“The Verdict Is Love, Your Honor!”
After Roman’s fumbling in the dark with Matsson, Tom’s “afterburn”, and Kendall’s face in the water in “Chiantishire”, there were a number of ways the season 3 finale of Succession could have gone. Was Kendall dead? Was the GoJo deal absolutely scuttled? And what is the deal with Greg and the Contessa? All these questions are answered in this week’s super-sized finale.
“All the Bells Say” opens similarly to how “Chiantishire” ended, poolside with Kendall’s kids. Logan is reading an incredibly grim children’s book to Iverson while Sophie plays on an iPad. “Isn’t this a little young for you?” Logan asks Iverson. It is, but he’s seeking comfort. After all, his father was nearly drowned in the pool. It turns out that he made it, and Comfrey saved his life. Thanks, Comf!
Logan yells for Gerri, and the business machine starts back up. Meanwhile, Willa, Roman, Tom, Greg, and Shiv are playing Monopoly. Tom gets a “get out of jail free” card and Shiv hoards the Monopoly money. Willa clocks her cheating, which she plays off. Yes, it’s on the nose, but it’s FUN.
But here comes “Kurt Cobain of the fuckin’ floaties” Kendall to take his kids back from their fun time at Grandpa’s. It turns out that the media didn’t pick his “accident” up, and Kendall tells the family he just had “one too many limoncellos”. He might skip the wedding to get back to New York to meet with some lawyers, publish all his internal Waystar communications on Instagram, and sit down for a Vanity Fair article. Comfrey lets on that Vanity Fair isn’t that interested, but they’ve been trying to get in touch anyway.
The DOJ is hitting Waystar with a huge fine, and Matsson might jump ship on the merger/acquisition as a result. Roman offers to join Logan on a journey to Matsson’s and is dismissed and told, “stay here and play with your dick”. When Shiv offers to help out instead, Logan goes back and invites Roman.
On the boat trip over to Matsson’s, Logan brags about how hot Kerry is to Roman. When Roman has the totally normal response of not wanting to talk to his elderly father about his hots for his assistant, Logan asks a simple question of Roman: “Are you scared of pussy?”
Logan is still befuddled by the dick-pic-to-Gerri situation, and tells him to get “straightened out”. They arrive at Matsson’s (Roman doesn’t need help getting on the dock this time). Logan has no time for pleasantries and wants to get the wheels in motion. Matsson tells a bizarre anecdote he heard from Mark Zuckerberg about the Romans deciding not to put cloaks on their slaves. The Roys are “not fans of Mark”.
Matsson doubts Waystar’s technical abilities, but cops to them having good content. Logan is excited about moving forward but has reservations. When he started in media, it was run by “gentle giants who smelled of milk and gold” who have now gone “scrawny on meth and yoga”. Matsson wants to take over the whole operation, but know that Logan won’t have any of it. Matsson sees him as “bulletproof” and wants him to maintain prestige. Of course, Roman will be involved with the integration process. It’s astounding to see how adept Matsson is at kissing Logan’s ass. Even the slightest amount of fawning gets Logan going, as long as it’s not from one of his children.
Logan boots Roman from Matsson’s island so the adults can figure out the deal. And Roman just takes it. Fealty to Logan means nothing!!!! The next day, Connor is furious that he’s out of the loop, since Matsson wants to deplatform free-thinkers such as himself. Ken joins his siblings at the breakfast table, wearing a weird big chain. Is this an intervention? Not really, they just want to tell him they love him. Empty! They’re all empty!
Kendall, ever the truth-teller, points out that each of his siblings has their own damage they need to work on. Connor starts playing with a butter knife and calls Kendall “self-centered” for “trying to kill Pop”. He then loses his shit when Kendall refers to himself as the eldest son.
We learn that Connor was abandoned by Logan for three years and that the petty company drama means nothing to him. Meanwhile, “no one has said congratulations” on his engagement to Willa. But that’s because she hasn’t said yes! We see Willa and Connor waiting for a car to the wedding ceremony and he is as spicy as ever. He pushes one last time for a final decision on marriage. Willa accepts with “fuck it. How bad can it be?”, and she has officially been worn down. He’s jazzed, but when we see her in the car, she looks miserable. They’ll be divorced in six months.
Karl and Frank touch down in Italy to go war-room mode, Gerri is big-hat-pilled, and Greg is DRIPPING in a linen suit. He has turned his attention to the Contessa, who is actually technically a Princess in Luxembourg. Tom exclaims, “you’re a plane crash away from being Europe’s weirdest king!” Greg is transforming before our very eyes. Logan drinks a weird gray juice brought to him by Kerry, who has a moment with Marcia. Kendall arrives at the ceremony with just a moment to spare, and Logan and Marcia are not coming to the wedding, much to Peter’s disappointment. We see Willa crying, and not because she loves weddings.
The ceremony goes off without a hitch, much to Roman’s chagrin. Shiv gives a terrible, awful speech at the reception while Roman tries to get answers on the deal from Logan, Matsson, Gerri, somebody! Connor discovers that Logan’s been drinking Maca root smoothies to produce an “adhesive and potent goop”. That’s right, Logan wants to pump out one more heir with Kerry before he croaks. Caroline’s reference to Kerry as the “concubine” last week actually holds some weight! Tom mentions that he and Shiv are freezing, which Roman spins as Tom carrying the fetus.
Greg has been contacted via “Lackey Slack” that moves are being made on the GoJo deal. Our man holds all the cards. Roman demands information and one last chance with the Contessa. Greg refers to Roman as “a sexual pervert” and dismisses him. He then makes a beeline to Kerry who boxes him out. Roman calls Karl, who despite having a European ring on his end of the phone, claims he’s still in New York. Kendall forlornly smokes an American Spirit on the edge of the party and Shiv tries to bring him in for a sibling meeting. The poor guy is beaten down, but he recognizes how badly Shiv needs him at the moment. The three of them meet outside the property, Kendall sitting in the dust.
In a scene that resonates with season one’s smoke session in the boathouse, Roman and Shiv try to get Kendall involved on a business level. They don’t understand that he’s in immense pain and that he has no angle in his abstaining from the business. After seeing cater-waiters taking out the trash, he breaks down, admitting to his involvement in the death of the waiter at Shiv’s wedding. Roman doesn’t really care and offers some half-assed reassurances and jokes, and Shiv doesn't even have time to process.
Shiv gets a call that Jamie Laird, Logan’s money guy, is inside the deal. Gojo is going to buy Waystar and Logan is cashing out. The rug is pulled out from under the kids. Taking a moment to process, Roman puts his hands on his brother’s shoulders. Kendall breaks down. Shiv offers Kendall a hand, and the three are united once again. They don’t band together until they’ve all been fucked by Logan.
Shiv decides to hop in a van and stage a direct confrontation with Logan. Kendall is in on principle but just looks so tired. Roman is scared but eventually tags along. Logan needs a super-majority to approve the decision, something that the kids got in their parents’ custody agreement. So they have the final say and will stop the deal from going through. Siblings save the day!
Roman is concerned about the extremity of the siblings’ rhetoric, to which Kendall points out that Logan thinks there’s “something wrong” with Roman. Shiv agrees, saying that now is the time to open up rather than reporting it to Vanity Fair after someone dies. Will Roman finally open up about his deep pain? He hems and haws.
Shiv calls Tom to give him an update and prepare him to stage a media blitz through ATN, that “the big man” is stepping down. Tom asks the all-important question: “Where do I fit in, Shiv?” She doesn’t give him an answer.
There’s some comic relief as Greg reports to Tom that he and the Contessa are really hitting it off, and that Comfrey will leave it be in a “guilt-free switch-up”. Tom offers Greg a leg up in the new version of Gojo Waystar Royco, “towards the bottom of the top”. While Greg is happy to run Brightstar Buffalo, he can have twenty of his own Gregs in the new arrangement and decides to make a handshake deal with Nero. Besides, “what am I going to do with a soul anyway?” The boys get a big hug and we move to the inner sanctum with the Three Musketeers.
As they approach Logan’s makeshift office, his scary security detail stands firm. From within, Logan’s voice booms, telling security to let them in. He won’t discuss business with Kendall in the room. When they stand as a united front, he moves to send Roman out of the room as well. He’s even inconsistent with who he leaves out of conversations. When pressed on the deal, Logan says it’s right. “I feel it in my bones”, he rumbles. Now, he wants to talk business with just Roman. The trio stands firm.
Matsson will individually assess the utility of each Roy child for their own survival in the company. Logan claims that the evaluations are an insurance policy, but the kids know that they’re doomed. When Shiv mentions the supermajority, he mocks her to her face and then calls Caroline up. It turns out that she has forfeited the supermajority element of the divorce settlement in exchange for Logan doing Peter several political favors. The kids no longer have any power. “We just walked in on Mom and Dad fucking us”, Shiv exclaims. Meanwhile, Gerri, Karl, and Frank silently watch from behind notepads and laptops.
Roman attempts to appeal to Logan with love. He gets nothing. Roman then begs Gerri for help, who uses her business sense to shut it down. Who told Logan they were on the way? And then we see, clad in linen, the Talented Mr. Wambsgans enter the room. He gets a hand on the shoulder from his father in law and he joins his wife and in-laws.
He comforts Shiv, well aware that he tipped the scales against her. Mr. Wambsgans is playing in the big leagues now!
And that’s the season. The final act gets to something this season has teed up: the fact that none of the Roys have ever had to work for anything. The rug has been pulled out from under them. While harsh and against the promises Logan has made for years, this is the product of revenge by those who have had to work for their positions, whether that’s Tom, Gerri, or even Logan.
Love him or hate him, Logan did put in the work to get where he is. And although we are siding emotionally with the kids, it’s only right that they are put in a position where they have to work for their slice of cake. And it is fascinating that he has finally seen the writing on the wall and it is time to go. His monologue about the “gentle giants” clues us into a new, nostalgic turn for the old man. The landscape is beyond his recognition, something that may in fact be his fault if his power over the news-rhetorical landscape is any indication.
It seems like Kendall is vindicated in a way, at least in regards to Logan’s sheer amorality. What would the season have looked like if Shiv and Roman had joined Kendall’s crusade at the beginning, and hadn’t been hung up on who gets what title? Tom was right when he told Kendall that Logan never gets fucked.
Was Tom a little birdie on Logan’s shoulder the whole time? Is this revenge for Shiv’s abuse and cruel pillow talk? It’s easy to forget that Tom, as Chairman of Global News at ATN, holds a lot of power within the company. And he has been duping the audience, as well as the family, with his bumbling Midwest demeanor.
In the realm of performance review, the acting in this episode was just stellar. Jeremy Strong (subject of so much discourse this week), perfectly telegraphed how broken Kendall is by the post-birthday traumas, Sarah Snook as Shiv gave us amazing face acting, particularly when Tom was revealed as the Machiavellian hinge of the plot, and Nicholas Braun’s transformation into Cad Greg is just brilliant. While I found the writing of the very end to be a little lacking, Jesse Armstrong neatly packaged all of the season’s loose threads.
So it seems like season four, when it does come, will feature the kids fighting to even tread water in the company, and a whole lot of emotional wreckage along the way.
I will be discussing this finale in audio form soon with some esteemed minds, so watch this space for that information.
Thank you for going on this journey with me. It has been incredible to share my thoughts and feelings about one of the most complex shows on television with you all. I’m not sure when you’ll be hearing from me again on here, but you can follow me on Twitter at @rob_ascher, where my thoughts on theater, film, TV, and music all live.
We won’t know for a while who, if anyone, gets the kiss from daddy.
