The fourth and final season of the American satirical comedy-drama television series Succession premiered on HBO on March 26, 2023. Series creator Jesse Armstrong serves as the showrunner for the season. The series centers on the Roy family, the owners of global media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar RoyCo, and their fight for control of the company amidst uncertainty about the health of the family's patriarch.
The season features an ensemble cast of Nicholas Braun, Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, Dagmara Domińczyk, Peter Friedman, Justine Lupe, Matthew Macfadyen, David Rasche, Alan Ruck, J. Smith-Cameron, Sarah Snook, Fisher Stevens and Jeremy Strong, who all return from the previous season. Hiam Abbass and Arian Moayed, who appeared in a recurring capacity in the third season, are restored to the main cast, with Alexander Skarsgård also promoted to a main role; all three are credited in episodes where they appear only.
In October 2021, HBO renewed Succession for a fourth season, which was confirmed by Armstrong to be the final season in February 2023. Filming for the season began in June 2022, in New York City. Production later moved to Norway, Los Angeles and Barbados, and ended in early 2023. The season consists of ten episodes, an increase from the previous season, which had nine.
The season received critical acclaim, and was nominated for 27 Primetime Emmy Awards, the highest amount of the series. The season received six wins, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Culkin, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Snook, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Macfadyen, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Armstrong, and Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for Mark Mylod. The series finale was the most-watched episode of Succession.
Cast and characters
Main Nicholas Braun as Greg Hirsch Brian Cox as Logan Roy Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy Dagmara Domińczyk as Karolina Novotney Peter Friedman as Frank Vernon Justine Lupe as Willa Ferreyra Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans David Rasche as Karl Muller Alan Ruck as Connor Roy J. Smith-Cameron as Gerri Kellman Sarah Snook as Siobhan "Shiv" Roy Fisher Stevens as Hugo Baker Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy Arian Moayed as Stewy Hosseini Alexander Skarsgård as Lukas Matsson Hiam Abbass as Marcia Roy
Recurring Natalie Gold as Rava Roy Swayam Bhatia as Sophie Roy Larry Pine as Sandy Furness Zack Robidas as Mark Ravenhead James Cromwell as Ewan Roy Harriet Walter as Lady Caroline Collingwood Jeannie Berlin as Cyd Peach Patch Darragh as Ray Mark Linn-Baker as Maxim Pierce Zoë Winters as Kerry Castellabate Juliana Canfield as Jess Jordan Hope Davis as Sandi Furness Justin Kirk as Jeryd Mencken Pip Torrens as Peter Munion Kevin Changaris as Tellis Cynthia Mace as Sylvia Ferreyra Elliot Villar as Daniel Jiménez Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Oskar Guðjohnsen Eili Harboe as Ebba Brian Hotaling as Mark Rosenstock
Guest Quentin Morales as Iverson Roy Cherry Jones as Nan Pierce Annabelle Dexter-Jones as Naomi Pierce KeiLyn Durrel Jones as Remi Ryan Spahn as Coop Mary Birdsong as Marianne Hirsch Caitlin FitzGerald, who portrays Tabitha Hayes, was announced to appear in the season, however ultimately made no appearance.
Episodes
Production Development In June 2021, executive producer Georgia Pritchett commented that the series would not go beyond five seasons, and possibly would end after the fourth season. On October 26, 2021, HBO renewed the series for a fourth season. In December 2021, after season 3 had been completed and aired, Succession creator Jesse Armstrong met with executive producers and writers to discuss what shape future seasons would take. Armstrong contemplated splitting the story of season 4 into two separate seasons of six to eight episodes each. Instead, he opted to do "one last full-fat season rather than stretch it out". HBO was "generous" according to Armstrong in being open to more seasons of Succession if he were to take that route but Armstrong wanted to "do something a bit more muscular and complete, and go out sort of strong". Armstrong had been conscious of how the show might end since the development process on season 2 as "there's a promise in the title of Succession" that must be fulfilled in who will succeed Logan Roy at Waystar RoyCo. He "never thought this could go on forever". In an interview with The New Yorker on February 23, 2023, Armstrong confirmed that the series would conclude with the fourth season. He stated that while the season was not initially pitched as the series' last, "the decision to end solidified through the writing and even when we started filming: I said to the cast, 'I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think this is it.'" The season consists of ten episodes, an increase from the previous season.
Casting All main cast members return from the previous season, with Hiam Abbass and Arian Moayed, who only appeared in a recurring capacity in the third season, are restored to the main cast in the episodes they appear in. Alexander Skarsgård, who featured in a recurring role in the previous season, was promoted to the main cast for the season, and is also credited for the episodes he appears in only. In January 2023, it was announced that Adam Godley, Annabeth Gish, Eili Harboe and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson had been cast in the fourth season in a recurring capacity. Caitlin FitzGerald was set to return from season 2 as Tabitha Hayes. She was shown in season 4's promotional trailer but her planned appearance was cut in post-production editing.
Writing The writing for major story events for the final season of Succession such as the death of Logan Roy were being contemplated during the pre-production on season 3. Logan Roy actor Brian Cox was informed of his character's death by Armstrong prior to the start of production on the fourth season. While Cox was pleased to hear of the decision to kill off Logan and end the show after four seasons, he felt that Logan's death came "too early" in the season and felt "a little bit rejected". Writer Jesse Armstrong decided that Logan Roy should die early in the season rather than in the season finale as it would subvert audience expectations and the inconvenience of it happening during Connor's wedding celebrations adds to the tragedy. Armstrong wanted to show a sudden death in the modern age over a phone call rather than a tragic Shakespearean death. Mark Mylod, director of the episode "Connor's Wedding", highlighted the irony of members of a media empire who have to face the "frustration of trying to get the information" on what is happening with their father.
Filming Principal photography for season 4 began in New York City on June 27, 2022, with Mark Mylod directing the first episode. Mylod then directed three more of the ten episodes, with the others being directed by Becky Martin, Lorene Scafaria, Andrij Parekh, Lorene Scafaria, and directing team Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini. Patrick Capone served as cinematographer on 6 episodes and Katelin Arizmendi on 4 episodes. Los Angeles and New York City were the most prominent filming locations in addition to international locations.
Filming for "The Munsters" took place in Los Angeles. The San Onofre Estate in Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica was used as Kendall, Shiv and Roman's base of operations. The $83 million hilltop property has 20,000 square feet of living space. The Peabody Estate in Montecito, which was purchased by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt in 2020, was used as the Pierce family's California home.
Third episode "Connor's Wedding" was filmed on a docked yacht in New York Harbor and took place over the course of 13 days. The centerpiece of the episode is a yacht long take sequence that ran for 27-minutes where the Roy siblings learn over the phone of their father's death. As Succession is captured on 35mm film, the camera could only last 10 minutes before running out of film. To combat this, director Mark Mylod had the crew hide replacement camera magazines around the yacht, so as the camera moved during the scene, the camera could be hastily reloaded without interrupting filming. The actors were given little stage direction to inform their performance. For the scene where Kendall must look for Shiv on the yacht, Jeremy Strong was not told prior to filming where to find his co-star Sarah Snook, and Strong had to remain in character while genuinely searching for her amidst the crowd of extras. A stunt double was used as a stand-in for Brian Cox as there needed to be someone who could handle having their chest compressed for long periods of filming. One shot that visibly showed Logan Roy lying on the floor during chest compressions was created in post-production through compositing Brian Cox's head onto a body double.
In August, Roman Roy actor Kieran Culkin appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert after coming straight from the set of Succession still in costume. Culkin revealed that he had finished filming episodes 2 and 3 by that time and the cast had received early draft scripts for episode 4. "Honeymoon States" was filmed entirely in one location at Logan Roy's apartment at the American Irish Historical Society on Fifth Avenue which had been used since season one.
In October 2022, for the episode "Kill List", filming moved to Møre og Romsdal county and around the town of Åndalsnes in Norway. Locations included the Atlantic Ocean Road, Romsdalen Gondola, Eggen Restaurant, and Juvet Landscape Hotel, as part of a storyline involving Skarsgård's character. Los Angeles and Barbados also served as filming locations for the fourth season.
Sixth episode "Living+" filmed in Los Angeles where the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank stood in for Waystar's studio lot, which Roman visits; Warner Bros. is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of HBO. Most of "Tailgate Party" was filmed over the course of a week at a penthouse suite known as the "Issroff Residence" in Tower 270 in Tribeca, which has been used as Shiv and Tom's apartment since the series' second season. The siblings' lunch at the start of the episode was filmed on location at Jean-Georges, located inside the Trump International Hotel and Tower. The argument between Shiv and Tom was filmed before the incorporation of Shiv's pregnancy into the plot.
On January 16, 2023, during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, star Matthew Macfadyen stated: "We've got another month or so" left of filming. The final episode "With Open Eyes" was filmed on location in Barbados. The final scene in the episode with Kendall Roy was filmed in Battery Park.
Marketing On March 2, 2023, a promotional trailer for the season was released, foregrounding the conflict between Logan and his children after the climactic events of season 3. Writing for IGN, Francesca Rivera noted that the trailer mislead viewers by concealing of Logan's death in the third episode of the season, praising the trailer's inclusion of scenes from later episodes in conjunction with Logan's earlier appearances to imply his presence throughout the season. Following the third episode, a mid-season trailer was released to promote the direction of the story following Logan's death.
Release The season premiered on HBO on March 26, 2023, with episodes released weekly until the finale on May 28, 2023.
Home media HBO released the fourth season on DVD on September 12, 2023.
Reception
Audience viewership The final episode of the season, the series finale, drew 2.9 million viewers, making it the highest watched episode of the series. This was a 68% increase from the 1.7 million viewers for the third-season finale, which was a record high for the series.
Critical response