HBO’s Succession is back for its fourth and final season, and the Roy children are looking for vengeance. After being betrayed by their father Logan, and unexpectedly by Tom, the episode begins with the trio discussing options about starting their own modern, hip media company to compete with their father. As is typical with the billionaire family, however, it’s about more than success: it’s about greed, money, power, and hitting the other where it hurts.
Based on the events that occurred in the tense first episode of the fourth season, the constant one-upping will continue until either Logan or his kids are in ruins. Following the final moments and exchange of words when Logan loses the bid for Pierce Media, fans have a lot of questions about what will unfold.
At the end of season 3, Tom clearly betrays Shiv, Roman, and Kendall by tipping Logan off about their plan for a hostile takeover. But in season 4, episode 1, Tom calls Shiv from a restaurant to alert her that he had just met with Naomi Pierce. She is, as fans will recall, Kendall’s ex, Nan Pierce’s cousin, and a member of the PGM board. He made a point to tell Shiv the meeting was personal, not business related, as if he wanted to either make her jealous or plant seeds to make her wonder if he was lying. (Maybe a bit of both).
Nonetheless, this call is what puts Shiv into a tailspin and gives her the idea to bid for Pierce instead of starting their own firm. This sets into motion a bidding war that angers Logan, to whom Tom is clearly trying to ingratiate himself. Did Tom do this intentionally? His moves are always cleverly calculated, so it’s safe to assume Tom knew what he was doing. The question is, why did he do it?
The episode spent a good amount of time on a candid discussion between Shiv and Tom, who had seemingly been on a trial separation since the shocking events of the season 3 finale. When she returned home to grab clothing and other items to take to the hotel where she had been staying, Tom cornered her to talk.
The heartfelt, honest conversation left both deciding that it was time to move on with their lives alone and officially part ways. The two, however, lay on the bed together holding hands rather, Shiv simply claiming that she was tired. This might suggest some reluctance on her part and that there’s still some love between them. With this pair, it could also be calculated business moves with an end-game in sight.
The kids batted around numbers with one another and their accountant while negotiating with Nan Pierce and settled on a $10 billion price for buying Pierce Media, to which Nan agreed. However, the deal isn’t done until the ink dries, and fans are curious if winning will be as simple as the kids think it might be.
Logan’s angry congratulations to them after he received the news suggests that he’s bitter but also has something up his sleeve. Logan would never call to sincerely congratulate them for beating him unless he believed that he would have to last laugh. Whether that involves still going after Pierce or doing something on his own remains to be seen. In one of the final scenes, Logan is watching primetime TV news and calls his associate to complain about the quality of the newscaster and content. So, chances are, he’s planning big changes to come.
Kerry was slowly having a bigger and bigger role in the last season. But in the first episode of season 4, it’s clear she has a firm hold over Logan and tremendous influence. From her controlling of every situation, like chastising Greg for bringing a random girlfriend to Logan’s birthday party, to calling the kids to beg them to call their father, she is more than just an assistant. Indeed, Logan refers to her as his executive assistant, confidante, and friend. When he’s out for dinner and refuses to take other calls, he instantly picks up for her.
It’s obvious Kerry has an ulterior motive and is doing whatever she can to be the one person Logan relies on and trusts. This puts her in an incredibly powerful position that could have massive implications for the future of the company, and for the Roy children.
Fans forget that the series began with Logan in a daze, waking up in the middle of the night, heading over to his closet, and urinating on the carpet. He was seriously sick. His age and health problems are what prompted others to encourage him to devise a proper succession plan for the company. Logan seemed to get better and regain all his faculties but has had sporadic health issues since.
In the first episode of Succession season 4, a few scenes suggest that something’s off with Logan. He asks weird questions or makes puzzling statements that seem even more out of the ordinary than usual, like asking his staff to “roast” him. In one scene, he has a philosophical question with an associate about life and death, as though he has come to terms with the fact that he’s nearing the end. This leaves fans to wonder if the show might end with Logan’s death.
Succession season 4 streams every Sunday on HBO Max.
China just gave Hollywood a cautionary tale about AI filmmaking. Sanxingdui: Future Past, billed as the country's first fully AI-generated movie, hit theaters on October 23 and bombed at the box office.
According to Futurism, the film's reported $1.5 million production budget landed on more than 10,000 screens. Yet it pulled in only about $181,000, averaging roughly $20 per screen, making the budget difficult to recover.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?