Who is Daddy Roy's favorite this week? A 'Succession' ranking

Last place goes cumulatively to "The Next-Gen Roys."

The youngest Roy kids failed this week in winning's Daddy Roy's affection because they undercut his dream of buying Pierce Global Media, a rival media company that Logan's been after for years. Just when Logan was about to finalize the acquisition of his rival company, his kids outbid him.

Shiv, Roman, and Kendall managed the seemingly impossible in Sunday's episode when they stuck together as a team. The Pierce deal was a true group effort, requiring  Kendall's candidness, Roman's business experience, and Shiv's faux-progressive veneer.

Since they won together, this week they'll also fall together in the ranks. Collectively, they're Daddy's least favorite for managing to succeed without him. 

Logan's rage at his children is nothing new, but this episode showed just how effective the kids had been at wounding their dad where it hurt the most. Withholding birthday wishes, bagging his dream deal, and then hanging up the phone on him — all these moves add up to the ultimate betrayal. 

9. Connor is basically invisible to his father at this point.

Logan's eldest son was effectively sidelined in earlier seasons, lacking the killer instinct needed to work at Waystar Royco. He finally expressed his feelings about his family status in bombastic fashion during an intervention with Kendall at the end of season three. To add insult to injury, Logan and Connor barely interacted at all at the mogul's intimate birthday party in Sunday's episode. 

With the US presidential election now 10 days away and just 1% of America's vote, Connor was in panic mode, scrambling to figure out how he can hold onto that support. One ham-fisted proposal? Turning his upcoming wedding with Willa into a press opportunity by getting married underneath the Statue of Liberty with a brass band, rapper, and swag bags.

Willa, who already had mixed feelings last season about marrying Connor, clearly hated her fiance's idea.In other words, Connor is failing professionally and romantically big-time and his dad clearly couldn't care less.

 

8. Karl is on the thinnest patch of ice with Logan.

Not only has Karl been ready to jump-ship at any moment after the events of seasons one and two, but Logan seems to have the least amount of personal connection to Karl. With the other executives there seems to be either a begrudging respect or loyalty link, but Logan has none of that with Karl.

In Sunday's episode, Karl drew the short stick and had to deliver the news of the Roy kids' bid for Pierce. He waffled through that as badly as possible, feebly offering literal peanuts to Daddy Roy and getting rebuffed instantly. 

At least Karl's already planning to retire soon, so his low-tier status in Daddy Roy's ranking seems inevitable.

7. Frank is not far behind Karl, but in this episode he seems to have skated by a bit better.

If you remember back to the very first episode of "Succession," Frank was the first longtime employee we saw get unceremoniously fired by Logan. At a word from Roman, Logan had been happy to forcibly retire Frank despite years of loyal service. That was a big lesson for Frank, but unfortunately, it's one he keeps needing to learn over and over again. 

Logan seems to like keeping Frank around a bit more than Karl, but more for the sport of abusing him than the pleasure in his company. In this episode, Frank was on the hot seat during the "war room" and failed to make Logan laugh, which knocked him down a peg. 

6. Tom was already on shaky ground with Logan at the start of the episode, and then the Pierce deal fell apart on his shoulders.

Tom is hanging to his position by a sliver. In Sunday's episode, he started strong as he conducted secret acquisition meetings on Logan's behalf and was among the few people at Logan's birthday party who were invested in Logan's emotional state. 

But Tom totally bungled the Pierce deal as Logan's intermediary on the phone (well, Logan really bungled it by lowballing the Pierces did but we all know he'd never admit that). Not only did Tom fail to negotiate advantageously, but he also leaked information to Shiv that she was able to use to swoop in on Pierce herself.

Logan doesn't know Tom is responsible for the leak, nor does he know yet that Shiv is making the divorce final. Tom is in the middle of the pack for now, but that might change drastically next week if more truths come out. 

5. Kerry made some bad miscalculations when it came to what Logan would want for his birthday, but at least she's still the only one who can get Logan to pick up the phone.

Kerry, Logan's mistress and erstwhile assistant, had one of the funniest lines in the episode when she identified herself as Logan's "friend, assistant, and advisor" — a clearly workshopped description that tiptoes around her extra-marital relationship with Daddy Roy. 

While Kerry was able to correctly identify all the threats to Logan's happiness on his birthday (unknown women taking selfies, children not calling, etc), she didn't raise herself much in Daddy Roy's esteem this week. Like Tom, she's safe for now in the middle of the pack. 

 

4. Colin is apparently Logan's "best pal" when it comes down to it.

Colin has been Logan's body man for years, serving as a fixer and security guy. All that time together has made a strong impression on Logan, who called Colin his "best pal" during Sunday's episode. 

While their "friendship" is obviously pretty one-sided, Colin also acts as a sounding board for Logan during one dinner, as the mogul compares people to pygmies and asks Colin for his opinion on whether there's an afterlife. ("I don't know," Colin replies.) 

Because of Colin's bestie status, he lands at #4 in this week's rankings. 

3. Marcia is apparently "shopping in Milan forever" on Daddy Roy's dime, and keeping a low profile.

Marcia seems safe among Logan's inner circle, assuming she stays minding her own business while living abroad and leaves Logan to his machinations. By coming to a mutually beneficial arrangement in season three, Marcia secured her financial security in exchange for doing what's necessary for Logan's public image. 

Though Marcia could have been so much more to Logan as a true partner, he seems to prefer her out of sight and out of mind. If this brand of favoritism works for Marcia, then hat's off to her!

2. Greg made some party faux-pas, but in Logan's twisted esteem the mistakes seems to have garnered the youngest relative some respect.

Cousin Greg smartly aligned himself with Tom at the end of last season, which paid off when Logan successfully negotiated a merger with GoJo. With the merger just days away, Greg attended Logan's birthday soiree, bringing with him a date named Bridget who made the novice mistake of asking Logan for a selfie. (Unsurprisingly, it doesn't go well.) 

Things seemingly took a turn for the worse when Greg and Bridget have a tryst in one of Logan's guest bedrooms, and Tom tells Greg that Logan has cameras in every room of his lavish pad. But when he came clean to Logan, the mogul smiled at him, calling him "disgusting" and "despicable."

Translation: Greg just earned Logan's begrudging respect. 

1. Gerri maneuvered well throughout Logan's birthday, staying involved but aloof and therefore a trusted and dependable ally for Logan.

We should all know by now that Gerri's knack for staying off of Logan's chopping block is unmatched. She is diplomatic in everything she does, and never falters too severely. Her quiet command of Logan's mood and attention has made her a steady presence in his life.

Even if he'd be reluctant to admit it out loud, Daddy Roy would turn to Gerri before anyone else who was with him on his birthday. She smartly stayed out of any direct conversations about Pierce Media, but kept close to Daddy Roy's line of sight.

We'll have to wait for next week to see if that top position puts the spotlight on Gerri, or how another player might swoop in to win Daddy Roy's affections. 

In the meantime, read about how "Succession" season four kicks off with a compelling intimacy between Greg and Tom.