Summary: Logan meets with the Roys when Stewy does an interview against Waystar Royco. Logan agrees with Shiv's suggestion to immediately fight back. Later, Logan meets with Roman and Kendall to get them to look into Vaulter, who have been underperforming. After doing some research, Kendall wants to invest in improvement while Roman wants to shut them down. Logan agrees to shut them down and sends Kendall to gut them. Kendall initially tries to give them a shot to improve and stop them from unionizing, but it fails. In response, Kendall shuts down Vaulter. Tom gets to his new job at ATN and brings Greg with him. Shiv gets offered a promotion by Gil. Shiv meets with Logan who wants a three-year track for her, but Shiv wants it to be sooner. Shiv tells Tom about Logan's offer and says it's a deviation from him taking control, but Tom is concerned by the development. Later, Shiv talks out against Gil and quits while he fires her at the same time.
The Good: I enjoy the character dynamics on show through the Vaulter problem. Kendall really feels like a shell in these latest episodes. Vaulter was his investment, and we expect that Kendall would put in a big fight to keep it running. For a bit, it seems like he's going to ignore his father's wishes and keep vying for Vaulter, but the end of the episode puts in a nice twist when we learn that Kendall was simply extracting whatever final value he could from Vaulter. He guts them heartlessly, reminding us that he's purely his father's pawn now, and the scene is brilliant. The follow-up with Kendall is great. A beautiful image of Kendall sitting in his father's office shows how subservient he has become, and a brief scene where he steals some batteries from a convenience store illustrates how desperate Kendall is for some agency, but he's too terrified to take control anywhere near where his father can see. Lawrence getting soundly beaten was also quite satisfying because of how much of a prick he has been. Lawrence jerks around Kendall at every turn, and that was an awful move because Kendall was the only one that genuinely believed in him. As a result, Lawrence had no friends to hide behind, and he had alienated the one person who was backing him. I feel like he deserved this. Roman's competition with Kendall when it comes to evaluating Vaulter is a lot of fun. Roman is happy to have bested Kendall when Logan goes with his plan, but he hilariously doubts his own decision later in the episode, showing once again how weak he is when it comes to leadership. It's hilarious to see him thinking that he's the best choice to be named successor when I'm certain that he's currently Logan's last option. Shivs political story looks like it has come to an end, and that's likely for the better. She's forced to choose between her father's proposal and her ongoing commitment with Gil, and she makes her decision rapidly. To be fair, it's an easy decision for her. Keep working with her ex, or do the job that she's been dreaming about for years? Shiv opts for the CEO job, and continues to be an awful person by quitting her job by insulting Gil and letting out all the frustrations that she had towards him. Even more troubling is how Shiv is hiding her true feelings from Tom. Tom is under the impression that he's supposed to be the one getting everything, but now Shiv has sneaked in and taken the position instead, and lies to him about her intentions. This is horrific communication, and Shiv is setting up this relationship for failure yet again. Shiv knows she's lying to him, and Tom knows that she is likely lying to him. How hard is it for there to be some honesty in this relationship? Apparently it's nearly impossible. It should be fun to see how this conflict boils throughout the season. We've already seen Tom's tempers flare up at dinner with Roman, so I wonder what more we're going to see. Greg continues to be a lot of fun to watch. His hunt for a house is amusing, and it has a surprisingly sweet conclusion when Kendall gives him a free place to live. Greg's skepticism is hilarious after being so consistently teased by Tom, but his celebration is sweet and nice to see. Of course Kendall has his own agenda and just wants a party to do drugs, but it's still a nice moment. Poor Greg has also been dragged to ATN alongside Tom, which is pretty amusing. I'm glad that I get to see more of their dynamic since they are so funny together. The Bad: The biggest issue with this is that the main plot isn't interesting. Vaulter is a familiar company for us, but you can't convince me that Vaulter's fate, whether they stay or go, will be an important plot point for the future. They haven't amounted to anything important in 11 episodes up until now, so I had no reason to believe that this company's fate will be important to the show. The plot allows for good character exploration, but in terms of plot, it feels almost like filler. The Unknown: How did Shiv respond to Stewy's interview? Will we see Lawrence again now that Vaulter has been gutted? Marcia did not seem to be happy that Logan and Shiv had a secret that she wasn't allowed to listen in on. Will she try to find out what it is? How important is it to her to know these things? Will there be consequences for Shiv for leaving Gil's campaign under such negative circumstances? Why is Kendall stealing from shops? Is this his only way to keep some form of agency in his life? How will Tom's plan to digitize ATN go? How will Tom handle Shiv's change in their plan? Does this mean that Shiv will try to take it all for herself and leave Tom in the dust? Best Moment: Kendall gutting Vaulter was cold, and Jeremy Strong played it perfectly showing us that the Kendall we knew before is gone and right now Kendall is just an instrument of his dad's will and nothing more. Character of the Episode: Kendall. Conclusion: Another solid episode of character exploration, though a relatively uninteresting plot brings this episode down a bit. Score: 65
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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