Succession: Secession
October 17, 2021 7:33 PM - Season 3, Episode 1 - Subscribe

Following his bombshell presser, a righteous Kendall scrambles to find a base of operations, while Logan's team searches for safe harbor.
posted by guiseroom (31 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Kendall "EVERYONE TELL ME I AM A SPECIAL BOY" Roy -- I'm always torn between feeling bad for Rava and feeling, to some extent, that she signed on for this stuff. (You can't undo that marriage but maybe don't let him in!) But people are calling him "Ken" and "fuck-doll" instead of "Ken-doll," so he's gotta be doing better than last season?? (It doesn't feel that way. He sure seems like he's chasing a high this episode, and it's going to explode on him before even mid-season.)

S2 and S3 are the "did you like Shiv in S1? you should not have, she sucks" seasons

I hope Gerri negotiates a spectacular golden parachute.
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:35 PM on October 17, 2021 [3 favorites]


It's been a while since I watched S2 so that "previously on" had to do a lot of heavy lifting!

Wow, is Kendall the worst. Like, no matter what big-picture thing he's trying to do (and he's so totally doing it for the worst reasons), every time he speaks or smirks or whatever I just have this visceral recoil reaction to him. It was like a horror movie. No...don't let him in the house...oh no, don't say yes to that...aackk! I'm glad it looks like the lawyer will be in more of his scenes because maybe she can cut through more of his bullshit and that'll be satisfying to watch.

And yeah, Shiv sucks but it's been a really interesting subtle buildup, so now we have her going all NiceGuy on her supposed friend once she doesn't get what she wants. Pitch perfect. I know Roman sucks too but Kieran Culkin just has so much charisma that he gets away with it. I'm getting tired of the "who's going to be CEO" dance and all this maneuvering is so stupid when these people all piss away more money every week than most people will see in decades, but I still am looking forward to next week.

Man, how does this show make me so interested in watching these people that are all so horrible?
posted by j.r at 10:13 PM on October 17, 2021 [6 favorites]


Some of us are watching for Shiv's clothes.
posted by bartleby at 10:51 PM on October 17, 2021 [15 favorites]


Maybe it's that my hopes were too high, or I wasn't quite in the right mental space, but it felt like a lot of nothing going on. I didn't really feel like the narrative moved forward very much and it was a lot of filler and not much substance.
posted by jzb at 6:38 AM on October 18, 2021 [4 favorites]


I haven't watched Succession (yet) but when I wanted to get a sense of what it was about, this tweet helped me immensely.
posted by Kitteh at 7:54 AM on October 18, 2021 [25 favorites]


Strong first episode, did a good job setting up the new season. My favorite part was watching all the scrambling among the underlings, like Frank and Karl trying to have a "so what do you think" conversation. I assume the bit about Karl not being around because he wants a sandwich is him hedging his bets somehow. Also loved Geri's total focus of eyes on the prize, including not even taking Roman's pathetic sex offer seriously.

It's a little heavy-handed how they're setting up Kendall as the villain. At least in this episode, I'm hoping it gets more twisted or interesting as the season develops.

I never thought at age 49 I'd be totally glued to a nighttime soap. Is this what it felt like enjoying Dynasty or Dallas in the 80s? I'd like to think Succession is somehow smarter or more prestige TV somehow but.. is it really?
posted by Nelson at 10:25 AM on October 18, 2021 [4 favorites]


Some of us are watching for Shiv's clothes.

And she’s not wearing enough outfits for us.
posted by jeoc at 11:06 AM on October 18, 2021 [1 favorite]


That's the dirty secret, Nelson. Modern prestige TV is just soap operas with really high budgets and production values, so now it's socially acceptable to obsess over it. (Disclaimer that I wasn't old enough to know what the cultural milieu was around daytime soaps in the 80s, but Game of Thrones was extremely soapy and had lots of nudity to boot so...)
posted by j.r at 11:12 AM on October 18, 2021 [4 favorites]


It seems like Shiv thought she was going to be able to pull the same trick as she had with the cruises witness. She went in all "no, I get it, no fucking way you'll represent my Dad, no, yeah, totally the right decision", thinking she could then switch to "but, I can make sure that it works for you, it'll be me and you against him, but looking like you're with him, right?" and close the deal like before.

But Logan is just too fucking toxic now, and the lawyer is just too fucking smart to buy it. Shiv's got nothing to offer any more. Did she turn the car round to go and see Kendall?
posted by jontyjago at 1:33 PM on October 18, 2021


It seems like Shiv thought she was going to be able to pull the same trick as she had with the cruises witness.

This scene was a GREAT payoff for that one. In that scene, we saw her really pull out all the Girlboss tactics and it worked and it was fun but sickening to watch. Those tactics didn't work here because the power dynamics were completely different. It allowed us to see how Shiv may be a good strategist but she has an enormous blind spot for how her power/privilege give her a boost and doesn't know what to do when she can't use them. And as we saw with Gil, she turns nasty when she's rebuffed (just like Logan).

Logan was almost impossible to watch in this episode. But Jeremy Strong did a lot with what he was given. He felt very real to me, albeit in a completely cringey way.

I'm so glad the actress who plays Jess finally got her chance to shine. That telephone relay game moment was beautiful.

I was happy with the amount of action in this episode. It felt like table setting for the rest of the season, but I was riveted.
posted by lunasol at 4:38 PM on October 18, 2021 [3 favorites]


Don’t you think Logan demoting Shiv because she failed to enlist the lawyer just means she’ll turn around and join Kendall? I’m surprised he didn’t take that into account.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:17 PM on October 18, 2021


Don’t you think Logan demoting Shiv because she failed to enlist the lawyer just means she’ll turn around and join Kendall? I’m surprised he didn’t take that into account.

On the one hand, we've definitely seen Logan lash out at people when he thinks they've failed him, even when it's counterproductive.

On the other, he could be thinking that having too many contenders for the throne on the opposing side would undermine their cause more than the loss of Shiv would hurt his own.
posted by quizzical at 6:48 PM on October 18, 2021 [3 favorites]


How much coke has Ken snorted? Because it seems like a lot.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:59 PM on October 18, 2021 [4 favorites]


Why are you guys not talking about Greg? GREG@! The best character on television.
posted by something something at 7:01 PM on October 18, 2021 [7 favorites]


Greg needed to stay in the shadows this ep, consolidating his forces and transcribing essential tweets!
posted by sammyo at 7:05 PM on October 18, 2021 [5 favorites]


I haven't watched Succession (yet) but when I wanted to get a sense of what it was about, this tweet helped me immensely.

I hope Sarah Snook never watches that because reducing her acting down to a quizzical glance was incredibly effective.

Don’t you think Logan demoting Shiv because she failed to enlist the lawyer just means she’ll turn around and join Kendall? I’m surprised he didn’t take that into account.

I assumed that was where Shiv was heading when she told her driver that there'd be a change of plans. I think the best part of that would be if Shiv defects to Kendall's side while Tom is stuck in Sarajevo with Logan.

Geri's performance on the call with the president's staff person somehow made me cringe in admiration for her persistence. I could never.
posted by gladly at 7:17 PM on October 18, 2021 [5 favorites]


I hope Sarah Snook never watches that because reducing her acting down to a quizzical glance was incredibly effective.
Hey! The lady has an AACTA.

But I did get tired enough waiting for wardrobe changes that I started playing 'spot the slip', listening for a long i here, a dropped r there. No luck. Her Standard North American is still flawless.
posted by bartleby at 9:58 PM on October 18, 2021


Episode is setting pieces in motion for the rest of the season, I hope.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:13 AM on October 19, 2021


No comment, no comment, no comment. No comment!
posted by betweenthebars at 9:03 AM on October 19, 2021 [9 favorites]


(In my comment, I meant to say Kendall was almost impossible to watch, not Logan! For some reason, I always want to call Kendall Logan.)
posted by lunasol at 10:41 AM on October 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


How much coke has Ken snorted? Because it seems like a lot.

People on the Succession subreddit are speculating that he has untreated bipolar disorder, which actually seems plausible to me. This episode did look a lot like he was having a manic episode--talking quickly over other people, hyping himself up with grandiose ideas, inappropriately stomping over boundaries. And there's the previous self-medicating with drugs. Almost certainly with the way he was raised, he wouldn't have been in the right therapy to get a proper diagnosis. Logan would much prefer to send him to fancy rehab after fancy rehab than find out he has a mental illness and help him through the required life-long maintenance.

It's still hella uncomfortable to watch, but I have a lot more sympathy for him if I see it through this lens.
posted by j.r at 12:16 PM on October 19, 2021 [3 favorites]


Totally seemed manic to me, and you can see a flip switch in his eyes when his dad tells him that he made a good move. From there on out, things seemed to really get wild.
posted by armacy at 1:08 PM on October 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


When is the shareholder meeting supposed to happen? I feel like it's been coming in a few weeks since the end of season 1.
posted by lunasol at 1:19 PM on October 19, 2021


Why are you guys not talking about Greg?

Actually it's Gregory now.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:05 PM on October 19, 2021 [3 favorites]


It seems like Shiv thought she was going to be able to pull the same trick as she had with the cruises witness.

Something they mentioned on the Slate Money podcast, which I hadn't picked up on, is that one thing Shiv is trying to do in this scene is create a conflict of interest so that the lawyer couldn't represent Kendall (this is part of the strategy that Logan mentions about hire the top 3, talk to the next 5 law firms). So like even if she doesn't represent Logan, if Shiv can get her involved in some way with the family, then she'll have to say no to Kendall. It didn't work, because she didn't get there in time.
posted by Ragged Richard at 2:38 PM on October 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


“The Pope followed you. Wait. A Pope followed you but not the Pope.”
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:08 PM on October 19, 2021 [3 favorites]


The Pope followed you.

Was wondering whether this was a reference to Popehat...
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 10:19 PM on October 19, 2021 [4 favorites]


He did change his screen name to “apopebutnotthePopeHat” yesterday or the day before.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 9:33 AM on October 20, 2021 [1 favorite]


I would be so happy if Twitter announced that #succession was out-trending #tatertots.
posted by Liesl at 2:32 PM on October 20, 2021


Was I right noticing that Hiam Abbass' name wasn't in the credits? Is Marcia gone?
posted by chavenet at 1:29 PM on November 21, 2021


By the time Shiv visited Lisa Arthur, Lisa had either signed on with Kendall or had at least talked with him. So, no way could Lisa have a congenial legal chat with Shiv.
posted by Pronoiac at 6:42 PM on December 4, 2021


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