In the third episode of its fourth season, Succession He does the unthinkable — and we’re not just talking about Connor (Alan Ruck) finally tying the knot with Willa (Justin Loeb). This pivotal episode may be titled “Connor’s Wedding,” but it will truly go down in TV history as “The One Where Logan Dies.”
That’s right: Logan Roy (Brian Cox), patriarch of the Roy family, founder and CEO of Waystar Royco, L to the OG himself, is dead and gone.
Logan’s death SuccessionThe novel’s biggest swing yet, bigger than any bargain or betrayal. if Succession It is a game of chess. This twist is equivalent to taking the king off the board. scratch it; It’s the equivalent of throwing the chalkboard to the floor and letting the other pieces stumble in emotional (and possibly financial) distress.
How to watch the drama unfold in Season 4 of ‘Succession’
While the fallout from Logan’s death would be significant – who will succeed him as CEO? – remains the most amazing aspect of his death SuccessionAudacity to deal with it. There is no grand finale for Logan. In reality, Succession Separate the audience from Logan’s death as much as possible. We don’t see him collapse on his flight to meet Lucas Mattson (Alexander Skarsgård), nor do we get a clear shot of his body. Instead, we experience Logan’s death as his children do: from far, far away. that it SuccessionA way of telling us that the moment Logan dies doesn’t matter. What really matters are his children’s reactions.
When it comes to Logan’s death, distance is everything.
Jeremy Strong and Sarah Snook in “Succession”.
Credit: Macall B. Polay/HBO
None of Logan’s children are with him when he dies: they were all at Connor’s wedding, something Logan skipped over to talk to Mattson. Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Chef (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) get a call from Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) on Logan’s plane. He tells them of Logan’s breakdown and lets them speak their last words to him on his phone. The sequence is eerily reminiscent of the first episode of Season 4, which saw Tom act as agent between Roy’s kids and their dad when they got into a bidding war over Pierce Media.
Tom’s role as mediator is just one of many Succession Roy’s children, and thus the public, distance themselves from Logan’s death. Just as we never see Logan’s fall, we never get a clear glimpse of his body. We spend most of our time watching Kendall, Shiv, and Roman worry over the phone, unable to do anything for their dad except react in the moment.
Succession He heightens these reactions by emphasizing the physical space between Logan and his children. Emotionally, these characters are far apart even when they’re in the same room, but after Roy’s kids voice-overs reject Logan’s attempted apology at karaoke, that emotional distance has never been greater. Succession This is reflected in its site options. The children are out at sea, on a boat to Connor’s wedding, while the dying Logan is thousands of feet in the air.
Logan’s death Succession at its most stressful.
Kieran Culkin in “Succession”.
Credit: Macall B. Polay/HBO
And the fact that both ends are in transit adds to the tension of the episode. “Connor’s Wedding” is an excruciatingly stressful hour as you see uncertainty gradually turn into shocking acceptance. From their place on a boat – to a WeddingAnd none the less – Kendall, Shiv, and Romain have absolutely no control over the situation. All they can do is sit down, talk, and try to keep the news of Logan’s death from leaking to the press. Since we spend most of the episode squarely from their point of view, we feel just as helpless as they are.
Distance isn’t the only trick Succession It makes us feel the enormity of this moment. As the Ruiz talk to their father and deal with the possibility of his death, the show falls back on Nicholas Britel’s score – hardly any music accompanies these key scenes. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of the wedding and Logan’s death only serves to heighten the horror of the situation. It also calls to mind a pivotal moment from season one, when Kendall returns to Chef and Tom’s wedding after leaving the waiter for dead and has to act as if his world isn’t completely falling apart.
One of the main differences between manslaughter in Kendall’s wedding and Logan’s wedding death? The former is a final event, while the latter takes place in the third episode of the season. those kinds of main character turning points, especially Death, are the kinds of moments we’ve come to expect from late-season episodes and finales. Logan’s death comes too early And That she comes before the deal with Mattson is undoubtedly shocking. They certainly can’t kill him now’ I kept saying to myself throughout the episode. And yet, they killed him — and when you watch Season 4, you see how inevitable that is.
Logan’s death is a complete surprise – and it’s also completely inevitable.
Brian Cox in “Succession”.
Credit: David Russell/HBO
On the one hand, Logan’s death is a wild shock SuccessionSystem. Only in the final episode does he deliver a bloodthirsty speech to ATN employees from atop a pile of printer paper in a Rupert Murdoch-inspired moment. In the speech, he waxes poetic about cutting the throats of his opponents before announcing, “This is not the end.” One episode later, we’re down to the opposite. Even after all of Logan’s big talk as he boards his plane, it’s actually the end.
Succession He definitely hinted at this throughout the season, especially in the first episode. Parallel to Season 1, Season 4 begins with Logan’s birthday – a reminder of his deteriorating relationship with his family and, of course, his old age. He even contemplates death with his bodyguard Colin (Paul Nielsen), wondering what comes after life. In true Logan Roy fashion, he thinks the answer is nothing.
parallel to SuccessionThe first-of-its-kind episode also recalls the fatal stroke Logan suffered at his 80th birthday party in Season 1 – something he survived, along with countless attempts to wrest Waystar Royco from his control. After all, Succession He has always made it clear that Logan is a man who can’t be killed. However, the recall of that first stroke is enough to make you realize that Logan escaped once Tom reveals Logan’s awkward situation. Succession He’s not going to pull the same near-death storyline with Logan twice, especially since the show is coming to a close. Of course, the Roy siblings weren’t going to think that way, so we’re left to sit with them in limbo while they wait for confirmation of their father’s death.
To show Logan’s death or not to show Logan’s death, that is the question…
Brian Cox in “Succession”.
Credit: Macall B. Polay/HBO
The only move more daring than killing Logan early in the season is killing him offscreen. It’s a choice that’s sure to be polarizing. People who hate Logan might wish they’d seen him falter in his final moments, while people who love him might want the chance to say a final goodbye. In keeping with the course of the episode, Succession Neither party gives satisfaction. Logan haters and fans may have different interpretations of the exclusion of Logan’s death. Is it a slight or a sign of respect for the character the show has built as a tyrannical media giant? Most likely answer: This is simply the way it is Succession He works.
throughout her career, Succession He made a pattern of not showing the main events to the public. We don’t see Shiv’s initial confrontation with Tom over his actions in the Season 3 finale, nor do we see Roy’s siblings coming up with The Hundred. These omissions are a sign of SuccessionConfidence in herself – she knows the audience can infer the characters’ shared histories given a few well laid storylines. However, he is also proof of this Succession Knows when to show exactly what matters. We don’t Need To see Logan die, we just need to know that this happened in order to understand the behavior of everyone stuck in his orbit. What are the consequences of Logan’s death Succession Really interested, which is why we still have the bulk of Season 4. How that happened is secondary.
Succession Streaming now on HBO Max(Opens in a new tab)with new episodes airing at 9 p.m. ET Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.