Succession – What It Takes

By: Kelly Kearney

On this week’s episode of the greed kings of Manhattan and beyond, fresh off their big win at the Shareholders’ meeting the Roy family (sans Kendall) is back on top and picking a president with an anti-tech angle that could be useful in the fight to stay current in the changing world. Big tech is the enemy of any dying media conglomerate and Logan plans to steer the conservative voter discourse towards supporting the breakup of these corporations. Now that The Raisin is out and there are rumors swirling about a Logan Roy dartboard hanging on the Attorney General’s wall, Waystar needs a friend in the Oval Office. With new confidant and meme aficionado Kerry by his side, he orders the family to flush out the best presidential candidate who could destroy tech while simultaneously cleaning up their cruise mess. If they can find a pliable choice who can easily fit underneath Logan’s thumb, even better. In what can only be described as a gathering of sociopathic power hoarders, where greed is God and power is currency, we get a peek into a world most of us are aware exists but turn a blind eye to on election day. A gathering of elites to auction off leadership – where the tycoons of business buy and sell their fattest prized pig in a soiree filled with nothing but swine. From your middle of the road centrists to the full-on Holocaust denying provocateurs, it’s a who’s who of fringe extremes and their old guard establishment counterparts. Logan has his pick of the litter and, let me tell you, that box is full of some smelly surprises. Waystar’s ATN makes or breaks presidents in the polls and one accidental slip of a fact or spin on the truth can send one Raisin packing for an early Florida retirement while crowning another 4-Chan fascist the new King. Media conglomerates and tech gods act as the ultimate ballot casters in the world of Succession and in many ways, the show has dialed into the zeitgeist of our real-life political system at work. Welcome to the not so fictional tale of a Republic looted by modern day robber barons at The Future Freedom Summit. Prepare yourselves, it’s about to get grossly swampy from here on out.

SHIV THE RUTHLESS

After cutting a deal to save Waystar from a shareholders’ vote, Shiv (Sarah Snook) is practically begging for praise from Logan (Brian Cox), but all he can offer up is an inside joke with Kerry (Zoe Winters) about giving her a medal for her service. With her experience in the democratic halls of American politics, Shiv puts her ethics aside and joins her family at The Future Freedom Summit as a corporate observer with her eye on the Raisin’s replacement. Vice President Boyer (Reed Birney) is the obvious, albeit boring, choice to replace his boss, but Shiv is leaning towards a Waystar culture shift with a democratic congressional move and Logan Roy hater, Rick Delgado (Yul Vazquez). When he approaches her with a promise to send Logan to jail and clear a path for her to the CEO seat, Shiv cannot say no. Ruthless like her father with a killer streak that runs deeper than any genetic trait, Logan’s only daughter is willing to sell her blue wave to Daddy for the biggest power grab of her life. She is every Greek and Shakespearean tragedy rolled into one tightly fitted pantsuit. The Elektra of this pack of patricidal siblings, she is willing to kill her creator to usurp his power; especially after she sees Roman (Kieran Culkin) flirting with the current fascist flavor of the month, Jaryd Mencken (Justin Kirk). Shiv hopes her Trojan horse, Delgado, can sway Logan to the left so she can finally be proud of her family’s politics while sitting in Waystar’s big girl chair. She is dialed into the public’s need for a centrist leader and, according to her, it’s the perfect climate for a political shift. While she works hard to beat Roman to the candidate punch, she is also busy pushing her husband’s prison panic and his baby making desires aside. She has no interest in putting Tom’s (Matthew Macfayden) fears to rest and even less so in becoming his baby incubator. All “Pinky” cares about are punishing her father for ignoring her win by way of stealing his company and looking better than Romulus while doing it. So, when we see her compromise her morals for photo with Daddy’s new pet fascist, it wasn’t shocking as much as status quo for a woman who has her eyes on the ultimate CEO prize. Mencken is man who shakes Shiv to her core, but not enough to risk her position at the company. She truly is her father’s daughter.

KENDALL THE FORGOTTEN

After preparing for the DOJ inquiry, Lisa (Sanaa Lathan) tells Kendall (Jeremy Strong) his case is losing steam. The optics aren’t as hot as they were before Logan secured the Furness deal and kept Waystar out of the voting hands of the retired janitors of Idaho. He does not have the public’s support and with Logan known as a winner and Kendall (the addict with self-destructive daddy issues) these are not the optics to hang a federal case on. Adding to the concern is Waystar’s cooperation with the Department of Justice. Logan handed over one million pages of documents dwarfing the dozen receipts Kendall got from Greg (Nicholas Braun). “This isn’t a slam dunk here,” Lisa points out and that takes the wind right out of Kendall’s sails. He can deflect any surface criticisms with a smile but the minute someone rattles his ego and reminds him of his insignificance in the world of Logan Roy, Kendall goes from rockstar vigilante to frightened little boy in the blink of an eye. It happens so quickly the people around him rarely notice the change in his demeanor other than his insults and rash decisions that typically follow.

Later, after the inquiry where he chokes on any knowledge of other Waystar crimes outside of the cruise line, Kendall, on brand, fires expert lawyer, Lisa, all but kissing his chances of a win goodbye. With Greg already in his scopes as an easy flip on Logan, he includes Tom on his list of possible allies and appeals to his brother-in-law’s heightened fears of jail. The higher Kendall flies on the wings of his own ego, the closer he gets to the sun’s rays. If he isn’t careful, the heat of this case might melt his waxy feathered wings, sending him plummeting back to earth and his predictable demise. With his mind clouded with desires for a legacy separate from his father while also building it from very bricks bearing Logan’s name, the person Kendall wants the world to think he is looks nothing like the lonely man we see trying to carve his authenticity out of generational wealth. As much as he tries to ignore his bloodline to play the black sheep of the family, his Pavlovian response to anything “father” continues to hold him back. He isn’t the man he thinks he is and, until he faces that truth and embraces the real Kendall, he will continue to come up short in his father’s eyes.

TOM AND GREG, THE PEONS

When we catch up with Cousin Greg he is a fish out of water at the Summit and he has the Soy Boy insults burns to prove it. Greg isn’t exactly thrilled to be mingling with the Goebbels of the day, but the kid does love a good time, so he joins Shiv in ignoring his own conscience for a party with the proudest boys he’s ever had the displeasure of meeting. Not that their conflicting beliefs stop him from partaking in their drunken dance offs, because while his pal Tom sweats out their inevitable doom, Greg is raging it up Roy style with his new alt-right drinking buddies. And while both men are prison obsessed, only Tom seems to be letting it beat him into submission. During a secret late-night diner meal (he is in training for prison food) with Greg, the two talk about their fears of confinement. Greg is too tall for jail and Tom needs time to perfect his jailhouse hooch recipe; things are moving too quickly, and neither can see an off ramp to their problems. That is until Greg asks his friend to take the fall for him. With Shiv’s apathy for his predicament and now Greg, his only friend, willing to use him as a shield with the FBI, Tom is alone, desperate and running out of options. The darkness swirling around him has snuffed out that bullish frat-boy light that defines him, leaving behind this brooding atmospheric cloud hanging over every scene he is in. It’s as if his pain is building towards a climax none of us, especially Shiv, are expecting. When later he agrees to meet secretly with Kendall, who offers him a deal to switch sides and join him, we see the first glimpse of the old Tom when knocks Ken off his pedestal. In what might be the best scene between the two to date, Tom declines the offer knowing Logan always wins and Kendall is the perennial loser. Ken’s reaction to Tom just proves him right when he snaps photo evidence of their meet-up. I guess when all else fails, blackmail can be a decent motivator.

ROMAN THE FAVORED

“New Dad just dropped,” is how Roman tells Kendall the shocking news about their mother’s new fiancé. Caroline forgot to mention her impending Tuscan nuptials to her children and now Roman is deeply in his feels over it. When it comes to parental issues, the youngest Roy son is a diagnostic manual all to himself, so the news about Mommy dearest turns his attentions to Daddy in hopes of gaining his approval since Mom is a lost cause. Say what you will about Romulus Roy, but underneath all his offensive jokes is a man who loves deeply. Sure, he gets excited for taking down Kendall and Logan and cracking jokes at Caroline’s expense, but the minute actual harm comes to one of them, his passion for the fight wanes and he goes into protection mode.

After a few incestuous jabs from Shiv about his mommy-meltdown, we see the current subject of Roman’s wandering “f**ky eyes” Congress-critter and flashy-faschie, Jaryd Mencken. The sexually charged and gay coded nativist of the digital populist 8-chan age, he is a Josh Hawley type, only manlier and authentic. He brings his college educated and polished Plato-esque intellectualism to the conversation and all Roman can see is TV ready superstar. Unfortunately, his certain flavor of pale supremacy is what currently stirs up Waystar’s extreme fans and Roman has ideas on how to capitalize on it. Mencken’s easily digestible tag lines of hate and fear combined with his philosophical white utopic babble fit right in with to Roman’s dream of turning ATN into a deep-state comedy hour full of disinformation for the streaming age. When the two head to the bathroom, because that is where Roman does his best work, for a chat filled with enough sexual tension wafting off of them to make Gerri Kellman (J. Smith-Cameron) put her protégé back on a tight leash, we watch as this repressed wannabe in a swastika armband dials into Roman’s need for approval from powerful men. He could care less what this guy does to the Republic as this isn’t about his abhorrent politics, it’s about getting his and his father’s attention. Roman is well-aware Jaryd is a step back from your norm – like a step back into 1927 Europe, but Shiv hates him and he is willing to bend the knee to Logan. And that is good enough for him. Sibling competition is what this is about and Roman’s need to turn this guy into a sure bet, which he does when Mencken delivers a bubbly cola flavored message to Logan as proof he can be bought. This pick could be a slope too slippery for America to survive, but if the climate isn’t right for a blazing hot fascist, and Shiv’s expertise says it isn’t, than they risk even the weakest liberal knocking him out the race. Lose the White House and lose their case, it is that simple. But Roman, like his father, is a gambler and Shiv never gets respect for going with a safe bet. It is why in the end he gets his father’s favor and, in response, Shiv’s angry glares when Mencken not only gets Waystar’s support. But Pinky is forced to take a photo with him. These two were always on the same side of every battle – a united front against the real threat, until Kendall nuked his chances coming after their father. With him out of the running, a new sibling battle is born.

CONNOR THE EAGER

While Shiv and Roman go to bat for their Presidential race picks, Connor (Alan Ruck) sees this as an opportunity to ride his Conhead popularity all the way to D.C. Having previously shelved his 2024 run before the Raisin pulled out, Connor saw a new spot open up in the race and he wants in. While rubbing elbows with the elite deciders of the country’s fate, he uses Willa (Justine Lupe) like an escort to pump up his presence and keep people talking. He thinks the former playwright should amp up her flirtatious arm candy vibes, but she isn’t interested in Connor’s political pimpology and tells him so when he tries to get her to fluff the room. Whatever purpose Connor thinks the presidency will give him, one thing is for certain, having a Roy in the White House squashing investigations and doing their dirty work from inside the beltway has a certain appeal to it and puts him in line for Logan’s consideration. “In a room full of Timothy McVeigh’s, he kind of looks like Roosevelt,” Shiv points out and that’s Connor’s biggest selling point right now – good looking and not the worst person in the room. As the oldest, Connor had a front row seat to any number of business deals, crimes and optical nightmares and it makes him a dangerous person to ignore. When it comes to bringing public scrutiny to the embattled Waystar’s new “we get it” campaign, Connor has more receipts than Kendall could ever dream of and it’s why Logan has to play the game and consider his first born as a legitimate choice. With a vacant seat where his brother Kendall usually resides, the Presidency is Connor’s best chance to be something more than the incompetent trust fund boy. He is finally in the position to make a play for Logan’s favorite son and most useful tool and the hyper-decanting candidate isn’t going to pass that up.

With the stage set for a Presidential race bleeding into next week’s birthday bash for Kendall, the temperatures between the Roy siblings look to be reaching an all-time fevered high. Let’s hope these bastions of conservative family values can survive each other long enough to bury their father and run their victory laps before fascism flips the country and their conglomerate upside down.