Succession S4 floors everybody with that shocking episode 3 reveal
I was not planning to write a Succession piece this week but after that episode, I simply couldn’t resist. It goes without saying that this post contains serious spoilers for Succession S4 Ep3 so if you haven’t watched it yet, please come back later.
Now that’s out of the way… ENTER THE SPOILER ZONE:
It was obvious that Logan Roy (Brian Cox) would die at some point during this season. The show is called Succession after all and he has had a few health issues in the past, including a stroke in the opening episode. But I did not expect it to happen so soon. Maybe episode 9, but 3?! No big character gets killed off in such a random episode.
But that’s the beauty and brilliance of Succession. Creator Jesse Armstrong never takes the obvious path and pulls the rug from underneath us time and time again. Even the manner of Logan’s death was a surprise. I imagined it to be this grand goodbye with everyone gathered around Logan and lots of screentime for Cox but it wasn’t. I’m gutted for Cox that he didn’t get to go out with a bang but this off-camera version feels more realistic.
The writing and editing around the initial reveal and all those phone calls were spot-on. It really captured the chaos, shock, confusion and grief that Shiv (Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Kendall (Jeremy Strong) experienced in real-time. For us as a viewer, we feel their frustration of not knowing what’s happening because we aren’t shown much from the plane either. The writing feels accurate and honest too – I’m sure the Roy kids had many things to say to Logan on the phone but their minds went blank through shock.
Director Mark Mylod has revealed they ran that 30-minute portion through as one take (obviously it was later intercut with scenes with Matthew Macfadyen‘s Tom on the plane) to truly get that sense of intensity and immediacy. And holy s**t, isn’t it a stressful watch? I swear I held my breath for ages and my body didn’t relax until the credits rolled.
The acting was incredible all around but I was particularly impressed with Culkin’s Roman, whose nonchalant demeanour totally crumbled, and Snook, who brought me to tears with the way her hands and voice shook while holding the phone. I was so convinced by her and her performance really drove the emotion home.
I related to Roman being in denial for a while because I was a viewer too. I was suspicious and it all felt like a prank to scare the kids into remembering how much they love their father. I feel like I need to watch it again to fully appreciate the gravity of the situation without my added scepticism. I have accepted that he’s gone thanks to all the post-episode interviews but at the same time, because of the off-camera nature of it all, I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t. That’s quite a big conspiracy theory, perhaps I’m still in denial!
I have gushed over several episodes of Succession in the past and this is definitely up there with the season 3 finale. I’ve seen some people call it the best hour of television ever but I’m not sure I’d go quite that far. It’s definitely the best of 2023 so far (The Last of Us ep3 comes close though) and I tip my cap to all involved.
I’m in awe of the fact Armstrong and co. had the balls to kill off Logan this early. But the show needed this game-changer going into the final seven episodes. The first two instalments were good, of course, but I struggled to keep up with the business negotiations and the back-and-forth between sides and now everything is up in the air. I cannot wait to see what happens next!
Succession airs on HBO every Sunday and Sky Atlantic every Monday