Succession has become one of the most watched series on television. The sharp dialogue, fantastic performances, and dynamic characters all blend together to make one of the greatest shows currently on TV. The series follows the Roy family who own one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. They are led by the fierce and ruthless Logan Roy (Brian Cox), who runs his company with precision and treats business like a war. All of the Roy children have complicated relationships with their father and no one ever knows what will happen next for the Waystar company or the Roy family.
Season 3 of Succession recently premiered and audiences were introduced to even more great characters including billionaire Josh Aaronson (Adrien Brody) and tech founder Lukas Mattson (Alexander Skarsgard). The series is a perfect glimpse into the luxurious lifestyle of the one percent, and the heartless business tactics that they must carry out to gain and keep that level of success. Succession was recently nominated for five Golden Globe awards, deservingly so. The series, which was executive produced by Will Ferrell and Adam Mckay, gives audiences a perfect blend of riveting drama and black comedy. While there are several powerful characters, let’s take a look at the six most powerful characters of Succession.
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5 Roman Roy
Although Roman Roy (Keiran Culkin) may be goofy, sarcastic, and immature, he is without question a driving force for Waystar and the Roy family. In season 1, we see Logan confide in Roman to learn what is going on in the company while Kendall is running the show. Logan informs Marcia (Hiam Abbass) that Roman is, infact, very smart and intuitive. When trying to gain the business from Rob Yang (Lawrence Yee) and his company Vaulter, Kendall sends Roman to the task because of his bubbly personality and to-the-point business skills. Although in the beginning of the series Roman didn’t have much interest in the Waystar corporation, all that has changed and by the end of season three, we watch Roman, along with his siblings, finally try to take down Logan for control of the company. The future for Roman is obviously very bright and fans are eager to see what is next for him.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
4 Nan Pierce
Nan Pierce (Cherry Jones) is the smart, prosperous owner of PGM and the leader of the Pierce Family. In season 2, we watch as Logan desperately attempts to gain the business from Pierce and her media company. Logan goes through great lengths to establish a good repor with Pierce, including rehiring Frank Vernon (Peter Friedman), who is very close with Pierce. In season 2, Logan attempts to solidify the business agreement between Waystar and PGM at a business conference, and after Pierce learns that Rhea Jarrell (Holly Hunter) has been confiding with Logan, she decides to pull out on the deal. We watch a broken Logan chase after Pierce’s car, proving that Pierce is a business person with so much power, that she has the ability to break Logan Roy, a feat that is in no way easy.
3 Siobhan “Shiv” Roy
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Shiv (Sarah Snook) is a powerful figure in both politics and business. Throughout season one and season two, we watch Shiv as she takes on a political career outside of the family business. By season two, she is promoted to the chief of staff of Gil Eavis’s presidentical campaign. Logan even considers giving the role of CEO of Waystar to Shiv, proving her business capabilities and intellect. In season two, Nan Pierce offers her business to Logan on the condition that Shiv would be announced as his successor, further proving that a business person on the level of Pierce would put her trust into Shiv running the company. By the end of season three, we watch as Shiv and her siblings try to regain control of the company, showing that there is still a lot to be unfolded in Shiv’s rise to power.
2 Kendall Roy
Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) has been facing off with Logan since episode one. He came very close to using a majority vote to kick out Logan in season one, and at the ending of season three, he came close once again. The finale leaves off with Kendall and his siblings facing off against their father once again to kill Logan’s deal with GoJo, and win ownership of the company. Logan of course comes out on top, but we now know that Kendall has his siblings behind them and with that much power, anything could happen in season four. In season two, we watched Kendall walk into the Vaulter offices and single handedly shut down an entire company. The sheer power that it takes to do something like that is unbelievable. We were able to take a look at the more ruthless side of Kendall, and even though he may not have full control of Waystar, he is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
1 Logan Roy
Logan Roy came from humble beginnings in Scotland and turned a small advertising company into the fifth largest media conglomerate in the world. He is without question the most powerful character in the series. Logan uses fear and intimidation to constantly keep his crown as CEO of Waystar. In season one, his son Kendall attempts to use a majority vote to kick Logan out of the company, but fails miserably due to Logan’s fierce business tactics. Logan refuses to leave the room, after he was told to do so, and intimidates many of the board members into voting in his favor. He utters the phrase, “Is that the best you’ve got” to Kendall and keeps his throne in his company. At the end of season one, after Kendal was involved with the death of a catering waiter at Shiv’s and Tom’s (Matthew Macfadyen) wedding, he turns to his father for help. Logan calmly takes his son into his arms and tells him not to worry and that he will take care of everything, proving that a person with that much power can even make a crime disappear.
