‘Succession’ Precap: One Burning Question Ahead of Episode 3
Every Friday, Ringer staffers gather to answer one key question ahead of Sunday’s ‘Succession’ episode. This week’s topic: Connor’s wedding.
It’s Friday, which means Succession’s newest installment is around the corner. What can we expect from Episode 3? Read along as we examine one burning question heading into the next chapter of Succession’s final season.
The burning question heading into Episode 3: Sunday’s episode is titled “Connor’s Wedding.” What do you predict will go down at the ceremony?
Ben Lindbergh: Weddings on Succession are only slightly less associated with scheming and death than those on Game of Thrones, and with the GoJo deal deadline looming over Connor’s nuptials, the union of Logan’s firstborn with Willa figures to extend the tradition. The smart play, then, would be to predict plenty of backstabbing and sadness to go along with Connor’s news-cycle-seizing hoopla and razzmatazz. The episode preview seems to suggest as much: Between Roman’s review of the happy occasion (“It’s a sham marriage and the death of romance”) and Connor’s question to his betrothed (“Are you just with me for money, Willa?”), the mood doesn’t exactly look lovey dovey.
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Yet I’m going to go way off the board and predict that not only will Connor and Willa be pronounced husband and wife, but the ceremony will be … well, not heartwarming (most of the guests don’t have hearts), but at least a little touching? You can count on the Roys to speak now instead of forever holding their peace, and judging by last week’s trial run as a runaway bride, Willa’s feet couldn’t be colder. But by the end of the episode, Con and Willa will be both lawfully and not-entirely-reluctantly wedded. Connor declared last week that he doesn’t need love, but here’s hoping he gets to experience some semblance of it.
(That said: Even if love Con-quers all, another post-wedding drowning is a real risk. With the festivities taking place on a boat and Kendall confirmed to attend, the waiters should wear water wings.)
Andrew Gruttadaro: There’s an online community of Survivor enthusiasts who practice the art of edgic (“editing and logic”), the analysis of what producers choose to show the audience in an effort to predict the outcome of a given season. Forewarning: I’m about to go full edgic on Sunday’s installment of Succession, because while preview material of the episode has been scant and obscure, there’s just enough to possibly decipher what’s going to happen.
We must begin with what we know. First, Sarah Snook has called the episode “magic” and indicated that there is a long, uncut sequence in it. We also know that the episode will be centered on a wedding, where, historically, Succession’s wildest twists have taken place. Now let’s take a look at a description of the episode via the Radio Times, particularly this line: “Roman … is assigned an especially horrible task.” And then let’s pull out some choice shots, from the pre–Season 4 trailers and HBO’s teaser for this third episode:
Now that all of that’s on the table, here’s the theory: Logan, who’s spent the first two episodes of Season 4 cutting Gerri out of the loop and who will not be at Connor’s wedding, will ask Roman to officially kick Gerri out of the band. But she won’t go quietly, and besides bringing up her leverage-via-dick-pics, she will also use her weird bond with Roman to avoid destruction. No longer wanting to bend over for his dad, Roman will side with Gerri instead. And finally, Logan will respond to this betrayal the way he responded to Shiv’s refusal to let Marcia join the trust way back in Succession’s pilot: by having a stroke. News of Logan’s health scare will reverberate through Connor’s wedding, setting off the uncut sequence that Snook hinted at, and the episode will end with his fate in the balance. Get ready: Succession weddings never disappoint.
Kai Grady: A Succession wedding is never as simple as it may seem (word to that other family-oriented, betrayal-laden HBO franchise that also loves a good wedding). In seasons past, the night of would-be celebration often becomes a catalyst for politicking, drama, and unspeakable backstabbing from all members of the Roy family. Look no further than Shiv and Tom’s wedding at the end of Season 1 and Caroline’s wedding in the Season 3 finale. Which brings us to this week’s episode, “Connor’s Wedding.” All signs point to something catastrophic occurring during the long-awaited nuptials between Connor and Willa, but I’m of the belief that they’ll actually be treated to a nice wedding with just the right amount of hoopla. That said, I think the ceremony will be in service of something much more cutthroat. Jesse Armstrong and his team of writers are going to use the major event to distract Kendall and Shiv, so that Roman can go full turncoat. To not raise suspicion, Roman will still be at the wedding, but I predict that by the end of the episode it will be revealed that he betrayed his siblings in some unforgivable fashion.
Austin Gayle: I’m going to guess that Connor and Willa … actually get married?! It’s a sharp pivot away from “razor wire” and “bum fights,” but the prediction still feels bold considering Connor was stalking Willa’s cold feet with a GPS signal on his iPhone less than 24 hours before their planned ceremony. Willa is on a carnivorous Waystar Royco roller coaster that Connor strapped her into a long time ago, and this appears to be her last chance to fight her way off. Connor, meanwhile, doesn’t even “need love”; he’s fine living off his 1 percent polls in the presidential race. It’ll be a clash of Willa and Connor going back and forth on their fleeting commitment to “fuck it, forever,” while the other Roy kids are too busy to care as they go another 12 rounds with their dad before the cake is cut. All of that is to say that the wedding will be a disaster riddled with doubt from both sides of the aisle—and yet it will ultimately crescendo with a kiss and commitment to marriage built on a foundation of crumpled-up dollar bills.
Jomi Adeniran: Someone’s going to get married, but it won’t be Connor and Willa. Remember in Season 2 when Roman quite literally proposed to Gerri? This is what I imagine will happen—follow me on this journey: Connor and Willa’s wedding goes belly up because it’s a Roy family event, and that’s just what happens. Roman is being pressured by both his dad and siblings to come and fight by their respective sides. The only person he can bear to be around in this tense standoff is Gerri. The problem is, when we last saw them interact, it resulted in one of the most painfully hilarious moments in Succession history. So how do they remedy that embarrassing and ethically dubious situation to move forward? They take Connor and Willa’s rings, as well as their ordained minister, and get married! After all, it’s not illegal to send nudes to your wife, right? Who says no to this outcome?
Alan Siegel: It sure seems like it’s time for one of the Roy children—cough cough, Roman—to finally come crawling back to Logan. But at this point, maybe that’s a little too obvious and a tad too pedestrian for Succession—even if that feels like the most logical plot development. But like everybody else, I half expect something explosive to happen on Sunday night. Shocking stuff tends to occur at Roy family weddings. (Poor Willa has to deal with marrying Connor and her new in-laws’ drama.) The sample size is small, but still: It would follow a trend. Jesse Armstrong and Co. doing something like, say, killing off a major character three episodes into the show’s final season would be wildly unexpected. That it’s not out of the realm of possibility is a testament to the series’ creators, who’ve managed to turn a rich family’s saga into a weekly internecine battle.