The Succession writers used "Larry David" as the code name for that big thing this week

Writer Georgia Pritchett shared that the team got creative with keeping a major Succession plot detail under wraps

By Katie Chow  |  April 12, 2023 | 3:16pm
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[This post contains spoilers for season four of Succession.]

It’s been implied since the beginning, but Succession ripped off the bandaid this week and killed off Logan Roy, kicking the battle for control of Waystar Royco into an even higher gear. With the show having become the cultural sensation that it is, Succession ended up taking significant measures to prevent spoilers from getting out. (Unlike that accidentally-on-purpose leak that happened in the episode.) Writer Georgia Pritchett, who has been with the show since its first season in 2018, took to Twitter to share a behind-the-scenes anecdote about the major plot development.

“This was a tough secret to keep!” Pritchett writes. “We decided it in the #Succession writers’ room in Jan 22. So nobody found out we used code on the whiteboards. Larry David meant Logan Dies. So episode 403 said Connor’s Wedding, Larry David. Mind you, that would also have been a great episode.”

Of course, it’s typical Succession fashion to inject some levity into an episode that otherwise put viewers through an emotional gauntlet right alongside the Roy siblings. (Why wouldn’t Roman start sitting even more weirdly in a moment of crisis?) Considering that Curb Your Enthusiasm is a fellow HBO series, it also inspires some ideas for what could be the greatest crossover event of all time.

Besides the code name, star Brian Cox also revealed that he showed up to set when he obviously wasn’t needed in order to throw the real-life media hounds off the scent. In an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the Super Troopers actor recalls the production team telling him to skip Logan’s funeral because of shooting delays.

“I thought no, I’d better go, because I know there’ll be a lot of paparazzi there, and as sure as eggs, I went there, and as soon as I got out of the car, they started clicking away,” Cox says. “So immediately, I was able to put off the fact that it was my funeral.”

The fourth and final season of Succession airs Sundays on HBO.

 
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