Summary: Greg meets with Pantsil who is writing a biography on Logan, and leaves upon realizing what it is, but he has given some information. Logan is obsessed with the idea of buying out Pierce, a news network, and forces the idea upon everyone who remain skeptical. Logan rehires Frank, who was well liked by Pierce. Shiv hears about this and tells Tom that she wants him to rebel against Logan's decision when they go to a retreat in Hungary. At the retreat, Logan is upset when he learns someone talked to Pantsil for the biography, people are opposed to his Pierce acquisition plan, and Pierce has heard of the plan and are resistant. At dinner, Logan lashes out at everyone and plays a made-up game "boar on the floor" where he humiliates Tom, Greg, and Karl. Kendall exposes that Roman was the one who called Pierce as Roman intended to use a connection with Tabitha to secure the deal. Logan calls him a moron and declares he will go through with things anyways. Shiv goes to see Connor who is recording an awful anti-tax campaign video but she can't stop it. She has sex with a man she meets at a bar. After the retreat, Tom is upset with Shiv for getting him to do something he didn't want to do, and is further upset when she tells him she had sex with someone else. Roman meets with Gerri who advises him to get management training. Frank tells Logan that Pierce's CEO wants to meet. Logan calls Shiv and says he wants to bring her into the company.
The Good: I really liked most of this, particularly in how the story was executed. The Pierce problem is much more engaging than last episode's central problem of what to do with Vaulter. This decision to acquire Pierce feels like a big deal because we are told that if this goes wrong, it could potentially burn down the entire company, giving us an incentive to invest in the decision-making process. Furthermore, the process is so much more fun to watch in this episode because of how many players are in action trying to sway things to go their way. Just about everybody has some stake in this, and it's hugely fun seeing how they approach the problem. For example, Tom is put in an impossible situation where he wants to side with Logan, but Shiv and several others are pushing him to be a leader in a rebellion that would never work. Meanwhile Roman and Kendall both want to acquisition to happen, but they end up butting heads due to tensions between them. Kendall is basically Logan's lapdog scouting for weaknesses, while Roman is just trying to impress his father but he continues to fail spectacularly. Add on some other interesting dynamics with Karl opposing Logan in secret, Greg trying to hide that he met with Pantsil, and a few other story threads, and this is a very fun episode to explore. Then we get to the boar on the floor scene. Wow. Talk about massively over-the-top. This sequence is all about showing us Logan's psyche and how it is that he dominates everyone around him to get what he wants. Logan came to Hungary to relax, but upon being pressured by "traitors" through the biography meeting, the opposition to the Pierce acquisition, and then a leak to Pierce, Logan snapped in rage just like he did back in "Which Side Are You On?". Despite practically nobody in the room actually supporting his beliefs, Logan abuses his power to bully everyone into accepting him. He humiliates Tom, Greg, and Karl using only his status and power in such a childish and barbaric way that it is shocking. Logan's relentlessly cruel here, and Brian Cox sells his fury perfectly. If only Logan actually took the advice of the people around him, maybe he would have a better standing within the company and within his family. I want to highlight Tom in particular in this episode. The poor guy had an absolute nightmare of a trip and spent the entire episode being bullied and pushed around against his will. Tom's not a great guy, but it's easy to empathize with him when he is put under so much pressure. He just wants a cushy job and the affections of his wife, but right now that is impossible for him. He spends his weekend away getting verbally and physically abused by Logan, despite the fact that he was one of the only people in the room that genuinely supported Logan's decision to acquire Pierce. All that because Tom was voluntold to represent the people who were against the acquisition, making the situation feel entirely unfair. Impressively, through all of this carnage, Tom valued his friendship with Greg as he refused to reveal the damning information that he knew, information that may have spared him from this entire situation. And how is Tom rewarded for a tough weekend where he kept his morals? With Shiv revealing to him that she has already started to take advantage of their open relationship, messing around with some random guy while he suffered trying to enforce her ideals; ideals that Shiv selfishly placed onto Tom. Tom got walked all over in this episode, and regardless of the type of person he is, I feel bad for him because he is being screwed over by worse people. More on Tom. Poor guy had the worst time this episode and the retreat was a nightmare trip. Pressured by his wife and even Gerri and Karl, sides with Logan ultimately yet he still finds himself embarrassed and humiliated. He even stood by Greg and didn't reveal his secret, the one leverage he had, which was honorable. Sweet to see them eating together later. Then at home it gets worse as he expresses his frustration with Shiv only to learn that she fucked someone else, I just feel bad for the guy. He did nothing wrong in this episode but just got screwed. Connor's presidential video is hysterical and brought me a lot of laughs. I can't believe he actually posted it online. The anti-tax stance is an absurdity, and I'm amused by Willa helping him because he is her financial source. This is sure to be an exciting presidential campaign, and I expect to laugh lots. The Bad: This episode is brutally uncomfortable and it doesn't make you feel good. The writing and storytelling rules, but emotionally this feels like too much. Especially for a comedy/drama this is bleak to a whole other degree. I feel awful and uncomfortable watching Logan rule his power over everyone else in the room, and those emotions have nowhere to go since there is such a limited amount of empathy that I feel for all of the characters being bullied. It is fascinating and emotionally affecting, but considering that I don't really care about anyone in this show, it doesn't feel like it is worth putting myself through the wringer in this scene for awful people. This is a complicated feeling to describe. I've enjoyed plenty of TV episodes that make you feel bad, but this one makes me feel bad in a different way that significantly diminishes my enjoyment of the episode. The Unknown: What will become of the biography? Will it still be written? Will Greg's secret be kept? Will anyone else find out what he did? Is Frank going to stick around now? Will he be firmly behind Logan? He indicates that his return is like a "moth to a flame", which is kind of sad. Is this genuine? Greg admits that Ewan has been giving him orders. What has Ewan told him? Has Greg listened? So Connor has kicked off his campaign (god help us all). How is it going to go? How will Connor's actions reflect on the rest of the story? Tensions are heating up rapidly between Shiv and Tom. Will Tom reach a breaking point soon? What happens then? Is Roman going to do management training? Best Moment: The boar on the floor game is intense, uncomfortable, and brilliantly acted. Even with my reservations, I can't deny that it's an excellent scene. Character of the Episode: Logan. Conclusion: This is a very strange episode for me, and one that is hard to score. I recognize the brilliance of the storytelling, and I enjoyed much of what we got in the episode. It's just that the "boar on the floor" sequence is so brutally uncomfortable and awkward that it becomes a bit too unpleasant for me to enjoy. This is one of those episodes where I understand why people love it and I recognize how well-executed it is, but it's just not for me. Score: 65
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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