Succession Finally Reveals Cousin Greg's Purpose, And He Immediately Messes It Up

This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of "Succession."

I've been joking since 2019 that "Succession" will end with Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) in possession of the launch codes, but I didn't think it would really happen — or at least, not like this. The bumbling nepo-cousin started the series off as a kind but extraneous part of the Roy family, and quickly learned that if there are two things you can't be in the Roy family, it's kind or extraneous. Greg eventually lost his tentative moral compass, but could never quite shed the image as the most useless person in any given scene. Until tonight.

For perhaps the first time in the show's four-season run, the latest episode of "Succession" pulled the camera back from the Roy family's drama and trauma to focus in large part on the political context they've spent seasons ignoring. We've always known that the Roys are Republican (with the exception of Shiv), that their company's bread and butter is the Fox News-like network ATN, and that they have a shocking amount of political sway thanks to their endlessly deep pockets. Still, the Roy family has shrugged off their responsibility in determining the future of the country for so long that it's startling to see it finally come into clear focus despite their myopia.

It's even more startling to realize that in the end, the fate of American democracy comes down to Greg. The character who has always felt more like comedic relief than a major player in the Roys' power struggle finally has a purpose here — and he beefs it immediately.

The excruciating moment comes at the end of a long, chaotic, hard-to-watch election night that mirrors the 2020 Presidential election in significant ways. By the time Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) tells Greg to command ATN to call the election for Mencken (Justin Kirk), a lot has already gone horribly wrong. Tom, coke-fueled and tunnel-visioned to the point that he isn't thinking about little things like laws and precedent, locked ATN into a bad position when he prematurely called Wisconsin despite evidence of ballot destruction. One wasabi burn, one fake phone call, and one argument about chicken later, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) have decided to call Arizona, prematurely declaring Mencken president.

Tom gives Greg the news, and then comes what may be one of the most stomach-churningly dark moments in the series. Before Greg moseys down to ATN headquarters, he runs into Jess (Juliana Canfield) in the hallway. A few weeks ago, /Film's Michael Boyle declared Jess the only person involved in Waystar Royco who's not a total monster, and this moment is more proof to his point. Greg seems to be aware that the future of the free world could be in his hands, but he's not ready to claim responsibility. He's not pushing the button, he says, but telling other people to prepare to push the button. "All that does is just like, launch a nuclear attack," Jess says, and though she's quiet, there's a sense of muted desperation to her words.

The subtext here is clear: if Greg were to take a few more minutes to report down to ATN, as Jess helplessly suggests, neo-Nazi candidate Mencken might not have won. When he does report to the newsroom, Tom suddenly seems to be hot on his heels, but judging by everything we know about Tom, I wouldn't be surprised if he was waiting for Greg to break the news before jumping in. If Greg had, say, gotten lost in the hallway for a few minutes, another network might have called Wisconsin or Arizona for the Democratic candidate (Arizona is reporting 76% in the background when Greg walks in to share the news). Jess knows this, and Greg seems to as well, but when the moment finally comes for him to change ATN from the inside, as he claimed he wanted to do seasons ago, he instead decides to facilitate a false election result. It's because, as he says, "I'll get in trouble if I don't go."

This scene would be the show's sharpest bit of satire yet if it weren't so quietly depressing within four seasons of context. Aside from it once and for all confirming that Greg has gone to the dark side, it also imagines what it might have looked like if our own 2020 election — and the future of America's free and fair elections as a whole – came down to one call made by the least qualified guy you know.

Greg could have dawdled a little before heading downstairs. He could've talked to Jess a little longer, or gone to the bathroom, or argued with Tom. It's possible none of these things would've stopped the Roy family from trading a presidency for a stupid business favor, but there was a chance. "It's not going to change anything if I don't go ..." Greg says, trailing off. Even with all the power in the world at his fingertips, he still thinks he's a lackey.

To say that Greg's entire storyline to date was built to culminate in the minute and 40 seconds he spends on his way down to mission control might be an overstatement. As talented a storyteller as Jesse Armstrong is, this show began long before the 2020 election took place, and it seems unlikely that he could've known the context in which Greg would end up making his most damning move. Yet the moment does feel like a culmination of sorts, the natural — if horrifying — endpoint for a goofy character who's spent years hemming and hawing his way through every situation. 

As a culture, we spend a lot of time imagining what evil looks like, and we often theorize that the people who pull the strings behind the scenes to make the world a worse place are very smart. But sometimes, as "Succession" demonstrates, evil is dumb as hell. Sometimes the man behind the curtain isn't a wizard at all; sometimes it's Cousin Greg with the launch codes.

"Succession" airs new episodes on Sundays at 9 p.m. PT on HBO and Max.