Major spoilers. If you have not yet seen Succession’s latest episode, please please please go away until you have.
How ingeniously was this plot twist to end all plot twists rolled out? It was an hour that began like any other hour of Succession might: Logan boarding a private jet.
Two of his most loyal employees – Syd and Gerri (in one hell of a great hat) – about to be fired for no real reason. Connor trying to get married. Tom turning Greg into a verb (“Don’t worry, I’ve got two or three people Gregging for me,”). Kendall, Shiv and Roman discussing a deal, somewhat panicked.
When the phone call came that Logan was seriously unwell, it was of course the siblings’ reactions that took centre stage. And we saw the same three psyches as we did all the way back in that hospital at the start of season one.
Kendall started barking ridiculous power commands – “Get me the best heart doctor in the world in the next two minutes!”; “Pass your phone to the pilot so I can speak to him!” – at everyone and anyone. Roman, quivering like the little emo-baby he so obviously is beneath his shock-jock armour. Shiv the only character outwardly displaying the signs of emotion traditional to humans (ie, crying).
The acting all round here was masterful: perfectly conveying the shock that surely only comes to people who can solve any problem with shouting and money and nastiness, suddenly being confronted by complete powerlessness.
Special mention must go to Kerry, whose jittering, shellshocked grin – “She looks like she just caught a foul ball at Yankee Stadium”, grimaces Tom – was disturbing, ridiculous and somehow very, very real all at once.
The last quarter of an hour was a stark reminder of what an absurdly strange and darkly messed up family we are dealing with here. Connor pressing on with getting married in spite of his father’s death, mainly because he is scared Willa will scarper. Shiv joking to her siblings about how dad “can’t get angry” if they don’t go and see his body. Kendall saying they can “get a funeral off the rack: Reagan, with tweaks”.
The peripherals, all the peripherals, just taking care of business as usual around them, slightly off-kilter without the need to second-guess the will of the king.
It’s a big, bold masterpiece of an episode, and an exciting one, because with no patriarch to suck up to, any character, or any strange new combination of characters, could now step into the airless gap left behind. Greg and… Gerry? Roman and… Kerry? The vaguely realistic possibilities are endless.
The power vacuum, that up until this point has only been theoretical – and the driving force of Succession’s narrative – is now a reality. Turns out he wasn’t immortal after all.
