We have some questions about the latest episode of Succession.
Warning: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED EPISODE 4 OF SUCCESSION SEASON 4.
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Welcome to our Succession Power Rankings!Each week of the show’s ten-episode final season, For The Win will chat about the latest episode to see how everyone in the Succession universe is doing. Let’s dig into it.
During this episode, “Honeymoon States”, we learn the late Logan Roy left a note in a safe outlining his wishes for what should happen upon his death. While that includes funeral arrangements, it also potentially references who he wanted to take over for him as CEO.
We don’t know when the note was written, but we do know that Kendall’s name is included — though it was either underlined or struck through.
We also know that Karl and Frank were the first people to see the note and that they didn’t want the “little princess” to screw up their plans. Or did he say the little princes?
Who was Karl referring to? Was it Kerry, who was at least aware of some note? Other possibilities include Gerri, Marcia, Siobhan, Tom, Roman, or even Kendall.
Also at least somewhat noteworthy: Cousin Greg’s name is included as “an addendum of miscellaneous matters” but in pencil and with a question mark.
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If you weren’t watching live, it just … isn’t the same.
This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky.
Streaming services like Netflix got us all comfortable either binge-watching TV or watching shows at our own pace. That isn’t always a good thing, however, especially when it comes to series released episodically.
I’ve seen headlines arguing that Succession fans ruined the show’s most anticipated moment Sunday night by flooding social media with immediate reactions. I fully disagree. It’s far more enjoyable to tune in at the same time as everyone else, and it is an immersive experience.
Justin Kirkland helped explain this powerful feeling (via Esquire):
“All of us, as it turns out, are looking for some semblance of structure in our lives. And as silly as it sounds, I think that appointment television represents this weird human connection to look forward to—a friendly interaction, if you will, that you can rely at the same day and time. In an era when everything feels so uncertain and fleeting, appointment television has reemerged as this reliable totem of time and consistency.”
During the final credits, I immediately pull out my phone and check for other reactions, memes, and analyses.
These pesky posts act as spoilers for fans who didn’t get a chance to watch it live. But this show just hits harder when we can all react simultaneously — and there are a lot of people who are tuned in. The premiere episode of the final Succession season drew 2.3 million live viewers across HBO Max and other linear telecasts. (That’s more than the opening night TV ratings (2.2 million) for Nets-Bucks on TNT in 2021-22.)
It is exponentially much more fun and only natural to freak out with everyone else when Succession showrunners shock us collectively with a jaw-dropping plot twist. It’s not dissimilar to reacting with everyone else on Twitter when an NBA star hits a buzzer-beater.
Speaking of basketball: During the 1970s and the 1980s, the NBA would occasionally broadcast playoff games on tape delay. Leigh Montville, in 1980, wrote about why that was so absurd (via Boston Globe):
“A delayed-tape presentation of a sports event is almost worse than not presenting the event at all. It is dried milk as opposed to normal milk. It is mashed potatoes without butter or salt or pepper. The flavor, the excitement are taken away artificially. Even if the viewer doesn’t know the score, if he has steeled himself for the 2½ necessary hours in an airtight bunker, impervious to news reports, wire reports and loud-mouthed friends and family . . . even if he has done all that, hard as it may be, the game is not the same.”
Forty years after that column about basketball, I now feel the exact same way about Succession. Even if you’ve managed to avoid the plot spoilers, if you weren’t watching live, it just … isn’t the same.
Montville mused that the NBA playoffs were “not a show,” but instead, news. I’d argue that the same is true of Succession and any other show that reaches a similar level of success and cultural relevance. Even the Los Angeles Times covered Sunday’s episode as if it actually happened to someone who isn’t a fictional character. That may have annoyed some fans, but it was brilliant work.
We are lucky to have prestige shows like Succession (or White Lotus and The Last of Us) that are must-watch live events and that are still a quality watch even if the plot does get spoiled. If you want to avoid spoilers, you have to try your best to stay offline until you’ve seen the show. Otherwise, it feels like you’re complaining about someone spoiling the score of last night’s game.
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This was a shockingly big week for Leonard Cohen references.
Warning: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED EPISODE 2 OF SUCCESSION SEASON 4.
Ready?
Ok.
Welcome to our Succession Power Rankings!Each week of the show’s ten-episode final season, For The Win will chat about the latest episode to see how everyone in the Succession universe is doing. Let’s dig into it.
We should immediately address the most memorable moment from this episode: Connor Roy, played by Alan Ruck, ends up singing “Famous Blue Rain Coat” by Leonard Cohen at Maru Karaoke Lounge in Koreatown.
Now, full disclosure: I’m working on Season 1 myself, so I didn’t see the episode. So I asked Bryan to break down the moment for the meme I’ve now seen everywhere:
“Cousin Greg brought a woman to his uncle’s (Logan Roy) birthday party. Tom (the soon-to-be-ex-step-son of Logan) and Greg have a very silly relationship. Tom, who is always messing with Greg, tells him that his date brought a “ludicrously capacious” bag to the party and that it was embarrassing for everyone involved.”
Warning: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED EPISODE 1 OF SUCCESSION SEASON 4.
Ready?
Ok.
Welcome to our Succession Power Rankings!Each week of the show’s ten-episode final season, For The Win will chat about the latest episode to see how everyone in the Succession universe is doing. Let’s dig into it.
After winning thirteen Emmy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards, HBO’s Succession is beginning to wrap up the series.
There is a lot we still don’t know about the future of everyone in the Roy family, the owners of the media conglomerate Waystar RoyCo. But after the fourth season premiere, we are starting to get a taste of what could happen the remainder of the way.
This season begins with the sale of Waystar Royco, to Lukas Matsson, looming. The seismic sale is going to change everyone’s life in new and immeasurable ways.
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A new trailer for season four of HBO’s Succession dropped Thursday morning, leaving us with excitement and a lot of questions.
Near the end of the trailer, Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) tells his sidekick Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun, aka Greg the Egg), “This is a chessboard. And every move is crucial. Like, Israel-Palestine, Greg, but harder. And much more important.”
So, it sounds like we’re due for some fireworks within the Roy family for season four, which is to be expected considering how things were left at the end of season three, with – spoiler alert – Tom backstabbing his wife Siobhan (Sarah Snook) to earn some points with daddy-in-law Logan (Brian Cox).
Nominees for the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards were unveiled on Tuesday morning, and while there were a fair share of snubs and surprises, there were no shortage of deserving candidates.
A lot of those candidates are pretty familiar names, too. Succession is back in the mix for Best Drama, Ted Lasso got another nod for Best Comedy and Zendaya, at just 25 years old, became the youngest woman to receive a producing nomination for her work on Euphoria (for which she also earned a Best Actress nomination).
So who’s going to win? Oddsmakers from a few different outlets have a good idea when it comes to drama, comedy, and the best actors and actresses in each genre.
Let’s run through the numbers from handicappers at GoldDerby and OddsChecker and see how well they matchup with their Metacritic ratings.
No matter where you go in New York City, someone is talking about either HBO’s Succession or the Knicks.
No matter where you go in New York City, someone is talking about either HBO’s Succession or the New York Knicks. It’s almost inevitable.
This past season, the Knicks won their first home playoff game since 2013. Meanwhile, Succession has earned several different Emmy Awards, taking home the hardware for writing as well as directing and best drama.
The show, about a media and entertainment conglomerate, is mostly filmed around NYC. So it wasn’t surprising that The Knicks Wall’s Josh Silverman made a mashup combining those two universes.
Basketball highlights from this season and overhead shots of Madison Square Garden looked fantastic with the show’s theme music playing. Of course, the stakes of the games felt way higher with the piano chords and strings ringing in the background.
But what was surprising, considering how naturally these blended together, is that it took as long as it did for something like this to land on my timeline. For years, people have tried to tie these worlds together.
Fans have tweeted how much better fictional Succession patriarch Logan Roy would do as the franchise governor than real-life owner James Dolan. Some have written fan fiction in their heads about Cousin Greg, who is 6-foot-7, signing with New York. Others have yearned for a podcast with Greg and Tom talking about the Knicks.
Even the Cleveland Cavaliers played Succession‘s theme music as the Knicks warmed up before a game this past season. So why did it take so long for this type of content to exist? Are the Knicks going to lean into the bit and do some sort of crossover, promotional giveaway at Madison Square Garden?
every Knicks season is about as equally stressful of a season of succession https://t.co/SuWvG7oxMp
To celebrate, Wilson took some inspiration from the most-prestigious drama on TV.
Russell Wilson will return to the lineup this week for the Seahawks. It was just reported that Wilson has been cleared to play by his doctor. To celebrate, Wilson took some inspiration from the most-prestigious drama on TV.
Watch 3’s Succession-themed comeback video he shared on social.
Brad Holmes talks about succession plans and turning the Detroit Lions into a winner in his first interview as general manager.
In his first interview as Detroit Lions general manager, Brad Holmes talks with team senior writer Tim Twentyman about how he sees his new role within the organization, his experience interviewing for the GM position, analytics in scouting, succession plans, and turning the Lions into a winner.
With his football background and 18 years of experience with the Rams, Holmes is bringing a wealth of information to Detroit. And with the Lions’ front office reorganization allowing him to focus more on scouting, Holmes believes he is in a good spot to deliver a “No. 1 football product to the City of Detroit”.
“I know the general manager role and that’s the name of the position, but I truly see it as a service role,” Holmes said. “My No. 1 job is to serve the City of Detroit a No. 1 football product and hopefully uplift the community in that regard.”
Holmes was very complimentary of how the Lions handled the interview process, saying that once the session was over he immediately told his wife that principal owner Shelia Ford Hamp was someone “who you want to win for”.
“It was just a first-class process every step of the way with the dialogue, all the way up to (last) Wednesday, when I was awarded the job. It’s been first class and it just felt right. I’m just so excited and I can’t wait to get started.”
When talk turned to scouting, Holmes discussed the advantages of adapting to an ever-changing environment.
“I’m under the belief that just because scouting has been done one way, it doesn’t have to be done the same way all the time. Let’s utilize that technology. That’s something we will definitely utilize here with the Lions.”
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But it’s not just about turning the Lions around for Holmes, it’s about being successful and then maintaining that success.
“Everything is about succession plans. That’s just how I’m permanently wired. That’s how I view personnel. That’s how I view football. That’s how I view my own personal life.
“I just think making sure you’re aware of all possible angles and all possible outcomes that could happen, I think is very, very critical. I’ll admit I’m a nerd about predictive science and forecasting and I am because I think that’s our job. Our job is to predict the future and I’m also a little bit of a nerd about the psychology of the process.”
Holmes will likely expand more on these thoughts in his introductory press conference — which is on the schedule, and Lions Wire will be there to cover it.
