‘Succession’ Season 4 Review: The Roys Return in Fighting Form With Outstanding Performances and a Satisfying Story

Succession returns this weekend with the Season 4 premiere, kicking off what will be the hit HBO show’s final run of episodes. The end of the series came as a shock last month, with many of the cast and crew expressing mixed opinions about the end of this particular era. As all things end, Succession series creator Jesse Armstrong is ensuring that this captivating series goes out on its own terms with a solid finish.

The drama series follows the incredibly wealthy Roy family at the top of one of the world’s largest media and entertainment conglomerates. After suffering a stroke in Season 1, domineering patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is expected to choose which of his children he’ll leave his empire to, all four of whom have each been vying for the position—and their father’s love—with varying degrees intensity over the course of the show’s first three seasons. Season 3 ended with all three of Logan’s most likely successors ousted from their positions as next in line after their plot to overthrow him was thwarted.

With Logan set to sell the company, leaving Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Roman (Kieran Culkin) with as much nothing as you can leave three incredibly rich business tycoons, Season 4 is poised to see this trio go head to head with the father they both love and hate. Having seen the first four episodes of Succession Season 4, I can confidently say that the show will be going out strong. The upcoming episodes are some of the show’s most engaging and well-crafted, and the series is taking everything that it does well and ramping it up for the show’s final outing.

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Right off the bat, the Succession cast is delivering some truly spectacular performances in Season 4 with the full ensemble in top form. It’s obvious that this is a collective that has been working closely together for years at this point, with each of them bouncing off of each other in even snappier ways, gelling together in a way that makes every conversation compelling. Stand-outs in these early episodes are certainly Snook and Culkin; Shiv is still reeling from Tom’s (Matthew Macfadyen) betrayal in the Season 3 finale, and watching her deal with the fallout of that while attempting to build something new with her brothers is a delicate balancing act that only Snook can pull off. Meanwhile, Roman appears to be more capable than ever following the exposure of his fascination with Gerri (J. Smith Cameron), and Culkin adds a captivating level of nuance to each of his scenes in Season 4. Without spoiling anything, Snook and Culkin in particular deliver some of their best work of the entire series.

With the Roy siblings united against Logan after what happened in Italy, it’s extremely satisfying to see the trio of Kendall, Shiv, and Roman working together for a change — and to see them hold their own against the monolith that is their father. While the Roys are still obviously center stage in Season 4, some of the show’s more secondary characters also really get a chance to shine. Eldest Roy child Connor is often sidelined by his more business-minded siblings, but Alan Ruck will make sure you remember him as Connor goes full tilt in his bid for the presidency. Succession Season 4 also gives some juicy moments to Cameron’s Gerri and Zoe Winters‘ Kerry, both of whom eat up every line of dialogue they’re given.

Cox is as imposing as ever as Logan Roy, making you both loathe and pity the old bastard. Meanwhile, Nicholas Braun continues to provide a hilarious and endearing balance to the absolute power of the rest of the family. Watching cousin Greg continue to stumble his way into a life of luxury should cure you of experiencing imposter syndrome ever again. Macfadyen also delivers some great moments as the ever-waffling Tom Wambsgans that’ll make you reconsider actually taking him seriously. Strong’s return to Kendall Roy is seamless, making it clear that this character lives in his bones. Across the board, every character on Succession is truly coming into their own. They’re each more dimensional and more confident in who they are, and it makes for a richer season and even more dynamic storytelling.

Succession Season 4 is telling a more cohesive story than ever before, with all the threads weaving together quite nicely. The result is a season that is even more engaging than its predecessors, leaving you hanging on every word of snappy dialogue. Succession has always been a deceptively emotional series, with people who don’t watch the show absolutely baffled by the lengthy dissections that fans can pull from single shots from key moments. Season 4 takes that even further, with deeper performances that enrich the relationships between nearly every combination of characters. It’s evident that Armstrong and the rest of the writers for this final season are telling this story with intention and clarity, picking up on the foundation they laid through the first three seasons to give these final episodes as much impact as possible. Every detail enhances the story; from the writing to the directing, it’s a thrilling time to be a fly on the walls of Waystar Royco. While it’s definitely difficult to accept that Season 4 of Succession will be the last, it feels like Armstrong is shepherding the series toward a satisfying conclusion.

The core of what we find so fascinating about Succession is stronger than ever in Season 4. The series works because we as a society are genuinely obsessed with gossip, messiness, and drama. The Roys may be some of the most despicable people on Earth, but they move through life with little to no shame, and we love them for it. Season 4 of Succession is extremely well-balanced, with moments of humor peppered throughout a dramatic, twist-and-turn-filled narrative that will leave you eager for more. HBO excels at watercooler television, and although this series is a vast tonal shift from recent Sundays dominated by The Last of Us, when Succession returns it’ll feel like you’ve stepped right onto another emotional rollercoaster, one that you keep coming back to over and over because it’s just that good. These are episodes that you won’t want to miss, with moves that’ll have you picking apart the Roy family dynamics week to week and dying to see who’ll win the rat race to the top.

Rating: A

Succession returns on Sunday, March 26 at 10 PM ET on HBO and HBO Max.