{"id":281939,"date":"2023-05-22T13:26:39","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T17:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvobsessive.com\/?p=281939"},"modified":"2026-08-14T03:23:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T03:23:23","slug":"succession-s4e9-breakdown-he-broke-your-heart-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/?p=281939","title":{"rendered":"Succession S4E9 Breakdown: He Broke Your Heart Too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The penultimate episode of Succession<\/em> is in the books. The promise made in the beginning of the series—that one of the Roy siblings would replace their father—is where we\u2019re at here at the end of the series. Succession<\/em> S4E9, titled \u201cChurch and State,\u201d saw us likely say goodbye to many, possibly shed a few tears, and made us squirm and laugh inappropriately, like the show often does. If you haven\u2019t seen \u201cChurch and State,\u201d we\u2019re about to enter heavy spoiler territory. You\u2019ve been warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The King is Dead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This season has really only spanned a few days, which feels incredible. The Roy siblings are still heavily grieving the loss of their father. The pain is still very real. And here in Succession<\/em> S4E9, we finally laid the patriarch to rest, all while the streets of New York City were filled with riots and protests over the controversial election results the brothers Roy had a hand in tipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service felt like one for a President or King. Jesse Armstrong and team really made us feel how important Logan Roy was here. The (presumed) President of the United States was there. The church was filled with the oldest of money. The difference makers in this world gathered to say goodbye to Logan in a majestic ceremony that is reserved for the rarest of rare people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the power of \u201cChurch and State\u201d was how authentic the grief felt. Roman, who has been riding the high of being \u201cKing Maker\u201d in the Presidential election<\/a>, was set to give the eulogy. He\u2019s been overbearing lately, crazed to a degree we haven\u2019t seen from him. He wants to fill his father\u2019s shoes and has been telling anyone who will listen that he\u2019s \u201cpre-grieved,\u201d but it all hit him at the service. Roman was childlike, unable to speak to give the eulogy, his siblings putting aside their issues to hold their little brother as he asked \u201cIs he in there?\u201d pointing at the casket, and then saying \u201cGet him out of there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is who Roman is. Emotionally stunted from a childhood void of love. He\u2019s still a little boy. His masochist tendencies all stem from wanting to please someone, anyone, but not knowing how. So he harms himself because that\u2019s the only way he knows how to process these painful feelings. At the end of Succession<\/em> S4E9, we saw Roman enter the angry mob in the streets of NYC, protesting the presidential election results as called by ATN. Roman wanted to get hurt and he did. He was knocked down, kicked and stepped on in a sea of bodies. He helped cause this mess and he knew that. He wanted to feel pain because he knew that he made the wrong decision. He isn\u2019t his dad, no matter how much he wants to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Roman started the episode on a high note and ended it on a low note, Kendall was the opposite. Kendall melted down on his ex-wife Rava<\/a> when she said she was taking the kids upstate and skipping the funeral out of fear of the violence in the streets. Kendall melted down when his assistant said she was leaving for a new job. He could barely hold himself together in the car ride with his siblings to the funeral, but once he was there, faced with his father\u2019s large looming legacy, Kendall pulled it together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Roman melted down, it was Kendall who the siblings looked to, to step in and save the day with the eulogy. And he did. His words were touching yet true. He acknowledged his father\u2019s flaws. He acknowledged how hard it was to be his son, and said he meant everything he ever said about him. But then he talked about what his father had built and the light came on in Kendall\u2019s eyes. He wants to build. He wants to be able to walk into any room, filled with anyone regardless of stature, and feel like he should be there. Maybe he doesn\u2019t want to be like his father, but he wants to feel like his father. He wants to live the type of life his father lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The confidence gained from the eulogy set something off in Ken. He was suddenly alive, smooth, shrewd and the embodiment of many of his dad\u2019s best characteristics. He moved from person to person after the funeral, gathering allies. Making his push to be the one with the crown. In the most surprising moment of all, he saw his dad\u2019s bodyguard in tears, this mountain of a man distraught. This is the same man who cleaned up the accidental death Kendall was responsible for in Season 1. The same man who held that over Ken\u2019s head. Kendall hated this man. Yet here, Kendall came to him and said, \u201cWork for me now. Talk to me now\u201d. It was the ultimate power move to finally put that ghost behind him, and also to secure one of the best allies he could have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But of course, Kendall\u2019s plans to rise to the throne solo are being threatened by his sister. Shiv, who finally told everyone she is pregnant, made her pitch. Matsson names an American based CEO (her) and that will be enough for the new President to back out of his deal with the brothers Roy and allow the sale to happen. To Shiv\u2019s credit, it appeared to work. Heading into the series finale, we have a knife fight on our hands, with Shiv backing Matsson and Kendall (with possibly Roman behind him) trying to prevent Matsson from taking over their birthright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goodbye<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The service before the funeral likely served as a goodbye to many characters who won\u2019t organically fit into the series finale in a meaningful way. While I\u2019m sure that Greg will have adequate screen time next week, his arc perhaps truly ended here. Greg getting to stand in for Tom and help carry Logan\u2019s casket signified acceptance for the cousin from the less desirable part of the family. In that moment, he was finally one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ewan, played by the brilliant James Cromwell, typically steals scenes whenever he\u2019s there, but perhaps never more so than here in Succession<\/em> S4E9. He wasn\u2019t supposed to speak at his brother\u2019s funeral, but everyone knew he would try. Ewan started off by telling these tales that humanized Logan is ways that nobody saw coming. That he and Logan, as small children, were stashed at the bottom of a ship, forbidden to speak, sneeze or breathe too loudly, en route to America so they could escape the Nazi invasion of their home. Then, as a teenager, Logan returned home from school and his sister came down with polio. His aunt and uncle led him to believe that he brought it home and was responsible for the death of his sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These parts of Logan\u2019s story felt true to life. When someone dies, things we never knew have a way of coming out. Here, everyone, audience included, gained a deeper understanding of why Logan was the man that he was. He had endured pain, deep-rooted suffering from a young age, and it shaped him. Ewan spoke of how he loved his brother but he didn\u2019t like the things he did in his adult life. That cut deep. We can understand someone\u2019s feelings and motivations but that doesn\u2019t mean we have to excuse their behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also (likely) got to say goodbye to the siblings’ mother, as well as Logan\u2019s current wife Marsha and last mistress, Kerri. In one of the most touching moments of the show, Logan\u2019s ex-wife, wife and the two mistresses from both of those marriages sat together in the front row of the church service, taking one another by the hand, absolving themselves of all hard feelings and grieving together, laughing at how much he would\u2019ve hated it. But it wasn\u2019t about him, it was about these four women grieving and letting go of hard feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, we would be remiss to not discuss Tom here. Tom, much like Roman, has been \u201ccranked up a few notches\u201d the last few episodes. Here, he skipped the service and funeral, claiming that due to the riots he needed to be at ATN headquarters. When he arrived at the after party, he had this moment with Shiv where he recounted being the one with Logan as he passed, where everything just clicked. Tom has been grieving hard. He\u2019s been acting out of character and this is the reason why. It\u2019s very easy to think about everyone else\u2019s grief but Tom can be pushed to the side at times and this was him saying \u201cI\u2019m hurting.\u201d A powerful moment that makes you wonder if he and Shiv can try to talk things through again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The End<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, how does this story end? Does Kendall win, with the help of Roman? Does Roman surprise everyone with an out of left field plan? Can Shiv and Matsson pull off the coup of a lifetime? Does Matsson get to buy the company, not keep his promise to Shiv, and leave all of the siblings out in the cold, together? Who knows?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heading into the series finale, I find myself caring less about the outcome and more about the path taken to get there. Will there be any more healing? Can any of these featured relationships see steps towards mending fences? Will these siblings quit trying to live up to their father\u2019s legacy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know. Succession<\/em> has never been about the twists, despite the fact that the twists are quite good. It\u2019s not about the money or the power. It\u2019s about this group of damaged people who may or may not be better off emotionally than the generation that came before them. That\u2019s what I care about in the finale. Sure, I\u2019d like to see Kendall and Roman cost Mencken the election, but will they? It doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give me a scene with Kendall hugging his kids and I\u2019m happy. You can do it Ken.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The penultimate episode of Succession is in the books. The promise made in the beginning of the series—that one of the Roy siblings would replace their father—is where we\u2019re at here at the end of the series. Succession S4E9, titled \u201cChurch and State,\u201d saw us likely say goodbye to many, possibly shed a few tears, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":281944,"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-281939","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\/281939","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=281939"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298923,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281939\/revisions\/298923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/281944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=281939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=281939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=281939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}