- Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Succession" season four, episode four "Honeymoon States."
- Each week we're picking a "villain" who stands out among the power-hungry cast of characters.
The final season of HBO's "Succession" took a narrative pivot in the third episode when primary antagonist Logan Roy died suddenly on his company's private jet. This left more than half of the final episodes ahead — which means the series will need a new combatant for the three children vying to be seen as the worthy successor of their father. And unfortunately, that means we no longer get to debate who Daddy Roy's favorite is each week.
So instead, Insider will identify the newest threat to Kendall, Roman, and Shiv's control of Waystar Royco and therefore their father's legacy.
For episode four, "Honeymoon States," that was Marcia Roy, Logan's estranged wife (and now widow).
Way back in the season one premiere of "Succession," Marcia was positioned as the biggest threat to Kendall, Shiv, and Roman's ability to control their father's company (and fortune) in the wake of his eventual death. The kids were all angling to curb Marcia's power, trying to hold off on signing legal documents that would cement their step-mom's place in Logan's life.
In the early seasons, HBO's interviews with actor Hiam Abbass, who plays Marcia, described her character as "elusive, soft-spoken, and quietly powerful." Abbass acknowledged that Marcia is a competitor in the game of Logan's succession, right alongside his children and the Waystar Royco executives.
But by the start of season four, Marcia had vanished from the main storyline. She had come to an agreement with Logan that (in exchange for more money in their marriage arrangement) he'd continue his extra-marital affairs while she lived her own life of luxury. It seemed possible we'd never see Marcia on the show again.
Then Logan died. And in Sunday's newest episode, Marcia made an aptly quiet-but-dominating return to "Succession."
The episode picks up on the morning of the day following Logan's death. Kendall arrives in his dad's Upper East Side mansion and is surprised to see Marcia waiting to greet him. He was apparently unaware of her continued presence in his dad's life, given the visible relationship Logan was maintaining with his "friend, assistant, and advisor" Kerry.
Marcia immediately hits Kendall with her angle on the post-Logan world: She and Logan remained very close right up until his death. According to her, they spoke every morning and afternoon and then again "intimately" at night (later in the episode, Kendall interprets this as phone sex).
In the fight for access and power and control in the wake of Logan's death, Marcia's reappearance in this episode placed her right at the top of the pack when it comes everyone's villainous strategies. She cruelly dispatches of Kerry, scorching the younger woman in front of everyone now that Logan's ego doesn't need protecting. Her actions disarm even Roman while successfully bringing Colin and Greg into her corner.
With Kendall privately deciding to destroy Logan's reputation with post-mortem information leaks, Marcia is primed to be his main combatant.
Who will rise next week, and who will fall? It's one of the many questions we have as "Succession" season four continues.