‘Succession’ Season 4: Connor Needs to Side With His Siblings Against Logan

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from Season 4 Episode 1 of Succession.The premiere of Succession Season 4, sets up the final episodes to be the most contentious yet. The power team that is Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Roman (Kieran Culkin) for the first time seem to be relatively on the same page when it comes to taking down Logan (Brian Cox) and his loyalists, thereby preventing a sale of the company to Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård). The sides of the battle are clearly defined from the jump, and it will be interesting to see if they stay that way throughout. However, there is one piece to this puzzle that hasn’t quite fit in anywhere yet: Connor Roy (Alan Ruck). Lacking the interest in the business that his siblings and father have, Connor has spent much of the past being a minor character in the show. With clear divisions in the family, it’s time he, and his farce of a political campaign, choose a side. Unless that is, his campaign has already chosen a side for him.

Is Connor’s Campaign Going Well?

The idea of Connor running for office started as a joke in Season 2. By the midway point in Season 3, specifically, Episode 6 titled “What It Takes” the Roy family is seen deliberating who they want to promote for president using their vast media empire. Eventually, the family decides to endorse Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk), a controversial candidate to say the least. If Waystar Royco proves that it can have an influence on the election, specifically by getting their man to win, it will do a lot for their pending sale to Mattson. This hasn’t stopped Connor from maintaining his campaign based on the stance of being against taxes or anything else that could harm accumulated wealth. Connor’s supporters, deemed “Conheads”, make up most of his polling numbers, which sit at around one percent of voters. Considering, Season 4 takes place close to the election cycle, you would think Connor would give up the race, seeing as he is doing so poorly. Delightfully for viewers, that isn’t the case, and the decision to maintain a costly public campaign may cost Logan big time.

Most of the updates to Connor’s campaign the audience gets is through pieces of conversation that he has with Logan or his fiancee Willa (Justine Lupe). In Episode 1 of Season 4, Connor is mulling over the idea that he may have to inject another $100 million into the campaign in order to take the stage rather than lose his hold on 1% and be forced to drop out. If this alone doesn’t speak to both the hopelessness of Connor’s campaign and the delusional state of mind he has regarding it, what does? His biggest supporter, Willa, is even put off by this knowledge, especially when it’s suggested that their wedding plans change in order for Connor to keep his political traction. He suggests adding a level of “hoopla” to the wedding in order to drum up more support, an idea Willa doesn’t seem to thrilled with but is likely to provide a high entertainment value for us at home. The fact even Willa is hesitant to the idea, even though she has arguably pushed him into this campaign more than anyone, is indicative that the ship is already taking on too much water. His siblings would normally be chirping him at every opportunity to maybe dissuade him from continuing, but they haven’t been laying it on as harshly. Maybe they see an advantage to this whole campaign and consider it Connor’s contribution to their take-down of Logan.

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

How Connor’s Campaign is Good for Team Roy Kids

With the first episode centered around the acquisition of a rival media company from the Pierce family, the two sides of the Roy divide seem to have their hands full. Connor’s campaign may be just a gnat in the ear of Logan for now, but it could spell disaster in the near future, especially considering the upcoming election. Waystar Royco’s “chosen” nominee, Mencken, is getting the real support from Logan. That being said, it will be an easy target for critics to point to the continuing Connor Roy campaign as a family divided. The further Connor is able to maintain his campaigning in the public eye, the more damage it would do to Logan’s reputation as a father and media mogul. Combine that with what is definitely going to be a public relations nightmare of a wedding, and some real embarrassment will come to the company. The Roy kids have always tried to paint Logan as unfit to lead Waystar Royco and Connor’s campaign could be used as proof of that fact when they do make their move against him.

With the Roy kids seemingly victorious in the bidding for Pierce, they will have their own legacy media company to use against Logan. Considering Logan’s need for their candidate to win the upcoming election, any and all factors that could take away from that victory are dangerous for both Logan and his position as head of Waystar Royco. Kendall, Shiv, and Roman do not need to necessarily convince Connor to join them in their crusade against Logan. It’s better that they let him live in his self-indulgence and delusion because every day that his campaign is still running, it is to the detriment of Logan and the company. If the aim is to take down Logan as head of the company then gathering every and any weapon they can to accomplish that is necessary. There doesn’t need to be an official recruiting of Connor to their cause because he is already playing the best part he can play in all of this. The Roy kids’ interests are converging without Connor even realizing it. At this point, even monetary support from the kids could be a thinly veiled tactic to keep the campaign running and maximize the embarrassment for Logan.

With nine episodes left in this final season of the show, the question of where Connor will fit into the scramble for power over Waystar Royco will be answered. Already a confirmed episode title for Episode 3 of this season will be titled “Connor’s Wedding” and there are high hopes that his place in this battle will be more clear by then, hoopla or not. Between that and the election that has already been set up as a key element to the season, how the final episodes will play out is anyone’s guess.