Nuked Greetings, my dear followers! It’s your favorite tech-loving funny guy, Nuked. Today, I want to talk about Succession’s final season and how it’s finally taking some risks.
The first two episodes of the season felt like the series was comfortable going out without really shaking things up. It seemed like Succession didn’t want to move too far away from its core power dynamics, but the latest episode, “Connor’s Wedding,” changed all of that. It ushered in one of the show’s most significant and unexpected shifts, making this season feel like it could stick the landing.
Major spoilers for the third episode of Succession’s fourth season ahead.
The show has always had concerns about Logan Roy’s health, but it seemed like he would never die and create a power vacuum. Logan always beating his children no matter how they conspired against him felt like a quintessential part of Succession’s identity, and like a power dynamic the series never planned to let go. But in a truly shocking turn of events, “Connor’s Wedding” upended all of that by unceremoniously killing Logan Roy off, and flinging everyone formerly in his orbit into deep space.
Of all the possible ways Logan Roy could have died, there are few that would have felt as poetic as him having a heart attack thousands of feet in the air while traveling to finalize a deal that would have effectively made Kendall, Roman, and Shiv persona non grata at Waystar. The GoJo deal and Logan’s desire to follow through on it spoke to his willingness to truly screw his children out of the glory, power, and validation they each so desperately wanted.
The events of “Connor’s Wedding” make the Roy siblings’ tenuous alliance with one another that much more interesting because it’s now grieving as well as a desire to push back against his plans for Waystar that unites them. But something very similar is also true of Logan’s surviving advisors Karolina, Frank, Carl, and Tom, who all become different people after witnessing their former boss’ death.
The idea of the Roy siblings teaming up only for their father to school them once again wasn’t all that compelling a prospect on its face. With Logan gone now, though, you can clearly see how the Roys and the Waystar board will have to contend with one another, and might finally deliver the thing Succession viewers have always craved: an ending.
Watching Succession, it’s always been rare to ever get the sense that any of the Roys are especially in touch with their emotions. But in this episode, we finally got the sense that, in different ways, each of the kids is unmoored by the suddenness of Logan’s passing — not necessarily just because they’re sad, but because the antagonistic presence they’ve all defined themselves in relation to is just gone.
In the same way that Logan’s death throws the siblings for a loop and some emotional spiraling, it galvanizes Logan’s advisors who all understand that Waystar’s story — and their own — will continue without him. Logan’s death has empowered or given some people a sense of freedom that could push Succession into interesting new territory.
All in all, I’m excited to see where Succession goes from here. It’s taken a risk by killing off its central figure and shaking up the power dynamics. It’s something that has been needed for a while now. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
