Summary: It's the day of the shareholder meeting. Stewy has called and agrees to talk about a deal so Logan meets with them to discuss. As the deal is negotiated, Frank stalls the shareholders. They end up at an impasse when Sandy wants veto power over the next Roy CEO. Sandi later calls with an alternate deal to forego private jets but Logan does not agree. However, Logan has fallen ill with a UTI and is delirious. Everyone is unsure of what to do. Shiv meets with Sandi and negotiates the deal while also giving them a fourth board seat. The President calls for Logan and Roman takes the call. He learns that the President will not be running again, upsetting everyone but Connor. The deal is successful and Karl announces it to everyone. Kendall arrives to make a statement but it doesn't go over well and his mic is cut off. Logan cuts off Kendall completely. He's upset at Shiv for the deal even though it did work. Greg meets with Ewan who officially cuts him out of his inheritance and intends to give the money to Greenpeace. Greg decides that he will sue Greenpeace for the money.
The Good: The one aspect of this show that bothers me the most is how it began. So much of this show hinges on the family dynamics between Logan and his children, so I have always found it an odd choice that Logan was taken out of the equation for the show's first real story arc, and we were stuck watching the kids attempt and fail to keep things together without him. It was a fine enough story, but I had no investment in the characters yet and much of the drama and intensity was lost because of that. Now, after over 20 episodes of brilliant character work, we finally revisit this idea and this time "Succession" totally nails it. I am now invested in this family and I've seen the Roy siblings enough to completely understand how they function. As such, it's so much more fun to watch them try to hold the fort with their father out of commission, and struggle so much to keep things together. I'm very glad that the show gave this idea another shot because it's further made clear that even after all we've seen from Kendall, Shiv, and Roman, it's still going to be an absolute disaster if one of them have to take over control from Logan. The shareholder meeting has been built up for a couple of season now, so it's an enormous deal now that it's finally here. The fate of the company hangs in the balance, so it's gripping to see the negotiations between Sandy, Stewy, and Sandi and the Roys. It's episodes like these where the show's strong acting and writing reaps reward because the desperation of the situation is conveyed remarkably well. Logan's failing health, the time pressure, the fear of losing the company, it's all come together to make a perfect storm at this shareholder meeting, and none of the intensity is wasted throughout what was a highly suspenseful episode. Logan's failing health is primarily what makes this so intense. Every episode up until now since "Lifeboats" has had Logan at the helm to make these hard decisions, but with him out of commission at the most crucial junction, it's hard to imagine any of the other characters making a correct decision on instinct like he does. The nerves on show by everyone in the room are stellar and it leads to a number of great, panicky scenes, such as my favourite moment of the episode (see: Best Moment). The three Roy siblings are all given moments to shine here and they all have their ups and downs throughout the episode. Shiv is the most successful as she is the one who secures the deal with Sandi and saves the company. It's great to see Shiv prey on Sandi's personal desires to secure the deal, and she even goes a step further to play to her own desires, getting herself a seat on the board. It's a decent deal, but unfortunately for her, Logan can see through her and understands that she made a selfish play, and he's not happy about that. Logan scolding her at the episode's end was intense, and it's sad to see that Logan dressed Shiv down the same way that he did with Kendall back in "Lifeboats". Roman was relegated to the background for much of the episode, and he seemed to be the one most unnerved and scared by his father's failing health. But he ended up really shining when asked to speak with the President. At first he is hilariously awkward, but by the end he's able to convey the message effectively to Logan, and seems to have entered Logan's good graces following Shiv's perceived failure. Then we have Kendall, who is spiraling rapidly. As always, Kendall is listening to nobody and running ahead on his high with disastrous results. Sure, he plays a role in securing the deal with Sandy, but he doesn't get much for his efforts. He tries to cash in at the episode's end by appearing at the shareholder meeting, but comes off as awkward and crazy and has a negative effect on his PR. Then, in a power move, Kendall is ghosted by Logan who blocks his number, officially ostracizing Kendall from the family and leaving him sadly alone by the episode's end. He isn't done yet, but it has been a steady fall since the highs of the season 3 premiere for Kendall. The side characters have an excellent episode all things considered. Greg has officially been cut out by Ewan, and it's sad to see him fall into such a vulnerable position because he's trying to keep everyone happy but is indecisive on which side to stay with. Ewan nails Greg down by saying that he has to take himself seriously to truly advance, perhaps the kindest advice that Ewan has ever offered Greg. But I'm sure it went over Greg's head like everything else, especially as Greg hilariously tries to sue Ewan "in a way that says I love you", and ultimately settles on suing Greenpeace, a hilariously stupid idea. Meanwhile Tom continues to panic under the pressure of prison and tries to get Shiv pregnant to give him some motivation to get through it. Shiv is suitably upset by this, though it's revealing of her narcissism that she expects Tom to just take going to prison, yet has double standards when it comes to her being "imprisoned" by pregnancy. These two continue to have a fascinating relationship and it's sad to see their moment of genuine elation ruined by the tension between them. Lastly, I'll highlight the supporting cast of Gerri, Frank, Karl, and Hugo who are all fantastic in this episode and I think they add a welcome amount of depth to the proceedings. Each character offers unique input and has their own degree of comedy, like poor Frank being stuck stalling for so long, Karl being a weasel who sneaks out of bad situations and sneaks into good ones, and Hugo going from sheer loyalty to saying some of the most hilariously outrageous things. I enjoy these characters, and they added a lot to this episode. The Bad: The ending moments with Kendall feel a bit strange and I wasn't able to connect with them like I probably should have. I'm confused by how the episode seems to treat this as a failure for Kendall, which really isn't the case. Stewy, Sandy, and Sandi failing to acquire the company is what Kendall wanted and this ultimately has no bearing on his war with his father, so I was confused by the tone of the show suggesting that this was a defeat for Kendall. I'm also confused by Logan's decision to ghost and block Kendall. I absolutely believe him to be petty like that, but why wait until this point, and why is it such a big deal to Kendall that it happened? I was a bit confused by this note in the story and I could have used some more context for the emotions of the characters. The Unknown: Did that poor rabbit die? I should have expected that it would meet an unfortunate fate under Kendall's care. Jess's reaction to Kendall getting the news was absolute gold though. What disease does Sandy have? Who is going to be the next President? Don't tell me that Connor actually has a shot. Will Logan recover from his UTI? Best Moment: The brief scene when Kendall arrives to scold everyone for not accepting the deal. There's so much happening in this one brief minute and I love it. We have Kendall's pretentious anger, Roman's frustration and concern for his father, and the hilarious visual of Colin removing an imaginary dead cat. This was a chaotic minute that made me laugh at the humour, recoil at Roman's harsh words for Kendall, and scoff at Kendall's self-absorbed speech. Character of the Episode: Shiv. Conclusion: Another terrific episode, one that highlights everything that "Succession" does well. The shareholder meeting is an intense blast, every character is utilized effectively, and the themes at play are some of the most exciting and interesting in the show. I enjoyed this greatly. Score: 75
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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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