The drama continues to play out in Succession season 4 episode 4 as the Roy siblings finally learn who their father planned as his successor…kind of. In “Honeymoon States” the wheels start to come off, setting up the push toward the series finale.
Not surprisingly, the episode opens with a fresh look at the Roy siblings’ grief, minus Connor, of course. Kendall (Jeremy Strong) is in a catatonic state on the floor while Roman (Kieran Culkin) is trying to go about his business.
Most shocking, though, is Shiv (Sarah Snook) who is in bed staring at the walls when she gets a call from her doctor. Her doctor offers her condolences but has some good news about the BABY (yes, BABY — Shiv is PREGNANT) that she wanted to pass along. Shiv tries hard not to react and thanks her doctor, who wants to set her up for another scan. Shiv has just lost her father, her marriage is over and she’s pregnant.
Kendall arrives at his father’s home and finds Hugo (Fisher Stevens) angrily unloading on someone over the phone. He goes upstairs and is immediately greeted by Marcia (Hiam Abbass), who hugs him. Kendall’s confused, given her absence, but Marcia clarifies that she and Logan talked every morning and afternoon, and she came as soon as she heard the news.
The last time we saw Logan’s home it was Logan’s birthday, and now it’s full of mourners. Kendall finds his siblings sitting alone in a room. He wants to know what’s up with Marcia, and wonders where Kerry (Zoe Winters) might be. They’re all dealing with grief, with Roman saying he’s more okay than he thought. There’s a call with the board coming, and that will determine the company’s future.
Tom and Greg arrive (Shiv sees him but says nothing). Tom goes straight for the business team to find out what the latest word was. Roman laughs that Logan was going to fire all of them beforehand. Greg goes to offer his condolences, and to find out what his future is with the family, and the company. Roman gets a call from Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard) but they decide not to take it quite yet.
Meanwhile, Frank (Peter Friedman), Karl (David Rasche), Gerri (J Smith-Cameron) and Karolina (Dagmara Domińczyk) are gathered together talking next steps ahead of the board meeting when Tom comes in. They all have an argument for why they should be named as the successor but when Tom throws his name into the hat, Karl unloads on him and says he can’t be trusted, the only person who fought for him is dead and his wife doesn’t even like him.
When Roman tries to call Matsson back, they’re told he’s not available anymore and they get the runaround from his business manager about a retreat. Kendall suggests they delay the sale until someone is elected to the board, but Matsson’s team is eager to get the deal done and want someone there in the next day.
Greg finds Marcia and offers his condolences, and that’s when Connor and Willa arrive. Marcia greets them and Connor reveals they’re doing their honeymoon soon; Willa says they’re going to the “honeymoon states” that just happen to also be the swing states for the election. Connor asks about buying the apartment and Marcia, without a beat, says she wants between $60 and $70 million for it. When he recovers and offers $63 million, she takes it.
The private gathering of Logan’s friends and colleagues turns into a wake that’s more about posturing than anything else. Behind the scenes, though, there’s private turmoil as a document is discovered. Frank wasn’t aware of its existence and no one is really sure how it factors into play because there’s no date and part of it is in pencil. Once the siblings are called in, it’s revealed to everyone that Kendall was named the head of WaystarRoyco.
Things start to devolve quickly as the siblings, who had been a united front, start to question the decision because they’d all thought Logan moved past Kendall as the successor. Kendall points out that he and Roman have more experience than Shiv, who reluctantly agrees to back out of the running for successor while her brothers go in as co-COOs. Kendall turns to Stewy (Arian Moayed) for support from the board. As news of the paper spreads, Greg and Tom try to garner favor with Kendall, who sees right through their intentions.
Ultimately, Kendall and Roman are named successors and Shiv isn’t happy, but the tenuous dance keeps moving forward with Matsson and the buyout on the horizon.
Succession airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on HBO.
