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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Lifestyle
Elizabeth Gregory

Succession season 4, episode 4: so was Kendall’s name underlined or crossed out?

Succession Logan Roy Karl Michael Gold

Succession episode 1-4 spoilers below

Forget Shiv’s pregnancy. Forget Marcia circling the foyer, Kerry’s appearance, Connor’s house deal, Gerri’s snipes, Frank and Karl’s power plays, Tom’s sycophantic grovelling, and Lukas Matsson’s shifty behaviour. Let’s face it, episode four was all about the paper, all about Kendall, and all about that line drawn in pen.

It was the moment Kendall had been waiting for his whole life: there on a paper, stored at the back of Logan’s safe, were the jaw-dropping words that his father, at some point, wanted him to be his successor.

Immediately there were questions around the paper’s validity. When was it written? Did it hold any legal weight? Kendall, of course, believed it did.

But that wasn’t all. There was a line, in pen, sort of underlining, sort of crossing out, Kendall’s name.

The internet was at once in an uproar about it. Some said it was obvious that Logan Roy was going for an underline. Otherwise, why would he start at the bottom left of the name? Others said it was clear he’d gone for a strikethrough. Others sat back and enjoyed watching the fallout of this Shakespearean-level twist, which will, surely, come to define the rest of the season.

Here’s our pick of some of the best takes online about one of the questions that’s going to divide friends and households for weeks to come...

Team underline

There were some very strong arguments on this side. Many people said that you don’t cross out a line starting underneath the word. It’s true, you don’t. So was Logan being lazy? Perhaps he started from the right handside? Or perhaps he was trying to underline Kendall’s name.

Team crossed out

But then, on the other hand, why would Logan need to underline Kendall’s name if he still wanted Kendall to become his successor? Surely he would have just left the paper as it was? But then if he was crossing out Kendall’s name, Logan seemed like the kind of person who wouldn’t leave things to chances. Surely he would have put a giant sharpie pen line through the name, crossed out Kendall a million times, set fire to the paper?

Then there were the admirers

Others didn’t make a decision either way, but turned online to show their appreciation to the person who actually drew that perfectly enigmatic line. It is, after all, a magnificent piece of work.

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