Succession Season 3: See the cast, date, episodes, plus watch the trailer

HBO’s drama series about four extremely wealthy, entitled siblings and their quest for their father’s approval – and control of Waystar Royco, his global media and entertainment empire as soon as he announces his retirement – Succession won Best Drama at both the Emmys and Golden Globes in 2020.

Logan Roy and his four grown children – Connor, Kendall, Siobhan (Shiv) and Roman – all behave very badly in the course of the first two seasons, and we can’t wait to see what’s to come in Season 3.

In Succession S1-3, which The Hollywood Reporter calls “one of television’s best dramas, a searing, funny and painfully true look at wealth, power and family”, we see tensions rise as bitter corporate battles threaten to turn into a family civil war.

In Season 1, Logan announces his retirement, and makes it clear that he hopes to keep Waystar Royco in the family – without promising it to any of his children outright. The obvious choice seems to be Kendall, his second-born, who is one of Logan’s closest business associates, but that’s not the way things shake out during the season.

Shiv, Logan’s only daughter, is about to form a partnership with one of her father’s direct reports, Tom Wambsgans, who works in the parks and cruises division of the business – by marrying him. Could this make her the most valuable of Logan’s offspring? What about Roman, who’s not yet directly involved in the business, but is perhaps the most personable, smartest, and most promising of the siblings?

And then there’s Connor, the eldest sibling, who lives on a ranch and has absolutely no interest – at first – in taking over from his father, and Logan’s great-nephew, Cousin Greg, who works in one of Waystar Royco’s amusement parks, and is the grandson of Logan’s estranged brother. Would bringing Greg on board in an official capacity put one over on Logan’s brother?

But then a tragedy at the end of Season 1 puts all these deliberations on hold, as Logan gets an even tighter grip on Kendall and has him setting his sights on rival companies.

At the end of Season 2, Kendall ambushes his father, Logan, with the eyes of the world upon him. Logan’s expecting him to roll over and take the blame for the family’s most public scandal, but Kendall has other plans.

Now, at the beginning of Season 3, Logan is in a tricky position. Will he be able to secure any of the support that has propped him up for his entire career? He scrambles to get members of the family on his side, as well as to ensure that his political and financial connections stay true to him, rather than defecting to Kendall. Logan Roy is one of the most powerful figures in the world, but could he have met his match in his “number-one boy”?

While you wait for Season 3, take a look at other new seasons of your favourite series now streaming. Some similar HBO picks include Betty Seasons 1-2, which is a gloriously fun LGBTQIA gem about skater-girls in New York City, and His Dark Materials Seasons 1-2, the award-winning adventure series based on Philip Pullman’s bestselling fantasy novels. There are plenty more drama series with their latest seasons on Showmax, from all four seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale to all four seasons of Fargo.

And if you’ve never watched Succession, now’s your time to start, with both Seasons 1-2 ready to binge-watch on Showmax while you wait for Season 3. If you need more convincing, read 6 reasons to add Succession to your watchlist. But be warned – there will be spoilers in that article if you’re new to the world of Waystar Royco!

Succession Season 3: Who’s who in the main cast

The strong (pun intended) main cast includes Jeremy Strong, who won the 2020 Best Actor Emmy as Kendall Roy, and Brian Cox, who won the 2020 Best Actor Golden Globe as his father, Logan. Sarah Snook as Shiv and Kieran Culkin as Roman, Kendall’s siblings, and Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans, Nicholas Braun as Cousin Greg, and James Cromwell as Logan’s estranged brother, Ewan, also earned Emmy nominations. 

In Season 3, that already impressive cast is adding Oscar winner Adrien Brody (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Pianist) and Emmy winner Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies, True Blood), not to mention Black Reel winner Sanaa Lathan (The Affair, Love & Basketball), Emmy nominee Hope Davis (Your Honor, Captain America: Civil War) and singer Jihae (Mortal Engines).

Other cast members include Hiam Abbass, as Logan’s current wife, Marcia, who acts as a gatekeeper for Logan when it comes to the family – if Logan doesn’t want to see one of the kids, it’s up to Marcia to pass the message on and make sure that they don’t disobey Logan’s wishes. Alan Ruck plays Connor Roy, Logan’s first-born, whose mother was Logan’s first wife – so he is, in fact, Kendall, Shiv and Roman’s half-brother. Whether it’s because he’s older than his three siblings, or because he has a different mother, Connor always stands a little apart from them.

J Smith-Cameron plays Gerri, Logan’s chief legal counsel, who, in Season 2, crosses professional boundaries with Roman, the youngest Roy, who has a bit of a thing for powerful women who insult him.

In Season 2, Holly Hunter plays Rhea Jarrell, the CEO of rival Pierce Media Group, and Cherry Jones plays Nan Pierce, the owner and founder of PMG. Logan aims to buy PMG, and Kendall gets into talks with Rhea to this end – but the scandals that rock Waystar Royco in Season 2 threaten the deal.

Succession Season 3 release date

There has been huge anticipation for the latest season of Succession around the world, especially since Season 2 ended on one of the most nail-biting cliffhangers ever to be seen on screen. With Kendall having publicly declared war against his father, and Logan’s reaction – a mixture of pride, glee, rage and horror – in the final scene, the beginning of Season 3 is going to be a high-stakes episode for the books.

The US premiere date of Succession Season 3 is 17 October 2021, and the premiere date in Africa is 18 October 2021, only on Showmax.

New episodes arrive on Showmax in Africa every Monday from 18 October, with the finale landing on 13 December 2021.

Succession Season 3 trailer

In the Season 3 trailer, we can see there’s a lot of fast-paced drama to look forward to. We see Kendall trying to bring Connor, Shiv and Roman onto his side against their father – “ask yourself,” he says, “if you want to be on the side of good, or the side of evil” – and Shiv offering him a deal. It looks as if we can expect more wise cracks and impeccably timed humour from Roman, and more posturing and attempts at shows of strength from Tom, which we know, by now, come from a place of insecurity rather than actual, well, strength.

Our favourite moment from the trailer has got to be Logan threatening Kendall with a line from a fairy tale. Kendall’s weak response sends Logan into peals of laughter – but, as Kendall’s assistant relays, “not, like, nice laughing”.

The trailer leaves us wondering: Who will triumph in Season 3? Who deserves to?

Succession Season 3: List of episodes – at the time of writing, there are 9 episodes

• Secession
• Mass in Time of War
• The Disruption
• Lion in the Meadow
• Retired Janitors of Idaho
• What It Takes
• Too Much Birthday
• Chiantishire
• TBA

Here’s what we know about these nine episodes so far. For one thing, this makes Season 3 the only season of Succession not to contain 10 episodes. And, as expected, the first episode, called Secession, focuses on Kendall’s mobilising in the wake of his explosive announcement at his press release at the end of Season 2. He’s casting around for a base of operations for his “revolution”, while Logan and his team start seeking solutions and safety amid the far-reaching ripples Kendall sent out into the business world.

That is the only information currently available – the plotlines for the rest of the episodes are anyone’s guess. Succession is known for having cryptic episode names that only make sense after watching. Season 1, for example, included the memorably named Sad Sack Wasp Trap (Season 1, episode 4) and another episode whose name we can’t repeat in polite company (it’s Season 1, episode 2, if you care to look it up).

Where to watch Succession Season 3

Showmax has been the place to watch Succession ever since the first season. Currently, all 20 episodes of Seasons 1 to 2 are ready to binge-watch. Whether you watched the seasons when they landed in 2018 and 2019 respectively, or if you have never seen Succession, this is the perfect time to stream the first two seasons.

The first episode of Season 3 will flight on HBO in the United States on 17 October 2021, and comes to Showmax in Africa express, landing on 18 October 2021.

The second episode airs on 24 October 2021 in the United States, and lands on Showmax the next day, on 25 October 2021. Episode 3 lands on Showmax on 1 November 2021, episode 4 on 8 November 2021, episode 5 on 15 November 2021, episode 6 on 22 November 2021, episode 7 on 29 November 2021, episode 8 on 6 December, and episode 9 on 13 December 2021.

Showmax is the only streaming service in Africa to offer Succession to subscribers. Other HBO series that you’ll find only on Showmax include ensemble comedy-drama The White Lotus, Bill Hader’s multi-award-winning role as a hitman turned amateur actor in Barry Seasons 1-2, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon’s smash hit Big Little Lies Seasons 1-2, Mare of Easttown, starring Kate Winslet in her Emmy-winning role, and quirky thriller The Third Day, starring Jude Law.