Brian Cox as Logan Roy in “Succession.”
There are two more episodes of Season 3 of the popular HBO series “Succession,” airing tonight and Dec. 12, with at least one more season confirmed to be coming. I have not seen the final two episodes of Season 3, and wouldn’t share spoilers about them, if I did. This post represents how I would be thinking if I were in charge of the show.
I think Logan Roy must die. Maybe not tonight, maybe not next week. Maybe it can wait until the beginning of the next season. But the big guy has to go.
I’ve enjoyed “Succession” very much so far. Season 3, in particular, has been very strong. But the show has also, undeniably, become very repetitive. The four Roy kids assert themselves and get brushed back, over and over, by their omnipotent father.
Tom put it best, turning down Kendall’s attempt to win his loyalty in Season 3’s Episode 6: “My hunch is that you’re going to get fucked, because I’ve seen you get fucked a lot and I’ve never seen Logan get fucked once.”
Tom is right. There is no upside, in this show’s universe, in betting against Logan Roy. The show’s writers have teased his vulnerability via his physical frailties, his moments of senility, his failure to adapt to a changing world, and simple old age (he turned 80 at the start of the first season). But he still wins every battle.
Kendall — both deeply insecure and brashly bold — has waged outright war with him. The shrewd-but-not-shrewd-enough Shiv has attempted to manipulate him. And the monumentally immature Roman has, surprisingly, emerged as his favorite, via sharp business instincts and a total lack of scruples. (Connor has mostly stayed on the sidelines and will undoubtedly stay there.)
But even three seasons in, there is no clear front runner. And it has become obvious that Logan will only cede control of Waystar RoyCo to one or more of his children over his dead body … which is why he has to die.
As fun as “Succession” has been so far, you can’t have the offspring pointlessly trying to wrest power from Logan forever. The way that the show can stay interesting — or become absolutely riveting — is to have Logan die, and then have the kids scheming against each other, forming and dissolving alliances, and so on, with their father out of the picture.
Kendall — now utterly excommunicated — would have a way back in. Tom and Greg could continue to play whatever cards they’re dealt. Maybe Ewan could try some kind of power play of his own. Even Marcia, estranged from Logan and absent from most of this season, could get back into the picture, with her son Amir (barely seen in the series so far) fighting along with her.
Here is a dictionary definition of “succession”: “the act of getting a title or right after the person who had that title or right before you has died or is no longer able or allowed to have it.”
Logan Roy one of television’s greatest characters, ever, but he’s also one-dimensional: A beast destroying everything in his path. There is no point in having him still in the show if he is no longer able to rule. Therefore he must die, for the real succession battle to begin.
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