Summary: Kendall becomes infatuated with his social media presence and gives several interviews. Logan refuses to cooperate with the DOJ and plans for future events. Kendall and Shiv attend the same conference and Shiv tries to convince Kendall not to come in to Waystar. Kendall watches a segment from a TV show called "The Disruption" and decides that he wants to appear. Tom tells Shiv that he thinks he might end up in prison and that it might be worth sacrificing himself. She agrees, and Logan does too when he brings it up to him. Tom then hires another lawyer. Kendall impulsively decides to come into Waystar and sends everyone in a panic. Shiv makes an announcement, but Kendall ruins it by playing loud music. In retaliation, Shiv releases a letter condemning Kendall, bringing up issues like his addiction, mental illness, and being an absentee father. Upon learning about this, Kendall walks away from his interview on "The Disruption". Logan tries to make a deal at ATN with the President, but the DOJ find out and the FBI raids the Waystar building.
The Good: Kendall is again the star of the show here. After a couple episodes of feeling himself again, Kendall's mania has reached a new level here. He's living it up in every scene and making increasingly ridiculous and cringeworthy statements at every turn like talking to a worker at Waystar, shouting "f*** the patriarchy!" for no reason, and allowing himself to be slandered on TV, calling it "good PR". The good tweet/bad tweet game is another example that's amusing to watch, and this episode feels like it's 90% Kendall making increasingly bad decisions while in a state of total enjoyment. It does make me wonder if he is bipolar as he flips between manic and depressed so frequently sometimes. In any case, this behaviour is an effective reminder that Kendall is not the good guy in this story even though it might feel that way. He's no hero, and he's every bit as flawed as the rest of his family. Kendall makes so many unnecessary moves in this episode. He doesn't need to appear for the media, but he does anyways because, despite his denial, he is obsessed with the idea of how he comes across to other people, not realizing that in trying to be "cool", he's actually looking like an idiot. Even stupider is his decision to visit Waystar Royco unnecessarily. Lisa advised against it, but he ignores his genuine legal help and decides to make an appearance just to make his family sweat. And what do you know, it all blows up in his face. By antagonizing Shiv (more on this in a sec), he stirs up dissent and ends up having his name slandered by a volatile letter that completely destroys all of his energy and good vibes. The scene where Kendall returns back to being a shell is fantastic (see: Best Moment), and it's great pay-off for all of Kendall's stupid moves in the past few episodes. A conflict that surprised me in this episode is between Kendall and Shiv. Things went extremely badly with the both of them, and they ended up firing the most deadly shots on each other in this Roy civil war. Their brief conversation at the journal conference suggested some more fascinating differences in how the two operated, but I did not expect things to get so personal so fast with both of them. Kendall's arrival at Waystar was intense and I didn't know what to expect from his presence. What we ended up getting was so petty, mean-spirited, and humiliating, and I was quite shocked by it. Shiv's speech was likely a moment she had dreamed of for a long time: a moment where she finally got to announce her presence and begin her dream to be in control of the company. However, the moment is ruined by Kendall who blasts Nirvana's "Rape Me" all over speakers, and the result is Shiv completely losing her composure and leaving the stage in tears. I was caught off guard by her emotional release, and that really sold how needless, humiliating, and cold Kendall's actions were. Sadly for him, Shiv is not weak and doesn't take hits without punching back. She embraces her inner Logan, just like Kendall did last episode, and releases a brutal letter that condemns Kendall's image permanently and airs all of his dirty laundry for the world to see. The battle between the siblings has gotten nasty, ruthless, and public, and it looks like the Roys are in more danger of destroying each other than anything else. Roman appears to be caught in the middle of all of this. While his siblings get rotten with each other, Roman is the lone wolf trying to better himself and become a good fit for CEO. But it's clear that Roman is also the one who is most in need of some sort of affection or connection, especially from his father, but he gets nothing. This episode makes Roman do an interview recounting past memories of his father and how much he loves him. With such little good memories to share, Roman doesn't have much to say, but tragically he still has to lie and pass off a moment with Connor as something he did with Logan. Even still, poor Roman's only reward for his troubles is to be berated by his father and get called a faggot. It's brutally depressing, and it's clear that poor Roman has been belittled all his life, when all he has needed is just a little bit of love and support. This family really is tragic. Logan spends much of the episode continuing his insane decision-making. He's so stubborn that he refuses to cooperate with the DOJ and pays dearly for it when he tries to go behind their back to secure protection from the President. By the end of the episode, he pays the consequences by getting the Waystar building raided by the FBI. With Waystar's image getting thrown in the mud, the family entering a public blood feud, and the shareholder meeting coming up shortly, "Succession" looks like it is setting up a perfect storm for the Roys, and I'm enjoying it. Tom has a very different atmosphere this season, and I really like it. Where in seasons 1 and 2 he felt like a purely comedic character, he's now carrying a degree of disappointment and pent up fury in every scene he's in. Instead of being an awkward fool, he has had enough of this family and of the way Shiv treats him, and it looks like he's trying to make a play himself. His scenes with Shiv and Logan were fascinating because it looks like he is testing their loyalty to him, rather than exercising his own loyalty. From the look of things, he may be planning to make a move soon, and I'm excited to see what's going to happen and how it affects his relationship with Shiv. Meanwhile Greg continues to be fun. I have some questions about what he's currently up to (see: The Unknown), but his relationship with Tom continues to provide the laughs, and his situation with the watch in this episode is a good bit of comic relief even if it is a bit superfluous. The Bad: My biggest issue with this episode is the storyline with Logan trying to use ATN to connect with the President. The most entertaining parts of this show involve the family dynamics, so having a simple plot that allows the fmaily dynamics to shine is where "Succession" is at its strongest. The problem with all of this ATN/President/DOJ plot is that it doesn't capitalize on the family dynamics and it instead becomes an unnecessarily convoluted plot, especially for those who aren't familiar with how all of these government organizations operate and what their significance is. These scenes ended up taking away from the episode, and I was much less interested in them. The writing and performances are still good, but that fascinating storytelling that I get out of the other scenes and storylines was missing. The Unknown: Was Tom testing Logan and Shiv with his offer to take the fall? Why was he testing them? Why did he call for a private lawyer? Is he thinking of joining Kendall? Why is Greg working at Waystar again? How did he get to return? Does Kendall know about this? Was this Ewan's idea? Is Greg content to work for him for now? There's a great scene where the fixer from last season, Colin, comes to see Kendall and threatens him. Is there any weight to this? Will Kendall's secret be spilled in this season? Logan refused to do it in the previous episode because of blowback, but could that change at some point? Is Kendall going to fail again? If he continues to ignore the advice given by everyone around him, I can't see him succeeding. Will Lisa and the others give up on him if he continues to be so aberrant? What is going to happen following the FBI raid? How does this change things? Best Moment: Kendall leaving the talk show to hide in the control room was a spectacular moment. I really have to praise the score because it elevates the scene significantly, but the score isn't the only thing genius about this sequence. Jeremy Strong is absolutely phenomenal here, and it's amazing to see the joy get slowly wiped off of his face and replaced by the broken depression from season 2 that we are all too familiar with. The scene is so somber and powerful, and it makes Kendall's fall from his manic state feel powerful and impactful. This show has a lot of talking usually, so when a scene goes so long without any dialogue, it immediately feels important and captures a unique emotional feeling that many other scenes in the show cannot. Character of the Episode: Kendall. Conclusion: Another terrific episode. There is more great character conflict, more heartbreak, more intrigue, and more comedy. The story gets deeper and more exciting with every passing episode, and season 3 has been an absolute blast so far. Score: 70
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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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