While last week’s episode of Succession was packed to the brim, this week’s episode felt a little bit sparse in comparison. After an absolutely frantic beginning to the season, I think this was the episode where all the characters were able to slow down a bit, reassess the situation, and actually think about whether or not they want to continue down the path they’re on. This wasn’t my favourite episode this season, it didn’t have a lot of the flash of some of the previous episodes but I think having breather episodes like this are important for the overall flow of a season. This episode also has a few really interesting, and a few bizarre, character moments that I think will end up being really important later on.
The episode starts with Kendall (aka Little Lord Fuckleroy) on a conference call with the entire team at Waystar. Karl and Frank let Kendall know that an important investor, Josh Aronson (played by Adrien Brody) is worried about the situation and wants to see Logan and Kendall together face to face. This beginning conference call is gold in so many ways but it also drops one very important nugget of information. Gerri mentions that the shareholder meeting, which has been hanging over everyone’s head since last season, is happening in four days, so it’s safe to assume that we will be seeing that next episode.
After some convincing, Kendall agrees to visit Josh on his own private island. There is some gamesmanship between Kendall and Logan here, about who will get on their respective helicopter and jet first. This episode had a tremendous amount of rich people shit. The shots of the helicopters flying through New York City are particularly striking when you realize that these people use helicopters like cars, yet helicopters cost thousands of dollars per flight. Also the idea of owning your own private island is a level of wealth that is nearly incomprehensible to most people.
This is a good time to talk about Adrien Brody’s role in the episode. I am not sure if he’s going to come back but I’m assuming he will because why else would you cast Adrien Brody if it was just for one episode? I really enjoyed his part, mainly because he felt like a different kind of rich person than the Roys. He obviously has a lot of money but it feels like he’s become rich more recently and is really relishing in the fact that he can screw around Logan and Kendall for a little bit. At the end of the episode we see him meeting up with Stewy, so you have to ask yourself, did he plan on siding with Stewy and Sandy the whole time and this was just a chance to mess with the Roys or did the incident with Logan really sway his confidence and he called Stewy during his meeting with Logan? That’s hard to say.
There were a lot of interesting bits in the conversation between Kendall, Logan, and Josh. For one, we learn that Kendall is about to turn 40, which gives us a better idea of how old the Roy kids are. Kendall floats the idea of Waystar buying Josh’s company, which seemed like a throw away line but might come back in the future. But the most substantial and impactful part of the interaction happened when the three reached the top of the cliffside for a delicious seafood lunch. Josh asks them point blank, if Logan and Kendall can work together. Logan responds by saying that Kendall is good, that he might end up being the one to take over for him, and most importantly that he loves him. Now, at this point we know that this is complete bullshit and that Logan is just trying to convince Josh to side with them but it still affects Kendall. When watching the episode, I had this really sad realization that that was probably the very first time that Kendall heard his dad say “I love you” and it was for a business negotiation. Jeremy Strong does a great job here, you see all the gears working in Kendall’s brain. He knows that his dad is full of it but there is a part of him that still desperately wants his approval. It just shows the massive amount of power Logan has over his kids.
As the three are walking back from lunch, Logan starts struggling and eventually collapses into Kendall’s arms. This spooks Josh and he decides to go with Sandy and Stewy, which I don’t really believe. If you feed an 80-something year old man a bunch of oysters and ask him to walk up a cliff on a hot day, what do you expect is going to happen? This does highlight Logan’s hardheadedness and dedication to starch masculinity. He cannot be seen as weak ever, so he pushes himself way past his limits. This has worked in the past like the speech he had at the galla all the way back in season 1 but he can’t keep that up forever. And we see that Kendall, although he hates his father, doesn’t actually want him to die. If for nothing else, it would be bad for optics.
While the Josh storyline dominates the episode, there are a lot of other important things going on back at Waystar. For instance, Greg is brought in to meet Logan to try and convince him to turn on Kendall. Greg is a bumbling mess for 95% of his screen time but then he’ll have these shining moments where you realize just how shrewd he is. His interaction with Logan this episode definitely leaned more toward the bumbling side. Nicholas Braun has done a tremendous job with this role, he is the embodiment of pure anxiety. I have a feeling that Braun and Brain Cox had a difficult time filming this scene because the editing feels really weird here. It almost feels like they aren’t in the same room at times.
At the end of the episode we learn that Greg has signed a deal with Logan but I wouldn’t be surprised if he turns into a double or triple agent at some point. After his meeting with Logan, Greg is visited by Tom who has been sent by Shiv to “thumb screw” him. This interaction between Greg and Tom is fascinating and deserves a deep dive. Tom is reckoning with the decision he made last episode and is coming to grips with the fact that he is probably going to jail. He’s picking out which jail seems like the nicest and stressing over how to make toilet wine. He visits with Greg and tells him the story of Nero and Sporus, Greg is not very familiar with the Ancient Rome Extended Universe. Nero was the emperor who killed his wife and castrated a young slave boy named Sporus and dressed him up as his dead wife. Tom then proceeds to try and wrestle with Greg, which makes Greg visibly uncomfortable. Tom’s mental state is deteriorating rapidly and he has apparently taken on the nickname of “Terminal Tom.” I have always warranted that the Tom/Greg relationship is far more intimate than the Tom/Shiv relationship so it makes sense that Tom is much more concerned with losing Greg than losing Shiv after he goes to prison.
Tom and Shiv also had some interesting encounters. Now that Shiv is technically Tom’s boss, although wasn’t she always, there is a really clear power imbalance there that just puts an additional strain on their relationship. Shiv is having a difficult time with her new role at the company. Karl and Frank freeze her out of the Sandy and Stewy negotiations. Connor comes in and berates her and tells her that he doesn’t want to work with her. We also learn that Connor is not planning on running against “The Raisin” and will hold off his bid for President for another four years, which is a shame. Shiv does get a win when she goes after Mark Ravenhead convincing him to put some added pressure on the President during his newscast. I thought Sharah Snook did a really amazing job in this scene, I think that this is the most confident and fierce that we’ve seen Shiv in a long time. That letter to Kendall seems to have awakened something in Shiv. I still don’t think that Logan trusts her completely but she seems fully cemented as his right hand at this point, mainly out of a lack of options.
The letdown of the episode was probably Roman. His storyline revolved around tracking down a guy (Tattoo Man) who he and Kendall paid to get Kendall’s initials tattooed on his forehead. We learn that Kendall’s initials are K L R. I really want to know what the L stands for and if it’s “Logan” because that would be amazing. Roman doesn’t have much to do in this episode except worry about Gerri dating some random guy. I had high hopes for Roman this season, I really thought that he would get a lot more focus but it seems like he’s faded into the background a bit reduced to doing useless tasks and busy work. I still believe that he and Gerri are a good duo though. She gives him a useful piece of advice, always think about how something can benefit you. I think Roman is still stuck in the headspace of always wanting to please Logan, which is holding him back.
Overall, this wasn’t one of the most memorable Succession episodes but it was a nice cool down heading into the shareholders meeting, which is sure to be total mayhem.
