As all of us basked in the plot twist ending of the Succession season finale, the Greek tragedy of Kendall metaphorically killing his dad by blowing the whistle on him, Tara Ariano, the co-host of a Succession podcast The Sweet Smell of Succession had an alternate theory. To Ariano, the whole thing seemed like a clever ploy by Logan to do the thing his shareholders were demanding (having him step down) but done so in a way that made his number one boy look heroic, thereby swaying the wavering institutional shareholders to toe the line and vote against Sandy and Stewie’s proxy slate.
There are two large holes in Ariano’s theory (one of which was pointed out by her co-host Dave Chensky) about which I will discuss later, but let us conduct a quick thought experiment about why this might be the best reading of what happened.
First, Succession is nothing if not intentional. The main storyline during the second half of season two (the cruise line scandal) was a seed planted all the way back in the fourth episode of season one. How many times were we reminded that Gerri is the placeholder if anything happens to Logan? The decision was made in the second season’s first episode, but her position was referenced multiple times, at Tern Haven (by Logan), at Argestes (by Roman), and again in last night’s season finale. Even if Logan is unaware of the weird thing between Gerri and Roman, he noted his youngest son’s good work in attempting to lock down the sovereign wealth money, re-instituting Roman as lone COO while Shakespeare Frank is left to clean up the mess in the cruise line division. Logan, understanding Gerri’s loyalty (something he also mentioned in the finale), Roman’s sudden competence, and handing the actual shit work to a trusted and long-time staffer, would set up Waystar nicely in a post-Logan world.
Second, Logan likes using the hidden hand technique. At several times in season two, Logan successfully masked his role (and intention) by using proxies. The first time was in The Vaulter where he used Kendall as a Trojan Horse to convince Lawrence to cough up the real information about the site and to tamp down the staff’s pending unionization. The cloak and dagger worked - Larry turned over all the information Kendall needed to find the profit centers (weed and food) while avoiding the messy problem of almost 500 unionized employees, who were instead shitcanned with no notice and little severance.
The second time was in Return, where he used Rhea to trick Shiv into having Rhea float her name as a possible CEO of PGM. The whole move was done to get Shiv to stop asking about taking over for Logan and again, it worked. And of course, Shiv’s prominence during the attempted PGM acquisition had a lot to do with her gender and her politics, both of which Logan understood would make his offer to the Pierces more palatable.
Considered in this context, Kendall’s betrayal could be seen as the ultimate hidden hand maneuver. Logan’s sacrifice of Kendall was done in front of his entire brain trust and after every other option had been exhausted. If he wanted to make sure everyone would fall for the ruse, he had to dismiss the sovereign wealth idea, the negotiated settlement with Stewie, and cycling through all the other non-Kendall employee options before getting to the obvious answer.
By having everyone buy into the idea that “it has to be Ken,” it makes the fake betrayal all the more believable (while also exposing everyone else’s venality as they collectively breathe a sigh of relief to be off the chopping block). Logan takes the heat off his company by taking the fall for the cruise line problems, the company moves on (presumably with greater transparency and policies), and most importantly, remains in the family.
From a storytelling perspective, it also makes the most sense. While all may look chaotic, Logan can quietly work behind the scenes continuing to play puppet master even as he is presumably barred from publicly participating in any Waystar business. It also frees up Kendall to continue with the company, leaves Tom in place (and untouched by the scandal) with Roman, Shiv, and Gerri all jockeying atop the pyramid.
The one big hole, and it is a glaring one, in this theory is the final scene between Logan and Kendall. While the characters may need to see Logan’s actions in a particular light, the audience does not. Logan’s whole Inca sacrifice story is unnecessary to anyone other the the viewer if this is all a work. Put differently, that scene is not only unnecessary if Logan is pulling a stunt, it actively undermines the storytelling by including it. It is not a small thing and to me, the most compelling evidence that this was not some three-dimensional chess maneuver but rather, a final break between father and son.
The second hole is smaller, but worth noting. The hidden hand theory assumes that Logan was tipped about Greg’s continued possession of incriminating documents and pulled him in to the plot. It is, as we say in the law, assuming facts not in evidence. Granted, we did not see Greg’s testimony and during Tom’s, Greg melted down so bad Logan kicked him out of the war room they were using. Of course, Logan did tell Greg he liked him when Greg dropped his “Grexit” bomb in Dundee, so maybe Greg, ladder climber that he is, tipped Kendall (who did him the solid of hooking him up with a condo) about his secret stash (which would also take the heat off Greg with Grandpa Ewan).
I guess we will find out when season three airs.
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