Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Succession Season 4.The latest episode ofSuccessionSeason 4, titled “Honeymoon States,” is one of the show’s most tense to date, and it sees the series finally living up to its premise as Waystar’s temporary succession is confirmed. At the wake ofthe departed Logan Roy(Brian Cox), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) opt to take over as interim co-CEOs for the purpose ofseeing through the GoJo sale to Matsson(Alexander Skarsgård) over the coming months. They receive formal approval from the board; Shiv (Sarah Snook) worries about getting shafted, but reluctantly concedes. It’s not permanent, after all, and the siblings still plan to proceed as a trio with Pierce and ATN in the long run. What could go wrong, right?
Of course, getting to this point is not a smooth sailing process.Roman is a somewhat obvious choicefor CEO — he knows Matsson the best and as the current COO, policy dictates he’s next in line — whereas Kendall’s claim hinges on his experience,backing from his bestie Stewy Hosseini(Arian Moayed), and a piece of paper that has gone on to prove extremely controversial.
In a nutshell, Frank (Peter Friedman) finds an undated document at the house seemingly naming Kendall as Logan’s successor. It’s thought to be around four years old; for context, only a year has passed sinceSuccessionstarted, and it’s safe to say a fair amount has changed in this period. A small penciled addendum on Kendall’s name then sets alarm bells ringing, but it’s hazy whether his name is underlined or crossed out. Characters voice different opinions, depending on which side serves their agenda, and ultimately Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) reveals that the document isn’t legally binding anyway. But that hasn’t stopped the debate from taking the internet by storm, with social media polls and passionate discussions being conducted by fans worldwide. Some might even call this 2023’s version of “the dress,” which had views split on whether a viral dress was blue and black or white and gold back in 2015. So it’s time for us to weigh in — is Kendall’s name underlined or crossed out, and why does it matter?
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The Compelling Case for Underlining
It’s clearly seen from the episode that the sketched modification starts underneath the “Kendall” before wobbling upwards, striking out his last name. Visually, it best resembles an underlining gone awry. This is easy to do — anyone who says they’ve never started a line in the correct place before losing control of their writing tool is lying. When you factor in Logan’s age, and the possibility that he crafted this mark after his stroke, underlining becomes an even more realistic scenario. Plus, if he meant to banish Kendall from the document, why not commit fully and scribble it out?
Another thing we just can’t get past is the lack of a replacement name or placeholder. If we’re to believe that the name is crossed out, that leaves a pretty important gap in the sentence and the whole section falls apart. And why wouldn’t Logan have the paper retyped with a different name in lieu of Kendall’s? He was hardly too short on funds to have it reprinted, and we think such a major alteration justifies the exertion.
Hearkening back to the wider story, it’s not unfeasible that Logan still wanted Kendall to be his successor, even following fresh turns of events. He might’ve favored Roman and Shiv as people, butKendall is the one he groomed to inherit Waystar. Kendall’s recent rebellions may have proved to him that he is, in fact, capable of being a “killer” like his daddy, leading Logan to reiterate his decision to declare him CEO with a straightforward yet sloppily-executed stroke of his pencil.
Team “Crossed Out” Has Some Good Points
At the same time, we can’t deny that the underlining argument has its flaws. Surely Logan had an eraser in his study? Or, perchance, a ruler? It’s hard to defend the messy doodle in question, which he had every opportunity to replicate with greater success. Underlining is also inherently unnecessary; it adds emphasis, but the document reads the same with or without the little graphite wiggle. And it’s not like the reader would accidentally skip over Kendall’s name sans extra attention being drawn to it.
Besides, it doesn’t sound too in character for Logan to suddenly feel a burst of enthusiasm for Kendall amidst his countless attempts to usurp him. Maybe he trained Kendall to follow in his footsteps — but at the end of the day,did Logan really want any of his kids to succeed him? He could’ve been a tad clearer on that matter, to be honest, but what we do know with complete clarity is that relations between Kendall and his father were almost as shaky as that line.
Why Does This Inch-Long Scrawl Matter Anyway?
Trivial as it may seem, there is a meaning to this dispute. The document has no lawful validity, yes, but it might be the best material indication of Logan’s true wishes. The ambiguity surrounding the line gives Kendall’s opponents grounds to question his legitimacy — and Kendall gets a little self-doubt too, as a treat. Now, he will always wonder whether he truly got his father’s blessing; we envision a world where this spurs him to go beyond the boundaries of reasonable human behavior to prove his abilities and consolidate his power. Don’t color us shocked if there’s moreself-destruction and poetic tragedy in Kendall’s future.
So while the mark is of zero legal consequence, its significance lies in how the characters manipulate it for their own gain. As for the nature of the drawing: if we had to choose, we’d say it’s an underline, purely because it looks more like one and isn’t accompanied by a substitute name. But we’re not sure whether the writers even know what it’s supposed to be, and perhaps this uncertainty is simply meant to symbolize Kendall and Logan’s relationship, which was complicated and vaguely confusing to the very end. At least now Kendall knows that Logan did, indeed, want him to be his successor, if only for a brief moment in history. Unfortunately, he will be haunted and taunted by the “what ifs” of it all, and maybe that was Logan’s actual master plan all along.
New episodes ofSuccessionSeason 4 premiere every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.
