Succession Fans Are Emotional About Kendall’s Beach Scene

Four seasons in, Kendall Roy stans are used to seeing their favorite character sad. But the April 30 episode of Succession ended with a rare moment of happiness (or something like it) for Waystar’s co-CEO. To recap: during the family’s visit to their studios in Hollywood, Kendall delivered a pretty wild Investor Day speech to introduce the company’s latest project, Living+. His moment on stage was seemingly destined to fail, between talking to a video of his dead dad and fielding questions about Matsson’s Nazi tweet.

But against all odds, Kendall was victorious. His speech garnered positive press and signaled optimism for Waystar’s next steps. To celebrate, Kendall took a solo trip to the beach. And though viewers are rightfully wary about Kendall near water, this was very different from his near-drowning in Season 3. This time around, he had fun catching the waves and even took a moment to float on his back and smile toward the sky — but not before drawing a “1” in the sand with his foot. Yes, as in, Number One Boy: what Logan called Kendall after the Season 1 car accident. Given Logan and Kendall’s complicated relationship, the sand doodle seemed to symbolize a moment of closure for Kendall in the wake of his dad’s death and the idea that Kendall still is a Number One Boy, even if his dad isn’t there to say it.

Lorene Scafaria, who directed the episode, explained the significance of the beach scene in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I was excited to see Ken face up in the water even if there are dark clouds on the horizon,” she said. “That was one of those scenes that felt like a very important final beat.”

Clearly, viewers were into it — and several took to Twitter to celebrate Kendall’s emotional, full-circle moment.

But as several viewers pointed out, Kendall’s beach moment doesn’t necessarily mean it will be smooth sailing for the rest of Succession’s fourth and final season. After all, Number One Boy might be a sweet nickname — but in context, it’s linked to one of the worst days in Kendall’s life.

While the second half of the season may well throw a wrench in Kendall’s happy era, Jeremy Strong described the beach scene as a “sense of elation” for his character in an interview with Vulture. “Kendall is always somebody who is up against these big waves coming at him,” he said. “He has had to go through more than anyone. I loved the metaphor of that.”