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Succession’s Sarah Snook says her character has ‘nowhere to turn’ after season finale

The actor said her character Shiv Roy has a lot of ‘soul-searching’ to do in season four of the hit HBO show

Maanya Sachdeva
Thursday 16 December 2021 02:03 EST
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Succession Season Finale trailer

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Sarah Snook has deconstructed the season three finale of her hit HBO show Succession, as well as her character Shiv Roy’s murky fate going forward.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Snook unpacked the last scene of the “pretty perfect” finale and assessed that, for the time being, Shiv has “nowhere to turn”.

Spoilers follow – you have been warned – you can read a full recap of the finale here.

After she finds out her father Logan (Brian Cox) is considering selling the family’s crumbling media empire Waystar Royco, Shiv regroups with her bickering brothers Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) to try and secure their inheritance.

The siblings hatch a plan to stop Logan from transferring control of the company to an investor, only to find out that someone tipped the family patriarch off ahead of time.

It is later revealed that person is none other than Shiv’s husband Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen).

When asked whether Shiv realises that Tom’s betrayal is connected to the way she has treated him through the series – even going so far as to tell him she doesn’t love him – Snook said her character might come to that conclusion retrospectively but it wasn’t something Shiv considered at the time.

She explained: “In that moment, she’s not like, ‘Oh, wow, this is my fault. I’ve got a real come to Jesus moment.’ It’s probably more just like, ‘I can’t believe my husband did the dirty on me. I’ve got nowhere to turn now. My mom’s abandoned me. My dad’s been revealed to be the devil, and my husband has signed a pact with him.’”

On Shiv’s future in season four, Snook said she has a lot of soul-searching to do.

No longer trusting of Tom or her father, Snook also said it isn’t likely Shiv will “turn to her brothers” for support.

The question on her mind, Snook concluded, will be “Where’s the safest port?”

Fans reacted to Tom’s bold betrayal with a mix of delight and disgust.

While some viewers were thrilled that he finally stood up to his domineering wife, others were shocked he threw her under the bus to secure himself a place at Logan’s all-important table.

Succession has been renewed for a fourth season.

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