Succession season 4
File:Succession season 4.jpg
Promotional poster
|
|
Starring | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> |
No. of episodes | 10 |
Release | |
Original network | HBO |
Original release | March 26, 2023 | – May 28, 2023
The fourth and final season of the American satirical comedy-drama television series Succession premiered on HBO on March 26, 2023. Series creator Jesse Armstrong serves as the showrunner for the season. The series centers on the Roy family, the owners of global media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar RoyCo, and their fight for control of the company amidst uncertainty about the health of the family's patriarch.
The season features an ensemble cast of Nicholas Braun, Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, Dagmara Domińczyk, Peter Friedman, Justine Lupe, Matthew Macfadyen, David Rasche, Alan Ruck, J. Smith-Cameron, Sarah Snook, Fisher Stevens and Jeremy Strong, who all return from the previous season. Hiam Abbass and Arian Moayed, who only appeared in a recurring capacity in the third season after being credited with the main cast in the second season, are credited with the main cast in the episodes they appear in. Alexander Skarsgård was promoted to the main cast for the season after featuring in a recurring role in the previous season.
In October 2021, HBO renewed Succession for a fourth season, which was confirmed by Armstrong to be the final season in February 2023. Filming for the season began in June 2022, in New York City. Production later moved to Norway, Los Angeles and Barbados, and ended in early 2023. The season consists of ten episodes, an increase from the previous season, which had nine.
The season received critical acclaim, and was nominated for 27 Primetime Emmy Awards, the highest amount of the series. The season received six wins, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Culkin, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Snook, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Macfadyen, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Armstrong, and Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for Mark Mylod. The season finale was the most-watched episode of Succession.
Contents
Cast and characters
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
<templatestyles src="Column/styles.css"/>
Main
- Hiam Abbass as Marcia Roy[lower-alpha 1]
- Nicholas Braun as Greg Hirsch
- Brian Cox as Logan Roy
- Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy
- Dagmara Domińczyk as Karolina Novotney
- Peter Friedman as Frank Vernon
- Justine Lupe as Willa Ferreyra
- Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans
- Arian Moayed as Stewy Hosseini[lower-alpha 1]
- David Rasche as Karl Muller
- Alan Ruck as Connor Roy
- Alexander Skarsgård as Lukas Matsson
- J. Smith-Cameron as Gerri Kellman
- Sarah Snook as Siobhan "Shiv" Roy
- Fisher Stevens as Hugo Baker
- Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy<templatestyles src = "Column/styles.css" />
Recurring
- Natalie Gold as Rava Roy
- Swayam Bhatia as Sophie Roy
- Larry Pine as Sandy Furness
- Zack Robidas as Mark Ravenhead
- James Cromwell as Ewan Roy
- Harriet Walter as Lady Caroline Collingwood
- Jeannie Berlin as Cyd Peach
- Patch Darragh as Ray
- Mark Linn-Baker as Maxim Pierce
- Zoe Winters as Kerry Castellabate
- Juliana Canfield as Jess Jordan
- Hope Davis as Sandi Furness
- Justin Kirk as Jeryd Mencken
- Pip Torrens as Peter Munion
- Kevin Changaris as Tellis
- Cynthia Mace as Sylvia Ferreyra
- Elliot Villar as Daniel Jiménez
- Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Oskar Guðjohnsen
- Eili Harboe as Ebba
- Brian Hotaling as Mark Rosenstock<templatestyles src = "Column/styles.css" />
Guest
- Quentin Morales as Iverson Roy
- Cherry Jones as Nan Pierce
- Annabelle Dexter-Jones as Naomi Pierce
- KeiLyn Durrel Jones as Remi
- Mary Birdsong as Marianne Hirsch
Caitlin FitzGerald, who portrays Tabitha Hayes, appeared in the promotional trailer for the season, and was slated to appear in the sixth episode, however ultimately made no appearance in the season.
Episodes
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
30 | 1 | "The Munsters" | Mark Mylod | Jesse Armstrong | March 26, 2023 | 0.598[1] |
31 | 2 | "Rehearsal" | Becky Martin | Tony Roche & Susan Soon He Stanton | April 2, 2023 | 0.481[2] |
32 | 3 | "Connor's Wedding" | Mark Mylod | Jesse Armstrong | April 9, 2023 | 0.609[3] |
33 | 4 | "Honeymoon States" | Lorene Scafaria | Jesse Armstrong & Lucy Prebble | April 16, 2023 | 0.695[4] |
34 | 5 | "Kill List" | Andrij Parekh | Jon Brown & Ted Cohen | April 23, 2023 | 0.652[5] |
35 | 6 | "Living+" | Lorene Scafaria | Georgia Pritchett & Will Arbery | April 30, 2023 | 0.847[6] |
36 | 7 | "Tailgate Party" | Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini | Will Tracy | May 7, 2023 | 0.739[7] |
37 | 8 | "America Decides" | Andrij Parekh | Jesse Armstrong | May 14, 2023 | 0.746[8] |
38 | 9 | "Church and State" | Mark Mylod | Jesse Armstrong | May 21, 2023 | 0.789[9] |
39 | 10 | "With Open Eyes" | Mark Mylod | Jesse Armstrong | May 28, 2023 | 0.896[10] |
Production
Development
In June 2021, executive producer Georgia Pritchett commented that the series would not go beyond five seasons, and possibly would end after the fourth season.[11] On October 26, 2021, HBO renewed the series for a fourth season. The season consists of ten episodes, an increase from the previous season.[12] In an interview with The New Yorker on February 23, 2023, Armstrong confirmed that the series would conclude with the fourth season. He stated that while the season was not initially pitched as the series' last, "the decision to end solidified through the writing and even when we started filming: I said to the cast, 'I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think this is it.'"[13]
Casting
All main cast members return from the previous season, with Hiam Abbass and Arian Moayed, who only appeared in a recurring capacity in the third season after being credited with main cast in the second season, are credited with the main cast in the episodes they appear in. Alexander Skarsgård, who previously starred in a recurring role, was promoted to the main cast for the season. In January 2023, it was announced that Adam Godley, Annabeth Gish, Eili Harboe and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson had been cast in the fourth season in a recurring capacity.[14]
Filming
Production on the ten-episode fourth season began in New York City on June 27, 2022, with Mark Mylod directing the first episode.[15] Mylod then directed three more of the ten episodes, with the others being directed by Becky Martin, Lorene Scafaria, Andrij Parekh, Lorene Scafaria, and directing team Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini. In October 2022, it was confirmed that filming occurred in western Norway, including locations such as the Atlantic Ocean Road, Romsdalen Gondola, Eggen Restaurant, and Juvet Landscape Hotel, as part of a storyline involving Skarsgård's character.[16] Los Angeles and Barbados also served as filming locations for the fourth season.[17][18] On January 16, 2023, during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, star Matthew Macfadyen stated: “We've got another month or so” left of filming.[19]
Release
The season premiered on HBO on March 26, 2023, with episodes releasing weekly until the finale on May 28, 2023.[20]
Home media
HBO released the fourth season on DVD on September 12, 2023.[21][22]
Reception
Audience viewership
The final episode of the season, the series finale, drew 2.9 million viewers, making it the highest watched episode of the series. This was a 68% increase from the 1.7 million viewers for the third-season finale,[23] which was a record high for the series.[24][25]
Critical response
The fourth and final season has been met with widespread critical acclaim. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds an approval rating of 97% with an average rating of 9.2/10, based on 324 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "As compulsively watchable as ever, Succession's final season concludes the saga of the backbiting Roy family on a typically brilliant – and colorfully profane – high note."[26] On Metacritic, the season has received a weighted average score of 92 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[27]
Accolades
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
The fourth and final season of Succession received a leading 27 nominations with six wins at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards: including Outstanding Drama Series; Kieran Culkin for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series; Sarah Snook for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series; Matthew Macfadyen for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series; and Jesse Armstrong and Mark Mylod for Outstanding Writing and Directing for a Drama Series, respectively, for the episode "Connor's Wedding".[28] Nominations included Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series; Nicholas Braun, Alan Ruck, and Alexander Skarsgård for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series; J. Smith-Cameron for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series; and James Cromwell, Arian Moayed, Hiam Abbass, Cherry Jones, and Harriet Walter all received guest acting nominations. It also received two nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, for the episodes "Living+" and "America Decides".[29]
Impact on the Murdoch family succession
According to a December 2024 Nevada commissioner's report for the state's probate court in the disputed succession of Rupert Murdoch, the depiction of the chaotic aftermath of Logan Roy's death in "Connor's Wedding" in April 2023 prompted Murdoch's children to discuss their own public relations strategy for their father's death. Ultimately the discussions led to Elisabeth Murdoch's trust representative drafting a memorandum to create a plan to avoid a similar scenario from occurring in real life.[30]
Notes
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Cite error: Invalid <references>
tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.
<references />
, or <references group="..." />
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Cite error: Invalid <references>
tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.
<references />
, or <references group="..." />
External links
Script error: The function "top" does not exist.
Script error: The function "bottom" does not exist.
Cite error: <ref>
tags exist for a group named "lower-alpha", but no corresponding <references group="lower-alpha"/>
tag was found, or a closing </ref>
is missing
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.