Major spoilers below for Succesion’s jaw-plummeting latest episode, “Connor's Wedding,” so be warned if you haven’t yet watched!
Holy mother of all that is WTF-alooza, Succession went and dropped its biggest father-lode bombshell on both viewers and the Roy siblings (among plenty of others baked into the HBO drama’s upper crust) in only the third episode of the fourth and final season. Brian Cox’s brutal and overbearing corporate genius Logan Roy is now dead, despite whatever “they faked it” theories may follow, and creator Jesse Armstrong & Co. crafted a spectacularly unique TV approach to a major character’s death episode. And part of its uniqueness was the abundant and authentic wave of awkwardness, in place of more traditional sorrowl, due to an onslaught of shock and purposefully obscured clarity.
The range of poignantly awkward scenes and sequences ran from cripplingly tragic to needlessly callous to darkly hilarious and back again, while never straying from each character’s iffy behavior that we’ve come to expect from the family and their closest cohorts. So let's go over the full array below, in no particular order, but with a fairly specific rating system.
1. Roman And Tom At The Start Of "The Call"
Had Succession been set in the early aughts, Tom's call to announce Logan's rapidly declining health would have no doubt been offensively stuffed with "Can you hear me now?" utterances. Yet the first chunk of that call still conveyed the same sense of broken communication here in 2023, partially due to air-to-boat signals, and partially due to Tom having the bedside manner of a wet mothball. For all the dire importance of the sentiments being conveyed by Kendall, Roman, and Tom, the somewhat farcical misunderstandings and repeated questions and comments were unnerving enough for part of my brain to default to believing the episode would end with everything revealed to be a regret-infused dream following the karaoke blow-up. (Maybe I just wanted my Roman-dying theory to pan out.)
Awkwardness Level (on a scale of 1-5 Roman Dick Pics): 4 ½ Tear-Glistened Roman Dick Pics
2. All Of Tom’s Instincts
While we’re on the subject of Tom and the ways he can sometimes appear to be a malfunctioning android as much as a functioning human, his already lacking social skills took a further beating simply by being on the front lines of Logan’s death and the seemingly endless amount of chest compressions being administered. Weirdly (or fittingly) enough, he was at his most natural when talking to Frank, Karl and Karolina, but turned into a puttering mess as soon as he was in touch with Greg, Shiv, or the other members of the fam. I think the most uncomfortable element here is that Tom feels the need to rely on his hardly appreciated behavioral instincts rather than just shedding those instincts and living emotionally in the moment. Tom’s gonna Tom.
Awkwardness Level: 3 ½ Roman Dick Pics Taken In Tom’s Office During Work Hours
3. Connor’s Reaction To Learning Logan Died
Succession masterfully pre-festered this particular awkwardness throughout Roman, Kendall, and Shiv’s phone exchanges as Tom played liaison, without Connor’s name coming up at all until it was all but certain that the clan’s patriarch wasn’t returning alive. Basically still keeping Connor at arm’s length from the Logan/Caroline sibs, despite his unyielding hopes that his pops would make it to his floating wedding. And when they finally laid it on him, his immediate instinct was to voice what’s clearly been an innate belief, that Logan disliked him, before addressing what’s likely another core truth: that he was never quite able to make Logan proud. Perhaps that’s more depressing than awkward, but it’s certainly not an unawkward way to spent part of one’s wedding day. (Thankfully, he didn’t let the old coot’s passing stop him and Willa from taking the plunge.)
Awkwardness Level: 3 Roman Dick Pics At The Altar
4. Gerri Getting Pre-Fired By Roman
Remember the beginning of “Connor’s Wedding,” which felt downright blissful in comparison to everything churning around going into the end credits? Most of it seems quaint now, but new moments in Succession have felt as bug-crawlingly awkward as Roman dancing around dutifully giving Gerri a heads up about her seemingly imminent termination as post-scandal fallout. (Which scandal? Take your pick.) Especially since she was there with her beau, thus giving Roman an otherwise perfect scenario to rattle off all the hateful or perverted (or both) comments he could muster. And having that convo obviously didn’t sit right with him, to the point where there’s a digital recording of him calling Logan a cunt. Making it a stiffer gut punch is the fact that Logan’s death made his plans for Gerri moot, so whatever shared future they have will never be the same as what came before.
Awkwardness Level: 4 Roman Dick Pics Accidentally Sent To Dead Logan’s Phone
5. The Only Direct Shot Of Logan On The Plane
As mentioned above, I spent probably too much of the episode thinking Logan had Tom immorally call Kendall and Roman with a false report of his death, and it honestly wasn’t until director Mark Mylod’s single shot of Logan posthumously (for all intents and purposes) that I was able to truly buy into the reality that Brian Cox’s monolith was sincerely pushing up daisies thousands of feet in the air. Which admittedly left me feeling even more perturbed about it all, with an innate notion that I’d taken part in disrespecting the dead just so I could feel sated with “proof” that this monster had haunted his final victims. Which probably isn’t true, since there are still seven more episodes for him to fuck things up from beyond the grave.
Awkwardness Level: 3 Roman Dick Pics In A State Of Rigor Mortis
6. Poor Smiling And Traumatized Kerry
As elated as I was to witness Kerry’s hilariously terrible audition in Episode 402, I was equally empathetic after seeing how emotionally bamboozled she was just after Logan’s death. Her face wasn’t sure which facade to stick with, and while nothing about her relationship with the big boss was worthy of romance novels, Kerry was clearly as emotionally dashed as any of the Roy siblings, if not more so, since her love for him wasn’t a symptom of genetics. It was especially telling to see her erratic state of mind in direct comparison to the more hardened and future-focused Frank, Karl and Karolina. And while it was kind of them to treat her with the appropriate kid gloves, the judgmental reactions afterward — calling her “Chuckles the Clown” was pretty good, though — make it highly probable that Kerry won’t be asked to stick with the Waystar family going forward. Although if he ended up leaving part of his fortune to her in his will, that’d give viewers even more awkward moments for Zoë Winters’ character.
Awkwardness Level: 3 ½ Roman Dick Pics Digitally Altered To Look Like Logan’s
7. Kendall’s Explanation For Gaming The History Books Via Their Reactions
When dealing with each of my parents’ respective deaths, neither me nor my sister had to put much thought into what we felt beyond grief, since neither of us was born to one of the world’s richest and most powerful moguls. But the Roy kiddos aren’t so lucky, as it were, and everyone was still strapped into the emotional roller coaster when Kendall very logically addressed the fact that everything they do in the immediate aftermath of Logan’s death will be a matter of public record in some shape or form, whether it’s through impromptu press conferences in airports, paparazzi cameras, or the phones of curious passersby. Of all the discomforting truths to come out during the ep’s runtime, this was arguably the most awkward for inherently pointing out why loudly denying it and causing a scene would be the worst idea. I feel like Roman and Shiv hate it when Kendall is this right.
Awkwardness Level: 2 ½ Roman Dick Pics In The Annals Of History
8. Roman’s Denial Taking Over
Truly, watching each reactionary trajectory taken by Kendall, Shiv and Roman was something to behold, with the former two bouncing between an emerging sense of mourning and the knowledge that there’s still a company to run when the dust settles. Meanwhile, Roman essentially backtracked from displeased understanding to rationality-eschewing denial, and didn’t hesitate to speak that belief loudly when others spoke of Logan in a way that was at all tethered to implications of his death. This may have actually been the most heartbreaking element of the entire episode, knowing that Roman may never lose the sense of potential guilt that his voicemail message may have played a part in sending Logan over the edge. That can probably be figured out from phone records and whatnot later on, but for now, Roman impractically arguing the logistics of needing an official doctor on the ground to declare Logan dead wasn’t easy to witness.
Awkwardness Level: 4 ½ Roman Dick Pics He Swears He Didn’t Send
9. Frank Needing To Step Around Logan’s Head To Reach The Cockpit
Dealing with the death of a loved one sucks, and so many of the above entries obviously embody several other descriptors besides “awkwardness.” But when Kendall ask-demanded to be put in contact with one of the plane’s pilots, Frank had to step carefully around Logan’s head while on his way to the cockpit, knowing full well that the pilot had bigger shit to deal with than an entitled millionaire’s grief-stricken demands. And in the scheme of things, having to avoid stepping on the face of a vindictive boss who is either dead or dying is pure awkwardness from one end to the next, though admittedly not as much as if Frank had accidentally tripped and landed ass-first on Logan’s face. So I guess we can all be thankful for that.
Awkwardness Level: 5 Roman Dick Pics Airdropped To Everyone On The Flight
I never would have imagined Succession would have taken Logan out of the equation this early in the final season, but that obviously gives the next seven episodes a newly heightened sense of importance as the family legacy gets further explored and potentially resolved, with Nicholas Braun’s Greg hopefully coming out smelling like all the roses. (Even his fingers, that dirty dog.)
Check out what Succession’s stars have said about this being the final season, and get ready to see the aftermath next Sunday night on HBO at 9:00 p.m. ET, with episodes available to stream simultaneously with an HBO Max subscription. Head to our 2023 TV premiere schedule to see what other shows are popping up as we continue to wrap our heads around Logan Roy’s death.
