{"id":280992,"date":"2023-04-11T15:58:12","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T19:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvobsessive.com\/?p=280992"},"modified":"2026-08-14T03:24:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T03:24:53","slug":"succession-s4e3-breakdown-emancipation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/?p=280992","title":{"rendered":"Succession S4E3 Breakdown: Emancipation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This might be the most difficult piece I\u2019ve ever written. How can you recap or even analyze this landmark episode of television? Succession<\/em> has been in a league of its own since its second season, when it shattered glass ceilings and cemented itself as one of TV\u2019s best, perhaps ever. Sometimes, the show strikes these raw nerves that make it true to life in a way that art rarely does. Succession<\/em> S4E3 has been all people have been talking about since Sunday night and for good reasons. We\u2019re about to get into heavy spoiler territory here so if you haven\u2019t seen \u201cConnor\u2019s Wedding,\u201d proceed with caution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promises Kept<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The king is dead. Logan Roy died in Succession<\/em> S4E3 in unexpected and confusing fashion. The news came early in the episode, giving us close to a full hour to process the grief with his children, see how his long time associates reacted and get glimpses of what the future might hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve been told since Day 1 that this show was the story of who would replace the media tycoon. We\u2019ve been teased and tortured with ideas over who would take the crown, told by the title of the show itself that the line of succession was the series\u2019 promise. Now here we are, on the eve of a sale designed to keep the birthright from the Roy siblings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Logan has been acting like a caged animal for a while now, never more apparent than last week <\/a>when he followed his children to a bar to try to change their minds and uttered the now famous line \u201cI love you but you aren\u2019t serious people.\u201d He didn\u2019t believe that his kids could replace him nor did he ever want to step down. It makes a lot of narrative sense that he would die before his company could be sold so a true successor would have to be named.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his last act of cruelty, Logan started the episode by telling Roman that he had to be the one to fire Gerri, his longtime confidant and mother like figure. I admire Jesse Armstrong for writing Logan\u2019s final act to be one of a mean-spirited nature, causing his youngest child harm mere hours before his demise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kids Aren\u2019t Alright<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So much of Succession<\/em> S4E3 is about the raw reaction of the Roy siblings. The confusion and panic, questions over whether Logan was actually dead or not, felt really real, like how we feel watching the news about a tragedy, waiting for details to break. The Roy siblings knew that their father was dying while flying to Sweden but given the chaotic nature of it all, there was little clarity as to whether or not there was a chance of him surviving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching Roman and Kendall speak into the phone that Tom held to their dying father\u2019s ear was gut wrenching. Roman refusing to accept the reality that his father was dying. Kendall, saying he loved the old man and then feeling the need to be honest. He couldn\u2019t forgive Logan and said that to him as he was dying. \u201cI cant forgive you Dad.\u201d It felt so real but also so true, and a moment of growth for Kendall. The last few years have taken a toll on him and he\u2019s owning up to that now. His pain perhaps has been worth it in a sense as he\u2019s becoming his own man and not just the man he thinks his father would want him to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bonding between the Roy siblings felt real. There is a closeness there between them but with a father who pitted them against each other, they rarely showed it. The genuine grief and vulnerability here was so refreshing to see and gives you hope for how they will navigate the choppy waters to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there was Connor, who is struggling with not being loved. In another final act of cruelty, Logan was skipping his oldest child\u2019s wedding to conduct business, with no regard for Connor\u2019s feelings. The same Connor who was never treated the same as the younger three siblings, because Logan disliked his mother more. As we would come to find out in \u201cConnor\u2019s Wedding,\u201d when Logan had Connor\u2019s mother institutionalized, he gave Connor a cake to make him feel better. The kid quietly ate cake for a week, alone. While we\u2019ve had a few insights into Connor throughout the series, this was the greatest and most cutting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which made Connor and Willa\u2019s arc this episode that much more fulfilling. Connor asking Willa if she\u2019s just marrying him for the money and her saying that yes, it\u2019s part of it. Willa telling Connor that she\u2019s not going to run. A refreshing burst of honesty between the two, who on the outside might seem like a really odd fit, but do have real feelings for one another. Their choice to get married on the day Logan died and while the younger siblings ran off to tend to both their feelings and the PR elements of Logan Roy dying was profound. Connor didn\u2019t need to stop and grieve the father who didn\u2019t like him. He didn\u2019t need the support of the siblings who treat him as an outsider. He just needed Willa, their moment and the security of the fact that she\u2019s not going anywhere, today at least.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Connor
Courtesy of HBO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Emancipation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of Succession<\/em>\u2019s strongest qualities is showing us exactly how each character is feeling at any given moment. It\u2019s almost like watching a therapy session with all these other people around, but all equally as obviously to what others are going through. It\u2019s just for the viewer to see, to feel and absorb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Succession<\/em> S4E3 was a heavy hour of television. The grief was raw. The emotions trying and real. Kendall mourned the relationship he never got to have with his dad. He tried to be the older brother his siblings needed him to be. He tried to hold it together. He tried to not take any steps backwards in the healing he\u2019s experienced over the years. He was trying and in situations like this, sometimes that\u2019s the best we can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shiv was in shock. The viewer could see her thought process. She didn\u2019t think it would end like this. She thought she would win her father\u2019s respect and have the relationship she always desired with him. Daddy\u2019s little girl had the ruthless instincts the boys didn\u2019t have. She would be the one. But now she won\u2019t, nor will anyone else. Her last conversation with her father was tense, ugly and manipulative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roman, the one who always craved love and affection, couldn\u2019t believe it. This isn\u2019t happening. Denial drove his actions and words. The father he wanted to please, whose approval he craved despite how abusive he could be, was gone. Roman\u2019s sense of identity is in flux because his actions have always derived from wanting his father\u2019s love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet now, they are free. They are emancipated from a controlling man who never wanted to give his children what he built. A man who thrived when his children were competing amongst themselves for his love. Those children are now free to live lives not dictated by Daddy, to make choices of their own, to be their own people. They are free, which some of them wanted, some weren\u2019t ready for, but now they are. The future is wide open and scary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That freedom, that emancipation, extends to others in the company too. Let the power struggle begin, with Carl, Frank and company clinging for dear life to the positions they kept for decades, working for a man they despised. They too are free but perhaps with different motivations. They want to dig their nails in to keep their piece of the pie. What does their future look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there\u2019s Tom<\/a>, who knows that Logan was the only one who wanted him in a position of power. His soon to be ex-wife will want him out. Frank and Carl won\u2019t protect him. He\u2019s an island in a great big sea, alone, after years of fighting to get where he is. Tom is likely to be much like a caged animal moving forward, desperate to keep what he has, regardless of the cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where Do We Go From Here?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t think anyone expected Jesse Armstrong and company to take us here, with seven episodes remaining in the series. We will get to see how the Roy siblings move forward without their dad. We\u2019ll get to see their grief, their growth and their aspirations. Do they want to stay with the family company like they always planned to? Or do they want to finalize the sale and be free?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My personal assumption is that they keep the family business and the final hours of the series show us who is fighting for power like their dad would\u2019ve wanted and who is interested in generational change. Who wants to be less greed and power motivated and do right by the people they share blood with? Will there be another large act of betrayal in the quest to take the throne?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Succession<\/em> pulled the rug out from underneath us earlier than expected, giving us one of the most emotional and raw hours of television since perhaps the final season of Six Feet Under<\/em><\/a>. Who expected that from a show about the richest people on Earth?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This might be the most difficult piece I\u2019ve ever written. How can you recap or even analyze this landmark episode of television? Succession has been in a league of its own since its second season, when it shattered glass ceilings and cemented itself as one of TV\u2019s best, perhaps ever. Sometimes, the show strikes these raw […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":281003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[283],"tags":[27,17,25,26,294],"class_list":["post-280992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tv-recaps","tag-brian-cox","tag-hbo","tag-jeremy-strong","tag-kieran-culkin","tag-succession"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=280992"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298930,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280992\/revisions\/298930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/281003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=280992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=280992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=280992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}