‘Succession’ Season 3 Teaser: It’s ‘Kendall F—ing Roy’s’ Time to Shine

Kate Aurthur
·3 min read
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In the final scene of the second season of HBO’s “Succession,” Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) betrayed his father, Logan (Brian Cox), by staging a coup for control over Waystar RoyCo at the press conference at which he was supposed to take the fall for all of the company’s misdeeds. Logan had demanded a “blood sacrifice” after the catastrophic congressional hearings about the rapes and deaths on the company’s cruises, all of which had been covered up. Kendall had been designated the best candidate for blame, and Logan then twisted the knife by telling him he wasn’t enough of a “killer” to run the company.

But Kendall had different plans.

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“This is the day his reign ends,” Kendall said to the shocked attendees of the press conference, and, in turn, the viewing audience. In the final shot of the season, Logan, watching from a yacht in the Mediterranean, had a Mona Lisa smile as he saw his son stab him in the back.

That episode, “This Is Not for Tears,” aired on Oct. 13, 2019, and in the time since, rabid fans of “Succession” have agonized about when the show — which was created by Jesse Armstrong, and went on to win seven Emmys for its second season, including the top prize for outstanding drama — would return. (The cast of “Succession” broke down that scene, and three others, in a Variety Streaming Room last June.)

After being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, “Succession” began shooting in late fall in New York City. Given the show’s scale and ambition, it was an especially difficult production to mount. But today, at long last, HBO has released a teaser for Season 3, saying the show will premiere in the fall.

All of the show’s principles will be back, including Cox, Strong (who won an Emmy for lead actor in a drama), Sarah Snook (Shiv Roy), Kieran Culkin (Roman Roy), Alan Ruck (Connor Roy), Nicholas Braun (Cousin Greg), Matthew Macfadyen (Tom Wambsgans) and J. Smith-Cameron (Gerri Kellman). As Variety has reported, Alexander Skarsgård and Adrien Brody will also be joining the cast’s third season. Peter Friedman, Dagmara Dominczyk, Justine Lupe, David Rasche, Fisher Stevens, Hiam Abbass, Arian Moayed, Harriet Walter and James Cromwell will return as well, and Sanaa Lathan, Linda Emond, Jihae and Hope Davis will join the Season 3 cast.

The action kicks off, as the series premiere did, with Kendall psyching himself up, seemingly before his first post-coup face-to-face with Logan: “You are Kendall Roy. You are Kendall fucking Roy,” he says into a mirror. Logan, at the office, is not taking things well, and seems to try to physically attack Kendall, only to be restrained. “The revolution will be televised!” Kendall says.

Talking to his siblings later, Kendall says: “He’s our dad. But he was gonna send me to jail. He’d do the same to all of us.”

From there infighting among the Roys continue, with Shiv jostling for power, and literally spitting into some sort of book. (Unleash the memes! Spitting Shiv!) Where Tom and Cousin Greg are in this war is unclear from the footage.

On a phone call with a rep for Kendall, Logan says, “You tell him, I’m gonna grind his fuckin’ bones to make my bread.” When she reports that to Kendall, he delivers a reply that may show that once again, he’s outmatched: “You tell him I’m gonna run up off the fuckin’ beanstalk.”

Logan just laughs.

Watch the teaser below.

“Succession” is executive produced by Armstrong, Adam McKay, Frank Rich, Kevin Messick, Jane Tranter, Mark Mylod, Tony Roche, Scott Ferguson, Jon Brown and Will Ferrell. Armstrong serves as showrunner.

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