Succession season 1-3 spoilers below. TW: violence, drug taking, abuse, trauma, language
It’s finally here. After just over a year’s wait, the fourth and last season of Succession premiered late on Sunday night.
The reviews have been pouring in, and of course, they say it’s brilliant, with “weapons-grade zingers”, and that the show is returning in “imperial, strident, impossibly confident form”. To celebrate, here we round up 20 of the most memorable moments of the show so far, in no particular order.
Even though there have only been 29 episodes of Succession in series one to three, narrowing down 20 shocking moments of Succession is still a bit of a task. After all, nearly every second of the show falls under that description, which is why it has been deemed television’s current greatest show. So please do forgive us if we’ve missed out your favourite scene.
1. Tom eats Logan’s chicken
The cruise division of the company has spent years covering up terrible crimes, such as sexual assaults and even murders. When Tom gets wind of the incidents, rather than sharing them with the police or his bosses, he decides to destroy the documents detailing the crimes – or at least, he gets Greg to destroy them.
It’s then a long excruciating wait until they come to light, which of course they do: one of the big papers, which isn’t owned by Logan, publishes an investigative piece exposing the scandal. Someone has to be the fall guy and on this luxury yacht, the family discuss who it should be. After it’s suggested that it should perhaps be Tom, with “Greg sprinkles”, Tom becomes overwhelmed by the tension and acts out by eating Logan’s chicken.
2. Boar on the floor
Who didn’t hate this scene? It was just pure, unadulterated, machismo and domineering behaviour from Logan as he played ‘Boar on the floor’ during a hunting party. The game was as sick as they come: the weak members of the dinner party were picked out and made to crawl around on the floor, snorting like boars. Everyone was shocked, appalled and humiliated and it made for a horrible watch.
3. Greg hides documents while Tom is trying to destroy them
Greg is an idiot, there’s no doubt about that. But he isn’t so much of an idiot as to not try and protect himself when Tom gets him to destroy important documents about the cruise ship crimes. Greg makes sure to keep back a few copies of the documents, which he hides in his office (in a folder, brilliantly, labelled ‘Secret’). He later successfully uses them to bribe Tom for a better title and better office. But when he does this he also has to tell Tom of their existence. Tom goes about destroying them, but even then, sneaky Greg manages to hide a few again.
4. Tom betrays Shiv at the end of season 3
At the end of season 3, Shiv, Roman and Kendall decide to join up and take on their father. It looks like they actually might topple him this time as they have the element of surprise. That is, until Shiv calls her husband Tom to tell him about their plans. Tom, rather than taking the side of his wife, decides to call Logan and warn him about their coup. In this terrible scene, obviously created to be reminiscent of Judas’ own admission of guilt, Tom kisses Shiv as if nothing has happened.
5. Roman pushed over Kendall at Kendall’s 40th birthday party
Despite Kendall’s best efforts, his 40th birthday party is a bit of a mess. There’s a “vulval art” tunnel, no one is allowed to wear jackets, and there’s a garden where the trees complement you. Things go sour when Logan sends him a birthday card which says “Cash out and f*** off”, which naturally breaks Kendall’s heart. When Roman and Shiv turn up in the VIP section, uninvited, they end up having an argument. Kendall, who has been partying for hours, seems disorientated and genuinely upset at his siblings’ behaviours. In this awful moment, Roman pushes him over.
6. Kendall is in a car crash
At Shiv and Tom’s wedding at the end of season 1, Kendall is looking for cocaine. There’s a young waiter who says that he can take Kendall to a drug dealer so they take off in a car together. Kendall, who is drunk, drives and ends up steering the car off the road into a river when a deer jumps out into the road, startling him. As the car is sinking Kendall manages to free himself and get to the embankment. But rather than try and save the young man, or call for help, he runs and returns to the manor house, pretending as if nothing has happened.
7. Logan makes Kendall visit the dead waiter’s family
This was arguably the worst moment of the entire show. Kendall believes he killed the young waiter and is the lowest we have ever seen him. Rather than caring for his son, Logan uses the opportunity to manipulate and torture Kendall. In this horrible scene, he makes Kendall the parents of the dead waiter. Kendall can’t believe his dad’s command, but believing that Logan is protecting him from prosecution, and fearful of what will happen if he disobeys him, he does what his father asks.
8. Greg at the hearing
The fallout from the cruise ship deposition makes for incredible television. Both Greg and Tom are absolutely useless at following their legal council without looking like lunatics. Democratic senator Gil Eavis, who hates Logan and Waystar Royco, tries to take a bite out of both of them.
Our favourite of the scenes was Greg’s testimony, which is tear-inducingly funny no matter how many times you watch it.
9. Greg tries to break up with Tom
Greg and Tom’s relationship is arguably the purest in the show, which isn’t saying much. Despite the fact that it’s based on manipulation, bribery, fear and co-dependence, there is undeniably a love of kinds there. In this scene, Greg tries to cool things off a bit with Tom, asking whether he can be moved departments. Tom reacts badly.
10. Kendall confesses
You can’t help but feel awful for Kendall in this sequence in Italy which takes place during their mother’s wedding. Kendall is utterly destroyed by the memory of the car crash; you have to be pretty cold-hearted not to feel something when he says, “I’m all apart”.
11. The therapist jumps in the pool
There is no clip on YouTube of this terrible moment, but it needs to be on this list as it’s etched into our memories forever. The Roy family are getting bad press for being dysfunctional so Logan organises a staged family getaway and a therapy session, the whole of which is being photographed, of course.
In one brilliant, eye-sore of a scene, the therapist is invited to go for a dip in the pool. He dives headfirst into the water which is much more shallow than he expected and he smashes out all of his front teeth. If there was ever a metaphor for the family trying to make amends, it would be this.
12. Kendall loses his vote of no-confidence coup
In the sixth episode of season 1, Kendall attempts to overthrow his father by holding a vote of no-confidence. But as could have been predicted, it fails miserably.
First of all, Kendall’s running late. He leaves the city to try and persuade a member of the board to vote his way, but ends up getting stranded as his helicopter can’t take off due to bad weather. He grabs a car into town which ends up getting stuck in traffic and Kendall ends up literally running back to the city.
Meanwhile Frank tries to stall proceedings and Logan has no idea what’s going on so tries to go ahead with what he thinks is a normal board meeting. Everyone who was going to vote against Logan rapidly backs out, as, given that Kendall can’t even make it to the coup on time, it doesn’t exactly instil confidence. In the end, these are the smart guys, as the board members who do vote against Logan can’t get the numbers and so all get fired.
13. Greg tries to sue Greenpeace
Greg’s grandfather Ewan, who is Logan’s brother and who has a seat on the board of Waystar Royco, has decided to give his entire wealth, hundreds of millions of dollars, to Greenpeace, and Greg will inherit nothing. Ewan is principled and is furious at Greg for deciding to go and work for Logan.
Greg is, obviously, dismayed. And so in true to Greg form, decides to sue his grandfather “in an affectionate way... That might convey, like, ‘I love you and I’m glad you’re a part of my life, but I am taking legal action against you’?” – and then later Greenpeace.
14. Kendall’s rap
One of the most memorable scenes in Season 2 is Kendall’s rap to his father. It’s a disaster before it’s even begun: Would Logan ever, ever, enjoy a rap? Of course not. And could Kendall, ever perform a rap and it not be totally embarrassing? Of course not. Then the fact that it’s performed in front of hundreds of important people and press on a night that has been put on specifically to honour the mogul: chef’s kiss.
15. Tom confronts Shiv
Tom and Shiv, who’ve had a marriage of convenience from the very beginning, finally discuss the fact they’re unhappy. The exchange stands out because it’s one of the few times in the whole show that Tom seems to be completely vulnerable. Shiv, as hard as ever, fails to respond with equal openness.
16. Tom’s not going to jail
Tom spends much of season 3 thinking that he may be going to jail. When Logan tells him he won’t be the fall guy, well... to say he’s happy about it is an understatement.
17. Greg makes a deal with the devil
When Tom hears about Shiv, Roman and Kendall’s planned coup, he realises he needs to formulate a plan of his own: and of course, he wants Greg on board his team as his “attack dog”. Greg is a bit reluctant to agree to be Tom’s “Greg-weiler”, but Tom is quite persuasive and Greg ends the conversation with the stand-out line: “What am I going to do with a soul anyways? Souls are boring. Boo souls.”
18. Shiv drops a bomb during dinner with the Pierces
God, this was a particularly excruciating moment, wasn’t it? Logan told Shiv that she was in line to inherit his empire, and Shiv – naively perhaps – believed him. Then it was the most important dinner of season 2: the Roys were trying to purchase the media company PGM for the Pierce family and all they had to do was behave for the duration of the evening. A task easier said than done.
When the Pierces ask Logan for the name of a successor, he won’t give them one. Shiv blurts out that it’s her, everyone at the table is stunned and dismayed, and the dinner is ruined as Logan back-pedals on his agreement with his daughter.
19. Logan slaps Roman
Logan has never been nice to Roman: here he slaps his youngest son, and it’s brutal to watch.
20. Kendall and Shiv hug it out
An emotionally weighty scene, here Kendall and Shiv have as close as they can get to an honest, unguarded, conversation. Kendall is having an emotional crisis after being involved in the crash, and Shiv shows that she actually cares about her elder brother, despite their usual swordplay. A tear-jerker to say the least.
