Culture

Roman And Shiv Are Clearly ‘Succession’s Most Elite Sibling Duo

I will die on this hill.

by Merryana Salem  28 March 2023
roman-and-shiv-in-succession

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Succession is one of the few shows on TV that explores what it means to have siblings, and while we’ve been gifted with some sibling hijinks over the years, it’s time to admit that Roman and Shiv are the duo that take the cake. 

HBO’s award-winning cultural juggernaut kicked off its final season on Monday and there’s already a ton to unpack. Picking up a year after last season’s devastating finale, Season 4 kicks off with Roman, Shiv, and Kendall presenting a refreshingly unified front against their father. 

Despite Logan’s divide-and-conquer approach to his children that has long had them at each other’s throats, the trio now form a formidable team. As Shiv is going through a messy separation period from her traitorous husband Tom (probably the only man in history to want custody of his father-in-law in the divorce), the opening scene sees her brother’s genuine attempts to check in that she’s OK to march into a bidding war against their Dad and Tom — a charge led by Roman who delays investor meetings to prioritise Shiv’s wellbeing.

Of course, as Roman is probably the silliest Roy child, many of us were surprised to discover that the baby of the family is actually Shiv. Roman may come off as the most immature of the siblings, but he’s still one of Shiv’s older brothers. All jabs aside, the Season 4 premiere shows Kendall and Roman in full protective older brother mode as Shiv attempts to hide her distress over her and Tom’s separation. 

Now, I am not saying that Kendall and Shiv aren’t also a tumultuously iconic duo. The scene the first series where Kendall confesses to Shiv that he wouldn’t know “what he’d be for,” if their father didn’t need him is one of the most emotional in the series’ entire run. 

But there’s a closeness to Shiv and Roman that can be felt from the beginning. People even think they’re twins. From their iconic hospital slap match in the show’s second episode, Shiv and Roman have always been honest with one another. Shiv is unafraid to go for the jugular in calling out Roman’s, uh, sexual issues, while Roman is quick to point to Shiv’s gender and marriage as the source of her shortcomings in Logan’s eyes. 

Logan’s key tactic for keeping them apart has been forcing them to keep things from one another. Much of Shiv and Roman’s conflict stems from Logan deliberately entrusting Roman with company information that Shiv allegedly cannot be privy to and vice versa, a move that fosters dishonesty between the brutally honest pair. 

There’s also Roman and Shiv’s shared secondariness to Kendall who, despite his issues with addiction and casual manslaughter, has always been tipped as Logan’s most likely successor. Yes, they’re Kendall’s younger siblings, but it’s worth noting Shiv and Roman have often assumed the role of caring for their older brother amid Logan’s apathy. I certainly won’t be forgetting that heartbreaking shot of Kendall crumpled in the dirt with Shiv and Roman holding him up anytime soon.

So, it’s hardly a wonder that in the Season 4 premiere, free of their old man’s direct influence, Roman and Shiv are thick as thieves once again. Most notably, in a massive deviation from Logan’s toxic parenting, Roman and Kendall put business aside to check in on Shiv after she talks to Tom, as well as letting her take the lead on negotiating with Pierce.

It seems all three Roy siblings are working hard to suck Logan’s poison out of their relationships and unlearn the division their father instilled in each of them… at least, for now. Alas, the night is young. We’re only at the beginning of the end and there are still plenty of precious minutes left between now and the grand finale.

But for now, let’s just revel in the fact that for once, the three youngest Roy Siblings are holding strong. 

Season 4 of Succession is streaming on Binge and Foxtel.