategies to downplay Logan’s involvement in his later years as a means of bolstering the company and its stock value—a tactic that Kendall ultimately covertly endorsed, believing it to be the shrewd and ruthless approach his father would have favored.
The question of succession now looms over the fragile unity that Kendall, Shiv, and Roman had established before Logan’s passing, with Shiv left on the sidelines in a plan to temporarily assume the CEO role just to finalize the sale to GoJo. In the world created by series creator Jesse Armstrong, trust is scarce, and when Shiv expressed, “I need to wet my beak,” the reassurances from her brothers suggested just how easily her beak might end up bent.
In conclusion, after the emotional peaks from the previous episode, the series transitioned expertly from mourning to addressing the next matters at hand, echoing Kendall’s assertion regarding Logan and the “bad dad” public relations leaks that “this is precisely what he would do.”
