Is Logan’s Afterlife Question in ‘Succession’ Season 4 Foreshadowing the End?

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Season 4 of Succession.Over the course of Succession‘s first three seasons, one thing that Logan Roy (Brian Cox) has made abundantly clear is that he is not an emotionally vulnerable person. The Season 3 finale left viewers with quite a few cliffhangers, with one of the biggest being how Logan’s kids would fare without him. But, due to the nature of the Logan we’ve all come to know, it wasn’t so curious what he would do without his kids. While Succession blows up the Roys every season, Logan’s feet always remain firmly planted on the ground. Yet in the Season 4 premiere, his surprising scene with Colin (Scott Nicholson) in the diner proves that losing his kids has shaken him to his core. Logan’s newfound concerns about humanity and the afterlife have something important to say about his relationship with his kids, but they may also have something to say about the series finale and the future of the family.

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Logan Is Straying From His Usual MO

No matter what happens to Logan Roy, he never seems visibly vulnerable; in fact, he tends to appear untouchable. Regardless of how someone betrays him or turns their back on him, he’s content to utter a simple yet firm “f*** off” and send them on their way. In the Season 3 finale, his reaction to the tense goings-on was really no different, despite the high stakes. Logan’s kids conspired against him and betrayed him; the people who he had planned at various different times to ultimately take over for him were all firmly against him and out of the running. It was the kind of instance that would have sent most parents into a spiral, and yet, it wasn’t particularly surprising that Logan showed nothing but fleeting anger. After all, this seems to be Logan’s typical response to whatever comes his way. Yet, in the moment, Logan’s reaction to losing his children seemed in line with his normal behavior, the Season 4 premiere gave us reason to believe that maybe this season will be graced with a patriarch who’s a bit different from the same old Logan.

By now, it’s obvious to all of us that love is not one of the more important things to the Roy family. Who could forget Logan saying “you come for me with love?” to Roman (Kieran Culkin) in that final scene of the Season 3 finale? Love doesn’t tend to be a priority for the Roy family, and Logan, in particular, finds it to be a waste of time. Yet, the entirety of this season’s first episode showed viewers a side of Logan that we’re not used to seeing. From escaping his own birthday party to eat at a diner to asking his employees to roast him, he seems restless and ill at ease with the state of things. This Logan seemed more curious, more interested in feeling something, and more in search of meaning in his life.

The scene where Logan confided in Colin struck this chord particularly well. The actions of those around him have finally had an emotional effect on him, and he knows just how far he had to be pushed to get there. He can no longer skate by on his own confidence and station in life alone, and that means he’ll have to grapple with some thoughts he’s surely been avoiding. Beyond the search for meaning that was prompted by the loss of his children in his life, Logan is also lonely in a way that’s glaring. The premiere finds him wandering aimlessly at his birthday party which was packed to the brim of acquaintances, colleagues, and even a complete stranger who asks him for a selfie, which shows just how shallow and unfulfilling his life has really become – even to someone who never had nearly the need for connection that most others do.

Seeing Logan like this is poignant because while he was always a multidimensional character, he had still established himself as someone who couldn’t really be emotionally affected by others. He’s now asking what the purpose of humanity is, telling employees that they are his friends, and even trying to force those around him to roast him, effectively inviting them to his level and doing away with the persistent power dynamic that has forced him into this lonely state in the first place.

Logan’s Musings About the Afterlife Have a Special Importance

As Logan discusses the likelihood of life after death with Colin, it’s evident that he’s worried, on some level, that he’s failed. He’s wondering what the point of it all is. He’s questioning, if he’s found himself in a place in his life where no one actually cares for him and his own children are fixated on bringing him down, then what is he left with? Just because Logan is feeling like these questions are feeling glaringly unanswered doesn’t mean that he is no longer who he is. So, as he voices his existential questions to Colin, one of the few people who hasn’t abandoned him – albeit out of professional duty – he’s still faced with the truths that he’s believed for his entire life. When he asks, “What are people?” he ultimately answers himself: “They’re economic units. I’m 100 feet tall.”

While Logan has always felt untouchable to those around him and us viewers alike, he doesn’t want to be untouchable anymore. He adds, “Everything I try to do, people turn against me.” Logan’s children have broken through his once impenetrable exterior, and he’s waving his white flag as he asks for someone to stand by him. Throughout the episode, he emphasizes that if those around him won’t grow to 100 feet tall to get face-to-face with him, then he’d be willing to shrink.

What Does This Mean for the Succession?

The series is, of course, called Succession, and while the interpersonal relationships of it all often take precedence over who will ultimately end up in charge, who will take over for Logan is still the series’ central question. In fact, the show began with the question being asked a bit more pointedly as Logan’s kids deliberated about his successor while he lay unconscious in a hospital bed. From the Season 1 premiere on, anyone could have predicted that Succession would ultimately end with Logan’s death and his successor taking over. Yet, Season 4’s premiere has dared to face this head-on.

Logan knows he’s getting older, and despite his insistence over the course of the past few seasons that he’s not ready to step down, he’s beginning to reckon with reality. He no longer even has the luxury of answering the question that’s been asked as long as the series has run. Which one of his children will take over the family business isn’t an issue if none of them is interested. So, as the series’ central question slips out of view just as it slips out of Logan’s grasp, perhaps the relationships of this story are what matters. If this new version of Logan was given the chance to pose the question, “you come for me with love?” he likely wouldn’t be so quick to shut the concept down.

Whether Succession will end with Logan’s death and a successor taking over remains to be seen, but the question is on Logan’s mind just as much as it is on ours as viewers. As Logan continues to grapple with losing everyone in a fight for power, it’s time to reevaluate what his succession really means and what it is that he’s built in his life. Instead of wondering who will take over when he’s gone, Logan is wondering if anyone will want to, and the time may be coming for him to take steps to change the answer to that question.

New episodes of Succession Season 4 premiere every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.