• by Barbara Lippert , Columnist, April 18, 2023

Barbara Lippert, who formerly entertained MediaPost readers with her thoughtful, witty recaps of the AMC show "Mad Men," is back. She will recap the last seven episodes of HBO's "Succession." The show is "ostensibly about wealth, but I became obsessed with once it hit me that it's more about generational trauma," she says. "Plus, with Rupert Murdoch in the news via a trial starting this week, the comparisons are irresistible." Here's her take on Season Four's fourth episode:

The Roy kids wake up to a wake and a war. It’s only one day after Papa Logan’s shocking death, but the “coronation demolition derby,” as Shiv dubs it, is in full swing.

A hangdog Kendall shows up at Logan’s apartment bleary-eyed after a sleepless night, saved only by an early a.m. session with his new grief therapist.

Roman, having brushed his teeth like a dental hygienist, claims that he’s fine, that he’s “pre-grieved” the death, by contrast with his “naïve” siblings.

And Shiv seems to be nowhere, going through the motions.

In the past months, the sibs have shown incredible unity, which seems like progress. But it’s only because they were thrown out of the corporate mothership and teamed up against a common enemy: their dad. Now it’s dawning on Shiv that they might have killed the poor man by refusing to back the Waystar sale to Mattson.

They desperately need the Swedish deal to go through, and it might kill them if Mattson and crew aren’t cooperative.

But together at their dad’s apartment, they’re still feeling filial. They read newspaper obits and offer comic translations of the over-the-top encomia their dad is receiving.

“Dad sounds amazing,” Shiv says. “I would have liked to have met Dad.”

Meanwhile, Logan’s “old guard” -- Gerry, Frank, and Karl -- are in the library, at each other’s throats. They all want the top job, too.

Evil-stepmom Marcia is back, in black, reclaiming her turf. When Kendall notes her previous absence, she tells him she has “spoken intimately” on the phone with Logan every night. This seems preposterous to the kids, since Logan was busy with Kerry, his “assistant/partner/advisor” who was traveling with him. According to Tom, Logan refused to wear his compression socks so he’d look sexy for Kerry.

One of the most beautifully acted, poignant moments happens when a hysterical Kerry shows up, wanting to go upstairs to get her stuff. Marcia goes full-gorgon, calling security, and refusing to let her into the sanctum sanctorum. An assistant comes down with a flimsy, overstuffed tote bag and Kerry spills it all over the marble floor, prescription bottles flying. Marcia orders security to take her “out the back,” explaining that “a taxi will take her to the subway station to her little apartment.”

Speaking of real estate, in no time, Mrs. Marcia has made a $63 million deal to sell the apartment to Connor. When Connor’s new wife Willa balks that it’s too early to make such decisions, Connor tells her, “It’s so hard to get into these good buildings.” 

This episode takes place on a single set: Logan’s duplex apartment. With no sweeping moves in planes, superyachts or helicopters, it’s more like a stage play -- a savage drawing-room satire filled with incredible acting and great lines.

In a switch, the use of the “f” word seems to have diminished, as shit talk takes over, literally. Tom, who has has been burned by Karl and the Roy kids, has turned mean girl, spilling the tea. In a stage whisper, as the eulogies to Logan from people he barely knew continue, Tom tells Greg that his great-uncle died “trying to fish his iPhone out of a clogged airplane toilet.” Is that bullshit?

While the internecine resentment builds, the reality is that their dad’s death doesn’t seem to have liberated these kids at all. They’re still fighting to be the favorite child.

So it was classic for the old man, from the great beyond, to foist mind games on them still. Frank found an undated paper in Logan’s safe with scribblings that suggested Logan wanted Kendall to take over as CEO.

Except, and here is the classic “Succession” black twist, Kendall’s name was underlined -- or was it crossed out? -- in pencil. What a ridiculously ambiguous position for the Hamlet-like Kendall to be put in. To be or not to be?

Most observers thought it was a cross-out. Never mind. This piece of paper with his name on it is his amulet, all the shaky recognition that Kendall needs to grab the CEO ring.

With a board meeting happening soon, he gets Sandi and Stewie to back him in the fight.  Eventually, Kendall agrees that since Roman served as COO, they could co-CEO it.

Shiv, left out, mentions that this is the sexism that surfaced with their father, too. If both are going to hold a co-role, she asks, why not make it three? A changed Roman answers that “three is a bit wonky.” Shiv is angry, but presses her brothers to promise that she’ll end up with an equal share.

Meanwhile, Shiv is spiraling. Ever since Sarah Snook announced her real-life pregnancy at the HBO Season 4 premiere in March, we’ve wondered whether her condition would be written into the script.

Early that morning, the character had gotten a call from her obstetrician, who tells her that after all she has been through, she is carrying a viable baby and can schedule her twenty-week scan.

Shiv responds with a barely audible “OK.”

Ironically, birthing a new life is a thrilling answer to death, and its own powerful form of succession. But Shiv is alone and unmoored. Perhaps, having had zero nurture from either parent, she worries that she is incapable of raising her baby.

After the idea of interim co-CEOs somehow sails through the board, Kendall and Roman huddle with comms specialists Hugo and Karolina, to go over next steps. 

Hugo has a tricky two-part proposal. "Operation Embalm Lenin" would continue to praise Logan, and position the move as a natural family passage.

The number two option is to bury him: Trash Logan and say he’d been “losing it” for a while and that the sons will provide some much-needed new blood.

Roman is outraged at option two and shuts it down. But later, Kendall finds Hugo privately, and instructs him to go the nuclear route while not telling Roman, or anyone.

Hugo doesn’t want to agree. As if to prove that he has become the killer his dad always wanted, Kendall tells Hugo he has to do it, and threatens him

In one day, Kendall has become the man he thinks his father would have wanted -- a killer.

The King is dead -- or is he?

Meet the New Roys, same as the Old Roys. See you at the funeral.

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