Succession Season Two Recap: Who Is the Last Roy Standing?
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Everyone’s favorite messy rich family is back. Succession’s third season premieres on October 17 after a long two years—and creator Jesse Armstrong has a lot of explaining to do. We left the terrible billionaires on a yacht in the Mediterranean—well, most of them. Kendall was pawned off to combat scandal and act as the Roy’s sacrificial lamb, only to turn on his father in a shocking, live press conference.
Confused? We get it. It feels like an eternity has passed since we last saw the Roys and we’re here to catch you up. Below, refresh your memory on where we left each of the Succession characters before tuning in to season three.
Kendall Roy
The latter half of Succession’s second season revolved around the now-public controversy in Waystar Royco’s cruise division, resulting in congressional hearings, tanking stock, and general chaos. After a few disastrous testimonies (thanks, Tom), Logan decided that the public needed a “blood sacrifice,” someone high up in the company who could take the fall, staving off frightened shareholders.
In the season finale, Logan decides that Kendall, his issue-riddled, hyper-ambitious son, will take the fall. This comes after a number of smaller incidents between the pair during the finale. Logan advises (i.e. forces) Kendall to send home Naomi Pierce, a woman with whom Kendall’s formed a bond over the past few episodes. There’s also a failed deal with Kendall’s friend Stewy, who notes that shareholders simply care about profit margins, and less about keeping the business in the family.
Kendall acquiesces to Logan’s plan, or seems to, with his father telling him that he’s “not a killer.” The prodigal son returns to New York for a press conference, where he is set to admit to wrongdoing, thus throwing himself under a bus (or cruise ship, if you will) to save his father and the family business. However, in a move that makes all the more sense in the context of Kendall’s prior treachery (season one’s vote of no confidence in Logan and the attempted takeover at Shiv’s wedding), he changes course.
Live on camera, as his family watches from their yacht, Kendall reveals his father’s involvement in the cruise scandal and goes on to condemn Logan in a number of ways. He calls the patriarch “a malignant presence, a bully and a liar.” “I think this is the day his reign ends,” Kendall says.
Roman Roy
As Kendall spirals, Roman has been trying to earn his father’s trust, taking a more prominent role in the family business. He seems to have succeeded, saving himself from the cruise scandal chopping block. In episode nine, Roman was almost killed trying to take the company private with a source of independent wealth, which he attempted to secure in eastern Europe. He was held at gunpoint, but received a semblance of a deal. However, despite differing feelings from Logan’s advisors, Roman advocates against taking the money, noting that the deal seemed like too much trouble and too sketchy. As a reward, Logan offers Roman the COO position when Kendall is axed.
Meanwhile, Roman’s intriguing relationship with Gerri, Waystar’s general counsel, continues. He defends her from being sacrificed (“Haven’t we killed enough woman already?”) and the pair continue their sexually explicit (though lacking in touch) trysts. A poster for season three certainly fueled speculation about the continuation of this arrangement.
Shiv Roy
Shiv is clearly her father’s favorite, though continues to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. She began season two with an offer to succeed her father as CEO, a proposition she lost after advocating for a “dinosaur cull” at the company. Logan fluctuates between feeling proud of his daughter and being, well, sexist. It’s uncertain whether Shiv has done enough (leaving her job in politics, witness intimidation in a congressional trial) to place herself back in the running, but she’s certainly trying. She even offers up her husband, Tom, as the “blood sacrifice,” much to his dismay.
In terms of Tom, the season ends with Shiv’s marriage on the rocks. Tom is finally able to confront his wife about their “arrangement” for an open marriage, which she proposed on their wedding night. As the pair get some alone time in a cove, Tom tells Shiv, “I wonder, if the sad I’d be without you would be less than the sad I’d be being with you.”
Connor Roy
Arguably, the Roy child the most off his rocker, Connor continues to act as comic relief. He’s hemorrhaging money from his paid escort-turned girlfriend Willa’s Broadway show and attempts to run for president in a distinctly Trumpy manner. Connor needs money and asks Logan for a loan—just, you know, $100 million. Logan concedes, provided that Connor abandons his presidential ambitions.
Cousin Greg
Greg Hirsch (aka Cousin Greg aka Greg the Egg) spent season two strategizing which side in the family war he should take. All the while, he gives up his own inheritance, fully buying into his future in Waystar. Greg was also involved in the cruise ship scandal early on, as Tom ordered him to destroy documents detailing the events. For his own security, Greg kept a few crucial pages, which he parlayed into Roy family capital on various occasions. However, Greg also becomes embroiled in the scandal, testifying (hilariously) before Congress; Roman also nominates him to take some of the blame (did someone say “Greg sprinkles?”).
Though he doesn’t end up getting axed, Greg sides with Kendall, giving him access to the incriminating documents. It is these papers that give Kendall the ammunition he needs to take the shot at his father. Kendall drives away from the presser, Greg in tow.
Logan Roy
Of course, there’s still Logan. And, if two seasons of Succession have taught us anything, it’s that he is not to be underestimated. However, after helicoptering onto the yacht to run his version of Survivor, Logan can't make the decision on his own and asks his family and advisors to make the hard choice for him. Of course, his own suggestion to step down is purely performative. When he eventually picks Kendall (mind you, at Shiv’s suggestion), it’s all just seems a tad too easy.
Logan’s relationship is also strained. After he names Rhea (with whom he had an affair) successor to the CEO seat, Logan’s marriage with his third wife, Marcia, fractures. Even after the deal with Rhea explodes, Marcia is nowhere to be found and Logan sleeps alone in the finale.
Season two ended with Logan and the rest of the Roys watching Kendall’s press conference. As Kendall betrays him, Logan watches the scene unfold, wearing a slight smile that just, almost, looks a little like pride.
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