Editors Note: This article contains major spoilers for Succession Season 4 Episode 3, "Connor's Wedding."
Ever since Succession premiered back in 2018 its premise was based on the threat of a single event taking place and changing the power dynamic in the Roy family. Last night during the third episode of the series' final season, that event took place, and Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is finally dead. The founder and owner of Waystar Royco passed away inside his private jet, and his kids were nowhere near him as they were getting ready for Connor's (Alan Ruck) wedding. In one of the most emotional episodes in the entire show, the Roy siblings have to face the fact their emotionally unavailable father will no longer be around.
After they hold a press conference to inform the world about their father's sudden death, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Roman (Kieran Culkin) shared an unusually wholesome moment as the three siblings embraced each other in a hug. For once, they weren't fighting with each other, or throwing snarky remarks at one another. As three terrified children who don't know where to go next, the Roys simply held each other before the forthcoming storm of grief. During a recent interview with GQ, the episode's director, Mark Mylod, explained how that moment wasn't in the script, and was in fact improvised by the actors:
"In the same way, one of my favourite moments in the episode just happened, too. Right at the end of the episode when Sarah's character has just done the press briefing, and the three of them fall into this three-way hug before going their separate ways. That wasn’t in the script. But Sarah's character and Jeremy's character holding hands that was in the script, and it killed me on the day. Any time we just get that window into their childhood is such a lovely thing. It just deepens our connection to those characters and our understanding of them."
While fans of the series might have expected Logan to die eventually due to the entire premise of Succession, it was very unpredictable to have it taking place this week, with seven episodes to go until the upcoming series finale. The crew behind the production of the acclaimed HBO drama had to work very carefully to ensure that the twist wouldn't leak on the internet. Even Brian Cox himself was a part of that strategy, as the actor went to the set of his own character's funeral to avoid raising suspicion regarding what was actually going on. Nevertheless, Logan is no longer a player in the game, and his children have almost an entire season's worth of television to figure out their next steps.
What's Next for the Roy Family?
While the death of Logan will certainly have a direct effect on every member of the Roy family, there are plenty of issues that need to be resolved before the show comes to a close. It is no secret that some of the main characters have destructive tendencies that make them their own enemies, but that doesn't mean there isn't room to improve. After all, if Tom (Matthew McFadyen) was able to take himself more seriously during more recent episodes, what's stopping Greg (Nicholas Braun) from getting his act together and finally moving out of his family's shadow?
You can check out the official trailer for the rest of Succession's final season below, before the series finale airs on May 14: