In Succession, Roman Has Just Disqualified Himself From The Roys' Fight For Power
Of the four Roy siblings, which one was Logan's favorite? The two obvious choices are Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Shiv (Sarah Snook). For Kendall, the argument is clear: He was the one trained from a young age to take over the company, whose name Logan (allegedly) underlined in his will. If it weren't for Kendall's addiction issues and his constant rebellions against his father, he'd be the obvious pick to take over the company. Sure, Logan did say in the season 2 finale that he was disappointed Kendall was "not a killer," but Logan's seemingly proud reaction to Kendall's later betrayal implies he always thought Kendall had the potential to be one.
But a strong case can also be made for Shiv. Logan gives her the most affectionate nickname (Pinky) of all his kids, and it's been established through scattered bits of dialogue that she's the only kid Logan never physically abused. In the season 3 premiere, Kendall tells his siblings that Logan would've set any of them up as the fall guy if it benefited him, with one possible exception. "Shiv, I don't know," he admits. "I don't know, maybe." But whatever soft spot Logan might have for Shiv, it's undercut by the fact he didn't seem to ever seriously consider letting her run the company when he was gone. He had more affection for Shiv but a little more respect for Kendall, and it's debatable which of these two qualities matters more in the long run.
But what about Roman (Kieran Culkin)? Throughout most of the show, he was clearly ranked third amongst Logan's favorites, thanks to the fact that he never really took anything seriously. But following that whole hostage situation in season 2, Roman began to make a case for himself.
Romulus's rise in the ranks
The end of season 2 featured Roman in a surprisingly serious, relatively grounded place. He impresses Logan by giving his thoughtful, honest impression of a business deal's merits, spends most of season 3 competing with Shiv in the favorite sibling contest, and holds his own better than expected.
It's often noted that the first three seasons of "Succession" serve as a trilogy of sorts, each one shining a spotlight on one Roy sibling in particular. Season 1 was clearly Kendall's season, following him as his relationship with Logan falls apart and he sabotages every chance at winning. Season 2 shifts the spotlight onto Shiv, and season 3 does the same for Roman, who's formed a promising alliance with Gerri and proven himself as a good deal negotiator.
But like Kendall and Shiv before him, Roman starts spiraling the moment being named successor becomes a legitimate possibility. The episode with Kendall's birthday party is Roman with his ego completely unchecked, and he's shown to be just as mean-spirited and cruel as Logan. So it's fitting that in the very next episode, he accidentally sends a dick pic to his father, possibly the most embarrassing moment in a show that's already full of them.
But then Logan died in season 4, and the question of who Logan liked most became irrelevant. When it comes to who will be CEO by the end of the series, the contest now relies on which Roy sibling is the smartest and most ruthless. Morality means nothing — it's whoever can be the coldest and most cunning that will win out in the end. And by the end of episode 8 "America Decides," it almost seemed like Roman was on top.
Flying too close to the sun
"America Decides" is this show at its darkest, as the Roy siblings end up aiding a fascist coup as a mere strategy to back out of a business deal. The episode has Roman and Shiv fighting to get Kendall to their side, and Roman clearly wins. He forcefully pushes the narrative in Mencken's favor, succeeding by a sheer willingness to do and say whatever dishonest thing needs to be done to get his way. Some fans expected this episode to be the one where Roman's ego would finally be reined in, but instead, it grew even worse.
And rather than being taught that he can't just do everything he wants without consequences, the events of "America Decides" give Roman the exact opposite lesson: he can do whatever destructive thing he feels like doing, and nobody can touch him. The Roman of this episode feels closer to Logan than any of the siblings ever have — the theory that Roman would win in the fight to be successor had never been stronger.
Then this week's eulogy happened in episode 9 "Church and State." After several episodes of nonchalantly offering to give a speech at his father's funeral, and after an opening scene where Roman overconfidently rehearses it to himself while getting dressed, Roman's actual speech ends up being a sad, awkward disaster, one that's firmly kicked him out of the race for CEO forever.
This may seem like a cruel interpretation — a normal person would surely never hold it against a man for crying at his father's funeral — but Roman's breakdown doesn't happen in front of normal people. It happens in a crowd of cutthroat businessmen, people who interpret this as an unforgivable sign of weakness.
The problem with electing a fascist
That's certainly how Mencken (Justin Kirk) seems to view the situation, at least. The thing about genuine fascists, which the show has continually made clear Mencken, is that they place a lot of stock in the idea of traditional masculine strength. A man is supposed to be unflappably stoic, and Roman's attempt at a eulogy was anything but.
Now, Mencken only seems interested in Kendall and Shiv, two characters who mostly hold themselves together throughout their own eulogies. Not only that, but they basically spend half of the speeches praising Logan for being a closed-off, powerful man. Even from a liberal Shiv, this is a message far more palatable to Mencken than Roman's meltdown.
Even for the other guys at the company, like Karl and Frank, Roman loudly crying has killed any sway Roman might've had over them. Gerri chides them for laughing at a recording of Roman's meltdown, but the bridge with Gerri has already long since been burned. Going into the "Succession" finale, what ally does Roman even have left? The only one on his team is Kendall, who's already planning to cut him out and take sole leadership of the company.
In that final scene where Roman jumps into the crowd of angry protestors, some fans may have worried that someone might try to kill him. Considering how the leaks to the press indicated he swung the election, it wouldn't be hard to imagine this exact thing happening in another, slightly-less-grounded show. But in terms of his successor odds, his surviving that encounter is irrelevant. His chances of being CEO are dead now, and Roman himself knows it.
Was Roman ever truly a contender?
It's fitting that the penultimate episode of "Succession" season 4 removes Roman from the chess board because I've always felt that Roman didn't belong there in the first place. From that very first episode, when Roman tears up a million-dollar check to mock a random working-class boy, I've always considered Roman to be a step below Kendall and Shiv. These two are capable of being serious people sometimes — Roman isn't.
Whereas it's possible to imagine Kendall and Shiv having somewhat successful careers even if they'd been born in a normal working-class family, it doesn't seem like Roman would be anything at all without the Roy name behind him. The guy only began to sort of take himself seriously once he was deep into his thirties, being handed a Chief Operating Officer job despite having zero qualifications. Shiv made a name for herself in politics and Kendall actually learned a lot of the ins and outs of his industry. Roman barely tried at anything until halfway through season 2.
Where things go from here
In a lot of ways, Roman benefitted from the audience's low expectations. Shiv and Kendall both try to present themselves as good people, so when their selfishness and out-of-touch nature shines through, it's easy to interpret this as the "real" version of them, invalidating all their claims of decency. Meanwhile, Roman presents himself as a slimy bad guy 90% of the time, so when a more sympathetic side of him reveals itself, it feels like we're looking past the douchey façade and getting to see the "real" him, which is a lot more flattering.
But part of what makes "Succession" so great is that none of what the characters do and say is 100% fake. As Vonnegut once wrote, "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Roman's pretended to be little more than the meanspirited court jester for most of his life, and in the show's final few episodes, he's been dismissed as a joke.
The final fifteen minutes of "Church and State" set up a compelling endgame: Kendall is about to go all in on establishing himself as the sole CEO, whereas Shiv is going all in on making a deal with Mencken/Matsson to get herself her own CEO role. It'll likely be a bitter and bloody fight, one that'll end with one (or both) of them devastated in the aftermath.
The "Succession" finale is going to be an eventful one for these two Roys — but for Roman? He'll be on the sidelines, less relevant than even Connor, who at least has an ambassador position lined up for him. It's not the ending Roman would want for himself, but it's still far better than he deserves.