Succession Recap: Operation Shit-on-Dad
Sorry, sorry, I know I’m four days late. Been a hectic week and I’ve been slacking big time on here. I’ll make up for it I promise.
But hey, here’s a good refresher of where we are with the next episode coming in a few days.
“A man of his era”
Logan is still dead, but he’s going to be replaced quickly in the Roy family tree because Shiv is PREGNANT. In following the show’s lead, I’m going to state this major plot point right at the beginning here and never revisit it for the rest of the blog.
In what was a sneaky bottle episode for Succession, we saw our first glimpse of life after Logan. Shockingly, it’s complete Machiavellian chaos.
With the only established figure in the Waystar empire sitting in a cocoon of formaldehyde in a damp basement, everyone is now jockeying for position to be the next CEO of the Waystar empire.
“Coronation demolition derby”
Everyone is responding to the new shift in the balance of power differently. Rather than discuss it at length, here are the bullet points for each character:
Gerri, Karl, Frank
Three people who were potentially circling the drain now find themselves vying for the throne. Frank and Karl are sycophantic followers and unable to truly lead in my opinion. Gerri is the only one actually qualified for the job, but faces steep opposition from the kids. The challenge with this group is there’s no united front. Everyone here is out for themselves, which will prove challenging against the Roy kids who have the most legitimate claim to the CEO spot.
Tom + Greg
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Umm are pretty much screwed. They both know Logan was their golden ticket to the top. With him dead, they’ve gone from Charlie getting the whole Chocolate Factory to Augustus Gloop getting his fat ass stuck in the pipe and eating his own chocolate-coated fingers. Tom has no play left but to revert back to his humble servant shtick, which admittedly has worked once, so who knows? Also love Tom and Greg just throwing themselves at the feet of everyone who could possibly takeover. It’s called casting a wide net.
The Roys
Even in death Logan knows how to divide the kids. Without having named a clear successor, the Roys all believe in their own unique, albeit equally delusional way, that Logan wanted them to be the CEO. What we see is an initial division of the kids, as they each revert back to an earlier season version of themselves fighting for daddy’s attention. However, it seems as the episode progresses that they regain some semblance of their newfound unity.
“Well it sure as fucking shit doesn’t say Shiv”
Let’s jump ahead to the real meat of the episode. The secret will. Written by Logan at an undetermined date and filled with ambiguity, it appears to name Kendall his successor. But in true Succession fashion, the declaration is far from definitive.
Kendall’s name seems to be half underlined, half crossed out. Maybe I’m reading too far into it, but that to me is the perfect summation of Logan’s feelings towards his kids. They never know where they stand with him, or how he regards them as it relates to the business.
Nonetheless, Kendall uses it as a much needed confidence boost that he is meant to be his father’s successor after all and parlays it into getting he and Roman named as Co-CEOs.
“Considering our dad just died, maybe don’t shit on dad”
In their first official duty as “acting” CEOs, Kendall and Roman need to put out a statement to ease the minds of the shareholders who are naturally worried about the new leadership.
The scene starts with the two entering Logan’s office and staring at his now empty chair. One chair. For two men.
Now the best course of action in my estimation would be for the three Roys to run the company together. However, greed always wins out, especially among the Roys, and Kendall seems to be the first one to realize that only one person can fill that chair.
So invigorated by seeing his name on a piece of paper, Kendall opts to privately overrule Roman and push a PR strategy that defames their father as senile and re-affirms his own leadership abilities. In doing so, he essentially blackmails Hugo who would likely be facing a little house call from the SEC otherwise.
These are two big dick Logan moves that Kendall is making to reassure the shareholders and position himself as the puppet master pulling all the strings behind the scenes. This is far from the reality, but Kendall is doing exactly what his father would: manipulating the situation to serve his own ends.
It may seem surprising from the normally timid and indecisive Roy, but Kendall has proven in the past that he is competent, and even at times, a killer. He has moments of brilliance and is clearly a very knowledgeable person. His issue is his inconsistency and ability to retain a confident bravado for more than a few weeks.
As such, it will be interesting to see if he can continue this power play or if something happens to humble him. Pride cometh before the fall as they say, and that’s historically been the case with Kendall.
Miscellaneous Notes
The exchange between Tom and Greg regarding Karl clogging the shitter and Logan dying trying to fish his phone out of there was maybe the funniest dialogue of the entire show
Sandy outliving Logan is a bigger Shyamalan twist than Logan actually dying
Marcia hamming up her grief was so funny. I knew the second I saw the black veil in her hair that she was going to make a meal of it. Who doesn’t discuss having phone sex with the deceased or make a $63 million real estate deal the literal day after their life partner dies? Think that’s stages 3 and 4 of grief respectively
Connor’s honeymoon just being a caucus for his doomed presidential campaign is hysterical
IMO, Tom clearly wants Shiv back and Shiv sneakily wants him back too, especially in light of the human she’s currently cultivating. She acts cold to him in this ep when she falls and he tries to assist her, but that’s just her trying to maintain the upper hand in the relationship
I think Connor got Roman/Kendall to break character when he dropped the “mi casa, su casa” line. Pretty sure the actor smirked then turned away from camera
Winner of the week: Kendall
He’s almost definitely going to fuck it up, but credit where credit is due. He’s pulling off major power plays and is taking the game seriously for once. He may not be half bad at this whole CEO thing. Then again, he may end up being whole bad so let’s hold our applause for now.
Loser of the week: Kerry
She got BODIED in this episode. First off, she was probably a few weeks of Logan life away from being cut into the will and set forever. Secondly, Marcia naturally despises her and just ruthlessly savaged her entire life. And thirdly, she was getting chirped by Greg. Terrible, terrible ep for Kerry.
Top 7 Quotes of the Week
7. “Oh yeah, not like all his real friends from his mens group and choir” - Roman
6. “Let’s all move in, share a bed, and grow old together like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” - Roman
5. “Well Kendall’s name is on a piece of paper” - Stewy
4. “He lives on Wonder Bread and steak frites. Guy hasn’t had a shit for 20 years” - Tom
3. “You're in an addendum of miscellaneous matters, in pencil, with a question mark." - Frank
2. “Oh its so distasteful.” - Greg upon Kerry entering (burst out laughing at this one)
1. “‘A man of his era.’ Again, racist. Also relaxed about sexual assault.” - Kendall
Final Analysis
Only one person is getting that throne in the end. Don’t fuck this up like Game of Thrones and throw Greg in the captain’s chair.
