'Succession' Season 4: Everything to know about the satirical drama
The Emmy Award-winning dark-comedy drama series Succession returned Sunday (March 26) with Season 4's first episode. Showrunner Jesse Armstrong, in February, revealed that Succession will end with Season 4, concluding the saga of media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his adult children. With only 10 episodes remaining in the last season, we round up everything you need to recall or learn about Succession.
But first, understand what the show is all about
Created in June 2018, HBO's Succession is touted as a Shakespearean-like drama that chronicles the tumultuous relations of a dysfunctional family, who are the powerful owners of a global media and entertainment conglomerate called Waystar Royco. In Season 1, after the father suffers a stroke, the four Roy children struggle to keep control of the company as the tantalizing idea of power causes rifts.
Meet the Roys of the empire
The central focus remains on the head of the family, Logan Roy, played by Cox. As a foil for his father, Kendall, played by Jeremy Strong, dreams of becoming CEO one day. Next in line is the only daughter of the Roy dynasty—Siobhan—played by Sarah Snook, followed by Roman, played by Kieran Culkin, and the often-forgotten oldest brother Connor (Alan Ruck).
The story so far
Let's recap what happened in Season 3. In the previous installment, Waystar Rayco is in dire straits for many reasons including Logan Roy's declining health, his son Kendall's public crusade against the head of the family, and a high-profile scandal involving the company. Season 3 ends with Waystar acquiring a tech giant called GoJo—run by a genius yet reckless Swedish innovator—Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård).
Did you know about the real-life people who inspired 'Succession'?
The plot of Succession is inspired by the reality of Rupert Murdoch and his six children. Media mogul Murdoch—the owner of News Corporation—is an Australian-born American business magnate, who has been married four times and has six children with three of his wives. Alike the plot of the satirical drama, there's a buzz on who will succeed the 92-year-old's business empires.
Emmy-winning series that topped the charts
To say that Armstrong has carved a place for himself among the upper echelon of television storytellers by taking Succession at the peak, would be an understatement. Notably, Succession secured a record-breaking 25 nominations in 2022's Emmy Award ceremony, including the most acting nominations for a drama series in a single year. It won its second Emmy for Outstanding Drama series for Season 3.
Why are the creators concluding the show in Season 4?
With the unprecedented success of the show, it came as a shocker to many that the creators announced Season 4 as the finale. In an interview with The New York Times, Armstrong explained, "It's pretty definitively the end, so then it just might be uncomfortable having to sort of dissemble like a politician for ages about it. Hopefully, the show is against any bullshit."
