The long-awaited season four premiere of the HBO show Succession aired last Sunday, March 26. For those unfamiliar with the dramedy, it follows the ultra-wealthy Roy family as they navigate the future of their media company. Just as I suspected, the premiere of the show’s final season did not disappoint. It was full of everything we love about Succession, including plenty of arguing between Logan Roy, the patriarch, and his children. The episode’s main plot was (spoiler alert) a bidding war between Logan and his three youngest kids, Kendall, Shiv, and Roman. The Roy kids came out on top, acquiring a media company for a whopping 10 billion dollars. After the deal, Logan tells his kids, “Congratulations on saying the biggest number,” perfectly summarizing the ridiculousness of the Roys that we love to hate.
This business plot line certainly provided lots of entertaining drama, but the greatest moments of the episode come from the subplots. One of these moments is the tension between Shiv and Tom. Tom is Shiv’s husband and an upper-level employee of Waystar Royco. Throughout the show, it’s clear that their marriage is not particularly healthy. The premiere episode reveals that Shiv officially wants a divorce from Tom, but the last scene shows the two lying in bed, holding hands. This moment perhaps leaves the door open for the couple to rekindle their relationship, but I wonder if that is possible after Tom’s season three betrayal of Shiv.
Much of the episode occurs at Logan’s birthday party, where we get some good scenes. At one point, Logan urges his “friends” (aka employees) to roast him. At another, we see the sad side of Logan come out when he repeatedly tells one of his yes men, specifically his security guard, Colin, that he’s his best friend.
The Logan birthday party also provides lots of TomGreg content, including the scene where Tom insults the handbag Cousin Greg’s date brings to the party. The “ludicrously capacious handbag” quote has taken the Internet by storm. Tom’s insinuation that the nearly 3,000 dollar bag is trashy makes for a hilarious scene and again points out the absurd wealth of the Roys.
The final season of Succession is already a great one. Now that we know Kendall, Roman, and Shiv are doing relatively well, fans have much to look forward to in the coming episodes. I don’t know about you, but I’m excited for nine more Succession Sundays!
XO Erica