Mom, let’s do some research. Photo: HBO
Succession’s theme song will go down in history as one of the greatest of all time. Nicholas Britell was on a different level when he came up with this track, and his weekly beat drop has had fans in a Pavlovian stranglehold since 2018. Along with Cristobal Tapia De Veer’s menacing but danceable version of “Dies Irae”. The White Lotus, Britell’s instrumental, is an instantly tacky modern classic that immerses the viewer in the anxious, lavish, fun, sombre mood of the show. But without the pictures, it just wouldn’t hit the same. Each season, Succession opens its episodes with slight variations on the same components: old home footage of a wealthy family doing wealthy things alongside glossy New York cityscape b-roll and tongue-in-cheek headlines from various Waystar media.
Let’s start with component number one, the retro home videos. There is some debate as to whether the family is canonically the Roys because the eldest son is far too close in age to his younger siblings to be Connor. Let’s clear that up right here: This confusion is likely due to an inconsistency between the opening credits of the first and later seasons. In the first, only two sons are shown in the credits. My theory is that whoever would later be identified as fake Connor was supposed to be Kendall in season one. He’s got that serious dog face. That would make Roman the younger brother, who I never thought even looked like Kendall. And in the last shot, two girls and two boys are sitting at the table. Wouldn’t it be such a perfect follow-up moment to leave Connor out of the opening credits entirely? In later seasons they retool the older boys to be Connor and Kendall and add a younger brother with a very romance grin. They also redesigned the teenage sister to look like a dead ringer for Shiv and they change the table layout to the three brothers and one sister. Everything is mapped to the Roys. Am I treating this fake family material like the Zapruder movie? Yes.
The only new family footage in season four comes about a minute into the title sequence and features a young boy in an expensive-looking turtleneck driving an old-fashioned toy car, with a matching red sports car in the background. Does the toddler mean a new heir threatening the Roy kids’ claim to the throne courtesy of Kerry? Or does it indicate that Kendall will be involved in another tragic car accident, mirroring the events of the season one finale?
Photo: HBO
Contrasting with the grainy home video clips are cold, modern images of skyscrapers, helicopters and Waystar Royco’s various media assets that make Executive Producer Adam McKay scream. It’s the HBO drama equivalent of a photographer saying, “Now let’s make a fool of it!” The fictional headlines and shows featured throughout the credits are littered with Easter eggs that change each season, satirical chyrons poking fun at the core lobotomy state of the mainstream media among company owners like Waystar Royco. The content of it isn’t just parodies of Fox News; They hint at promotions to come in the season.
On the new screens, we see ATN shows with segment names like “America Decides” (pictures of the White House, election maps) and “The Breakdown” (current affairs). The third season focused on the upcoming presidential election and Logan Roy’s kingmaker status as head of a major media outlet. Unfortunately, these new graphics don’t give us precise details on how to do this.
A broadcast by ATN News Live features the headline, “CHINA HACK MAY SEE 40M AMERICANS BURIED IN THEIR ELECTRIC CARS.” With the TikTok hearings underway in our reality, this doesn’t seem far from the typically conservative turn of events.
A giant screen on the outside of the Waystar-Royco building broadcasts the message “DEEP STATE BLUNDER: CLASSIFIED DOCS DISPLAYED ON NBA JUMBOTRON.” The documents are largely redacted, so no references.
The ticker, on the other hand, is just pure nonsense: “MANY WITH BIRD FLU CAN’T STOP THINK ABOUT DUCKS.”
Photo: HBO
Next there is a closeup on a smartphone with the STARGO app on the screen. It promises, “All your favorite Waystar movies and series in one place.” It also gives us a taste of exactly what kind of content Waystar Studios has put together. The app has icons for channels like “WSP”, “Voila!” and most delightfully “Gourmando”. There’s a glimpse of a movie poster that looks like it could be a Marvel movie set in outer space; another looks like it could be a sci-fi version of Oppenheimer; The one that gets the best reckoning is none other than Kalispitron: Destroyer of Moons. This isn’t our first sighting of Kalispitron; Last season, posters for the blockbuster found their way into several Tom and Greg couples slides. Is this proof that the Waystar-GoJo merger is happening?
Photo: HBO
We will miss this show that drives us crazy.
For more, join us successor club, our exclusive newsletter for subscribers, obsessively chronicling the biggest twists and turns of the final season. Existing subscribers should check their inboxes for more information. If you’re not already a subscriber, click here to get started.