Logan Roy (Brian Cox) was, for lack of a better way of describing him, a son of a b***h. From the start of HBO’s Succession as a series, we were left feeling less than warmly about the character. As is the way with Succession, though, fans slowly became obsessed with this character that we knew we’d hate in real life. Logan wasn’t someone to look up to. He abused those around him, was vicious when it came to business, and he didn’t care if he was helping to destroy democracy. He was a bad man. So what happens when a bad man dies and people have to attend his funeral? A bit of chaos.
In Succession season 4 episode 9, titled “Church and State,” we watched as Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong, Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin), and Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) all came to terms with their complicated feelings on their father. Connor Roy (Alan Ruck) has always been an outsider to his family and, for once, he was the one who was calm and level-headed, while the rest of his siblings were at their breaking points over Logan.
Ewan Roy (James Cromwell) telling everyone in attendance both why he loved his brother, and also how horrible he was, set the tone for the funeral as a whole. But you know what else “set” the tone? Logan’s wives and mistresses taking their place in the front row of his church service and showing the world that the number of women who Logan Roy wronged is vast, and they are stronger when they band together. That mentality also ended up, surprisingly, being a theme throughout the funeral as a whole that trickled down into Shiv’s speech as well.
It all started, though, with Caroline, Sally Anne, Marcia, and Kerry.
Logan’s exes and his mistresses
Shiv says, in her speech about her father, that he didn’t see a whole woman. She’s basically saying that he did view them as less-than, even those he trusted on his board and in his life. They were not a whole being to him like the men in his life or, even more, like himself. Logan Roy was, when you break him down, an equal opportunity hater. He hated both men and women equally when it came to his own ambition. What Shiv said, though, is true, and the fact that the camera cut to Karolina and Gerri was telling.
The sentiment runs deeper than just the women of Waystar Royco, though. It also connects to Logan’s wives and the mistresses that they’re forced to live with. When Caroline (the mother of Kendall, Roman, and Shiv) appears at the funeral, she takes Kerry under her wing. She meets up with Sally Anne, and it’s revealed that Sally Anne was Logan’s mistress in their marriage. And we find this out through Caroline telling Marcia about it.
Marcia hates Kerry. We saw it right after Logan died and she kicked Kerry out of the house. The reality of their situation is that Logan was horrible. Sure, mistresses have a say in what they’re doing, but it boils down to the fact that Logan was constantly cheating on those he was in a relationship with. So, Caroline, Sally Anne, Marcia, and Kerry all sitting together front row? It’s the biggest power move against Logan, and it isn’t even the Roy kids doing it.
I love these women so much, and if Succession wanted to do a spinoff with them just talking about how much they hated Logan? I’d watch every second of it.
(featured image: HBO)
