Tag: series finale

The fourth and final season of Succession has really tugged at the heartstrings. Kendall, Roman, and Shiv process their grief over Logan’s death in intensely human ways—improvised group hugs, dramatic eulogy breakdowns. In the capable hands of actors like Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, and Sarah Snook, the Roys have become sympathetic enough to almost make you forget what truly terrible people they are. Almost. 

“He has wrought the most terrible things,” says James Cromwell’s Ewan in his scathing eulogy for Logan. As much as we enjoy watching them, the same must also be said for the rest of the Roys. Remember that time Roman and Kendall convinced an unhoused person to get Kendall’s initials tattooed on his forehead? Or when Shiv intimidated a female cruise division victim into not testifying?

While our hearts may be full of empathy for the Roys, as we head into Sunday’s series finale, we’re first taking stock of all the awful things they’ve done—and determining, for once and for all, who among them is the very worst. For those screaming out that the answer is obviously Mencken or Matsson, we’ve opted to keep the ranking in the family and their immediate orbit, focusing only on core Succession characters who’ve appeared on the series since season one—and have had more time to rack up dastardly deeds. Without further ado, here’s the very worst that Succession has to offer. 

10. Gerri, Frank, Karl, and the Rest of Logan’s Cronies

Sure, working for a boss you know is up to no good is definitely a little bit evil, at best. But if anything, Logan’s core crew have mitigated the damage done by the rest of the names on this list. In the week since Logan died, Frank has been more of a supportive father figure to the Roy children than Logan ever was. Saucy Karl is spitting fire this season, but seems more concerned with getting to his Greek island than ruining anyone’s life. And Gerri should be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for putting up with Roman for so long. Sure, they’ve worked hand in hand with a greedy billionaire for multiple decades. But imagine how much worse things would be if they hadn’t been there. 

9. Connor Roy

Poor Connor. The eldest Roy and literal also-ran is undoubtedly the least evil of his immediate family, if only because he’s the least important. By keeping his hands out of the family business and not working for Papa Logan at Waystar Royco, Connor has avoided a lot of the craven jockeying for power that has brought out the absolute worst in his siblings. Whether Connor’s distance from Waystar was his choice or Logan’s design, it has helped him in the long run; staying out of the fray is the best way to preserve your moral compass. 

That being said, Connor’s potential for evil was absolutely displayed in his ineffectual, ill-conceived, and ultimately unsuccessful presidential run. Arguably, the most evil thing Connor has done on the series is galvanizing his beloved Con-heads to support the white nationalist, fascist candidate Jeryd Mencken—all so that he can maybe be the ambassador to Slovenia in the new regime. But while selfish and brown-nosy, asking a million eccentric libertarians to vote for a dangerous candidate is pretty low on the list of Roy family sins. Also, Connor is a patron of the arts, serving as the primary investor in Sands, a play by his future wife, Willa. Supporting a flop playwright is one of the best things a person can do, landing Connor near the bottom of the evil list.  

8. Marcia Roy 

“We’re calling Kerry a taxi to the subway so she can go home to her little apartment.” Enough said.

7. Tom Wambsgans 

Yes, Tom has said some absolutely awful things to Shiv this season regarding their unborn child. But it’s hard to argue that she didn’t start the fire there; as the saying goes, it takes two to play “Bitey.” And other than his one major infraction against Shiv, Tom has been, well, a major simp for Shiv and Logan. During the big cruise ship scandal of season two—which saw the C-suite at Waystar Royco covering up a host of reported instances of sexual assault, abuse, and even deaths within the division—Tom was on the front line. Not only did he do Logan’s dirty work and instruct Greg to destroy incriminating documents, but Tom, after some coercion from Shiv, volunteered to be the sacrificial lamb, take the fall for the cruise scandals, and go to prison. Tom was more than ready to go down with the ship, which is more pathetic than pathological. 

Covering up heinous acts of sexual misconduct is bad. But other than that, the most explicitly malevolent thing Tom has ever done was sell Shiv and her brothers down the river by clueing Logan into their plan to take control over the board at the end of season three. Even then that dastardly, backhanded move blew up in his face when Logan dropped dead a few months later, leaving Tom—the perennial outsider—once again without an ally. (Greg doesn’t count.) Plus, you can’t be all that evil if Karl can read you for filth. 

6. Greg Hirsch

Greg the egg? More like Greg the shred…der of important documents. Terrible Greg-esque joke aside, shredding incriminating cruise documents because Tom told him to definitely ranks as one of the more terrible things that Greg, Logan’s lowly great-nephew, has done. Greg definitely has an “I was just following orders” demeanor to him, from destroying the documents to firing hundreds of ATN employees on Zoom with little to no remorse. (“I look like I feel bad, but I don’t,” he memorably said.) That attitude doesn’t make Greg or his actions any less evil.