So so late on this, but I missed the recap from a couple weeks ago and want to make sure I cover all episodes. This recap will be about Episode 7, Tailgate Party. I’ll have a blog covering episode 8 right behind it so keep your eyes on my socials later today.

Episode 7 Recap: Nuke the Luke

“For the good of the Republic”

Succession is so brilliant when it does these bottle episodes. They lock all of these detestable people in a room and just watch as the tensions simmers into a boil.

In this case, the room is Shiv & Tom’s luxury apartment and the occasion is the quadrennial tailgate party the night before the biggest election in recent fake American history.

With such high stakes both in the election as well as at Waystar, all coming on the heels of their father’s death, it’s clear from the jump that these characters are all at their breaking point.

The most obvious tension, sexual and otherwise, is between Tom & Shiv who have clearly been hitting the sheets hard. And folks, I’m not talking about Excel. Can’t tell if Tom was more aroused by Shiv’s extremely graphic sexts or the fact that he was watching Greg deliver mass layoffs. More on these two later.

“I’m very tired.”

A seemingly innocuous line repeatedly mumbled by Tom actually ends up being the perfect description of every character’s mental state. Tom is tired. And so is Shiv. And Kendall, and Roman, and Gerri, and even the fucking Swede. They are all just physically, mentally, and emotionally unravelling at the seams in their own ways.

Now for the sake of time, considering I have another recap to get to after this, let me just break down each of their mental journeys in this ep, save for Tom and Shiv who deserve their own section

Kendall

Kendall is still putting on a Logan facade and wants desperately to be his dad’s number 1 boy. It’s why he’s so dead set against the GoJo deal. He wants this company for himself and can’t stand the idea of being muscled out by a more alpha male. The awkward, alcohol-fueled back and forth with the Swede confirms as much.

Nate telling Kendall, “You’re not Logan” only further spurs his determination to kill the deal. He wants to go ‘Reverse Viking’ on the Swede and acquire GoJo. It’s not about the prudent business move anymore — he just wants to prove to the ghost of his dad that he can be even bigger than Logan ever was.

Roman

Roman is stressed doing the bidding of the Mencken campaign. In a hilarious twist, Connor’s 1% is actually a factor in this election, as it siphons a chunk of voters away from the controversial presidential candidate. Trying to remove Connor from the election + Gerri’s blackmail + his dad still being dead is too much for Roman and he eventually snaps at his older brother.

Gerri

Gerri has had enough. With Waystar, with the corporate mind games, and with whatever the hell her relationship with Roman is. She wants her hush money and she’s gone.

The Swede

To no one’s surprise, it turns out the Swede is full of shit. He can’t actually code for shit, he didn’t really invent anything proprietary, and he’s bullshitting his numbers in India, which I would imagine counts for a large portion of his user base, being that India contains roughly a fifth of all humans.

These revelations explain his urgency to push the Waystar deal through. He knows he’s in trouble with his numbers and needs Waystar to help turn his fabricated books into reality. Also him wearing Kyries is so perfect. Just one phony pseudo-intellectual douche recognizing another.

“You’re fucking me for my DNA.”

Honestly, there’s more to cover in this episode but I think the argument on the balcony is the only other thing that requires a breakdown.

In probably the most authentic and brutal exchange between any two characters in this show (which is saying something), Tom and Shiv finally had it out.

Tom is tired. He says as much repeatedly. But it’s not just physical exhaustion. He’s emotionally wiped out.

He spent the better part of 3 seasons desperately trying to win the approval of a woman who never really loved him and who was willing to use him as political collateral at a moment’s notice. On top of that, he’s forced back into a servile state at Waystar and has to spend an evening at his own house listening to people telling him he’s going to be fired. So for the first time, we see Tom truly angry.

Shiv meanwhile has enough personal stressors with her pregnancy/her father, and can now add the professional stressor of Mattson to the list. She’s beginning to realize that she may have hitched her wagon to the wrong horse in her bid for political power and is as rife for an emotional blowout as Tom.

(Also, I’m starting to think that there may not be a right horse to hitch your wagon to in this whole thing. Everyone sucks).

Bullet point notes of the argument:

• They’re both 100% right in everything they say to each other. It’s a scathingly honest exchange that highlights every flaw in both their respective character and their relationship.

• Tom is indeed a snake. He’s an opportunist who slithered his way into a powerful family with the desire to join their ranks. I think he does love Shiv, but his initial attraction was to her name.

• Shiv is indeed a scorpion. Tom’s glass encased scorpion “gift” was a passive aggressive way of expressing his feelings towards her. She lies in wait until it’s time to attack. But when she stings, she stings to kill. This stinging can take the form of political power plays (i.e. her covert dealings with Mattson) OR emotionally aka stinging with her words. When faced with an emotional threat from Tom, she responded much in the way a real cornered scorpion would. She tried to sting him back harder, saying he’s not good enough for her.

• Tom is correct in his assessment of how Shiv views him. She spent her life trying to get approval from Logan, a powerful man whom she could never please. So in her partner, she sought the opposite of that. A sycophantic beta whom she could exert control over and from whom she could receive the attention she never got from her father. But believe it or not, that’s not a great basis for a long, committed relationship.

• Tom hit a major nerve with the remark about her not being fit to be a mother. In part because she’s literally pregnant, but also because it’s the same remark her mother made to her in Italy. It’s clearly a soft spot for her and perhaps a comment Tom can never come back from.

• In a weird way, they’re kind of perfect for each other. They’re both self-serving, opportunistic killers, who never truly valued the other person for who they are.

Winner of the week: Connor

This episode finally revealed to me what Connor’s role in the show is, beyond a mere comic foil.

He’s a control group.

He is what’s possible for a Roy child if they just take their money and run. Sure he’s delusional and a goofball, but he’s the only one of the Roys who you can argue is happy. He’s got a wife that supports him and believes in him, and he’s alienated from the business that seems to drag everyone down.

He’s the only one of them that is actually capable of happiness BECAUSE he isn’t part of this fucked up world.

Also, his dumb campaign his actually getting him political power somehow? Well done Con. Hold out for something better than the Slo’s.

Loser of the week: Everyone else

Tom & Shiv respective personal and professional lives are falling apart, Kendall is locked in a weird Swedish standoff, the Swede is a fucking creep who is soon to be facing down a litany of SEC charges, and Roman is on edge because of election/dead dad stuff. It’s struggle city out here.

Top 7 Quotes of the Week

7. “I guess he has expressed a distaste in the past for a particular taste of…me.” - Greg

6. “Running people over is not a selling point.” - Willa

5. “I’ll hit the libtards. You go help the Nazis.” - Kendall

If there’s a more accurate summation of American politics out there, I haven’t found it.

4. “Mogadishu? In Somalia? Little bit car bomb-y.” - Connor

3. “I don’t think I want to go anywhere that doesn’t have nukes.” - Connor

2. “The pop pops in Phoenix? The wastepaper basket on fire? I think a file cabinet was in the ICU.” - Roman

1. “Oman. Poor man’s Saudi Arabia or rich man’s Yemen.” - Connor

Going forward

Roman giving his father’s eulogy should go well. Outside of that, I like the way the show is building this whole thing up to a dramatic conclusion. Three episodes to go with two pivotal events that will shape the future of Waystar and the character dynamics. Stay tuned for the election recap. It’s coming right behind this one.