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After the Succession season 3 finale, fans are eagerly awaiting Succession Season 4. The cast is back in production and, while they won’t spoil anything, they are inclined to offer hints. In a recent interview, Kieran Culkin suggested that Succession Season 4 takes a different turn in episode 2.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Succession Season 3.]

'Succession': Kieran Culkin crosses his legs on a sofa
Kieran Culkin | Macall B. Polay/HBO

Culkin was on Deadline’s 20 Questions podcast on Aug. 17. Speaking vaguely about Succession Season 4, Culkin explained what sorts of things make it feel different to him. 

‘Succession’ Season 4 began like every season

Culkin previously expressed he had trouble getting back into character for Succession Season 4. It only took a day, but that’s longer than it usually takes him to become Roman Roy again. However, that first episode of the new season felt like old times. 

“It’s going well,” Culkin said on 20 Questions. “I think it’s actually going quite well. It’s awesome because I’m also just a fan of the show so when the scripts come in, I just get excited like what’s going to happen. It’s great. The first episode we got, I felt like oh, this is the show again. We’re back.”

‘Succession’ Season 4 took a turn 

The Succession Season 4 premiere will have to deal with the fallout of the season 3 finale. The Roy siblings are cut out of their shares of Waystar Royco so Logan (Brian Cox) can sell it to Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard). Culkin noted that when more scripts came in, he noticed a shift. 

“Then in the next couple it’s like oh, it feels different, which is great,” Culkin said. “It’s a great different. It’s not resting on its laurels, it’s still very much the show but it feels like it’s going in a direction that I did not anticipate.”

This wouldn’t be the first time Succession had a drastic change in direction. It was quite surprising when Kendall (Jeremy Strong) accused Logan of covering up sexual misconduct at a press conference. That dictated the storyline for season 3, but even that didn’t go entirely the way Kendall expected. So expect the Matsson deal and the siblings’ position to be in flux when Succession returns.

Roman Roy remains consistent 

Culkin noted that Roman is still himself as he navigates whatever Succession Season 4 has in store. Roman tried to plead for his father’s love, but that didn’t phase Logan. 

Related

‘Succession’ Season 4: Cast, Episode Count, and Everything We Know so Far

“At least I feel that he definitely still carries with him that thing about family,” Culkin said. “And I think he just assumes everyone does in the family. Yeah, we’re all playing this game and you know what? I’m pretty excellent at this damn game too. I can throw insults at you, I can win this game, I can screw you over and take over the company and make you look terrible and ruin your careers. But see you at Thanksgiving. It’s going to be great, I love you guys.”

At least, this is where Roman was at the end of season 3. Culkin has been happy with the growth of Roman since the beginning of Succession. Season 2 was a turning point where roman took the business more seriously.

I was honestly getting to a point where I was in scenes I’m like okay, I’m the COO here and all I’m doing is making dick jokes. Why do you keep inviting this guy to the meeting when all he does is disrupt, interject and then walks away going, ‘I don’t really know what I’m doing? ‘There’s got to be something to him that gets it and I knew it was there but I got to really see it and explore it in these episodes. This is a guy who actually can go into a meeting, go up to people like Matsson and go, ‘I understand the deal, I know what we want, I don’t need to think it through, I don’t need to be prepped or anything like that.’ Just get me in the room with the guy and I’ll talk to him and that’s it.

Kieran Culkin, 20 Questions podcast, 8/17/22
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