Tom-Shiv Scene in Succession Season 4 Premiere 2023
Sunday’s season 4 debut was more gloomy than Succession’s normal profanity and eat-the-rich schadenfreude. This time, the show’s darkest moments focused on his younger sister Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) and her semi-estranged spouse Tom Wambsgans, rather than Jeremy Strong’s frail Kendall Roy (Matthew Macfadyen).
Following a day of bidding against each other to buy liberal news conglomerate Pierce Global Media—she on behalf of her brothers, he on behalf of their tycoon father, Logan (Brian Cox)—Shiv sneaks into their cool, modern house at night, waking Tom and ruining their marriage.
Both fatigued, they don’t talk about Pierce, which Shiv, Ken, and Roman (Kieran Culkin) are going to buy thanks to Logan’s rival Nan Pierce’s outrageous bid (Cherry Jones, magnificent as always). In season 3, Tom betrays Shiv and her brothers by alerting Logan that they would reject his sale of Waystar Royco to Swedish tech giant Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård). “There are certain things I wouldn’t mind stating and explaining,” he tells her.
Shiv has activated all her defenses. She first mocks Tom for hanging out with Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun), “the filthy brothers,” and sleeping with models.
“We agreed that we could have a look about while we had a thought, right?” he says instead of retorting. She blocks their “important chat” about their marriage’s future. “I don’t think it’s helpful for me to hear all that,” Shiv adds, defending her ego. She then switches to her family’s corporate-speak and cursing: “We both simply made some errors, and I believe a whole lot of wailing and bullsh-t is not going to help that. If you’re good, we can walk away with our heads held high and say “good luck,” right?”
Macall Polay—HBO
Tom knows better than to create a huge emotional spectacle or point out that his wife is keeping her head up yet crying. He also doesn’t beg. Instead of giving Shiv what he thinks she wants to hear, he answers to her emotionally stunted brusqueness with a genuineness she appears incapable of. Tom says, “That makes me sad,” as she recommends they “move on.”
Succession writer Jesse Armstrong meticulously selects his words and organizes his character arcs, so this might be an homage to Tom’s notable phrase from the season 2 finale: “I simply wonder whether the sad I’d be without you is less than the sorrow I get from being with you.”
There’s more history to revisit here. On their wedding night, Shiv asks Tom for an open marriage to avoid intimacy. Her noncommittal replies to his questions about having children, her seeming indifference to his future at Waystar, and her shocking lewd comments presage his sabotage at the end of season 3: “You’re not good enough for me,” she says. Because you desire me. So you adore me. Despite not loving you. But you want me.” Tom has always appealed to Shiv by not challenging her as she fights her siblings.
They’re hardly the Roys’ worst relationship. Just one has been extensively examined over three seasons. In Sunday’s debut, Ken—already divorced with two kids he seldom sees—was shocked to find that Naomi Pierce (Annabelle Dexter-Jones), his former lover, was seeing Tom.
The Pierce bidding battle hinges on two warring couples. Meanwhile, the brothers’ elder half-brother Connor (Alan Ruck) is days away from marrying a lady (Justine Lupe) he met as an escort, who panics when he says he might spend $100 million on his lousy presidential campaign, but he assures her he’ll still be rich.
Autoeroticist Roman inflicts sex on improper ladies. Greg tried to trade up from Ken’s PR Comfry (Dasha Nekrasova) in Italy, and now he’s hooking up in Logan’s guest room with a social media-obsessed lady who may be espionage.
