Succession Creator Jesse Armstrong Says Kendall's Name Was Underlined, Not Crossed Out
BY HANNAH SHAW-WILLIAMS/SEPT. 2, 2023 6:20 PM EST
Just when "Succession" fans thought that business mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) was done torturing his children (on account of being dead), he reached out from beyond the grave to flick one last barb into his hapless would-be heir, Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong). The fourth season of the acclaimed HBO series shocked fans by killing off Cox's viciously scheming patriarch early on, with the remaining "Succession" episodes fixed on the question of how Logan's empire would be carved up, and who would serve as CEO while the carving took place.
There were plenty of contenders, but Kendall arguably had the strongest claim as he'd been primed to take over Waystar Royco before he and his father embarked on a fun game of betrayal-tag over the course of several seasons. Then, during a wake held at Logan's New York apartment, it emerged that a piece of paper had been discovered in his safe, dictating his wishes in the event of his death. Among those wishes was the instruction that Kendall should take over as CEO of the company; during a later, undated amendment of the paper in pencil, Kendall's name had been underlined for emphasis.
Or had it been crossed out? The ambiguity of the line, which begins beneath the "K" but makes its way upwards to cross over part of Kendall's name, felt almost like a deliberate booby trap set by Logan to leave Kendall forever tormented by the question of whether his father believed in him.
Now, show creator Jesse Armstrong has weighed in on the "underlined or crossed out?" debate during an appearance at the Financial Times Weekend Festival. In a video shared on Twitter by writer Cassam Looch, Armstrong makes a simple but intriguing point:
Daddy's revenge
According to Looch, Armstrong also said that he personally drew the line on the piece of paper, designing the perfect trajectory to plant a cruel shard of doubt into Kendall's brain. As the other contenders for the CEO throne were eager to point out, the paper didn't actually confer any power on Kendall since the choice of CEO came down to a board vote. However, it was an influential factor in securing the votes for Kendall and Roman (Kieran Culkin) to take over as co-CEOs.
While Armstrong's words might be seen as the "voice of god" when it comes to "Succession," the question is still not completely settled. Back in April, writer and co-executive producer Lucy Prebble discussed the line on HBO's official "Succession" podcast, and described it as the perfect "Succession" story beat, "because that level of confusion is so grounded and human." As for where she stands on the "underlined or crossed out?" debate:
Crossing the name out does indeed fit with the characterization of Logan Roy throughout his rule: a man in denial about his own mortality, who didn't want to hand over power to any of his children, but also didn't want to see control of Waystar Royco leave the family. When he died, he was still fully engaged in corporate warfare with his three youngest kids. His final judgment of them, more than any pencil mark, was simply this: "I love you, but you are not serious people."