Since the start of Succession Season 4 on HBO, siblings Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Shiv (Sarah Snook) have succeeded the most when they present a united front. Together they were able to out-fox their father Logan (Brian Cox) to buy Pierce and they immediately relied on each other in the wake of Logan’s death. Now that it’s time to take control of Logan’s kingdom, however, the backstabbing has begun. And Kendall is already proving the most ruthless of the bunch. In fact, you could say that Kendall has gone full Logan, less than a day after his father’s death.
In just one episode — Succession Season 4 Episode 4 “Honeymoon States” — Kendall has manipulated Stewy (Arian Moayed) to give him support against the board, squeezed Shiv out of the sibling’s triumvirate of power, gone behind Roman’s back specifically to shank the memory of his dead father, and threatened to blackmail PR guru Hugo (Fisher Stevens). Everyone might have agreed to let Kendall and Roman lord over Waystar RoyCo for the time being, but Kendall is making it clear that he intends to be the only one in charge. And he’s invoking his father to justify it.
Kendall might think he’s made the smart, Logan Roy choice by asking Hugo to quietly kick off what Roman called “Operation Shit on Dad,” but something tells us that it’s going to backfire majorly. The Roy kids have only ever succeeded when they work together and Kendall’s rogue action is destined to tear the siblings apart.
Kendall and Roman are very shitty to Shiv when they essentially push her out of Waystar RoyCo leadership for optics, but the moment Kendall really twists the knife on his family comes right at the end of the episode.
Let’s back up for a moment. While everyone in Logan’s inner circle gather at the townhouse to “grieve” and — more importantly — strategize next moves, a piece of paper is discovered. Logan apparently signed off on making Kendall his heir at some point, but memo is undated and full of additional notes in pen and pencil. Kendall is thrilled to see his name is underlined, which he takes as proof he was his father’s chosen successor, but Shiv cattily points out it also could be a strike through. After much bickering, and a heart to heart with Stewy, Kendall rallies the support to name him and Roman as interim leaders of Waystar RoyCo.
Karolina (Dagmara Dominczyk) and Hugo then brief the brothers on what should and could come next. Karolina says they used to do everything they could to “burnish” Logan’s reputation. Now that he’s gone, they want to burnish the boys’ reps. Hugo then explains there are two directions that they could go. The first is putting together a package full of photos of them with Logan to evoke the idea that they are a “safe pair of hands” to take over Waystar RoyCo. This would position Kendall and Roman as Logan’s direct successors. They will continue doing things the same way Logan would have at ATN and beyond.
The other plan would be “more complex, more fresh,” according to Hugo. Karolina hedges the plan by saying this is just coming from a PR perspective, but there’s going to be an issue about their competence. The toughest version of this strategy would paint Logan as losing it towards the end and creating a narrative where the kids were pulling the puppet strings at the company for a while. Hugo does bring up how scorched earth they could go, dredging up the sad story of Connor’s abused, institutionalized mom and Logan’s affair with Kerry (Zoe Winters). Roman hates it, nicknaming it the aforementioned “Operation Shit on Dad.”
While Kendall and Roman seem to agree not to shit on their dad, much to Roman’s relief, Kendall has another plan. After looking once more at his name underlined – or crossed out – on his father’s last will, Kendall returns to Hugo alone. He says, “You know the ‘bad dad’ stuff? It’s what he would do. He would want this for the firm…so action that, but soft. No prints.”
Hugo says he’s concerned to “freelance” and wants a sign off from Karolina and Roman, but Kendall refuses and uses his knowledge of Hugo’s daughter’s little insider trading snafu as leverage over the PR guru. Yes, earlier in the episode, Kendall overheard Hugo freaking out on the phone and Hugo later admits his daughter might have moved some stock right before Logan’s death was announced.
Kendall has made much ado about how there can be no secrets between the siblings this season. He’s lambasted Roman for sending Logan a cordial text and Shiv for keeping her options open as a fixer for the Democratic party. But this crosses a much more insane line. He’s not only undermining his agreement to work together with his siblings, but he’s happily ruining his father’s legacy. Not only that, but he’s already blackmailing his inner circle.
Again, Kendall might think he’s being smart, but something tells us he’s missing the bigger picture. As Logan himself said, his children are not serious people.