What does anyone want from Succession season 4, really?
I’ll hazard a guess: weapons-grade zingers and expletive-fuelled rants from Logan Roy (Brian Cox), Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) being simultaneously weird/creepy/lovable and the Roy siblings embarking on paths of self-destruction as they stage failed coups for Waystar Royco.
Without spilling the beans and ruining everything – hey, I’m no Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfayden) – the first episode of the almighty HBO drama, easily one of TV’s best, delivers.
To dodge any major spoilers I’ll keep it vague, but the premiere kicks off a month after the events of season 3, which saw Logan, tipped off by Tom, put a stop to his children’s conniving plans to derail the GoJo merger.
The hour-long installment is focused on Logan’s birthday bash and, yes, there are some notable absences from the guestlist. But even his nearest and dearest, namely his special advisor and special friend Kerry (Zoe Winters), fail to lift the perennially grumpy Logan’s spirit.
The business mogul instead, staying true to Logan Roy, spends the party fuming, swearing and hatching more business deals. ‘It’s like Santa Claus was a hitman,’ as Greg aptly describes him.
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Speaking of which, Greg, meanwhile, has given his toxic relationship with Tom a name ‘the disgusting brothers’ and appears to want to live up to the new moniker with his rather uncouth date at Logan’s bash. She even dares to take a selfie with the patriarch. (I sympathise).
As for Shiv (Sarah Snook), Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin), well, you’ll have to wait and see. But, it’s safe to say, they aren’t ones to rest on their laurels. And Shiv has the added drama of an even more strained marriage after Tom’s biblical betrayal, let’s not forget.
What I can say is that the writing remains flawless, it’s a credit to the team they can deliver this much pathos, tension and acerbic wit without a dull moment after three seasons. As a taster there are some truly brilliant insults including: ‘you look tired and your face is giving me a headache’ and ‘he looks like a ballsack with a toupe.’
The performances, from all the cast, are so exceptional you can see the stress of being, from all the characters, duplicitous backstabbers etched on their faces. Never have I heard the words (mumble?) ‘Uh, huh’ so poignantly delivered by Macfayden or such constant scornful commentary spewed out by Culkin without so much as pausing for breath.
A special shout-out goes to Snook who, in this episode more than ever, straddles Shiv’s cold-hearted ruthlessness with bubbling emotion that’s fighting to get out with laser point precision.
All too often, first episodes can be dull, overly focused on setting up the atmosphere and lacking in drama. Without going all in too fast, Succession’s premiere doesn’t skirt around and works up to a crescendo as masterfully as its iconic theme tune.
Let’s face it: it’s never been as fun, throughout the entirety of Succession, to watch an entire cast of detestable characters go up in flames. Sit back and enjoy the carnage.
Succession returns to Sky Atlantic on Monday from 2am and will be available to stream on NOW.
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