'Succession' Season 4: How Does Shiv's Pregnancy Change Things? (2024)

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers from Season 4 Episode 4 of Succession.Why is television is obsessed with making women pregnant? With Succession being such a modern and progressive show making headlines with every episode, nobody could have anticipated that Siobhan Roy (Sarah Snook) would become pregnant. Pregnancy in television and films always seems to exist in a perpetual state of uncertainty and form of a shocking plot device. Accompanied by Shiv's marriage now more like a business transaction pending divorce, as well as a string of conversations about procreation with Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) leading to the haphazard consideration of freezing her eggs and deciding later, a baby did not seem imminent.

Vulnerability and Shiv Roy

It is difficult to discuss Shiv's pregnancy because it is hard to get close to her as a character. She cannot become vulnerable in general due to two main reasons. The first is as she resides in a male-dominated environment where if she shows an ounce of womanly emotions she would be discredited instantly. We have seen this time and time before in the show — her own siblings breaking her down into a collection of the female anatomy rather than an equal. In "Mass In Time Of War," Kendall (Jeremy Strong) erupts on Shiv for not siding with him, telling her that "girls count double now" and that "it's only your teats that give you any value." It is interesting in this episode as he seems the most enraged about her not siding with him, despite him essentially not seeing her as an equal to himself due to her gender.

Now, Succession is known for its creative and loaded insults — even "f*ck off" is now part of Succession's branding. However, sexist insults like these directed at Shiv are not funny or creative. It reminds us of the underlying misogyny that exists in the show (and in real life) and within Kendall, Logan (Brian Cox), and Roman (Kieran Culkin), which will always force Shiv to work harder than the others. She isn't just trying to prove herself as a potential CEO of Waystar Royco as Kendall and Roman are, but she is having to prove herself as a woman and as a human being who is equally entitled to having a seat at the table as her brothers.

The second barrier to her inability to become vulnerable is due to her parental relationships. Logan's paternity is the basis of Succession, and as the show progresses we discover the abuse, both physical and emotional, that each sibling has uniquely experienced. His treatment of his children is perfectly summed up by Shiv's mother, Caroline (Harriet Walter): "He never saw anything he loved that he didn't want to kick it just to see if it would still come back". Speaking of, Caroline is an absent mother to Shiv. We catch a few glimpses of their relationship, including in "Chiantishire" where they discuss her motherhood. Here, the conversation is profound and heart-wrenching — a mother who essentially regrets her children and an abandoned daughter. Caroline tells Shiv that she has made the right decision, that "some people just aren't made to be mothers".

This statement cuts Shiv deep. Despite not yearning for a child at that time, she equally fears becoming her mother and now who her mother thinks she is. This could be what encouraged her to engage in the conversation about children with her husband Tom, even if it wasn't particularly genuine. Henceforth, this is why her pregnancy seems so out of the blue. And even if the child's father isn't Tom, Shiv doesn't seem like the type of person to accidentally get pregnant. I feel definitive in that this had to have been a planned pregnancy, despite how she feels about it post-conception.

But why make Shiv pregnant? Beyond the fact that Sarah Snook herself was pregnant during production of the season, Succession really just doesn't seem like the sort of show to use pregnancy as a trope — especially to hold back Shiv's trajectory as her brothers push past her to become successors.

RELATED: 'Succession' Season 4: This Character Is Still Kendall's Closest Ally

What Will Change?

They potentially made her pregnant to deepen the pain of losing her father. In "Honeymoon States" her pregnancy is revealed, and she comes upon the realization that her child will not have grandparents (with a dead father and an absent mother), or a nuclear family. This fact devastates her and allows for an avenue of emotion that we witnessed once before in the episode prior to "Connor's Wedding". However, obviously, women in television, and in life, do not need to become pregnant in order to access their inner emotional turmoil. It will be disappointing if we see Shiv taking a backseat due to this pregnancy and falling into a shell of the savvy and strong businesswoman we have all gotten to know in favor of raising a child. If this were to happen, it would further drive society's stereotypical notion that women cannot balance work and family, as we see men do constantly. It is without saying women can be career-focused whilst also being mothers however, I hope that Succession follows that direction also.

The journey of motherhood will take Shiv's character arc in an entirely different direction that we haven't come close to seeing before. Whilst I have some qualms about making women pregnant in media, motherhood is such a unique and feminine experience and to have that portrayed by a powerful and strong woman in a show like Succession is profound. Watching Shiv through a maternal lens will not only allow us to see a different, hidden side of her but also (fingers crossed) present motherhood as not an anchor but a vehicle for Shiv to overcome her past traumas, allowing her to flourish and potentially succeed Waystar Royco by the end of Season 4. Furthermore, the way her impending pregnancy will impact how she is perceived by those surrounding her, as well as her career with expose a lot about how women have to navigate male-dominated spheres.

This pregnancy will change many things in Shiv's life, as it does for most women. And she cannot hide a baby bump as well as she hides her emotions, so this new chapter of her life could potentially be the most difficult yet. However, change can also be good. Maybe motherhood is exactly the journey that Shiv is ready to begin, and I am hopeful that she will be able to break the generational trauma that she and her brothers have been stricken with.