Succession: Who Is Going To Be Logan Roy’s Successor?

I think there really is only one thematic choice. Succession is coming to a grand finale this year as the 4-season question of who will succeed the legendary Logan Roy will be answered in the upcoming weeks.

Before I answer who will be the next Waystar Royco tycoon, let me just praise Succession as the very best TV show on air today.

Yeah, there’s obvious a lot of candidates to take the title as “Best TV Show on Air Today”, such as Outer Banks, Yellowjacket, The Last of Us, Ted Lasso, Perry Mason, etc., but I don’t think even these great shows can lay a glove on Succession and its utterly bonkers, complex, intriguing, and fascinating character dynamics.

Not only does the show possess some of the most complex, interesting, funny, and best-written characters in the last ten years (ex: Logan Roy, Kendall Roy, Siobhan Roy, Roman Roy, Conor Roy, Greg Hirsch, Tom Wambsgans, etc.), but it also excels in emphasizing these characters’ prestigious, wealthy lifestyles and standings through the simplistic cinematography style.

Due to the “shaky-cam”, “out-of-shot frames”, “awkward focusing”, etc., all shots that’d normally be shunned in high-level filmmaking, camera angles and shots in Succession, us viewers are almost able to picture ourselves inside the world of Succession as the camera shots make it seem we’re a “fly on the wall”, so to speak.

And, when you pair such immersive editing and cinematography with tremendous acting, direction, set design and writing, the greatness of Succession is even more apparent.

Sorry for that little tangent, but I just had to get it out how much I love this show. It’s honestly the best show I’ve seen since Veep or seasons 1-4 of Game of Thrones.

Nevertheless, back to the topic at hand, the person who I think will succeed Logan Roy as the next chairmen and CEO of Waystar Royco is…Cousin Greg. Obviously.

Kendall said it best when he called Greg “a Machiavellian Fu*k”, a “human tapeworm”, and the “world’s biggest fu*cking parasite” as even though Greg is the most hilarious awkward, unironically funny character on the show, he’s also the second-most ruthless person too. Just behind Logan, of course.

From the very first minutes of the series, Greg was introduced as a lying manipulator (aka: lying to his mom about getting fired) who had no qualms about lying to whomever to advance his own position, which is exactly what he’s done since becoming employed at Waystar.

Sure, his early lies and deceptions weren’t that big, such as lying to his mom about getting fired, “forgetting” the trust papers for Roman at the hospital, but the stuff he’s been doing since has been downright Machiavellian.

He coldly (in his own goofy way) betrayed his grandfather’s trust by signing onto the Waystar lawyer pact, he blackmailed Tom by keeping the Cruise documents, he betrayed Tom by ratting on him to Gerri when he wanted to clear his name and go public, he betrayed Logan and the main Roy family by giving said documents to Kendall at the end of Season 2, he played both sides of the Kendall vs. Logan fight during Season 3, and he positioned himself as de-facto 3rd in line of command through his “deal with the devil” with Tom after Logan “exiled” the children from Waystar.

He may seem like a clanky, lanky, shy, and awkward stooge, which his is for the most part, but he’s actually the most brilliant member of the Roy family. And I might actually even put him ahead of Logan nowadays (not during Logan’s prime) as the patriarch not only can become incapacitated (the stroke in Season 1, the UTI in Season 3), but he also could have been beaten a few times by the kids due to his arrogance and boisterous nature.

Remember, the only reason why he was able to sell Waystar (if that is what happens) without the kids’ authorization was because Tom betrayed Shiv, not anything Logan offered or persuaded in the first place. I’m sure Logan did actually offer Tom something when he told him about the sale authorization clause in the divorce settlement, but Tom only did so due to Shiv’s emotional cruelty, disinterest, and unfaithfulness towards him.

If Shiv was just a tad bit nicer to Tom, then we’d have seen Logan’s plans blow up in his face.

In fact, as far as I’m aware (I might be forgetting something), Greg has never actually been “outplayed” in the game yet.

And, with Greg being more than capable and willing to betray Tom (which he already has done many times), I’m willing to bet he’ll betray Tom once again to the point Tom’s career cancer (aka: Cruises) turns fatal, thus leading to Logan recognizing Greg’s ruthless maneuvering and name Gregg Egg as his true successor.

As Greg said in Season 1, “I’m a Roy in all but name.”

PS: I almost forget to mention Conor Roy was interested in politics from a very young age.

Images Source: Featured Image: (HBO/Warner Bros. Discovery) (Succession Season 4 | Official Trailer | HBO Max – YouTube)

In Text Image 1: (HBO/Warner Bros. Discovery) (Succession Season 4 | Official Trailer | HBO Max – YouTube)

In Text Image 2: (HBO/Warner Bros. Discovery) (Succession Season 4 | Official Trailer | HBO Max – YouTube)