Succession power rankings: Where Shiv, Kendall, Logan, and the rest stand after the season 4 premiere

Welcome to our first power ranking for Succession season four. We’ll rate the characters after each episode to see where they stand, based on who made the strongest moves, who got played, and more. We’re expecting a lot of fluctuation from week to week, because in the world of Succession nothing stays static for long.

In the season four premiere, “The Munsters,” the kids (Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, and Sarah Snook) make a comeback after suffering a big loss in the season three finale in their fight to stop Logan (Brian Cox) from selling the company to GoJo. The siblings team up to steal the Pierce acquisition out from under him, but at what cost (other than a whopping $10 billion)? As long as Logan’s still breathing, you can’t count him out. Enjoy the feeling of being on top while you can, kids. We suspect it won’t last long.

In an unexpected twist, the leading power player in the episode wasn’t a Roy at all. The smartest move, it turns out, is to play this royally fucked up family against each other.

Tom’s (Matthew Macfadyen) willingness to go to jail for the cruise ship cover-up and betray his wife and her brothers put him in good standing with Logan last season. That’s not always a safe place to be, though. As the conduit to the Pierce family—and to Shiv—during the acquisition negotiations, he failed to deliver Logan the win he wanted. Even Greg’s not intimidated by Tom anymore, and his attempt to humiliate Greg in front of Logan backfires. Tom has always been a little pathetic, but now he doesn’t have Shiv to prop him up. What’s worse, it’s clear he still loves her. As bad as things have been between them, he’d never be the one to ask for a divorce. So Shiv has to do it, and although we all know it’s the best thing for both of them, it’s also really, really sad.

We have a feeling Greg will make his way up this list during the final season. We’ve seen him fail upward since season one—what is he capable of if he actually becomes competent? Logan once said that Kendall wasn’t a killer, but Greg is starting to show signs that he might be one. After confessing his sexual indiscretions in the guest bedroom to Logan, he pinned the blame on his date and then left Colin to kick her out without explanation. He’s gaining enough confidence to demand things like a plus one at the party, and he took a shot at Logan when no one else had the guts. He might have even scored a few points with his great-uncle in this episode, making him smile not once but twice.

Kerry has quietly moved up the ranks over the past few seasons by becoming Logan’s most trusted advisor and gatekeeper. She’s made herself indispensable to him, so as his power rises, so does hers. She might also be sleeping with him and trying to get pregnant, though that’s still just speculation. What we do know is that she’s in touch with his moods, isn’t thrown off by his vulgarity, and knows what he wants (a call from his kids), even if he won’t verbalize it. Still, she’s not the one he takes out to dinner when he wants to escape.

Longtime Succession fans have clocked Logan’s body man Colin as a stealthy power player simply by virtue of the secrets he keeps. He could bury Logan if he wanted to, but Colin knows he’s got a good thing going. Logan calls him a “good guy” and his “best pal,” as if the guy’s not being paid handsomely to do his bidding. What he really means is that he’s the only person he can tolerate being around for any length of time. When Logan needs someone to rant to, his loyal shadow is right there to listen. He’s not sure what to say, but it doesn’t matter. Logan’s pondering only goes one way.

Logan came into the season on top after thwarting a coup attempt by his kids in the finale. “I got done a huge fucking deal at exactly the right time,” he tells Kerry at his miserable birthday party. “I got ATN, plus Pierce. I got the election. I’ve got plenty on my plate.” How quickly fortunes can change. In this episode, we saw a lost and lonely old man, a victim of his own self-imposed isolation. The kids get their revenge by outbidding him for PGM. Logan’s not about to let that slide. In fact, a good fight might be what he needs to get his fire back. The season has only just begun, so we don’t imagine he’ll stay down for long.

With some distance from his father and the support of his siblings, Kendall seems to have bounced back after hitting rock bottom in season three. He’s in good spirits, stable and focused on the business. At least, until the chance to get back at Logan presents itself and he gets drawn back into the web. He makes a solid, logical argument for acquiring PGM, but ultimately there’s only one calculation that matters: “Think about how funny it would be if we screwed dad over his decades-long obsession.” It’s great to see the siblings working together towards a united goal, but that $10 billion price tag might come back to bite them.

Roman is the only one who’s truly on board with the new media venture he and his siblings have cooked up. He earnestly wants to start a business out of the long shadow of their father. Kendall and Shiv, on the other hand, are ready to jump ship as soon as the Pierce acquisition comes into play. As Roman rightly points out, their judgment is clouded by vengeance. He’s not eager to go “back to the mat with dad,” and you can’t blame him. Who would have thought Roman would become the most rational sibling? He can’t talk them out of it, though. At least he’ll be in a position to say “I told you so” if it all falls apart.

When the kids start courting the Pierce family, the one person Nan wants to talk to is Shiv. Her background in liberal politics gives her some credibility as the least objectionable Roy. That puts her in the position of lead negotiator for the trio and gives them an immediate cultural advantage over their father. It also gives her a reason to officially end her marriage to Tom, who’s still head of Waystar Royco’s right-leaning news network, ATN. She’s always been the one in control of that relationship, so it’s fitting that she’d be the one to finally put divorce on the table. Frankly, we’re surprised she waited this long.

For all her complaints about how much she hates the “disgusting” business of negotiating, Nan Pierce (Cherry Jones) is one tough operator. The deal with Logan is done, she insists. She’s “honor bound” to accept it. But how soon can the kids fly out and meet with her? Nan pulls out every power move in the book—making them come to her, making them wait, drawing out the talks, feigning disinterest, setting a deadline—to extract the highest price she can get. She may not be as bombastic in her leadership style as Logan, but she’s every bit as shrewd. Out of everyone in the episode, she walks away with the biggest prize and doesn’t even have to get her hands dirty.