HUGE Succession season 1-4 spoilers below
It’s been a crazy couple of weeks for Succession fans ever since episode three absolutely blew the lid off the remainder of the series. Just as the drama of Connor’s wedding was getting going, Logan Roy, patriarch and chief executive of Waystar Royco, died on board his jet as he was traveling to Sweden to see GoJo boss Lukas Matsson.
Then, in episode four, new plotlines kept on opening up, as we found out Shiv was pregnant, that Logan had, at one point, named Kendall as his successor, and as Roman and Kendall were later made Waystar Royco’s new interim CEOs. Now, in episode five, the whole gang of the Waystar Royco top honchos have flown to Norway to attend Lukas Matsson’s retreat and to try and close a deal.
Without Logan, all of the power structures that we’ve become so comfortable with (Logan and Tom, Logan and Kerry, the sibs, the cronies all bowing down to Logan) have crumbled.
So who is going to be the successor? Here’s our own power ranking, which will be updated after every episode.
Our top three hold their spots in episode
1. Kendall Roy – accidently proves he’s a master negotiator
Kendall and Shiv in Norway / ©2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved
Kendall’s top of our power rankings for a second week as in episode five he proved he actually might be pretty good at being CEO. He did listen to Roman, he did keep communicating with Shiv, as promised, and he didn’t blow up in Matsson’s face. He was not only quite balanced in negotiations, but he even managed to get a major price bump in the GoJo deal.
But of course, he doesn’t actually want to sell. Kendall has always only ever wanted Waystar Royco: he proved this in episode two when we saw that he was willing to let everything around him be destroyed, just so he could get his hands on his father’s company. Now he’s actually top of the company, as joint interim CEO, he’s the closest to his goal that he’s ever been.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how it all pans out, whether he’ll be able to share the top spot with Roman, whether he’ll step down when the time comes, and whether he’ll manage to tank the GoJo deal without the board noticing.
2. Roman Roy – that little performance on the mountain was... effective
Roman during deliberations / ©2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved
Look, Roman is interim CEO so he really has to be second on this list. He was pretty solid in most of the negotiations with Matsson, except for right at the end when he flew off the handle. But in the end, that explosion paid off, and he managed to secure a fantastic new offer from Matsson for Waystar Rocyo and ATN, which even impressed Gerri, Karl and Frank.
You have to give it to Roman – he’s been absolutely masterful in how he’s managed to make himself a serious contender in the family business, after spending most of the show acting utterly despicably.
Plus we still love him for being one of the kindest people out of the entire bunch (OK, not a difficult feat) running to Kerry’s aid in episode four when her bag broke and its contents went flying all across the foyer floor.
3. Lukas Matsson – a new kind of CEO
Lukas Matsson in Succession / ©2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved
Really, the fate of everyone’s lives is in the hands of Matsson – will he or won’t he make the deal?
Matsson still holds a lot of power here. If he pushes through the GoJo deal, there’ll be no Waystar Royco for the Roys to fight over, but they will have PGM to make their own.
And even as Kendall and Roman do their darndest to perturb Matsson for proceeding with the acquisition, all Matsson has to do is keep offering a higher and higher price, and the Roys will have to eventually accept. Basically, he’s got them, as far as we can see. The question is, is there an amount that he will not pay?
We put him third, not first, because he does want Waystar Royco, which gives Roman and Kendall a lot of power.
The rest of the gang, in descending order
Shiv Roy – Shiv is in fourth position for a second week
Shiv is looking stronger in episode five, which was nice to see. In episode four she had really fallen in our estimations. The week preceding, Shiv was (understandably) freaking out over the death of her father, but she was still the most composed member of the siblings. It was Shiv who gave the statement to the press (where she managed, somehow, to hold it all together). But in episode four she seemed unsettled, which was almost certainly due in part to receiving a phone call from her doctor about her pregnancy.
But this wobble came on the worst possible of days, because when she, Kendall and Roman were talking about who should become interim CEO, she let her brothers take the top position, leaving her behind. This was not the Shiv we were used to, at all. Why didn’t she fight harder for herself? Why did she acquiesce?
Happily, in episode five, she seemed back to her usual self, teasing Tom, being snarky, and worrying about the political position of ATN. She also had that conversation with Matsson, where he revealed that he sent pints of his blood as frozen bricks to Ebba, his head of comms, which means she now has some leverage of her own. As of yet, she hasn’t shared this Matsson eccentricity with anyone.
Gerri Kellman – Gerri remains near the top for a third week
Gerri is absolutely the boss of Logan’s cronies – she just quietly commands respect. Although episode five was all about Kendall and Roman, they still take each new offer to her (and Frank and Karl, admittedly) to ask them what they think. Then, when GoJo sends the list of executives that they will be firing if the acquisition goes through, Gerri is not on it, while Frank and Karl are. Clearly, the young super Scandis can see, as we can, that Gerri rules supreme.
She may also have had one of the best lines in the entire episode: “They’re young and they’re fit, but they’re European. They’re soft; hammocked in their social security safety net, sick on vacation mania and free healthcare. They may think they’re Vikings but we’ve been raised by wolves, exposed to a pathogen that goes by the name of Logan Roy, and they have no idea what’s coming to them.”
Although Kendall and Roman stepped into the top spot, Gerri remains, without a doubt, the most powerful non-family member.
Karolina – not on the kill list
Karolina is also extremely solid, and just like Kerry she isn’t on GoJo’s kill list. She’s previously backed Gerri, so we should keep an eye on Karolina and Gerri joining forces in a future split between the cronies. If they did work together in any future major business fight, they’d surely win.
Frank Vernon – he’s always seemed like the best of the bunch, but is Frank a snake too?
Is Frank powerful enough to be in the running for the successor of the company? No, absolutely not. But could he still gang up with other of Logan’s long-standing yes-men, and have real influence on the future of the company? Yes.
Frank has also been around for so long, we can only imagine the piles of dirt he has on Logan and others and how he could use this against the siblings to work in his favour. Up to now they’ve all been gunning for the same goal, i.e. GoJo, so there’s been no need for such dirty behaviour, but if Kendall and Roman do implode the deal, and he loses his major retirement package, he’s going to be furious. And at that point who knows what he’ll be capable of?
Karl Muller – just like Frank, but less nice
Karl is just like Frank, only slightly less nice and with less of a backbone. The way he took down Tom in the China room in episode four was pretty brutal, even if he was absolutely accurate in his comments. His conversation with Frank about not wanting to lose out on his “package” because he’s halfway in on a Greek island also did not paint him in a great light.
When it comes to power Karl really doesn’t have much of it. Though he can be effective when he is working as part of the pack.
Tom Wambsgans – Tom’s still on dangerous footing
Tom and Greg gossip / ©2023 HBO. All Rights Reserved
Tom is still close to the bottom of the power pile. He has been an ally of Logan’s throughout the show, meaning that Logan’s death has left him in free fall. In episode three he even said to Greg on the phone that he’d “lost his protector”.
In episode four you could see this playing out in real-time as he went from one sibling to another, essentially asking for forgiveness for his past comments. Kendall’s rejection was the most brutal: “I like you Tom. Good luck,” he said. Tom then tried to woo an emotional Shiv, talking about the time they met – she ended up walking away. His slippery behaviour made for a gross watch, to say the least.
He wasn’t the focus of episode five by any means, but Kendall and Roman did offer their sister to destroy Tom, and Shiv didn’t accept. She then walked through the plane giving Tom a very strange look. We think it means that Tom is the baby’s father, and it means Shiv isn’t willing to cut him out completely yet. Meaning he’s looking a lot more solid than he was last week.
Greg Hirsch – Greg’s stock is seriously going down
Oh Gregory Gregory. We all love him, but he really proved himself to be a bit of an idiot in episode four, clumsily saying the worst possible things to everyone during the wake. Then again he really didn’t say anything clever, at all, in episode five. Is it just us, or is he getting sillier with every episode?
At the same time, we can’t deny that his name was written on Logan’s mysterious paper, the star of episode four. If the paper in Logan’s safe does have some legal ramifications, Greg may have to be considered to have a reasonably high-up role at ATN – a kind of security that Tom could only dream of. But on the other hand, if Matsson does end up buying ATN, Greg will be out.
Of course, he’s part of the family too, which also gives him some kind of sway in matters, even if only very minute. Kendall even speaks up for him in episode five, when Matsson questions Greg’s presence.
Then there’s his history that should be considered: photocopying papers, bribing Tom because of the photocopied papers. Deleting files that are called ‘logistics’ (or did he?). There are few things that Greg won’t do, which does make him quite dangerous in his own scattergun, Gregg-let way.
Hugo – a real creep
We all know why Hugo is kept around: because he’s that creepy guy who’ll do anyone’s dirty work. He’s got himself in a tangle with the insider trading business which came to light last episode, and now he’s working freelance for Kendall behind the scenes.
He was particularly pathetic in episode five when he was sizing up his equivalent at GoJo – an ex-Olympian – telling his team that the Scandinavian could be a choker because he missed winning bronze by a couple of seconds. No surprise to find Hugo on the GoJo kill list.
Episode five absentees
Connor Roy – the eldest Roy
Connor has a seat on the board, shares and his siblings do (mildly) take him into account. So yes, Connor is powerful in that respect. But he’s no megalomaniac, isn’t that smart (at all) and of course is running for president, so he’s not really a candidate to take over from Logan.
Marcia Roy – still around
In episode five we don’t see Marcia, but we hear about her. Apparently, she’s shown up while Connor is trying to organise the funeral and she’s deciding what Logan is going to wear. It shows that she’s very much going to make herself a part of the proceedings and the subsequent organisation of Logan’s affairs.
Power-wise, she has a lot of influence. From what we could gather, she’s still legally married to Logan, and so is likely to have a large say over what happens to his estate (though of course, they would have had a prenup, and there will be a will). The way she sells Logan’s apartment in a second to Connor in episode four, the way she tells Kendall that she and Logan spoke intimately every night, and the way she throws Kerry out, all show that we’re only seeing the beginning of Marcia’s devilish machinations.
Stewy Hosseini – going up...
Stewy is always there, lingering in the background. In episode four his seat on the Waystar Rocyo board, and his friendship with Kendall, suddenly made him a bit of a power player. Sure, he isn’t in the running for the top spot. But it was really his backing of Kendall (and Roman) in the final meeting that managed to sway the board to back the Roy brothers and make them the joint interim CEOs.
So did Kendall make an off-screen deal with Stewy? And will Kendall now owe his old college mate? Why did Stewy back Kendall? Both men are only in it for themselves, which means Stewy is likely to be up to something. We didn’t see or hear about him in episode five, but he’s sure to pop up again soon.
Willa Ferreyra – she’s in the family now
Willa is married to Connor now which means she’s suddenly way more influential than she was two episodes ago. She now has a legal right to loads of Connor’s money (although we don’t know about the prenup she signed, even if it’s incredibly tight, we’re still talking millions) and Connor, who has a seat on the board and shares in Waystar Royco, does listen to Willa.
For now, Willa has shown absolutely zero interest in getting anywhere near the business, which makes us respect her more than anything else. But the way she replied to Marcia’s vicious comment in the foyer in episode four was a good reminder that Willa has a lot more strength to her than it first seemed. She’ll be back next week, were sure.
Kerry Castellabate – that was even more difficult to watch
Oh what a fall, Kerry. Logan’s girlfriend looked like she was flying high at the beginning of the season, and now she’s right at the bottom of our power rankings. She’s lost everything now that Logan has died, and by the looks of it, Marcia is going to make sure she’s not going to get anywhere near his estate – she wouldn’t even let her go upstairs to collect her things last week.
There was also that horrible scene where Kerry turned up at the wake looking frantic and upset. She said to Roman that Logan was making arrangements for them to marry. Do we believe her? Is there any proof anywhere? And if there is, can she use this to make a case for herself? At the moment it seems unlikely. Poor old Kerry. She’s out.
In the background
Connor’s mother – Why does she keep cropping up?
Why oh why have we been hearing so much about Connor’s mother? She’s been brought up in several episodes, and we reckon it’s not for nothing. Her background? We know that Logan got her shipped off to a mental institution and Connor never forgave his dad for it. We don’t know if she’s died. But what if now she suddenly pops up? Will she have some sort of say in the proceedings? Does she own any shares and even if not, will she be able to influence Connor to, for example, vote against his siblings in an important board meeting? What does it all mean?
The Pierces – Does Kendall still want PGM?
The Pierces also still have quite a lot of power here. After all, they agreed to a $10 billion PGM buyout deal with the younger Roys, which they can back out of at any time, totally destroying Kendall, Roman and Shiv’s plans. But, if we’re being honest, we think that the GoJo deal will fold and PGM will be out of the picture pretty soon.
Lady Caroline Collingwood – Watch this space
Similarly, Shiv, Kendall and Roman’s mum has a seat on the board. Sure, she’s not interested in becoming the successor, but in the past she has literally worked against her children, siding with her husband, cheating them out of some of their inheritance. It means that she can’t be trusted and that she could definitely be persuaded by a nefarious actor to make decisions that would trip up people in the running for the top spot. Probably just for the fun of it.
Succession is currently streaming on Sky and NOW

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