Succession Season 4 Recap: Connor’s Wedding
“I don’t want to bullshit you, Ken. I think he went. I think he’s gone.”
We begin this episode with a warmer Logan (Brian Cox). Since Roman (Kieran Culkin) proved to him that he is on his side, Logan answers Roman’s call with uncharacteristic affection, the kind of warmth that would make a newcomer to Succession completely naïve to his malice. Logan seems to be having a good day so far and he is sure that he wants Roman to tag along to see Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) even though, as we’re all reminded by Roman, they are all supposed to be at Connor’s (Alan Ruck) wedding. And by the way, Logan has decided that he is uncomfortable with Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) and wants Roman, to give her the boot. Today is a day for a lot of changes and it requires that Gerri and Cyd (Jeannie Berlin) should be fired but first, Roman has to tell Gerri the truth about her status in the company.
Here is everyone’s position in this episode: Greg (Nicholas Braun) is not allowed to join the Matsson trip, because according to Tom, Logan now finds him “visually aggravating” because of the Kerry (Zoe Winters) fiasco. As a result, he’s stuck at Connor’s wedding, on a yacht. Willa (Justine Lupe) is still unsure about marrying Connor and Tom ( Matthew Macfadyen) is preparing for a battle with Matsson over the ATN carve out from the acquisition. As soon as Roman connects with Gerri and acts normal, she is alerted that something is wrong; it doesn’t help that Roman has a hard time looking at her so, feeling rushed, Roman confesses and that Logan wants to let her go and “at a human level,” he is sad about it. Everything about Connor’s wedding day is marked by melancholy. He doesn’t want to see the inside of his wedding cake and we don’t know why, but we’re sure, from the music underscore, that there’s a sad story related to this too. So, Willa is sad, Connor is sad, Gerri is now sad too, but Roman is struggling the most because he had to hurt Gerri’s feelings. To vent his feelings, he leaves a message for Logan, telling him how upsetting the conversation with Gerri was. With Kendall’s (Jeremy Strong) entrance, we learn that Connor’s fixation with his wedding cake has to do with the trauma of losing his mother when she was taken into a mental health facility (willingly or unwillingly, we will never know).
Festive and in the mood for gossip, Shiv (Sarah Snook) tells Kendall about Logan’s trip to see Matsson while ignoring all of Tom’s calls but it doesn’t matter because someone needs to tell Connor that Logan will not attend his wedding and it has to be her. As she leaves for Connor, Roman learns from Tom that Logan is dangerously sick. He’s unresponsive to CPR but the airplane staff are still doing chest compressions and things are so grim, Roman and Kendall have to say their final words to Logan. It’s really so hard to watch as Kendall and Roman realize that they have to say their final goodbyes and then actually begin to speak to him. At some point, the two realize they need to call Shiv and she’s made to also say her final words. It’s heart wrenching when she tells Logan “Don’t go please, not now.”
Despite everything, Logan’s heart has stopped, but the airline staff are still doing chest compressions. Yearning for control, Kendall calls Frank ( Peter Friedman) to ask to speak to the pilot about the situation, but seemingly annoyed but still perfunctorily polite, Frank tells him, “He’s flying the plane, son.” The pretence of appearing as a nice, professional person seems to be the only thing keeping Frank in check and it’s unsettling. Frank eventually blurts out the truth, “I don’t want to bullshit you, Ken. I think he went.”
Did Kerry talk to Logan the longest, did Roman say I love you? The three Roys are hung up on if they are doing enough or saying the right things to prove that they loved Logan. But in the midst of all this, they realize, quite late, that they are forgetting to tell Connor. So, holding hands, Kendall and Shiv walk together, to deliver the hard message. Poor Connor is getting the terrible news that his father, a man he believes doesn’t even like him, is dead and it’s at his wedding!
I’m telling you, apart from his kids, no one cares that Logan’s dead, least of all, Kerry. We can’t even trust that Tom is truly upset because Logan is dead or because of his position in the company; still in the company plane, Karolina (Dagmara Domińczyk) is in work mode regardless, and Kerry looks like she just won the lottery. Smiling like a fool, Kerry goes into a back room to calm down while everyone else judges her for not having decorum to their prescribed level. Tom is quickly busy with Plan B. He tells Greg to stick to Cyd, delete a folder, and call around, bolstering Tom’s narrative: he is capable and he was with Logan in his last moments. Logan is so important, Karolina will need to let the President of the Unites States know about his passing and likewise, a statement about his passing is required for the general public; Karolina and the gang are already prepared to deliver. In theory, it makes sense that Karolina, Frank, Karl, and Tom would like to make a statement but, Waystar Royco is a family company so the fact that they made this decision without consulting the Roy siblings, and so soon after Logan’s passing, is read as offensive. Karl (David Rasche) and Frank are thinking from a business position they say, so they use the word “estranged” to describe Logan’s most recent relationship to the kids yet, Kendall is not willing to agree with that word. They were not estranged and had in fact had a family function with Logan last night he tells Frank. (He can’t bear to recon with the fact that they were all distant because it looks like they were bad to their dad). They are all keeping up appearances.
Even in a moment of grief, the siblings can’t mourn like regular people. Kendall wants to wait a beat before sharing their very private tragedy with the public, but Gerri sees it as a way to stall market shifts. It’s the weekend, but somehow, they are talking about keeping this information until after the market closes, though it’s already closed. They have to think about how long they are withholding this information from the public like business robots and Kendall is well aware that every decision they make is “highly liable to misinterpretation” so he says, “let’s grieve and whatever, but not do anything that restricts our future freedom of movement.”
In another part of the yacht, Connor and Willa discuss whether or not they should go ahead with their marriage. He’s scared Willa will walk away if he doesn’t lock her down in the marriage, so with glazed eyes, Willa comforts him with the confession that she’s not just in it for the money, although that is important to her, she is also happy. For her, money will always trump happiness, so she won’t leave just yet.
Squared away together, Shiv, Kendall, and Roman discuss their shock and we learn that Shiv had hopes that the news was actually about their mother instead of Logan which is crazy because Logan is so abusive towards her. Shortly after this discussion, Karolina calls to inform the family that reporters are already catching wind of Logan’s death so, they need a statement quickly. Gerri is very willing to prepare the statement with Frank and the rest and offers to excuse the three Roys from the upcoming board meeting on compassionate grounds but the kids are able to see through this trick. They need a minute and so they take a minute. They decide that they will keep their options open by preparing the statement themselves. The only thing left is for someone to tell Matsson and that someone is Roman. Poor Roman has to push through his sad/numbness to make the call and no one, especially not Gerri, will help him through it.
At some point, a chopper takes the Roy sibling to Teterboro airport. Shortly after, we see Hugo meeting Karl, Frank, Tom, and Karolina. Frank almost immediately asks Hugo (Fisher Stevens) to change the statement that was prepared by the siblings to name the executives for “market confidence.” Business as usual. Only Colin (Scott Nicholson), Logan’s long-time driver reacts with the compassion you would expect from someone who realizes the gravity of the situation: that someone has died. But of course, Logan was an evil, cruel man and we can’t expect anyone but his close family to be affected.
Shiv addresses the reporters at the airport, mentions that Logan was an “American Titan” and then adds that the three siblings will be at the coming board meeting. They will not relinquish their power so easily. Finally free of the reporters, as they walk back into their little corner in the airport, Shiv allows Tom to embrace her before moving on with her brothers outside. Roman asks if they should go see their dad but there’s a silent no from Shiv and Kendall. Shiv leaves with Tom, Kendall decides to watch from afar and Roman walks towards his father’s plane to see his father’s lifeless body covered with garment. While all of this is going on, Connor goes ahead with his wedding. Like Kendall, we’re totally drained as paramedic put Logan’s body in an ambulance. We can’t deny it anymore, Logan is really dead and Kendall can’t catch his breath.