Spoiler alert: this recap is for people watching Succession season two, which airs on HBO in the US and Sky Atlantic in the UK. Do not read on unless you have watched episode seven.
‘I suppose everyone has to apologise for everything nowadays’
Following the collapse of Logan’s plans to buy out PGM, Waystar face the prospect of a shareholder’s revolt, requiring a charm offensive from a family who do offensive far better than they do charm. But while the barbs rain beautifully and relentlessly throughout, this episode carries sombre weight, with Kendall forced to face up once again to the terrible secret he has borne since the first series.
He’s chipper at the start, though, acquiescing to demands for a “dick pic” from Naomi. Shiv, by contrast, is finding Tom more of a pest than a partner, too preoccupied with her own pursuit of succession to handle his constant, solipsistic anxiety, tonight over an impending internal investigation into his period at Parks.
She’s frustrated because she can’t get a meeting with Logan about a memo she’s written. Again, he’s cut her out of family business as he orders a trip to London to appease wavering shareholders; one “Jack the Ulsterman” – and the other Logan’s ex-wife Caroline. He’ll deal with Jack. Kendall and Roman are to butter up their mother.
En route to Britain, Logan attempts an apology to Roman for “accidentally” striking him, which descends into a morass of awkwardness and denial by both. On the plane, the brothers are surprised to find that Rhea, sacked CEO of PGM, is along for the ride. Privately, Logan sounds her out about the succession, revealing that he’s genuinely undecided. She gives fair but disparaging assessments of all three sibling contenders. They are then joined by Kendall and Roman for some sport in rubbishing Shiv’s over-earnest memo, prefaced by a quote from Thomas Aquinas to much mirth.
Kendall and Roy wonder if Rhea and Logan are intimate and Kendall even confronts his father regarding her. As Rhea and Logan take a late-night drink together, he confesses his regret at having privately committed to Shiv. Rhea suggests she can make that go away. Logan asks if she wants to stay over.
More breaking bad news: Sandy’s tabloids have got hold of the British parents of the waiter who drowned driving Kendall to seek out drugs. But they haven’t got wind of that; rather, they claim bullying by Logan led to his demise. With great reluctance, he agrees to visit the family and apologise. However, in a somewhat knowing and punitive manner, he asks Kendall to accompany him.
They arrive at the modest family house. Logan turns on the charm over tea in the sitting room. Kendall paces the hallway, looks at childhood photos of the dead son; we feel the dead weight of guilt and unresolved trauma. It’s a reminder that Kendall does most of the emotional heavy lifting in this show. Later, he creeps back to the house and posts a bundle of £20 notes through the letterbox, a pathetic attempt at atonement.
Meanwhile Shiv, arrived in England, meets Rhea, who suggests that – to show her father she has options – Shiv should consider joining PGM as CEO. Puzzled, Shiv agrees to think about it.
She then joins Roman at her mother’s. After initial pleasantries, the atmosphere turns frosty. Even a “how are you?” elicits a passive-aggressive response from Caroline; when she offers to “be mother” serving up some unappetising, shot-addled pigeon, Shiv retorts, “Why don’t you give it a go?”
They commence negotiations. Roman has been instructed to go no higher than £50m as a sweetener, ostensibly reopening the divorce settlement. Caroline sets out her terms: £20m, and for her children to spend Christmas with her. A miserable prospect for them, but that’ll be small matter to Logan. Her inadequacy as a parent is revealed when Kendall returns late at night and tries to open up about his secret guilt. She suggests they discuss it in the morning “over an egg”. At the breakfast table, she leaves a note claiming she has things to do. She has shirked her parental duty. Her children are motherless.
Back in the US, Tom, worried at the unexpected toughness of the internal inquiry, seeks out Greg to demand the incriminating documents he has been withholding. Greg reluctantly agrees, and later than night, they burn the papers; however, when Tom fetches matches, Greg snatches a couple of documents and stuffs them down his trousers.
Much as Caroline fled Kendall, so Logan has been fleeing Shiv. When she finally tracks him down, demanding an answer on the succession, he turns the tables on her, accusing her of betraying the family by seeking out the PGM job. She’s been played by Rhea, who on the plane, Logan thanks for removing the “noose” from his neck. But Shiv knows she’s been had. She puts in a call to Kendall.
The heir apparent?
Rhea, undoubtedly. Dismissed from PGM, she is playing the Roys clearly with a view to putting her own name in the frame as successor, taking advantage of his amorous feelings towards her. Although commanding, he doesn’t seem quite in control right now. But Shiv’s got her number.
Notes and observations
• Fun for Brits to see Shiv and Roman visit the local shop near their mother’s pile, with Roman eyeing a tin of Golden Syrup distastefully. Americans, Golden Syrup does exist – the nectarine of many a British childhood.
• How quickly Logan rinses himself of remorse following the visit to the dead waiter’s family. From “poor bastards” to “nothing to be ashamed of” in three short hops.
• Greg’s spoken word monologue trying to handle his anxiety at the internal investigation reminds of a Talking Heads lyric circa 1980. “I’m moving, brisk movement … this is faster … wind is blowing and I’m talking louder … I don’t remember, no, I don’t remember.”
• Two episodes in a row without Connor; is he busy on the campaign trail? Or is that all talk? And is a spaghetti western-style showdown with Sandy and Stewy in the offing? Whatever transpires, the prospects are delicious. This has been a superb series.
