Nobody stays on top for long.
Succession is finally back after over a year off our screens and we could not be happier to get right into the Roy family power rankings. Oh how we missed that devious little family.
Season three’s finale left us with a couple of bombshells to mull over while we were left in waiting for the final season – not least of them was Shiv, along with her brothers Kendall and Roman, getting betrayed by her own husband Tom at her mother’s wedding.
With the family torn in two, the three siblings sticking together against Logan, Tom, Greg and the rest of Waystar Royco, season four is set up for the ultimate showdown. The season premiere did not disappoint and the power dynamics have once again been shaken up. Here’s how the main characters fair in this week’s power rankings.
8. The Hundred
The brainchild of Roman, Kendall and Shiv, The Hundred was the big idea to “redefine news for the 21st Century” and get the siblings up and running in a new age. However, it wasn’t long until it all got put aside rather quickly for the PMG takeover.
Substack meets Masterclass meets the Economist meets the New Yorker? Yeah, maybe it’s for the best that we never see that idea come to fruition.
7. Connor
The eldest Roy sibling is going through a pretty rough time of it with his presidential dreams. With his 1% approval rating slipping from his grasp, Connor decides to gamble the happiness of his wife-to-be, by plastering their luxurious wedding all over the paper to give him a bump in ratings. Not a great look.
6. Greg
Greg, you disgusting boy. The gangly man-child has had a bit of a shocker this week and it all began with a Tinder date. Deciding to embrace his single life, Greg took his new fling Bridget to Logan’s birthday party. However, Bridget acted how we all would if we were invited to Logan Roy’s party – by awkwardly listening in to people’s conversations about potentially secret information and attempting to get a selfie with the man himself.
Ultimately though, it was Greg’s alleged CCTV-documented frisky adventure in one of the guest rooms which led to the most cringeworthy moment of the episode. Bridget was escorted out of the party with Greg cowering upstairs. That almost certainly will not come back to bite him in future episodes. We’re almost sure of it.
5. Tom
Poor Tom has had a very sombre start to the final season. After choosing to take the side of Logan and Waystar, he screwed over his own wife and was left with Greg as his one and only friend, culminating in the duo now being known as the “disgusting brothers.”
Despite the bad position Tom finds himself in personally at the end of the first episode and the general sadness in his eyes, he remains one of Logan’s most trusted minions, giving him a pretty powerful position in the hierarchy.
4. Logan
Logan, as the supermajority holder of Waystar, will never be far from the top of tree. With the potential company buyout from GoJo on the horizon, Logan can see the finish line. But in this episode, the patriarch seems slightly beaten. Losing out to his kids with the PMG takeover and clearly feeling isolated, he’s not having a good time of it this week, resorting to posing existential questions to his security guard.
Also, he had to personally hear of Greg’s steamy exploits in one of his guest rooms and quite frankly, nobody wants to hear that. We’re sure Logan isn’t going to go down easy this season, and it looks like the bear has well and truly been poked.
3. Shiv
Some might be thinking that Shiv should be at number one this week. After all, she did take the lead with the Pierse deal, because of Nan’s affection for her. And she managed to win out, screwing her dad and Tom over in the process.
But we all know that Shiv has a habit of losing out even when it looks like she’s winning. At the end of the episode, we catch a very sad moment as Shiv finally calls time on her broken marriage with Tom. Ultimately Logan’s daughter can never escape her personal troubles and despite her victory she’s in a bad place entering episode two. Tom is her only connection to Waystar left and clearly still cares for her, are you really saying it’s over?
2. Nan Pierce
She may be prone to migraines, but Nan Pierce had a pretty good time of it in her return to the show this week. Nan was in the brilliant position to hold power over pretty much every member of the Roy family with both their offers arriving at her feet as they fought around her.
Ultimately, it was Nan’s decision to choose who came out best this episode and she still holds a lot of power over the winners. We’re sure she’ll have a big say in things as the season progresses.
1. Kendall and Roman
Isn’t it so nice to see two brothers getting along as well as these two chaps? In episode one, the boys are clearly out on top and definitely in poll position for the ultimate victory, however that might manifest itself.
Teaming up with their sister to aggressively swoop out from under their father’s deal with Nan Pierce and take over the company themselves, the siblings find themselves successful. They even get a charming phone call from their old man congratulating them at saying the biggest number. Isn’t that nice?
But, as we all know by now, you’re only an accidental saucy text to your dad away from destroying your legacy, so maybe the bros should enjoy their success while they can. It’s not going to stay this rosy forever. There’s simply no way this season ends well for Kendall.
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