The third season of HBO’s Succession concluded Dec. 12 after nine episodes of family drama, deceit and more quick-witted insults than most people could handle. The opening action of the season follows Kendall Roy attempting to overthrow his father, Logan, as CEO of the family business after he was used as a scapegoat for a company scandal in the season two finale.

Each shareholder in the company and member of the extended Roy family weighs which side of the strife they want to be on, and which will keep them out of the most trouble with all of the main players choosing to stay with Logan.

As the season progresses Logan continues to search for someone who will be a worthy successor to him, giving more opportunities to his other children, Roman and Shiv, only for them to be squandered.

Finally, Logan comes to the decision to have the family company bought out by a tech streaming company called GoJo. The deal would allow Logan to keep his title and assets but all three children would be cut out of the business.

When Shiv realizes what is happening she convinces Roman to finally team up with Kendall and unite the siblings to vote down the deal. Shiv tells her husband, Tom Wambsgans, about the plan, but fails to provide a clear role for him in the new company, making him nervous that without Logan he could be sent to prison for his role in the cruise scandal.

Tom makes the decision to betray his wife, something she has not been shy to do either, and alerts Logan of the children’s plan. That extra time enables Logan to officially take away voting power from the children and secures their positions as outsiders in the company as the season concludes.

Overall, the show’s third season continued to build on what the first two had done, focusing on family conflicts and political maneuvering in a world that is equally high stakes as the motivations of the characters are shallow.

Just like the first two seasons the writing and dialogue in the third season is compelling and comedic with many quotable phrases. The acting is still as strong as ever with almost every character coming off as almost entirely unlikeable and equally troubled, just as intended.
In the next season, the sibling trio of Kendall, Roman and Shiv will either be forced to work together after being left out in the dry or come crawling back to the person in the company who betrayed them.

With Logan coming off a huge win he will be as confident as ever, along with Tom and cousin Greg who remain in the good graces of Logan for the time being. The newly-married Connor Roy also secures a win by default after being the only child of Logan who did not work to betray him, although he will likely continue on his hopeless quest to become the next president of the United States.

With half of the characters in positions of power, and the other half as desperate as ever, it is setting up for the next season to be as action-packed and chaotic as ever.

Edited by Alyssa Storm