What does anybody expect from Season 4 of Succession?
I’ll guess: weapons-grade zingers and expletive-laced rants from Logan Roy (Brian Cox), Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) being weird/creepy/lovable at the same time, and the Roy brothers going on paths of self-destruction as they plan unsuccessful coups for Waystar Royco.
Without ruining anything – hey, I’m no Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfayden), after all – the opening episode of the mammoth HBO drama, certainly one of TV’s greatest, delivers.
To avoid significant spoilers, I’ll keep things vague, but the premiere takes place a month after the events of season 3, in which Logan, tipped off by Tom, put a stop to his children’s devious efforts to torpedo the GoJo merger.
The hour-long episode focuses on Logan’s birthday party, and there are several conspicuous exclusions from the guest list. Even his nearest and dearest, particularly his special advisor and special friend Kerry (Zoe Winters), are unable to boost Logan’s spirits.
Instead, the business magnate, true to Logan Roy, spends the party raging, shouting, and planning new business ventures. Greg described him as “like Santa Claus was a hitman.”
In the meantime, Greg has dubbed his poisonous relationship with Tom ‘the nasty brothers,’ and he looks to want to live up to the new label with his very boorish date at Logan’s event. She even attempts a selfie with the patriarch. (I sympathise).
Shiv (Sarah Snook), Kendall (Jeremy Strong), and Roman (Kieran Culkin) will have to wait and see what happens. They are, however, not ones to rest on their laurels. Shiv also has the extra drama of a much more strained marriage as a result of Tom’s biblical treachery.
What I can say is that the writing remains perfect; it’s a testament to the crew that after three seasons, they can offer this much sadness, suspense, and sardonic humour without a boring moment. As an example, ‘you look weary and your face is giving me a headache’ and ‘he looks like a ballsack with a toupe’ are two extremely fantastic insults.
The performances from the entire ensemble are so good that you can see the tension of being a dishonest backstabber engraved on their faces. I’ve never heard the words (mumble?) ‘Uh, huh’ uttered so eloquently by Macfayden, or such continual caustic criticism spit forth by Culkin without pausing for air.
A particular mention goes to Snook, who, more than ever in this episode, combines Shiv’s cold-hearted brutality with simmering passion striving to escape with laser point accuracy.
Too frequently, opening episodes are uninteresting, too focused on creating the tone, and devoid of drama. Without going overboard, Succession’s debut doesn’t waste time and builds to a climax as brilliantly as its renowned theme song.
Let’s face it: seeing a whole cast of despicable individuals go up in flames has never been more entertaining than in Succession. Take a seat and enjoy the mayhem.
Succession returns to on Monday from 2am and will be available to stream on NOW.