Clockwise from top left: Matthew Macfadyen as Tom, Sarah Snook as Shiv, J. Smith Cameron as Gerri, Brian Cox as Logan. Jeremy Strong as Kendall, Kieran Culkin as RomanGraphic: Rebecca Fassola
It’s been two whole years since HBO’s award-winning drama Succession ended its second season with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger. 2020 felt like it lasted a decade, so if you need a reminder on everything that went down, here’s a quick summary: Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) finally revealed to the public that his father, Logan Roy (Brian Cox) was fully aware of all the problems within the company. It was a total power grab on his part.
The season-two finale, “This Is Not For Tears,” also put Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Tom’s (Matthew Macfadyen) marriage on the rocks, left eldest son Connor (Alan Ruck) without a purpose, and saw Logan’s wife Marcia (Hiam Abbass) check out after learning he had an affair.
In time for the show’s highly anticipated return, The A.V. Club staff is hoping to get answers to some pivotal burning questions in season three as Logan and Kendall scramble to make allegiances to emerge on top of this corporate—and familial—war.
Will Kendall’s actions in the season-one finale come back to haunt him?
Jeremy Strong in Photo Colin Hutton/HBO
It may be hard to remember back to the season-one finale, as so much has happened since, but it was just as eventful as the last. In “Nobody Is Ever Missing,” Kendall, drunk at Shiv and Tom’s wedding, crashes a car into a lake with a busboy in the passenger’s seat, who doesn’t make it out alive. When Logan finds out, he uses the information to blackmail Kendall into dropping his and Stewy’s (Arian Moayed) hostile takeover of the company, a.k.a. the “bear hug.” Throughout season two, it seemed as though this was all a settled matter, with a dead-eyed Kendall doing his father’s bidding.But now that Kendall has named Logan in the cruise corruption scandal, will the death of the busboy resurface? We can’t imagine Logan will reveal anything, since he was complicit in its coverup, but what about Marcia? She’s never been close with the Roy children, and after discovering Logan’s affair with Rhea Jarrell (Holly Hunter), she and her husband haven’t been particularly simpatico lately either. It’s not Marcia’s style to do anything big and public, but we can imagine her saying something sotto voce to the wrong/right person during a cocktail party. [Laura Adamczyk]
What is the fate of Shiv and Tom’s marriage?
Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfayden in Photo Graeme Mason/HBO
In the season-two finale, Tom tearfully told Shiv about his ongoing frustration with their surprise “open” marriage and finally confessed he’s not looking for threesomes or the casual side hookup. He also gave one of the more tear-welling lines of the season when he told her, “I wonder if the sad I’d be without you, would be less than the sad I get from being with you.” It’s obvious Tom is feeling unsupported, unloved, and thoroughly used by Shiv and the entire Roy family, ultimately leading up to him chowing down on Logan’s chicken at lunch in some sort of desperate power play.Out of Tom’s sight, Shiv practically begs her father not to blame him for all of the company’s crimes, but it’s unclear if the two reached any reconciliation over the boat trip. It still seems unlikely Tom would be the one to push for a divorce. But Tom undoubtedly deserves better treatment, whether it be with Shiv or with someone else. It will be interesting to see if Shiv will step up to the challenge. [Gabrielle Sanchez]
What’s going on with Gerri and Roman, and what does she get out of their interplay?
Kieran Culkin and J. Smith Cameron in Photo Peter Kramer/HBO
A will-they/won’t-they relationship for the television history books—under a section titled, “Is This Allowed???”—Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) and Gerri Kellman (J. Smith-Cameron) have surprisingly become one of Succession’s more functional duos. Over the course of season two, we watched through our fingers as Waystar Royco’s General Counsel indulged the young Roy tyrant’s sexual proclivities via verbal shaming.Squirm-inducing? Absolutely. But the shared secret of their dirty dalliances has brought Roman and Gerri even closer together. Gunning to be the company’s “dream ticket,” Gerri’s been grooming Roman into a more suitable successor, while Roman’s shown he’s willing to put his neck on the line for Gerri, even saving her from becoming the cruise scandal scapegoat.But is Gerri deriving just as much pleasure as Roman from their late-night “talks,”or is she only participating to keep him on a short leash? (Something Roman might enjoy, come to think of it.) Regardless, it only seems like a matter of time before Succession reveals who’s the true “dom” of this partnership. [Cameron Scheetz]
What will Connor do now that he’s given up a pointless presidential campaign?
Alan Ruck, Sarah Snook, Jeremy Strong in Photo Macall B. Polay/HBO
Poor Connor Roy. You kind of have to feel for him, as Logan’s first-born son keeps getting left in the dust of his younger, savvier siblings. All Connor seems to be good at is concocting harebrained schemes to go through a ton of money in a short period of time, like investing in a terrible play to please his girlfriend or concocting a pointless presidential campaign.Hence, his request of a mere $100 million just to tide him over in the season-two finale. Logan agreed, but only if he’d give up that foolish run for president, which begs the question: What will Connor do now in season three? Alan Ruck seems as fed up with Connor Roy as the rest of us, : “It’s the same old crap; he doesn’t really have any ideas.” Still, “more to do this season than in season two,” but noted that the show was not called “Connor’s progress.” Sadly unsurprising. [Gwen Ihnat]
