No, We Are Not OK After That ‘Succession’ Shocker

“Visually aggravating” is funny because it’s true. Also, I’m pocketing this line for future use.

This isn’t the exact quote, but this is how I heard it and how I will always hear it: “Hi dad, just calling to ask if you're a cunt? Cool, hit me back when you get this. Xoxo.” Again, Roman trying to make a play — any play — for power, ever. Then he can’t handle the fact that he even tried, and at the time that he did. — Candice

I do feel bad for Roman that those were likely his last words to his father, and it will probably haunt him forever. I hate (but also love) that this show somehow makes me feel (somewhat) bad for these idiots! — Marina
It’s a really quick exchange, but when Shiv said to Greg, “Don’t touch me!” I laughed so hard. He really is visually aggravating and should not just assume people want to be around him. — Candice

Tom saying, “What the fuck?!” then roasting Kerry for smiling (during mid-schock, mind you) like “she caught a foul ball” at a baseball game? Absolutely sent me. I felt guilty for laughing, but it was so funny. The writers’ ability to bring levity to such a traumatic experience is unmatched. — Ruth

What’s Kerry’s deal? Was she with Logan, when he, you know? Is that why she’s sort of giggly? Part of it is of course shock, but again, this show is so brilliant at creating suspense and tension out of what we don’t see. — Marina
For real, what is Kerry’s deal, though? She is murder suspect number one for me. — Candice

I can’t get over Karl saying to Karolina, when she says to tell Matsson that Logan will be “delayed”: “Oh, he’s heavily fucking delayed!” — Marina

Tom saying, “I lost my protector,” after Logan dies, to Greg. But of course in the same breath, he’s telling Greg to go to the office and delete files off his computer. Tom is ALWAYS thinking about how to protect himself. — Erin

Also, was Logan really his protector? Uh, no. It’s really funny how they have all viewed their relationships with Logan, versus the reality. And Tom is never not going to Tom. The only place he has power is pushing Greg around, because that is such low-hanging fruit. — Candice

I really need to know what’s next for Gerri. I assume she stays on since Logan’s dead now but, who knows with these people? I still want her to come out on top and really stick it to Roman and the rest of Waystar Royco, or, whatever it’s about to be called now. — Erin

I wondered about Gerri too, because she kind of lost her job. But, I feel like she will actively try to regain power within the company. And honestly, her competition is… Well, there is no competition unless you count blood rights. — Candice

I fully expect Gerri to get her lick back. I see her blackmailing Roman with their illicit text exchanges to get her role back in the company (remember what she said in the trailer about going public?). Also, I’m waiting for Marsha to pop up again for the funeral. —Ruth

When Connor asked Willa if she was marrying him for a reason besides the money, I said to my TV, “Be for real, Connor.” Interesting for him to even ask the question, because I didn’t think he cared either way. But I found her response also interesting. Like, it wasn’t a no, but it wasn’t a non-no, either. Because, I mean, really. — Candice

Also! That story about Connor and cake and his mom going to a mental health facility! At first I was like ~ of course ~ Connor is trippin’ about the “looney cake.” I love that the show, even in its final episodes, is still finding ways to tell us more about these characters’ back stories. — Erin

Yes, Connor’s childhood trauma re: Logan sending his mom to a mental health facility is repeatedly alluded to earlier in the show. In this final season, I’d been wondering what other details we’d get about that incident. And of course, it happened here!

Also, the face Willa (Justine Lupe) makes when Kendall tells her. It’s part horror, part anguish, and part “of course my husband-to-be had a fucked up childhood!” Man, I love this show and how every single person is just giving it their all. — Marina

I found the episode darkly hilarious because neither the siblings nor the extended folks in Logan’s camp know what to do with themselves without him. For the siblings particularly, hating their dad — and simultaneously wanting to impress their dad — was their entire personality. — Candice

It’s a testament to the brilliance of the show that I found myself laughing. Of course, they would find a way to make this funny, like when the siblings are all debating whether the big man is in fact dead.

Few shows have this level of precision in the acting, the writing, the camera angles, the attention to detail in the way each and every shot is framed, what’s said, what isn’t said, what’s shown, what isn’t shown, everything! I cannot stop marveling at the consistency and specificity of, for instance, how each sibling's reaction to the news is exactly what you'd expect, as you said, Candice. Also, in their responses and the way they talk to Logan at the very end, we see how emotions and vulnerability remain, as ever, so foreign to them. When they say the words, it's like they're trying on something that doesn't fit and quickly taking it off. — Marina

I found that especially to be true about Roman, who cannot cope. And Kieran Culkin was such a standout in this episode. — Candice

Yes, incredible work! When he’s on the phone with Logan at the end, it seems like he might actually say the words: “I love you.” But he doesn’t even attempt to get it out, and then throws the phone down. "No, sorry, I don't know how to do that!" Just an incredible performance.

As always, none of the Roy siblings “know how to do” emotions, and each of those actors just plays that so brilliantly in their own specific ways. — Marina

When Kendall says, “I can’t forgive you,” I lost it. The emotion in that moment for me was so much. And then I think he says I love you at some point. By this time, I was like, Y’ALL NEED TO GO GET SHIV. And then I was like, oh, and I guess Connor too. Damn, even I forget about the eldest son. — Erin

Connor is extremely forgettable. — Candice

I also thought Matthew Macfadyen gave an incredible performance in the episode. He somehow managed to keep calm amid the chaos, which I feel like we often see Tom railing on Greg or being flustered going at it with Shiv, so this was a nice side to see of him. — Erin

Though, he does still manage to make fun of Cousin Greg (and then apologizes quietly).

“What’s at the bottom of your stocking, Greg, huh? An old guy who fucking hated you!”

“Tom, man. Easy, dude!” — Marina

The moment when Shiv kind of lets her head fall on Tom’s chest was really interesting to me. Then, seconds later, she pulls away. — Candice

When Shiv asked Tom, “Are you just being nice to me?” I knew it was serious. Like…these people are not poster children for altruism in the slightest. And when Connor said, “He never even liked me,” my heart lowkey shattered. Lest we forget Roman’s last words to his father being, “Are you a cunt?” That would haunt me forever.

Then, when he expressed to Gerri that he was sad — a first for him — she was basically unaffected, because they fired her mere minutes before. The writers, cast and crew did an excellent job of conveying the sheer mayhem and grief that transpires when you receive that type of call regarding a loved one.

Seeing each sibling process their grief and trauma in that moment was heart-wrenching. It’s episodes like this that are the reason I’m a TV gal over a film gal. (Sorry not sorry.) In a mere hour, they’ve managed to convey more emotion and tell a compelling story better than some of these ridiculous 3-hour films. I couldn’t look away. — Ruth

Also, I highly recommend everybody go watch that post-episode feature on HBO Max. The director of this episode, Mark Mylod, explains how they pulled off you-know-what sequence in the middle, and it’s absolutely astonishing. Kieran Culkin describes it as, like, “a one-act play on a boat,” and it truly is. — Marina

I’m kind of in the minority here that I don’t feel any substantial empathy or grief for any of these characters, because I don’t think it’s real in the way that people normally grieve — at the loss of somebody. So, when Connor said that his dad never really liked him, I immediately thought, “Yes, finally, the truth. That is a true thing he said, and I wish all the siblings would come to this realization.” — Candice

Considering that this episode aired on Easter Sunday, I was happy to see on Twitter that I was not the only one who thought that Logan would absolutely rise again. — Candice

Same, Candice. When Tom said Logan was “very, very sick,” I thought: Is this a joke? Is this like Logan asking Roman: “Are you a sicko?” Is this like the big man losing it during the UTI incident at that chaotic shareholders meeting? And then, it slowly dawned on me — and us all — that no, this is really, really happening! And they are really doing this in Episode 3! So much of this for me is not that it happened, but the particular timing of it, which none of us expected. My god, we are very fortunate to live in the age of this show, is a thought I keep having. — Marina

LMAO, Candice that is hilarious. I also kept thinking Tom was gonna call them back and say OK, he actually IS still breathing. I really was not prepared to be crying for the Roys. But a heart attack storyline gonna get me every time! — Erin

It made the episode extra hilarious to me because they were FLOUNDERING over this news. All I could think was, “He’s looking down at y’all and cackling.” And when I came to terms with the fact that he really was dead at the end of the episode … I still thought the same thing. — Candice

One person tweeted, “Logan dying on Easter is the best way to send the devil back to hell.” Then, someone compiled a “Logan Roy celebration of life” clip, which consisted of him saying “Fuck off” in, like, 10 different fonts. I’m gonna miss that evil little man. — Ruth