Succession: Safe Room
August 30, 2019 9:34 PM - Season 2, Episode 4 - Subscribe
Roman begins a six-week management training program in the Parks division and is irritated about spending so much time with "normals." Logan brings Shiv in for a day at Waystar, raising suspicions with Kendall and Gerri. Connor and Willa attend the funeral of a family friend with a complicated past. Logan and Kendall arrange a covert meeting with PGM CEO Rhea Jarrell.
Yes, when a eulogy is good, that is good. And when a eulogy is bad, that is sad.
posted by Ragged Richard at 2:57 PM on September 2, 2019 [16 favorites]
posted by Ragged Richard at 2:57 PM on September 2, 2019 [16 favorites]
Connor Roy was interested in politics from a very young age.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 4:19 PM on September 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 4:19 PM on September 2, 2019 [8 favorites]
Whaaaat an episode. The shooting was definitely the least exciting part. If you'd told me I would enjoy a show this painfully awkward, I wouldn't have believed you. The Gerri thing was...a turn.
A business open relationship, ohmygod Greg -- and Tom paying forward the physical humiliations of last week to another underling this week. And I have some leverage, but I don't want to sour things between us.
And his name isn't Mo! "Connor Roy was interested in politics from a very young age" is the first time I've believed that Connor has a functioning brain.
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:12 PM on September 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
A business open relationship, ohmygod Greg -- and Tom paying forward the physical humiliations of last week to another underling this week. And I have some leverage, but I don't want to sour things between us.
And his name isn't Mo! "Connor Roy was interested in politics from a very young age" is the first time I've believed that Connor has a functioning brain.
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:12 PM on September 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
I love how much all the characters love Baby's First Blackmail! Tom even has blackmail material on Greg, too, because he knows he spoke to the biographer -- but he seemed so delighted by Greg's reveal of secret sleaziness that he didn't even seem to care anymore about all that.
Poor Kendall. "All I ask is that you take care of me." WTF? What's heartbreaking is that he apparently knows now that Logan keeping him close means that he's Logan's crutch, not that he's his protege. But he's still so grateful to be Logan's crutch because if he weren't, then what would he be?
The kleptomania thing is also mind-boggling. This guy is running on fumes.
I really wonder how Shiv is going to respond to this new information, about how fragile her brother is and how much propping up Logan actually needs from him to keep running the business. On the one hand, I don't think she's as ruthless as Logan, not even close, and will stop before she hurts one of her brothers or her father TOO badly (although Tom is apparently fair game lol. I think that's his role in her life in general, to be "fair game"). But on the other hand, she's not broken in the way her brothers are, she's not as scared and dominated by Logan as they are. So I expect her to twist this information to her own advantage, rather than trying to help anybody else. Eyes on the prize, Shiv.
I have never liked Roman more than when he got super uncomfortable with Tabitha saying anything sexual and then jerked off to Geri scolding him, which is not at all how I would have expected to feel. I also like that he called the random group work partner "a diamond in the rough" and wants to fast track him. Like, this is just some guy you happened to have a locker next to. This is how first graders make friends.
Willa's obituary was hilarious. Conner just casually talking about how much of a creep Lester was also cracked me up. Kendall kept saying the "other generation" thing to Rava last season, too, when she complained about how Logan treated Iverson. "Was this generation before laws?!" hahaha
I like Conner despite myself because he's just SO clueless, and just takes things as they come. Like how he was all excited to have the family at his house in New Mexico last season, too, for the dumb therapy attempt. There's something about him that's weirdly good-hearted. Even though his political ideas are terrible and...well, all his ideas are pretty terrible, really.
And of course Willa would know how to handle the political maneuvering and how to say the right thing so everybody likes you and you're not really saying anything at all -- she's a call girl. This is totally in her wheelhouse.
I'm incredibly curious to see her play.
posted by rue72 at 8:36 AM on September 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
Poor Kendall. "All I ask is that you take care of me." WTF? What's heartbreaking is that he apparently knows now that Logan keeping him close means that he's Logan's crutch, not that he's his protege. But he's still so grateful to be Logan's crutch because if he weren't, then what would he be?
The kleptomania thing is also mind-boggling. This guy is running on fumes.
I really wonder how Shiv is going to respond to this new information, about how fragile her brother is and how much propping up Logan actually needs from him to keep running the business. On the one hand, I don't think she's as ruthless as Logan, not even close, and will stop before she hurts one of her brothers or her father TOO badly (although Tom is apparently fair game lol. I think that's his role in her life in general, to be "fair game"). But on the other hand, she's not broken in the way her brothers are, she's not as scared and dominated by Logan as they are. So I expect her to twist this information to her own advantage, rather than trying to help anybody else. Eyes on the prize, Shiv.
I have never liked Roman more than when he got super uncomfortable with Tabitha saying anything sexual and then jerked off to Geri scolding him, which is not at all how I would have expected to feel. I also like that he called the random group work partner "a diamond in the rough" and wants to fast track him. Like, this is just some guy you happened to have a locker next to. This is how first graders make friends.
Willa's obituary was hilarious. Conner just casually talking about how much of a creep Lester was also cracked me up. Kendall kept saying the "other generation" thing to Rava last season, too, when she complained about how Logan treated Iverson. "Was this generation before laws?!" hahaha
I like Conner despite myself because he's just SO clueless, and just takes things as they come. Like how he was all excited to have the family at his house in New Mexico last season, too, for the dumb therapy attempt. There's something about him that's weirdly good-hearted. Even though his political ideas are terrible and...well, all his ideas are pretty terrible, really.
And of course Willa would know how to handle the political maneuvering and how to say the right thing so everybody likes you and you're not really saying anything at all -- she's a call girl. This is totally in her wheelhouse.
I'm incredibly curious to see her play.
posted by rue72 at 8:36 AM on September 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
Willa's eulogy was brilliant writing from the show writers. My take on it is that she had five minutes to craft a eulogy that allowed Connor to speak, but didn't give anything juicy to the biographer. I don't think she's inept; I think she did the best with what she had. Connor doesn't realize how perfectly awful it was and the attendees have no clue why it's so bad.
I agree Kendell's running on fumes. When you're up that high, it takes a long time digging to hit rock bottom. He's increasingly walled in. On the rooftop he seemed to be peaceful. Now that the glass walls are up he realizes just how trapped he is. He can't even jump off his own building if he wants to.
During the panic, Logan was only concerned about Kendell. Is that a nod to Shiv being shivved in the future, or did he think the shooting might have been Kendell's suicide?
Loved how proud Tom was of Greg's blackmail. Also loved Tom admonishing Greg not for talking to the biographer, but for telling Tom he talked to the biographer. Of course you can trust me! to a point
Is any part of Gerri attracted to Roman? Was her going along with it purely maneuvering?
My wife and I now yell "oh my god you're not hyper decanting that?" when the other pours a glass from our boxed wine.
I wonder if Mo knew anything about the cruise cover ups, and if so, will that come back to bite Connor's candidacy? How the fuck is Connor going to spin his relationship with Willa? And what does an anti-masturbation platform look like on the policy side?
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 12:14 PM on September 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
I agree Kendell's running on fumes. When you're up that high, it takes a long time digging to hit rock bottom. He's increasingly walled in. On the rooftop he seemed to be peaceful. Now that the glass walls are up he realizes just how trapped he is. He can't even jump off his own building if he wants to.
During the panic, Logan was only concerned about Kendell. Is that a nod to Shiv being shivved in the future, or did he think the shooting might have been Kendell's suicide?
Loved how proud Tom was of Greg's blackmail. Also loved Tom admonishing Greg not for talking to the biographer, but for telling Tom he talked to the biographer. Of course you can trust me! to a point
Is any part of Gerri attracted to Roman? Was her going along with it purely maneuvering?
My wife and I now yell "oh my god you're not hyper decanting that?" when the other pours a glass from our boxed wine.
I wonder if Mo knew anything about the cruise cover ups, and if so, will that come back to bite Connor's candidacy? How the fuck is Connor going to spin his relationship with Willa? And what does an anti-masturbation platform look like on the policy side?
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 12:14 PM on September 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
The mascot Roman's wearing is The World's Biggest Turkey.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:16 PM on September 3, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:16 PM on September 3, 2019 [7 favorites]
You know, I wonder if anybody aside from Shiv thinks it's weird that Logan has an active drug addict handling his medications.
posted by rue72 at 7:28 AM on September 4, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by rue72 at 7:28 AM on September 4, 2019 [6 favorites]
In fairness, Kendall seems to have been his dad's best boy despite being an active drug addict for most of his life? It just feels like one of those brutal things that people do to each other on this show. (The closest we've ever come to any character acknowledging Kendall's problems with addiction is when Stewie tried to keep him sober before the deal, which of course backfired completely.)
I liked how they showed Logan's version of caring in this episode (worried about Kendall -- that he'd killed himself? or just wasn't safe? -- in the safe room, quietly correcting his klepto spree, deciding Kendall's roof excursions were a suicide risk and taking care of it immediately). Logan is an absolute monster, but he loves at least one of his kids! Toxic, abusive relationships are frequently also loving relationships. That's where the power comes from...that's probably the key to the show, since none of the Roy kids actually seem to care much about money. (Though obviously they'd change their mind about that if they didn't have it.) It explains the carrot that Roman is always seeking -- a carrot that Roman will probably never get, because he is too bumbling and work-averse to ever earn Logan's approval and not vulnerable enough to ever need his protection.
I'm desperately curious about the past marriages now. Connor and Shiv don't quite gel in conversation like Shiv and Roman or Shiv and Kendall do. They act like family members, but not siblings. And in his libertarian failson way, Connor is probably the healthiest Roy sibling. (To be clear: his is a pox on society, but he's probably the happiest and most stable.) It makes me think Connor was raised by the starter wife (either after the divorce, or during the marriage because Logan was too busy empire building to ever see his kid) and that the distance from his dad did him a world of good. Clearly Logan doesn't have much respect for Connor...but it makes me wonder how much healthier Roman might've been if he'd been written off, with Connor, instead of being raised with Shiv, Kendall, and Logan's expectations.
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:06 AM on September 4, 2019 [5 favorites]
I liked how they showed Logan's version of caring in this episode (worried about Kendall -- that he'd killed himself? or just wasn't safe? -- in the safe room, quietly correcting his klepto spree, deciding Kendall's roof excursions were a suicide risk and taking care of it immediately). Logan is an absolute monster, but he loves at least one of his kids! Toxic, abusive relationships are frequently also loving relationships. That's where the power comes from...that's probably the key to the show, since none of the Roy kids actually seem to care much about money. (Though obviously they'd change their mind about that if they didn't have it.) It explains the carrot that Roman is always seeking -- a carrot that Roman will probably never get, because he is too bumbling and work-averse to ever earn Logan's approval and not vulnerable enough to ever need his protection.
I'm desperately curious about the past marriages now. Connor and Shiv don't quite gel in conversation like Shiv and Roman or Shiv and Kendall do. They act like family members, but not siblings. And in his libertarian failson way, Connor is probably the healthiest Roy sibling. (To be clear: his is a pox on society, but he's probably the happiest and most stable.) It makes me think Connor was raised by the starter wife (either after the divorce, or during the marriage because Logan was too busy empire building to ever see his kid) and that the distance from his dad did him a world of good. Clearly Logan doesn't have much respect for Connor...but it makes me wonder how much healthier Roman might've been if he'd been written off, with Connor, instead of being raised with Shiv, Kendall, and Logan's expectations.
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:06 AM on September 4, 2019 [5 favorites]
In fairness, Kendall seems to have been his dad's best boy despite being an active drug addict for most of his life?
Despite -- or because of! Few people could handle being Logan's lieutenant for a lifetime without a little assistance. That's sorta a joke but sorta not. Kendall doesn't seem like a hedonist, he seems like someone who's trying to medicate himself because he desperately needs some relief. If he didn't have the little bit of relief that drugs or kleptomania or whatever else provide, would he even be able to get to up in the morning or get through the day anymore? I feel bad for him because he seems like he's in a lot of pain.
I actually see Logan's concern for him in a very different light -- Logan's worry revealed that he understands how fragile his son is. But if he understands that, then why isn't he letting him get help? I think it's fundamentally because Logan doesn't really ever see anything except from his own perspective and doesn't really care about anybody's interests but his own. He only cares about Kendall's well-being up until the second that it threatens to come into conflict with his. As long as Logan's interests are aligned with Kendall's, he wants the best for Kendall (because he wants the best for himself) -- but the second that they're misaligned, he'll pursue his own ends, grinding his son into the dust if he has to.
Kendall is just never going to be ruthless with his father the way that his father is with him. I don't think that's really specific to Kendall, that's always how it is with parents and children. People talk about parents having unconditional love for their kids, but I think it's actually usually the other way around. Kendall is always going to love Logan and Logan is always going to be able to weaponize that.
I feel like to understand more about where Connor is coming from, we kind of need to know more about his mother. I actually get the sense that she might have died or something when Connor was very young, because he talks about going to his siblings' mother's house as though all four spent time there together even post-divorce. Like isn't that where he said that Roman was "playing doggie," at their mother's house? The younger three's mother might also have been the one to shove Connor aside when it came to having a relationship with Roman or being his successor.
posted by rue72 at 11:21 AM on September 4, 2019 [6 favorites]
Despite -- or because of! Few people could handle being Logan's lieutenant for a lifetime without a little assistance. That's sorta a joke but sorta not. Kendall doesn't seem like a hedonist, he seems like someone who's trying to medicate himself because he desperately needs some relief. If he didn't have the little bit of relief that drugs or kleptomania or whatever else provide, would he even be able to get to up in the morning or get through the day anymore? I feel bad for him because he seems like he's in a lot of pain.
I actually see Logan's concern for him in a very different light -- Logan's worry revealed that he understands how fragile his son is. But if he understands that, then why isn't he letting him get help? I think it's fundamentally because Logan doesn't really ever see anything except from his own perspective and doesn't really care about anybody's interests but his own. He only cares about Kendall's well-being up until the second that it threatens to come into conflict with his. As long as Logan's interests are aligned with Kendall's, he wants the best for Kendall (because he wants the best for himself) -- but the second that they're misaligned, he'll pursue his own ends, grinding his son into the dust if he has to.
Kendall is just never going to be ruthless with his father the way that his father is with him. I don't think that's really specific to Kendall, that's always how it is with parents and children. People talk about parents having unconditional love for their kids, but I think it's actually usually the other way around. Kendall is always going to love Logan and Logan is always going to be able to weaponize that.
I feel like to understand more about where Connor is coming from, we kind of need to know more about his mother. I actually get the sense that she might have died or something when Connor was very young, because he talks about going to his siblings' mother's house as though all four spent time there together even post-divorce. Like isn't that where he said that Roman was "playing doggie," at their mother's house? The younger three's mother might also have been the one to shove Connor aside when it came to having a relationship with Roman or being his successor.
posted by rue72 at 11:21 AM on September 4, 2019 [6 favorites]
Rewatching season 1 Tom says Lester was head of cruises.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:15 PM on September 5, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:15 PM on September 5, 2019 [9 favorites]
Rewatching season 1 Tom says Lester was head of cruises.
Oh shit! Amazing catch.
posted by Ragged Richard at 7:29 AM on September 6, 2019
Oh shit! Amazing catch.
posted by Ragged Richard at 7:29 AM on September 6, 2019
"You know, the head of cruises himself, Lester, would go on these entertainment tours, meeting the dancers, and extending the contracts of the ones that would suck him off. Everyone we could, we paid off, we hushed up. But there are emails, there's correspondence it's ready to blow. It's a fucking time bomb."
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:34 AM on September 6, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:34 AM on September 6, 2019 [9 favorites]
okay, out of everything that could torpedo Shiv's chances at the big job, it will be very funny if it turns out to be her connection to TOM
(Tom is either gonna kill himself or fall in with some kind of Rajneesh cult situation after a full nervous breakdown. Where else could his character possibly go?)
posted by grandiloquiet at 10:14 AM on September 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
(Tom is either gonna kill himself or fall in with some kind of Rajneesh cult situation after a full nervous breakdown. Where else could his character possibly go?)
posted by grandiloquiet at 10:14 AM on September 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
If Shiv is Ivanka
Tom is Jared
Kendall is Don Jr
and Roman is Eric
then who is Connor?
posted by rajbot at 10:05 PM on September 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Tom is Jared
Kendall is Don Jr
and Roman is Eric
then who is Connor?
posted by rajbot at 10:05 PM on September 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Barron? Sure kid, run for president. The adults are talking.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:43 AM on September 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:43 AM on September 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
i really don't think a 1 to 1 comparison works at all but if we're doing it i think connor would be tiffany
posted by JimBennett at 10:10 AM on September 7, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by JimBennett at 10:10 AM on September 7, 2019 [4 favorites]
The thing is that if Logan is a Trump he's Fred, not Donald.
posted by Ragged Richard at 11:52 AM on September 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Ragged Richard at 11:52 AM on September 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
I think the kids are the Trumps but Logan is mostly Rupert Murdoch..
posted by rajbot at 2:31 PM on September 7, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by rajbot at 2:31 PM on September 7, 2019 [3 favorites]
I don't think Logan is looking after Kendall with the suicide barrier, I think he's trapping him because Kendall is useful to him right now and it would be inconvenient if he went skydiving without a parachute. If we've learned anything about Logan, it's that his own interests are the only ones that matter. He's a complete sociopath.
I love this show, this was the best episode yet.
Also Greg saying "can I trust you?" to Tom and Tom saying "of course you can trust me....to a point". Tom is strangely one of the more self-aware and honest characters in the show.
posted by biscotti at 9:46 AM on September 8, 2019 [9 favorites]
I love this show, this was the best episode yet.
Also Greg saying "can I trust you?" to Tom and Tom saying "of course you can trust me....to a point". Tom is strangely one of the more self-aware and honest characters in the show.
posted by biscotti at 9:46 AM on September 8, 2019 [9 favorites]
Logan Roy is definitely mostly patterned after Murdoch. The plot structure about the hostile takeover comes from a 2007 incident between News Corp and Liberty. I don't know the Murdoch family well enough to assign kids, but Marcia is presumably a stand-in for Wendi Deng Murdoch.
That eulogy was a eulogy. It was very direct. It was also heartbreaking, because Willa's whole thing is she's supposed to be a writer. She's going to Broadway with her play! Admittedly she didn't have a lot of time but if that's the best she can write, she's as much a disaster as everyone else on the show. I keep looking for someone, anyone unbroken to root for and they take it away. Even the minor supporting characters. That's why I gave up and went full bore awful, I'm on Team Roman. Nasty little boy.
posted by Nelson at 10:42 AM on September 14, 2019 [3 favorites]
That eulogy was a eulogy. It was very direct. It was also heartbreaking, because Willa's whole thing is she's supposed to be a writer. She's going to Broadway with her play! Admittedly she didn't have a lot of time but if that's the best she can write, she's as much a disaster as everyone else on the show. I keep looking for someone, anyone unbroken to root for and they take it away. Even the minor supporting characters. That's why I gave up and went full bore awful, I'm on Team Roman. Nasty little boy.
posted by Nelson at 10:42 AM on September 14, 2019 [3 favorites]
But I loved that there were two safe rooms; for some reason it reminded me of "Mercedes leather".
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:14 PM on November 13, 2019
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:14 PM on November 13, 2019
Ron uh...Ron Rockstone (now starring with Dirk Diggler)
posted by mabelstreet at 2:46 PM on January 29
posted by mabelstreet at 2:46 PM on January 29
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posted by Umami Dearest at 9:10 AM on August 31, 2019 [4 favorites]