A first look at Nicholas Braun and Matthew Macfadyen in Succession season four.
Courtesy of HBO
The Succession audience has been patiently waiting for news about when the Roy family drama will return, following the explosive season three finale that had everyone talking.
Now, HBO has revealed the return date for season four to be March 26, and the new teaser trailer (below) reveals the potential consequences ahead following the shocking betrayal that culminated in the Emmy-winning season’s final moments.
For a refresher: The late 2021 finale ended with a gesture between Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his son-in-law Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) that signaled Tom had betrayed wife Shiv (Sarah Snook) and her siblings Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin). When Logan placed his hand on Tom’s shoulder, it was revealed to the audience that the pair had secretly collaborated amid the three Roy children seeking to halt the purchase of the family’s company, Waystar Royco, from tech billionaire Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård). The twist ending set up Tom as an emerging power player in the media drama.
The teaser, however, signals that it might not be as smooth sailing for Tom as he anticipated.
In a one-on-one conversation with Tom and Logan, Tom confides that it has “been on his mind” about what would happen if, as Logan puts it, he and Shiv were to “bust up.” Tom, however, doesn’t get the reassuring answer he was hoping for.
“We’ll always be good, right?” he asks Logan.
Logan replies dryly, “If we’re good, we’re good.”
Tom can only mutter a chuckle as he stumbles through a response: “Well, that’s heartening. I’m heartened by that.”
The rest of the teaser shows the three younger siblings seemingly continuing to be a united front, with Kendall voicing the risks ahead: “It’s a tightrope walk on a straight razor. Five-hundred-foot reputational drop.” Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) warns them against going up against their father, and Tom, who has Greg (Nicholas Braun) at his side, compares the ongoing power plays to being on a chessboard. Meanwhile, oldest sibling Connor Roy (Alan Ruck) marries Tabitha (Caitlin Fitzgerald).
The logline for season four reads: “The sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson (Skarsgård) moves ever closer. The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is complete. A power struggle ensues as the family weighs up a future where their cultural and political weight is severely curtailed.”
After the finale, showrunner Jesse Armstrong spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how the third season ending sets up the fourth season (“The seasons are very well planned”). And Strong, in a cover story, opened up about his New Yorker profile that went viral when the season was wrapping. “I’m very acutely aware that Succession is some of the best material I maybe will ever get to work on,” he said.
Before cutting to the credits, Succession left viewers thinking about the shocked look on Snook’s face. In an interview after the finale, the actress told THR how she played the scene: “Shiv is just in this shock of what has just happened. Her mom has abandoned them. Her dad has done the dirty on them and then she sees her husband do the same thing. It’s like, ‘Fuck me. I can’t trust a single person.’”
Cox, meanwhile, summed up to THR of Logan’s intentions: “Logan has understood really what is best for the firm and that’s what he’s following, and all the major people like Karl (David Rasche), Frank (Peter Friedman) and Gerri (Smith-Cameron), they all fall into that.” Calling Logan an “extraordinary survivor,” he also warned for season four: “I think there’s always life in Logan that comes up. [The Roy siblings] write Logan off from time to time; they always put impediments in his way, ‘Oh, he’s got an UTI; oh, he’s hurt his leg.’ They’re always trying to scupper him in some way — the writers are as well — but Logan is a force of nature. He just keeps on going. And he’s a man of incredible reserve.”
A first look at Brian Cox in Succession‘s fourth season.
Courtesy of HBO
Returning stars also include David Rasche, Fisher Stevens, Hiam Abbass, Justine Lupe, Dagmara Domińczyk, Arian Moayed, Scott Nicholson, Zoë Winters, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Juliana Canfield, Jeannie Berlin, Cherry Jones, Hope Davis, Justin Kirk, Stephen Root, Harriet Walter, James Cromwell, Natalie Gold, Ashley Zukerman, Larry Pine, Mark-Linn Baker and Pip Torrens. Joining the cast are Annabeth Gish, Adam Godley, Eili Harboe and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson.
Created by Armstrong; Succession is executive produced by Armstrong, Adam McKay, Frank Rich, Kevin Messick, Jane Tranter, Mark Mylod, Tony Roche, Scott Ferguson, Jon Brown, Lucy Prebble, Will Tracy and Will Ferrell.