Tag: Logan Roy

How Will The Last Of Us Part II Work On TV, Anyway?

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Two weeks ago, news broke that actor Kaitlyn Dever was joining the cast for the second season of HBO’s The Last Of Us TV series—which is still floating along without a release date, with “some time in 2025” the best anybody in TV land can guess. But despite that mild ambiguity, Dever’s casting kicked off a small firestorm of speculation, because it was revealed that she’d be playing a character named Abby Anderson when she joined the Emmy-winning video-game adaptation’s second season—which means The Last Of Us is almost certainly diving whole hog into the story of 2020’s The Last Of Us Part II. And that means things are about to get … messy.

The Last of Us’s Lamar Johnson On Learning Sign Language For The Show

[Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers for 2020 video game The Last Of Us Part II—and, likely, for at least some of the plot elements of the still-filming second season of HBO’s The Last Of Us TV show.]

Because while the critical consensus on Part II has mostly calmed down in the four years since its release—give or take some moderate consternation lately at the fact that Sony has already rolled out a “remastered” version of the hardly retro game, out last week–the game was something of a lightning rod when it first came out. Some of that wasn’t developer Naughty Dog’s fault. (A high-profile leak from the game’s development, showcasing several cutscenes and character models, fired up the kinds of chuds who get angry when female video-game characters aren’t “feminine” enough, to pick one of the more vitriolic examples.) But some of it was in direct to response to the game’s big narrative swings, which were, depending on who you asked, either “bold” or “super-aggressive and kind of manipulative.”

Many of which, we have to assume, will now be inherited by its TV adaptation: Excepting its critically heralded third episode, Craig Mazin’s adaptation of the first game into the show’s first season was almost overwhelmingly faithful–down to the season’s final scene almost exactly mimicking both the dialogue, and the staging, of the game’s famous ending. With game series creative director Neil Druckmann on board for the second season, as he was for the first, it would be shocking to see the series diverge more than a few inches from established canon.

What does that all mean? A few things—all of which could make The Last Of Us’ second season a very weird run of TV.

The Pedro Pascal “issue”

Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsay
Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

Anyone hoping to avoid spoilers for either the game series, or the show’s next season, should hop off this train now, because there’s really no way to talk about either without addressing the fungus-encrusted elephant in the room: protagonist Joel Miller’s sudden death, an hour or so into The Last Of Us Part II.

Pedro Pascal, who plays Joel on the show, has, understandably, hedged a bit when asked about this plot element–because how could he not? (Nobody wants the HBO Spoiler Squad on their ass.) But The Last Of Us Part II really doesn’t function as a story without it: Joel’s sudden death, at the hands of a group of survivors who come to the almost ludicrously idyllic community where he and Ellie (Bella Ramsay) have been living out their post-apocalypse, is rooted in both the aftermath of the first game and the narrative obsessions of the second. Everything The Last Of Us Part II wants to say about humanity–and it wants to say a lot—grows out of that early moment of sudden, shocking brutality, one moment of horrifying trauma birthed directly from another.

This was controversial, to say the least, in the games, where Joel was a beloved character played by well-liked voice actor Troy Baker. Applying it to a rising/risen star like Pascal—who did so much work to build a beautiful, broken human out of some fairly stock parts with his performance as Joel in the show’s first season–might be even more disruptive. Pascal and Ramsay both came up through Game Of Thrones, of course, so neither is unfamiliar with being on a series that jettisoned its “star” at a critical early point. But seeing the show’s most marketable star go the way of Logan Roy one episode into its new season is still likely to leave fans a bit discombobulated.

The absolute brutality of Ellie Williams

Bella Ramsay
Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

If the above paragraphs didn’t clue you in, The Last Of Us Part II is an aggressively grim game. Even its genuine moments of love or levity come with the unavoidable knowledge that something truly awful is right around the corner—and rarely in the form of something as simple as a rampaging fungus monster. That goes doubly true for the character of Ellie, who came of age in the first game/season—and who spends the second game having her last few shreds of innocence sliced off of her piece by piece.

And really, we’re looking forward to seeing what Ramsay, who was excellent in the first season, will do with this material, as Ellie becomes harder and harder, and harder and harder to root for, the further into her need for vengeance she descends. But it’s going to be a lot for audiences, even by the standards of HBO: We’ll be curious to see if the TV show stays true to the moment that would, in a less ugly narrative, be Ellie’s rock bottom—i.e., the confrontation with Mel, for game players—or if it’ll back away from quite that level of character-alienating horror. But either way, we’ll likely depart the show’s second season with very little idea of who, if anyone, we want to see getting what they want out of this broken and miserable world.

A question of perspective

Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsay
Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

There’s also a question of structure to be addressed here, requiring us to spoil The Last Of Us Part II’s other big twist: the fact that only about half of the game is played from Ellie’s perspective, with the game rewinding at a major turning point to show what its three violent days in Seattle have been like for Joel’s killer, Abby.

On the one hand, this might actually be easier for the TV show to handle than the game; one of The Last Of Us franchise’s big tricks is adapting techniques from film and media, where they’re less familiar, to the medium of games, and this kind of perspective flip is far closer to old hat for television. That being said, the parts of the game where you play as Abby constitute a huge portion of the game, introducing new characters, stories, motivations, and problems, all to drill in for players that she’s just as much a person, a “protagonist,” as Ellie herself. A 24-hour-long video game can take that kind of time to make its points—a nine-hour TV series, not so much. It’s key to Druckmann’s vision of The Last Of Us Part II that Abby feel as “real” to the player/viewer as Joel or Ellie did. Building that kind of identification, without feeling repetitive or digressive, is going to be a fascinating struggle for the show to handle in a fraction of the time.

Is there room for another “Long, Long Time”?

Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett
Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

As we noted above, the first season of The Last Of Us deviated from the game’s plot in only one serious regard—and was rewarded powerfully for it, with critics and viewers alike holding up that digression point, “Long, Long Time” as a series highlight. With Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett moving mountains to flesh out characters who were, in the game, an asshole and a corpse, respectively, the episode served as a necessary antidote to the grimness of the rest of the season, reminding viewers that there was still the possibility of life, even for “the last of us.”

Mazin, and writer Peter Hoar, could fit that material into the series in part because they were adapting a largely episodic narrative: The first Last Of Us plays out as a series of vignettes as much as it is a more cohesive story, and it was fairly simple to swap out the running and shooting of the game’s “Bill’s Town” segment for something with considerably more heart. Just as importantly, it demonstrated at least some justification for the entire show, dialing into quieter, more human moments, at a distance from Joel and Ellie’s story.

The Last Of Us Part II is a much tighter narrative ship, though, with a big chunk of its power coming from the way it buries you in first Ellie and then Abby’s head. And so it remains to be seen where Mazin and his team can find room for a bit of light to shine through. (Even if you zoom out of the Ellie-Abby conflict, the game’s background plot is about a brutal inter-clan war waged between military despots on the one hand and transphobic religious zealots on the other; there’s not a lot of room for gentler shading there.) We suspect that the Abby material will have to stand in for that kind of digression, but her story is so married and mirrored to Ellie’s that it’ll be difficult to get meaningful breathing room out of it.

All that being said: It’s worth stepping back and remembering that we’re talking about a TV show that hasn’t even been filmed at this point, let alone aired. Speculation can only go so far before it just becomes fortune-telling and just as useful. But The Last Of Us’ nature as an adaptation—and one especially beholden to its source material—invites these kinds of questions. The Last Of Us Part II landed like a bomb in 2020, detonating video-game discourse for months around it. We can only imagine what its adaptation to television will do when it arrives some time next year.

This story originally appeared on The A.V. Club.

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William Hughes

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January 26, 2024
The Eyes Don’t Have It: Succession’s Series Finale, “With Open Eyes,” Emphasizes That Hubris Makes You Blind

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If Kendall (Jeremy Strong) hugging Roman (Kieran Culkin) toward the end of the series finale of Succession reminded viewers of anything, it’s that, when it comes to the Roys, love fucking hurts—and seems to cause far more pain than it’s worth. The last episode, “With Open Eyes,” offers an ominous title in and of itself without any backstory, but taking into account that it continues the Succession season finale tradition of using lines from John Berryman’s “Dream Song 29,” it adds yet another sinister layer. Berryman himself was haunted his whole life by his father’s suicide when the poet was just eleven. With Succession being, at its core, a show about daddy issues and what they can wreak, it seems appropriate to interweave this writer into final episode titles. And oh, what a final episode “With Open Eyes” is. And yes, it’s all about eyes in this narrative. Particularly how those with sight can be so blind (see also: King Lear).

The emphasis on eyes begins the moment Shiv (Sarah Snook) arrives in Barbados at the urging of her mother, Caroline (Harriet Walter), to come and comfort Roman after the beating he took at the end of episode nine, “Church and State.” Naturally, Shiv is only really interested in taking the trip so she can lock down another vote and really secure the GoJo deal for Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård), who has promised to make her the CEO once the merger and acquisition goes through.

Alas, in the business realm, where misogyny reigns more supremely than anywhere else besides politics, it’s clear that Matsson actually doesn’t feel that comfortable with Shiv taking the front seat while he rides shotgun at best, and in the trunk at worst. A profile in some New Yorker-esque rag featuring a cartoon of Shiv as the puppet master pulling Matsson’s strings (even though the article is called “Is Lukas Matsson Taking Over the World?”) does little to assuage his wounded ego. After all, he’s already being forced to stand in the shadows for the sake of the deal going through with an anti-foreign business president taking the reins (or not…the finale leaves that open-ended as well). And it seems to dawn on him that it would be so much better to have someone (a man, of course) in charge that he could boss around with far more ease than he can Shiv, who easily lives up to her nickname by shiving Kendall in the back at the end of the episode. And just when it seemed like the trio was getting along so well, too. That is, back in the kitchen of Caroline’s “hellhole in paradise.” After Caroline remarked to Shiv about being unable to “tend to” Roman, “There’s something about eyes. They just kind of, ugh, revolt me.” Shiv clarifies, “Eyes? Like human eyes we all have?” “Yeah, I don’t like to think of all these blobs of jelly rolling around in your head. Just…face eggs.” To be sure, that is what they amount to when you can’t really see past the blinding nature of your own hubris.

Something all four of the Roy children suffer from…because let’s not forget about Connor (Alan Ruck). Even if his appearance is minimal as usual, but nonetheless effective. Especially when, via a fresh home movie, he stands next to Logan (Brian Cox) and delivers a performance of “I’m a Little Teapot” “in the manner of Logan Roy.” The lyrics then, naturally, go, “I am a little teapot—fuck off! Short and stout—what did you fucking call me? Here’s my handle, here’s my fuckin’ spout. When I get steamed up, you can hear me shout—Frank Vernon is a moron, Karl Muller is a kraut!” But Karl (David Rasche) can still sing a good Scottish folk song as he regales the dinner table with his rendition of “Green Grow the Rashes, O.” The lyrical content of which hits too close to home for the Roy children as they listen to the words, “Green grow the rashes, O/The sweetest hours that e’er I spend/Are spent among the lasses, O/The war’ly race may riches chase/And riches still may fly them, O/And even though they catch ‘em fast/Their hearts can ne’er enjoy them, O.”

What modicum of something resembling “hearts” the Roy children might have certainly don’t allow them to enjoy much, that’s for sure. Indeed, they all seem like masochists who actually relish torturing themselves, and reminding the other siblings of who they really are. For a brief moment in the episode, Shiv and Roman are compelled to make Kendall forget who he is at his core by obliging him in his long-standing, ceaseless desire to become Waystar Royco’s CEO. Upon Kendall informing Shiv that Matsson ousting her (per craftily-secured intel from Greg [Nicholas Braun]), the trio at last aligns to form a bloc that will stop the vote from going through. The only problem, as usual, is that none of them can agree on who should be CEO.

With Kendall swimming out to a dock to let his siblings confer in the darkness of a Barbados beach, Shiv and Roman discuss whether or not they ought to finally just let Kendall have what he’s been dreaming of ever since this whole saga began. Roman asks, “Should we give it to him?” An annoyed Shiv says, “Yeah, we probably should.” Shiv pauses and then adds deviously. “Unless we kill him.” Although meant “in jest,” it’s ultimately exactly what Shiv decides to do by ousting her big bro at the last minute. And when she cuts him with that knife, he definitely bleeds, saying, “I feel like…if I don’t get to do this—I, I feel like, that’s it. I might, I might, uh, like I might die.” And there is that exact feeling as we watch him sink via the elevator back into the bowels of the cruel real world. Whether or not he tries to kill himself now, Kendall is already dead.

Perhaps it’s all part of his karma for Andrew Dodds (Tom Morley), the waiter who ended up drowning at the end of season one as a result of Kendall’s insatiable search for drugs. When Kendall spots the waiter, just fired from Shiv’s wedding by Logan, he asks him for a “powder” connect. When Andrew tries to offer him some ketamine, which he does himself, Kendall insists he needs a “different vibe tonight”: coke. Thus, Kendall drives them through the darkened English countryside in search of Andrew’s connection. When he sees a deer in the road and swerves, Kendall crashes the car in the water, leaving a ket’d-out Andrew to die. In the present, when Shiv and Roman bring the murder up (which Kendall confessed to them in the season three finale, “All the Bells Say”), Kendall has lost all sense of guilt for the “incident,” immediately responding, “It did not happen. I wasn’t even there.” He then reiterates, “It did not happen!” Because when rich people say something didn’t happen, then it definitely didn’t. But this denial makes Shiv all the more disgusted by her brother, and therefore convinced they’re better off selling the company than letting him be the CEO. Blinded by her own jealousy, of course, she would rather watch the company burn in someone else’s hands than let Ken take his shot. And, talking once more of eyes and sight, when Roman reminds that, in terms of “bloodline,” Ken’s children aren’t “‘real’ real,” he escalates the eye jelly comment Caroline foreshadowed to the next level by pressing Roman’s eyeballs in (already having mushed Roman’s face into his shoulder in that previous scene of “aggressive love”).

This gives Shiv her opportunity to go back into the meeting and cast her vote in favor of the GoJo deal despite being betrayed by Matsson. And despite the fact that the CEO position will go to, of all people, Tom fucking Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen). The one person who should have been axed ages ago both personally and professionally, but managed to shapeshift his way to the top. Indeed, it’s his “mutability” that makes him so appealing to Matsson, whose opinion of this non-person is obviously cinched when Shiv describes him as “very plausible corporate matter” and “a highly interchangeable modular part.” In other words, exactly what Matsson is looking for in his own puppet. And, being that Tom sells himself by noting of his current position, “I’m cutting heads and harvesting eyeballs,” Matsson can tell he’s got the chops to give the chop to whoever he says, whenever he says. Of course, Tom’s mention of harvesting eyeballs is yet another nod to the notion of sight and vision—or rather, lack thereof—in this episode, and in Logan’s progeny.

Kendall obviously had no foresight about Shiv’s sudden treachery, prompting him to continue to stand in disbelief in the office where the emotional and physical altercation transpired. Roman finally lays the truth out for him: “It’s fuck-all, man. It’s bits of glue and broken shows, fuckin’ phony news, fucking come on.” Unable to see that reality, Kendall keeps urging, “We have this, we can still do this.” Himself seeing clearly for the first time, Roman balks, “Oh my god, man, it’s nothing. Okay? It’s just nothing. It’s fucking nothing. Stop it!” Kendall, who has placed his entire identity into this role of “successor” cannot believe what Roman is saying, repeating “no” over and over again until Roman interjects, “Yeah. Hey, we are bullshit… You are bullshit. You’re fucking bullshit, man. I’m fucking bullshit. She’s bullshit. It’s all fucking nothing, man. I’m telling you this because I know it, okay? We’re nothing. Okay.”

And so it is that Roman is the one to finally admit that what Logan said at the beginning of season four was accurate, even if harsh: “You’re such fucking dopes. You’re not serious figures. I love you, but…you are not…serious people.” Only ornaments and pawns in the life of Logan, the quintessential King Lear figure of this narrative. And yet, a Cordelia never seems to manifest in any of his children. It’s nothing but Regans and Gonerils where the obsession with “winning at inheritance” is concerned.

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Genna Rivieccio

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May 31, 2023
‘Succession’ Ends With Roy Family Saving Christmas

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NEW YORK—With the beloved characters joyously sharing the warmth of Yuletide cheer as snow fell gently upon Manhattan, HBO’s hit drama Succession concluded Sunday with the Roy family saving Christmas. “After years of sibling squabbles over who would take the throne at Waystar Royco, the hit series has elegantly stuck the landing with an episode that follows Kendall, Shiv, and Roman after they discover that recently deceased family patriarch Logan Roy was not only their father, but Father Christmas himself—and that his passing meant there would be no Christmas unless they could set aside their differences to deliver presents to the world’s children,” wrote New York Times TV critic Miranda Lawrence, praising the way the Roys finally accepted the spirit of the season and gave up their riches to make sure the Christmas wishes of all little boys and girls came true. “My heart melted when Roman put his arms around Rudolph, begging him to believe in himself so his nose would glow again. Each family member learned their own special lesson from the three Christmas ghosts, even Tom, who finally felt secure enough to let Greg turn back into a snowman and go live in the Magical Winter Woods. This finale is sure to go down as one of the greatest of all time, especially after that final shot where the three Roy siblings flew Santa’s sleigh through the night sky in their matching footy pajamas as the voice of Logan Roy could be heard saying, ‘Merry Christmas to all, and to all a fuck off!’” The review also praised Peter Friedman and David Rasche, who played Frank and Karl respectively, for their beautiful rendition of “O Holy Night.”

Ho, Ho, Ho! I Saw You Masturbating!

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May 29, 2023
Kendall Roy’s New York City Penthouse On ‘Succession’ Is Listed For $29 Million

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Want to live like a member of the Roy family? As Succession’s Season 4 continues, viewers get an even deeper glimpse into the lives of the ultra-wealthy Roy family, including their homes. While it was only on screen for a few seconds, the Manhattan penthouse of Kendall Roy at the start of Episode 4 showcased his glamorous living quarters.

The living room.

Sean Hemmerle

The new Waystar Royco CEO’s fictional home is on the market IRL for a cool $29 million. The triplex Manhattan penthouse is located in the swanky Upper East Side residential tower 180 East 88th Street, designed by Joe McMillan’s DDG. The 5,508-square-foot unit has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and two half-bathrooms. The modern penthouse has high ceilings reaching up to 28 feet, floor-to-ceiling windows encircling each room, and a sculptural spiral staircase that connects the levels. Views stretch far across Manhattan, overlooking Central Park and the city skyline.

A terrace.

Sean Hemmerle

This home is truly fit for a billionaire. The penthouse’s main and lowest level features an airy living room, dining room, and a kitchen outfitted by Molteni and C Dada with Statuario marble countertops and Gaggenau appliances. This floor also has a den that could be used as a studio, personal office, extra bedroom, or library. The second floor houses the bedrooms, including the spacious primary suite with a gas fireplace, loggia terrace overlooking Central Park, a dressing room, and a spa-like bathroom. The bathroom has travertine slabs, mosaic-accented walls and flooring, oak cabinetry, honed Bianco Grigio marble countertops, a rain shower, and cove lighting. The light herringbone floors throughout the home give it a bright, upscale feel.

The other bedrooms share a loggia terrace that overlooks the eastern cityscape and bridges. The third floor is where you can find the sprawling rooftop terrace, spanning 2,100 square feet, with panoramic city views and an extra powder room for guests. The terrace hovers 467 feet over the city and is divided into two areas. For added convenience, an elevator services all three floors.

A bathroom.

Sean Hemmerle

The building has just 47 condo residences, and there’s a 24-hour doorman, concierge services, and a whopping eight floors of amenities, like a fitness studio, double-height basketball court, soccer pitch, playroom, game room, residents’ lounge with a catering kitchen, wine storage, and bike storage.

A bedroom.

Sean Hemmerle

This tower is the highest residential tower north of 72nd Street on the city’s Upper East Side, making this the highest unit in this area as well. Just steps from the tower’s Carnegie Hill location is fabulous shopping and dining, though the area benefits from a safe and quiet residential location between Lexington and 3rd Avenue.

The kitchen.

Sean Hemmerle

This isn’t the first time that Succession has depicted swoon-worthy real estate. Last season, the family traveled to Italy for the late Logan Roy’s ex-wife Caroline Collingwood’s wedding. There, the HBO show showcased two spectacular Italian villas, Cetinale and Villa La Cassinella. In addition to the many Hamptons and New York City properties already shown on the show, it’s likely that real estate lovers are in for a treat for the rest of this final season.

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Emma Reynolds, Senior Contributor

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April 20, 2023
Cameron Frye and Connor Roy: “My Old Man Pushes Me Around” No More!

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Just as it is for the Roy family at large, for many viewers of Succession, Connor Roy (Alan Ruck) is pure background. It hasn’t really been until season four that he’s been permitted his moment to shine. To “take a stand,” as Ruck’s most famous character, Cameron Frye, would say. And it starts with episode two, “Rehearsal,” in which he displays the full extent of his vulnerability during a karaoke session. Not just because he opts to sing Leonard Cohen’s “Famous Blue Raincoat” but because, just as he did in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as Cameron, he decides to take a stand and defend it. And yes, singing Leonard Cohen at karaoke (even if only in a room as opposed to a more public stage) definitely counts among the ranks of taking a stand and defending it (regardless of Roman [Kieran Culkin] jibing, “This is Guantanamo-level shit”).

It’s no coincidence that he should choose that particular song, either. Not with Cohen singing, “I hear that you’re building your little house deep in the desert/You’re living for nothing now, I hope you’re keeping some kind of record.” Lest one needs to be reminded, the early seasons of Succession find Connor living alone in the desert of New Mexico in his palatial palace. A cold place in a hot climate, where he still can’t seem to finagle something akin to love. Not even from his “girlfriend,” Willa (Justine Lupe), a call girl he pays to keep around. Eventually paying enough to make her want to be his full-time girlfriend. But back to the lyrics of “Famous Blue Raincoat,” also fitting for Connor’s sibling situation with the Cain and Abel allusion in the line, “And what can I tell you my brother, my killer?”

Both Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman have no need of killing their half-bro, however—for he’s so irrelevant to their patriarch, Logan Roy (Brian Cox), that wasting any energy on him would be wasting much-needed focus on “securing the position.” CEO of Waystar-Royco. Something that was never going to belong to “hapless” Connor, who spent three years of his childhood without seeing his father at all. “Attachment” isn’t exactly a thing between him and Logan, nor is it between Cameron and Morris, who never appears once in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—merely looms large as a source of fear. Especially after Ferris (Matthew Broderick) gets Cam (“Con” also has a shortened version of his name) to take his dad’s Ferrari out for the day.

Not one to be disagreeable, Cameron ultimately concedes to loaning out the car after several half-hearted attempts at protesting. Lying in bed genuinely sick (even if only in the head) as opposed to Ferris’ fake-out version of sickness, it’s clear Cam’s family doesn’t need to be played to in order for him to get out of school. They’re never around anyway. Least of all his father, off being the “provider” of the family, therefore excused from anything like involvement. Yes, it sounds a lot like Logan Roy. And Cameron, like Con, leads a privileged existence with the trade-off of never experiencing any emotional attachment or care whatsoever. With regard to “Con,” there’s one in every family, to be sure. Someone who never gets quite the same amount of attention or consideration. Whether because their personality is more demure or they don’t seem “special” enough to warrant as much care. Connor falls into both categories, with Shiv (Sarah Snook) in the Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) role and Kendall and Roman trading off on being the overly arrogant Ferris Bueller (Roman obviously being more Ferris-y than Ken). A scene of Cameron stuffed in the back of the Ferrari that Ferris and Sloane are effectively using him for speaks volumes vis-à-vis this dynamic. The only time anyone bothers with Con is when they need him for something…so basically they never much bother with him.

Sure, he’s there for “ceremonious” events like birthdays and family vacations, but, by and large, he’s out of the fold. Until season four rolls around and, suddenly, the “Rebel Alliance” that is Shiv, Kendall and Roman ends up prompting Con to say, “This is how it is, huh? The battle royale? Me and dad on one side, you guys on the other.” This after Willa has walked out on their wedding rehearsal dinner, leaving Con with no one to “turn to” for “comfort” but his so-called family. The trio of his siblings (all of whom show up late because Logan cut off their helicopter access) amounts to one giant Ferris Bueller, the narcissist in the dynamic constantly taking up space and demanding more from the Cameron/Connor of the outfit. Meanwhile, all Connor is asking for is a round of karaoke at Maru, one of many overpriced options within the parameters of Koreatown’s 32nd Street.

Upon arriving to said location (under duress for most of them), Connor is quick to admit that he told Logan where they are, and he’s coming over to “talk things out”—presumably the deal that Shiv, Kendall and Roman want to fuck by asking for more money of Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) in exchange for merging his streaming company, GoJo, with Waystar. In defense of himself, Connor replies to the sibling backlash, “My life isn’t filled with secrets like some people. And I want my father to be at my wedding.”

To everyone’s surprise, though, Logan wants to make an “apology.” Or the closest he can get to one. But with all the hemming and hawing, Kendall is quick to redirect his father’s messaging by demanding, “What are you sorry for, Dad? Fucking ignoring Connor his whole life?” He later adds, “Having Connor’s mother locked up?” This being why Connor refers to the cake at his wedding as “loony cake.” A type of dessert he apparently associates with Victoria sponge cake and doesn’t care for at all because it was what was fed to him for a week after his mother was institutionalized. So yeah, even Kendall can take a moment here and there to stand up for his older brother and acknowledge that Con might have had a more emotionally bankrupt childhood than all of them.

In that regard, his bid for normalcy is earnest when he declares to his brothers and sister, “I would like to sing one fucking song at karaoke because I’ve seen it in the movies and nobody ever wants to go.” Perhaps he saw it in a certain form in the movie that he co-starred in with Broderick, as the latter plays the titular character lip-syncing to Wayne Newton’s “Danke Schoen” and The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” on a parade float in the middle of Chicago. Something Cameron nor Connor would ever do. Possibly because attention-seeking is a type of love-seeking. And that’s never been either character’s “game.” Though both slowly start to realize that maybe it should be. Even as Connor notes something as heart-wrenching to his siblings as, “The good thing about having a family that doesn’t love you is you learn to live without it… You’re all chasin’ after Dad saying, ‘Oh love me, please love me. I need love, I need attention.’ You’re needy love sponges, and I’m a plant that grows on rocks and lives off insects that die inside of me. If Willa doesn’t come back, that’s fine. ‘Cause I don’t need love. It’s like a superpower.”

Cameron Frye knows that’s not entirely true. It’s also a curse that causes severe anxiety and depression, finally pushing him toward the revelation, “I’m bullshit. I put up with everything. My old man pushes me around…I never say anything! Well he’s not the problem, I’m the problem [cue a lawsuit against Taylor Swift]. I gotta take a stand. I gotta take a stand against him. I am not gonna sit on my ass as the events that affect me unfold to determine the course of my life. I’m gonna take a stand. I’m gonna defend it. Right or wrong, I’m gonna defend it.” Something Connor must decide to do in “Connor’s Wedding,” easily the most landmark episode of Succession ever aired. And yet, as usual, just because his name is in the title doesn’t mean he gets the theoretical spotlight. No, this is all about his father. Just as it always is. The same geos for Cameron and Morris, inciting the former to finally lose it and kick the shit out of the Ferrari as he screams, “I’m so sick of his shit. I can’t stand him and I hate this goddamn car! Who do ya love? Who do ya love? You love a car!”

To this, Logan Roy might placate, “I love you…but you are not serious people.” These are his final sentiments directed at his children. Though no one is aware of it until the next day, when Logan’s heart fails (ironically appropriate) while on a private jet to negotiate the deal again with Matsson…thanks to his own kids painting him in a corner to do so. It was the previous night at karaoke that Logan understood the scope of his disgust with them. For here he is, the affluent, distant father figure (like Cameron’s) being unclear what more his children could “take” or want from him after everything he’s already given. Back out on the street with his latest “right-hand woman,” Kerry (Zoe Winters), he clocks a homeless man digging through the trash and seethes, “Look at this prick. They should get out here. Some cunt doing the tin cans for his supper, take a sip of that medicine. This city…the rats are as fat as skunks. They hardly care to run anymore.” Obviously taking a swipe at his lazy, greedy children. Except for Con, who really just wants it all to be over. Unfortunately, it’s only just getting started now that Logan is dead. And as usual, Con is the last to know about it, gently informed by Kendall only to instantly reply, “Oh man, he never even liked me,” trying to smooth that statement over with, “I never got the chance to make him proud of me.”

Of course, that was never going to happen. Because there is no “pleasing” a man like Logan or Morris. And Connor always getting the short end of the stick from his father reaches a poetic peak with him dying on Connor’s wedding day, casting a dark, attention-stealing pall over the event. All Con can finally assess about it to Willa is: “My father’s dead and I feel old.” Cameron probably would have said the same thing. And he, too, probably would have soon after carried out his intended plans for the day. After all, he’s not one to let his old man push him around anymore, especially not now that he’s dead. He’s going to take a stand (for “love”) and defend it. Right or wrong.

That’s why, in the end, he goes through with the wedding, not bothering to join his three half-siblings as they go to deal with their father’s body and make a statement to the press. In this sense, Connor has always been the freest, learning long ago not to bother chasing down the love of a patriarch who was incapable of it. Perhaps learning that from the person he was in another life: Cameron Frye. Meanwhile, Connor’s siblings will continue to volley for Logan’s invisible favor in not-so-subtle ways even after he’s gone.

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Genna Rivieccio

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April 11, 2023
Logan Roy Convinced Us He Could Not Fall

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Spoilers below.

It’s a bird—no, it’s a plane…and it’s Superman, falling. The shocking epicenter of Succession season 4, episode 3, “Connor’s Wedding,” is perhaps the greatest trick creator Jesse Armstrong could pull in the show’s fourth and final season, though, of course, killing off the ever-looming patriarch in a series called Succession is no trick at all. It’s right there in plain text. Armstrong and his collaborators have been teasing this inevitability—and yes, it was always inevitable—for multiple seasons. Logan Roy had health issues. Logan Roy was 84. Logan Roy could not escape the slow creep of mortality; even he knew that, given the “fucking suspicions” about the afterlife he expressed to “best pal” Colin earlier in the season. The brilliance of Succession is that it convinced the audience not of what Logan himself thought, but of what his children believed: The man was superhuman. He was invincible. When “Connor’s Wedding” delivered the news of Logan’s death without so much as a long, lingering close-up on Brian Cox’s face, every viewer at home felt as unmoored and bamboozled as his kids.

We know what we expect from the episode as it begins: Logan skips out on his eldest son’s wedding and jets off to Sweden to smooth over Matsson’s ruffled feathers, leaving Roman to drop a stink bomb in Gerri’s purse. Roman—still in a psychosexual spell over Gerri he refuses to sort out in therapy—very much does not want to do this. But he does, because he wants to be the “serious person” his father does not believe him to be. He wants to be the Chosen One. So he tells Gerri that Logan’s cutting her loose, that the Waystar RoyCo family will soon no longer be hers. It’s a betrayal, such an ugly one that even when Roman practically begs for her sympathy later, after Logan’s death, all Gerri can manage is a taut “Okay” and “The room’s all yours.”

Macall B. Polay/HBO

Even after this uncomfortable conversation, the episode remains light on its feet, tossing in classic Succession barbs about Connor’s aversion to Victoria sponge cake (a.k.a “looney cake”) and Greg’s attempts at flirtation (“journalism, taking quotes and kicking asses!”). Then the floor shatters beneath it. The descent begins.

Roman answers a call from Tom, who wastes no time changing everything: “Your dad is very sick.” Logan has suffered some sort of cardiac arrest while in the airport bathroom (an incident with, in reality, a less than 50 percent recovery rate and a much lower long-term survival rate). Roman and Kendall drop into immediate emergency mode, but when have they ever had to handle a real emergency? They flail and stutter for what feels like hours as the seconds creep by, too absorbed in their panic to recognize that neither their sister nor their eldest brother is with them as their father’s heart stops. Tom hovers the phone near Logan’s ear as the flight attendant attempts chest compressions, but Roman has absolutely no foundation for the emotional maturity this requires. “You did a good job,” he tells his dying dad, only to violently flinch from the sound of his own voice. “No, I don’t—I’m sorry, I don’t know how to do that,” he says, volleying the phone to Kendall like it’s a live bomb. To his credit, Kendall maintains his honesty: “I don’t know. I can’t—I can’t forgive you. But it’s, uh, it’s okay. And—and I love you.”

Kendall runs off to find Shiv, who doesn’t grasp the gravity of what’s happening until Roman reveals, “They think he’s gone.” In between sobbing, shaky breaths, she tries to convince herself that Logan might be listening to her voice, but she can’t ignore the suspicion she’s being hoodwinked, as always, by Logan’s specter. “Are you just being nice to me?” she asks her estranged husband, practically whispering now. “Is he gone?” She attempts her own final words, even calling Logan “Daddy” in one of several gut-wrenching line deliveries the episode so perfectly squeezes from its cast.

Finally, Kendall and Shiv link hands and bring Connor into the fray. He’s no more equipped to handle it than they are. (“He never even liked me,” are his first words, followed by the admission that he never made his father proud.) The kids, truly united for perhaps the final time, try to offload and deny and settle as Logan’s team, still in the air, start “coordinating a response.” Logan’s death is not just a family incident; it’s a market one. Karl, Karolina, Frank, and Tom—minus Kerry, apparently clawing to the last vestiges of her sanity—make plans to draft a statement. Tom gets Greg on the phone to execute one last grunt job, which includes deleting a computer folder labeled “Logistics.”

Macall B. Polay/HBO

When the kids catch wind of the statement, they’re forced to swallow reality like a chunk of ice. They can’t take any time to breathe, or they’ll be left unguarded. The war for Waystar has started already, and the optics matter. They can’t ask for the plane to circle while they sort out what to do next. As Kendall observes, “What we do today will always be what we did the day our father died. So, let’s grieve and whatever, but—” his eyes flash to Roman, “—not do anything that restricts our future freedom of movement.”

Both Connor’s wedding boat and Logan’s plane make a U-turn, and the groups converge on the airstrip. Karolina gets out a statement. Shiv delivers one to the press through a low monotone, almost a growl. She leaves the airport with Tom; Roman walks with his father’s corpse to the ambulance; Kendall watches, weeping, from afar. Only Connor gets a reprieve from this cataclysm, having shared a conversation with his bride in which they’re finally upfront about what they need to be happy together. They’re married in front of a tiny group of family and friends, a singular moment of joy in an otherwise devastating episode.

Meanwhile, Logan will haunt the remaining story like a black hole, sucking all that remains into its center. Succession convinced us that Logan would not, could not, lose—at least not until the final moments of such an acclaimed series. That’s what the typical order of television form instructs us: This death should be the climax, and the climax doesn’t happen in a season’s third episode. But that’s where we, like the kids, were wrong. Logan could always fall, at any time and in any manner. But the “American titan” doesn’t need to be present to be felt. That’s his real power, and the genius of Armstrong’s creative endeavor here: Logan was neither invincible nor omnipotent, but he was everywhere. Exorcising him, not defeating him, will be the hardest thing his children ever attempt to do.

Read last week’s recap

Culture Writer

Lauren Puckett-Pope is a staff culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. She was previously an associate editor at ELLE.

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April 10, 2023
‘Succession’ Season Premiere Features Return Of Shadowy Dr. Succession Character

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NEW YORK—In a dramatic twist that shocked viewers who had waited more than a year for a new episode of the HBO drama, Sunday’s season premiere of Succession featured an unexpected reappearance of the show’s shadowy Dr. Succession character. “Longtime fans of the series were appalled and delighted when its powerful but seldom-seen antagonist, the nefarious Dr. Succession, stepped out of the darkness in the warehouse to which he had lured the Roy family and let out one of his trademark cackles,” said TV critic Emily Barnes, who argued that the eponymous villain’s return had been subtly foreshadowed ever since Siobhan Roy pushed him into a volcano at the end of season two, leading her family to believe he had finally been vanquished. “The reemergence of the menacing psychologist and inventor who swore to wreak terrible vengeance on the Roys after their media empire inadvertently killed his wife is a welcome development for the new season. From the moment Dr. Succession revealed that he was Logan Roy’s evil twin brother as they did battle in their mech suits atop Waystar Royco headquarters, viewers have appreciated the Shakespearean dimensions of this nuanced character. In the early seasons, audiences tuned into Succession to see if the Roys could put aside their differences and harness the power of love to stop Dr. Succession when he strapped a bomb to the president of the United States or turned back time, causing Manhattan to be overrun with dinosaurs. One can only hope the show’s final season is a return to form in which Kendall, Shiv, Roman, and the rest of the crew face off against this chilling puppet master who seeks to rule the world with a bionic fist.” In a sneak peak of the season’s second episode, Dr. Succession is seen laughing hysterically as he tells the Roy family, “Now, my friends, it is you who will fuck off!”

EPA Closes Down After Running Out Of Salvageable Environment To Protect

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March 28, 2023