WITH SPOILERS

So Logan Roy is the worst person in the world, and certainly the worst father. But even worse, his ex Wife is the worst mother. Tonight they destroyed their children on “Succession.”

No one died, but everyone did in a way. Kendall may or may not have tried to commit suicide but lives. He tells Shiv and Roman that he killed the waiter at the end of Season 1 in the Kennedy-Chappaquidick story. Remember the waiter who drowned? So that’s what’s been plaguing him.

But Kendall’s mental problems are nothing in this episode, one in which the three younger siblings bond over the potential end of their Succession game. Logan is going to sell Waystar/Royco to Alexander Skarsgard’s big tech company, GoJo. Logan doesn’t seem to care that that will be the end for the kids. GoJo will eat the company and throw them out.

What’s interesting here is that the kids do bond and realize their parents care nothing for them or their futures. It’s business. Shiv looks destroyed. Kendall already is. Roman is quipping.

We find out in this episode that Conor is indeed the oldest kid, as we knew. And that Kendall is the oldest of him, Shiv, and Roman. Best moment is when Kendall reveals he let the waiter drown at Shiv’s wedding. Roman replies he knew the service was bad that night, he had to wait three quarters of an hour to get a gin and tonic.

A brilliant end. As I wrote earlier, a cliffhanger of mental anguish. When Roman tells Shiv what’s going on and it registers on her face, Sarah Snook won about 10 Emmy Awards.

Everyone gets awards for this thing. That’s all.

When will see these people again and how? It’s anyone’s guess. But what a ride. Nine hours for Season 3, and they were all insanely good. Also, Nicholas Britell deserves a special award for the score.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a comedy?

Peloton was quick. They clapped back at the death of Mr. Big in “Sex and the City” with a commercial starring Chris Noth. “He’s alive!” is the tag line.

Very clever. Mr. Big died from a heart attack after riding his Peloton too hard. Peloton stock immediately tanked on Friday when word spread. Here is their rejoinder. Whatever they paid Chris Noth to undo Mr. Big’s death was worth it!

And just like that…he's alive. pic.twitter.com/bVX8uWypFZ

— Peloton (@onepeloton) December 12, 2021

It’s not just that critics don’t like the new “Sex and the City” series.

“And Just Like That,” on HBO Max, has a lowly 61 on Rotten Tomatoes among critics. So that’s not great. But what about the people? They have also spoken to Rotten Tomatoes. The audience meter is just 32%. Ouch!

This is in contrast to HBO’s “Succession.” Critics 96, Audience 82. That’s what the numbers are supposed to be when a show is a hit. And “Succession” only gets 600,000 viewers in a good week with rave reviews bolstering it.

So imagine what “SATC”‘s audience might be this time around. And all we can do is imagine it, because there are no published ratings for HBO Max. Like all streaming, it’s a mystery wrapped in a shroud.

The responses from viewers then is twice as bad as the one from critics. The fans don’t like it. They didn’t like the killing off of Chris Noth’s Mr. Big. They really don’t like the absence of Kim Cattrall as Samantha. And they don’t like the forced narrative of the Politically Correct.

Wait: they’re really not going to like it when Miranda becomes “fluid” with alcohol problem, which is clearly coming.

Did the producers of the show make some mistakes? Seems like it. Because the show, despite being well written, doesn’t matter any more. It worked in its era. But in pandemic New York, with inflation booming and so many stores and restaurants closed, “Sex and the City” doesn’t work.

One lingering problem: they just killed off Mr. Big with a weird funeral. Soon actor Willie Garson’s death will have to be dealt with. He plays Stanford Blatch, Carrie’s best friend, who tragically died from cancer while they were shooting. So there may be a second funeral before the 10 episodes are over.

Sunday night, 9pm HBO. It’s the ninth and final episode of the short and definitely not sweet season of “Succession.”

This is the drama or comedy, depending on how you look at it, about the Roy family, a satirical take on the Murdochs — Rupert and his children — as they vy for their father’s affection and inheritance.

“Succession” is a cult hit, never attracting more than around 600,000 viewers at a sitting. It’s not “Yellowstone,” with over 7 million, because there is nothing mainstream about it. The Roys are psychological warriors playing a “Game of Thrones” mental chess game with each other until only one is left.

The whole of the cult fan base is waiting for Sunday night because it seems like something bad is going to happen. There may be a death, or worse, permanent expulsion from the Roys’ inner circle. The two most vulnerable candidates are Kendall Roy, the second son, but the first from Logan Roy’s second marriage. Or Geri, the loyal company attorney who has been made CEO during a crisis.

The relationships are brutal. The average person tuning in, unaware of what’s going on, will either be fascinated or frightened. intrigued or repulsed. There is no middle ground. There’s a reason that the Roy daughter, apple-cheeked, freckled Siobhan goes by the unapologetic nickname of “Shiv.” She tells her fairly clueless husband, Tom, in episode, “I may not love you.” She waits a half a beat and follows up with: “But I love you.” And squints back at him.

Shiv’s older brother, Kendall, is certainly a candidate for death, likely suicide. Or thinking too much. Played brilliantly as if he were Hamlet by Jeremy Strong, Kendall has been humiliated and debased for all 8 episodes as he’s tried unsuccessfully to topple his father. Even his own mother, at her wedding to a lout, has dismissed him. At the end of episode 8, the camera lingers ominously from beneath him as Kendall floats on a clear plastic raft in a Tuscan swimming pool. We are meant to fear something has happened.

Then there’s Geri, the lawyer, all business, played with eloquence and sympathy by J. Smith-Cameron. Geri has spend season 3 dodging the raunchy approaches of Kendall’s younger brother, Roman (Kieran Culkin), who is 25 years her junior and has an uncertain romantic life. It’s certainly sexual harassment but Geri, the only straight shooter in the Roy circle, has chosen just to ignore Roman and push forward. Has this been a mistake? It’s revealed in episode 8 that she’s been receiving lewd emails from him — “dick pics” — which may be the straw the breaks the camel’s back. She’s painted instantly as a villain and victim.

A “Succession” cliffhanger I don’t think would be like “Who Shot JR?” “Succession” isn’t a physical show. It’s all in the head. It’s about being “shivved.” You won’t feel the knife until it’s in. HBO didn’t offer a press preview of the final episode. We’ve got to wait and see.

Of course, fans don’t want anyone to leave the show. Certainly not J. Smith Cameron. She’s too important to our mental health. And Jeremy Strong is the centerpiece character. Strong is in the middle of a real life contretemps over a New Yorker profile in which he’s depicted as aloof and ambitious. The writer says Strong claims Kendall is Hamlet. His friends, Jessica Chastain and Aaron Sorkin, are defending him on social media as a good guy.

I met Strong years ago when he played Lee Harvey Oswald in a movie called “Parkland” (not mentioned in the New Yorker piece). He was sensational in the film and has never been anything less than friendly and open. The writer of the profile may have confused him with Kendall, for which he’s won an Emmy. The writer got lost in the fiction. But Kendall, suffering from mental anguish, has been the most disturbing character to penetrate television in a long time.

So listen out your window Sunday at 10pm. There’s going to be some noise. It will be subtle. But it will be distinct.

PS On that Hamlet thing. Now I’d pay to see Strong play Hamlet at the Public Theater in a Shakespeare melange. And Brian Cox, aka Logan Roy, as King Lear. And Sarah Snook, Shiv, as either Goneril or Gertrude. And so on. Where is Christopher Durang when we need him?

“Big Sky” remains the show no one will watch no matter how much ABC invests in it.

The ABC drama, part “Twin Peaks,” part “Lost,” had just 2.4 million viewers on Tbursday night, down 13% from its last outing on November 18th. “Big Sky” was not a big hit last year, but ABC owns it so they keep flogging it hoping someone will watch.

For some reason, the touted star– Ryan Phillippe — was dumped after the first episode. Then they let John Carroll Lynch’s character become a psycho, and they killed him. This season, they revived him but it was too late. If they’d kept Phillippe they might have had a chance. Since he left there are two female leads, and they’re not very compelling.

Season 2 started with just 3.1 million viewers and has gone downhill subsequently. “Big Sky” was beaten soundly on Thursday night by Chris Meloni: “Law & Order” aka “Organized Crime.” Earlier, “Law & Order: SVU” basically tied “Grey’s Anatomy.” Of the two “SVU” is the far better show, moving forward with stories, while “Grey’s” keeps mining its past hoping it will trigger viewer nostalgia.