Succession: Chiantishire
December 6, 2021 2:47 PM - Season 3, Episode 8 - Subscribe
At a luxe family wedding in Italy, Roman airs suspicions, Gerri draws a line, and the Waystar team grows concerned about rogue tweets.
In fairness to Roman, that was probably Mencken's.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:12 PM on December 6, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:12 PM on December 6, 2021 [4 favorites]
"How long was that kid alive before he started sucking in water?" That's the end. Kendall has to be dead, right? Where else could he go? I was 100% certain he died at the end of the episode, but it feels like no one else thinks so? I guess that's the cliffhanger. The other explanation is that Kendall realizes the only way he gets away from his father is when one of them dies, and he was dramatically trying it on for size. Anyway, Team Dead Kendall here, and I hope his poor kids never have to see Grandma Collingwood and Grandpa Roy ever again.
Maybe this is internalized sexism, but I was truly aghast that Caroline asked Kendall to make himself scarce on Logan's behalf. So many appalling things happen every episode of Succession, but I just keep coming back to that one. It feels so real! Ripped from the top of r/AmItheAsshole. Caroline might be right about teenage Shiv choosing Logan over her, but it's not like Shiv would've turned out any more human under Caroline's guidance. Did you notice that Caroline's "girl's night" included her fiance's daughters, Shiv, her ex-stepson's hired girlfriend, and the interim CEO of Waystar-Royco? So Caroline definitely couldn't have taught Shiv how to be better with women...
Last week's promo made it look like Matsson was going to take Roman down. It's *chef's kiss* delicious that the reason for Roman being in disfavor is just Roman being Roman. He can't help himself. He's a careless person. (Is this the payoff for Kerry's sudden prominence this season? I couldn't quite figure out why the show was spotlighting her before -- this can't be the first time Logan took advantage of an underling -- but it really came to a head when Logan had the temerity to complain about Roman's age difference with Gerri.)
posted by grandiloquiet at 4:33 PM on December 6, 2021 [7 favorites]
Maybe this is internalized sexism, but I was truly aghast that Caroline asked Kendall to make himself scarce on Logan's behalf. So many appalling things happen every episode of Succession, but I just keep coming back to that one. It feels so real! Ripped from the top of r/AmItheAsshole. Caroline might be right about teenage Shiv choosing Logan over her, but it's not like Shiv would've turned out any more human under Caroline's guidance. Did you notice that Caroline's "girl's night" included her fiance's daughters, Shiv, her ex-stepson's hired girlfriend, and the interim CEO of Waystar-Royco? So Caroline definitely couldn't have taught Shiv how to be better with women...
Last week's promo made it look like Matsson was going to take Roman down. It's *chef's kiss* delicious that the reason for Roman being in disfavor is just Roman being Roman. He can't help himself. He's a careless person. (Is this the payoff for Kerry's sudden prominence this season? I couldn't quite figure out why the show was spotlighting her before -- this can't be the first time Logan took advantage of an underling -- but it really came to a head when Logan had the temerity to complain about Roman's age difference with Gerri.)
posted by grandiloquiet at 4:33 PM on December 6, 2021 [7 favorites]
Interesting note from Sepinwall:
It’s not just that we see a drunken, barely conscious Kendall’s face go into the water in the closing moments. (In a remarkable shot from the bottom of the pool, we see a steady stream of bubbles come out of his nose.) It’s that Kendall has been metaphorically drowning for much of the series, and especially this season. He was in the car with Andrew Dodds when it went into the water. The first time we saw him the following season, he was submerged in a rehab facility’s pool. Early in this season’s premiere, he climbed into an empty bathtub to cope with his anxiety over attacking Logan so publicly. The drowning imagery here, even if it’s meant as a symbol, has been around for quite a while now.posted by General Malaise at 5:00 PM on December 6, 2021 [5 favorites]
Success = Analysis + Capital + Execution
Anyone can do it.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 5:08 PM on December 6, 2021 [7 favorites]
Anyone can do it.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 5:08 PM on December 6, 2021 [7 favorites]
I also think Kendall is dead, and frankly, I hope this is the case. Not because he wasn't a great character, excellently acted, but I'm not sure where else the character can go. Even if Logan were to let him cash out, it's hard to imagine him doing much else other than feeling sorry for himself, drinking too much, and being a negligent father. I'm not sure what Kendall adds at this point to the show - his point in this season seems to have been to demonstrate the inability of the children to stand apart from their father/family, even if they want to. After the previous episode I found myself thinking "I'm not sure how much more of Kendall I can take..." Plus, there have been hints - I saw someone else point out that when Logan tasked Greg to look after Kendall to make sure he wasn't using, he said something to the effect, "I don't want to find him dead at the bottom of somebody's pool."
Meanwhile, Kendall's death will add much for the plot/other characters to work with, particularly if that death is ambiguous enough to maybe be a suicide. Will this distract Logan from Roman's kerfuffle? Will the siblings feel genuine remorse for their behavior toward their brother? Will perhaps some of these characters grow, even if only slightly? Does this help or hurt the merger? Will the DOJ be concerned the death may be suspicious?
On another topic: I doubt Gerri will get fired, or that the dick pic will actually move anything. Logan can be brash, but he often steps back once he settles down. He seemed to see-through Shiv's suggestion that Gerri was manipulating Roman for the self-serving bullshit that it was, and assuming the GoJo deal still goes through and proves profitable, it seems likely Roman will be forgiven. I dunno, Gerri seems to capable to fire (I mean, he hasn't fired Frank yet), she knows too much, and she's dating someone from the DOJ.
posted by coffeecat at 5:15 PM on December 6, 2021 [4 favorites]
Meanwhile, Kendall's death will add much for the plot/other characters to work with, particularly if that death is ambiguous enough to maybe be a suicide. Will this distract Logan from Roman's kerfuffle? Will the siblings feel genuine remorse for their behavior toward their brother? Will perhaps some of these characters grow, even if only slightly? Does this help or hurt the merger? Will the DOJ be concerned the death may be suspicious?
On another topic: I doubt Gerri will get fired, or that the dick pic will actually move anything. Logan can be brash, but he often steps back once he settles down. He seemed to see-through Shiv's suggestion that Gerri was manipulating Roman for the self-serving bullshit that it was, and assuming the GoJo deal still goes through and proves profitable, it seems likely Roman will be forgiven. I dunno, Gerri seems to capable to fire (I mean, he hasn't fired Frank yet), she knows too much, and she's dating someone from the DOJ.
posted by coffeecat at 5:15 PM on December 6, 2021 [4 favorites]
Kendall may be face down in the pool, but he's on a floaty. He's not dead.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 5:18 PM on December 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 5:18 PM on December 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
I hope he’s dead, but I doubt it, despite the extremely extremely good and interesting New Yorker profile of Jeremy Strong*
* tl;dr, he’s playing Kendall like a tragic hero instead of a darkly hilarious failson and IMO it makes the portrayal EVERYTHING.
posted by supercres at 5:48 PM on December 6, 2021
* tl;dr, he’s playing Kendall like a tragic hero instead of a darkly hilarious failson and IMO it makes the portrayal EVERYTHING.
posted by supercres at 5:48 PM on December 6, 2021
The timing of the New Yorker article is interesting: live online just before this episode, in the issue of the magazine right after.
posted by supercres at 5:49 PM on December 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by supercres at 5:49 PM on December 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
I don't think Kendall's dead, that seems very unlikely. OTOH the New Yorker did just publish an excellent in depth article about the actor Jeremy Strong so.. maybe? Mostly I was just impressed with that underwater shot, very well done. Also flashbacks to Bojack Horseman's intro.
My main enjoyment of this episode was the way genuine human emotion comes through in these otherwise outrageous scenes with ridiculous characters. The conversation between Shiv and Tom about having a baby / doing some sort of IVF was particularly intense this way. It's on the heels of a completely terrible and nearly unbelievable scene of cruelty the night before with Shiv's monstrous pillow talk. There is a very rare world where "I don't love you and you're not good enough for me" is erotic and I don't think Tom inhabits that; it's Roman who has that fetish. What she did was awful but also just sort of jaw-droppingly unbelievable. So then for the writers to pivot from that to a very believable and poignant conversation about planning for maybe having a baby in the future but not wanting one now and maybe you just want the baby without the partner and.. oh, my heart. That conversation felt very real to me, similar to what some of my friends have gone through. An odd turn for a conversation that started with "um, so I wasn't in to your humilation fetish".
Other moments that felt emotionally real to me.. Shiv's mother talking about her relationship with her children. Kendall and Logan having a serious discussion on the basis of "so we hate each other, how do we end this partnership and familial relationship?" Also Shiv's pressuring Geri at the end making Roman's dick pic somehow her fault.. That last one is also monstrous but felt very real, a thing that really happens in companies.
My one distraction... What's up with Roman's ill-fitting shirts? They've done this before; the shirt is tight, doesn't move right, bunches at the buttons. The wardrobe in this show is impeccable, it has to be deliberate. Is he wearing some weird fabric that is super luxury but does that? Are we supposed to think he doesn't know how to get shirts that fit him?
posted by Nelson at 5:49 PM on December 6, 2021 [6 favorites]
My main enjoyment of this episode was the way genuine human emotion comes through in these otherwise outrageous scenes with ridiculous characters. The conversation between Shiv and Tom about having a baby / doing some sort of IVF was particularly intense this way. It's on the heels of a completely terrible and nearly unbelievable scene of cruelty the night before with Shiv's monstrous pillow talk. There is a very rare world where "I don't love you and you're not good enough for me" is erotic and I don't think Tom inhabits that; it's Roman who has that fetish. What she did was awful but also just sort of jaw-droppingly unbelievable. So then for the writers to pivot from that to a very believable and poignant conversation about planning for maybe having a baby in the future but not wanting one now and maybe you just want the baby without the partner and.. oh, my heart. That conversation felt very real to me, similar to what some of my friends have gone through. An odd turn for a conversation that started with "um, so I wasn't in to your humilation fetish".
Other moments that felt emotionally real to me.. Shiv's mother talking about her relationship with her children. Kendall and Logan having a serious discussion on the basis of "so we hate each other, how do we end this partnership and familial relationship?" Also Shiv's pressuring Geri at the end making Roman's dick pic somehow her fault.. That last one is also monstrous but felt very real, a thing that really happens in companies.
My one distraction... What's up with Roman's ill-fitting shirts? They've done this before; the shirt is tight, doesn't move right, bunches at the buttons. The wardrobe in this show is impeccable, it has to be deliberate. Is he wearing some weird fabric that is super luxury but does that? Are we supposed to think he doesn't know how to get shirts that fit him?
posted by Nelson at 5:49 PM on December 6, 2021 [6 favorites]
This episode was so full of terribleness - Logan using Kendall's son as a food taster, Caroline snubbing Kendall in favor of her ex-husband and making 13-year-old Shiv responsible for her negative feelings about being a mother, Shiv being so hurtful toward Tom, Roman getting so overconfident and well, cocky. The slow-motion failure of Connor's engagement is barely worth noting.
posted by jeoc at 6:03 PM on December 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by jeoc at 6:03 PM on December 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
This show makes me wonder if we need an inverse to the Bechtel test: At any point when two women are talking to each other, are both or one trying to destroy the other?
For all the hype of there being women writers for the show, I'm stuck in a familiar place with it: is misogyny such a major theme because it's so believable and common, or is the show saying something about misogyny and the systems that perpetuate it? So far it still feels like the former to me.
posted by cocoagirl at 6:29 PM on December 6, 2021
For all the hype of there being women writers for the show, I'm stuck in a familiar place with it: is misogyny such a major theme because it's so believable and common, or is the show saying something about misogyny and the systems that perpetuate it? So far it still feels like the former to me.
posted by cocoagirl at 6:29 PM on December 6, 2021
I'm not sure viewers watch Kendall wanting to see him tear down a right-wing propaganda empire and rebuild it anew, clean, but rather we tune in to see him succeed at tearing down his awful father. Now there doesn't seem to be any fight left in him — nor any options available to him to fight back, even if he wanted.
So I admit I too am not entirely sure where the prodigal son goes from here. On one hand, it would be a pretty bold move to kill him off, because he is maybe the least horrible and vaguely sympathetic character on what amounts to a gallery of freakish monsters. On the other hand, the writers seem to have painted themselves into a corner with him, narratively speaking.
It will be interesting to see how the finale goes.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:21 PM on December 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
So I admit I too am not entirely sure where the prodigal son goes from here. On one hand, it would be a pretty bold move to kill him off, because he is maybe the least horrible and vaguely sympathetic character on what amounts to a gallery of freakish monsters. On the other hand, the writers seem to have painted themselves into a corner with him, narratively speaking.
It will be interesting to see how the finale goes.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:21 PM on December 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
He’s not a good guy though. I feel bad for him when eg one of his parents treats him like garbage (twofer this time!), but I find him completely unsympathetic (very different things), maybe even more so since he’s dishonest about it. He’s a complete narcissist who would tear down something awful and replace it with something just as bad, or would be too incompetent to replace it at all. He’s basically doing the right thing by accident, out of spite. Logan is a misogynist racist fossil and Ken is playing the woke millennial whistleblower purely as a reaction to that. IIRC Ken hated Shiv’s old lefty pol boss as much as the rest of them, is courting the awful Musky Matsson, will only leave the company he hates on publicly on ten-figure financial terms, flaunts his wealth with no sense of responsibility… a litany of other offenses that aren’t springing to mind. He’s not the protagonist, but I love that Jeremy Strong is playing him like he is, maybe even thinks he is.
posted by supercres at 10:03 PM on December 6, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by supercres at 10:03 PM on December 6, 2021 [11 favorites]
In other words, I absolutely don’t watch to see Kendall succeed at anything, I think he’s incapable of it, especially against Logan, as Tom pointed out. I think Ken buzzing in Logan’s ear, and Logan maliciously swatting Ken like a fly (maybe already happened this episode if Ken doesn’t wake up from his floaty nap), will eventually bring about ruin of the family to some degree or another (or at least some flames) and I’m watching and waiting for that. I find everyone’s hubris pretty hilarious. At least Roman is self-aware.
posted by supercres at 10:07 PM on December 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by supercres at 10:07 PM on December 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
He’s not a good guy though.
Agreed, but he seems pretty much the only one in his family with the slightest hint of conscience or feelings of remorse. Even Greg ends up putting money and status above his discomfort with the fascists hovering around the workplace.
He’s not the protagonist, but I love that Jeremy Strong is playing him like he is, maybe even thinks he is.
That's an interesting take, esp. after reading the New Yorker interview, but perhaps the show has seemed to revolve around his character, or at least also around how the others react to what his character does. A couple critics over on Slate ask how the show goes forward without Kendall.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:27 AM on December 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Agreed, but he seems pretty much the only one in his family with the slightest hint of conscience or feelings of remorse. Even Greg ends up putting money and status above his discomfort with the fascists hovering around the workplace.
He’s not the protagonist, but I love that Jeremy Strong is playing him like he is, maybe even thinks he is.
That's an interesting take, esp. after reading the New Yorker interview, but perhaps the show has seemed to revolve around his character, or at least also around how the others react to what his character does. A couple critics over on Slate ask how the show goes forward without Kendall.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:27 AM on December 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Can we just take a moment to appreciate Keiran Culkin's acting in those few, excruciating seconds when he realises he's just sent a dick pic to his father. Roman physically shrank as he sat there wishing the ground would simply swallow him up. It's probably the first time in his life he's experienced regret.
posted by jontyjago at 3:14 AM on December 7, 2021 [21 favorites]
posted by jontyjago at 3:14 AM on December 7, 2021 [21 favorites]
I think it could work either way with Kendal. If the intent in this episode, with him "stripped back", is to show him at rock bottom, then the only way is up or out. Either could be a compelling story. I have no idea which route they're going down. If I had to bet, my money is on up (or at least Kendall's version of it), and that the pool scene was a conscious (but drunken) attempt at experiencing a near drowning. A misguided attempt to understand so he can atone, wash his sins away. A re-birthed Kendall, an irredeemable character who is full of self righteous zeal and in confessional mode, that could be interesting to watch and I think these writers and that actor could pull it off.
The characters are all so gross, and yet in Mattison they have seemingly pulled off the impossible and introduced a character who, in our limited time with him, seems *even worse*. He's a single person that seems to have the worst traits of all the other characters at once. There's some interesting story lines there, so I hope he sticks around in a meaningful way.
As cheap as the dick pic story line is, I am glad that the fall of Rome was not just another "deal turns out to be not so great" twist.
posted by chill at 4:32 AM on December 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
The characters are all so gross, and yet in Mattison they have seemingly pulled off the impossible and introduced a character who, in our limited time with him, seems *even worse*. He's a single person that seems to have the worst traits of all the other characters at once. There's some interesting story lines there, so I hope he sticks around in a meaningful way.
As cheap as the dick pic story line is, I am glad that the fall of Rome was not just another "deal turns out to be not so great" twist.
posted by chill at 4:32 AM on December 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
First time I've yelled "Nooooo!" at the end of an episode since the last season of Better Call Saul.
I thought last week was brutal, but this was even more so, too much for me to comment on (or has already been said much better above) but the things that stood out most for me were these.
The scene with Logan inviting his grandson to taste the mozzarella, willing to sacrifice his grandson to flush out Kendall's perfidy. Horrendous.
The cringe of Connor's proposal, and the awkward conversation the next day.
Tom. Poor Tom.
And that scene between Jerry and Shiv where, somehow, Shiv was able to manoeuvre Jerry as the one at fault re the dick pic situation, damned if she reports it, damned if she doesn't.
Can I also just add - the music this week was superb, leitmotifs on the main piano theme throughout the episode, just beautiful.
posted by essexjan at 5:28 AM on December 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
I thought last week was brutal, but this was even more so, too much for me to comment on (or has already been said much better above) but the things that stood out most for me were these.
The scene with Logan inviting his grandson to taste the mozzarella, willing to sacrifice his grandson to flush out Kendall's perfidy. Horrendous.
The cringe of Connor's proposal, and the awkward conversation the next day.
Tom. Poor Tom.
And that scene between Jerry and Shiv where, somehow, Shiv was able to manoeuvre Jerry as the one at fault re the dick pic situation, damned if she reports it, damned if she doesn't.
Can I also just add - the music this week was superb, leitmotifs on the main piano theme throughout the episode, just beautiful.
posted by essexjan at 5:28 AM on December 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
Oh, my abject apologies, Pendragon, please forgive me.
posted by essexjan at 6:21 AM on December 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by essexjan at 6:21 AM on December 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Shiv is so stupid for trying to go against Gerri, who is smarter and knows how to do actual lawyer ju-jitsu. Excited to see where that one goes.
posted by windbox at 6:42 AM on December 7, 2021 [15 favorites]
posted by windbox at 6:42 AM on December 7, 2021 [15 favorites]
That Roman's other big professional failure was a rocket (!!!) exploding (!!!)...
posted by armacy at 7:13 AM on December 7, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by armacy at 7:13 AM on December 7, 2021 [11 favorites]
The gulf between Shiv’s perception of her abilities and the reality is a joy to behold.
posted by chill at 7:14 AM on December 7, 2021 [17 favorites]
posted by chill at 7:14 AM on December 7, 2021 [17 favorites]
Two things (of many) that stood out dinner scene with Kendall and Logan: 1) the fact that Kendall had the chef call Logan’s doctor to ensure the meal would be okay for him to eat seems very sweet and Logan immediately crapped on the gesture by making Iverson test the food, and 2) Kendall saying “I will be broken when you die.” For all of his (many!) faults, Kendall is the most earnest sibling. I think he loves his father, and Logan loves him in a way but they can’t play their parts in each other’s lives the way they need them to, and that has deeply hurt both of them. Kendall needs Logan to be the dad he was at the end of the first season and Logan is too proud and hurt to be that person.
I hope Kendall’s not dead. I like him as a character and it feels easy to kill him off for drama because I don’t know what would be next for him. I appreciate the show because it is rarely predictable. Finding a next move for Kendall would continue that streak. Also, I’m a way, Kendall dying would feel like Logan won and I don’t want Logan to win.
posted by kat518 at 8:00 AM on December 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
I hope Kendall’s not dead. I like him as a character and it feels easy to kill him off for drama because I don’t know what would be next for him. I appreciate the show because it is rarely predictable. Finding a next move for Kendall would continue that streak. Also, I’m a way, Kendall dying would feel like Logan won and I don’t want Logan to win.
posted by kat518 at 8:00 AM on December 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
Every week, I find myself more and more distracted wondering why in the world it doesn’t occur to any of them to leave. Surely they all have enough personal wealth to live comfortably. I keep thinking “well, I don’t know what it’s like to have the opportunity to run the world atop a billion dollar empire” and obviously that’s true. I probably just lack imagination, but if I was in Gerri’s shoes during that fucked up conversation with Shiv I would have walked out of that building and never looked back. Fuck those people! Let them eat each other!
I know if the writers approached it from this angle it would be hard to have a show, but I think there’s some room for introducing a bit more human emotion and rationality. It’s veering quite cartoonish, even for Succession.
posted by something something at 8:18 AM on December 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
I know if the writers approached it from this angle it would be hard to have a show, but I think there’s some room for introducing a bit more human emotion and rationality. It’s veering quite cartoonish, even for Succession.
posted by something something at 8:18 AM on December 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Naturally a lot of people are reacting to Roman's epic self sabotage after what should have been a win. It makes you forget that his "win" was convincing the executive team that Mattson is sane and can be handled.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 8:31 AM on December 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 8:31 AM on December 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
Dumb question: I could have sworn that Connor had already been introducing Willa to people as his fiancée before this episode. Did I completely make that up, or had he been saying it but it was only for show before and it's legit(ish) now?
posted by naoko at 10:01 AM on December 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by naoko at 10:01 AM on December 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I don't think Kendall is dead but I do think we're going to see a very different dynamic between him and Logan from now on. I just don't know where the writers will take it. Man, that dinner between the two of them was just brutal. If you give Logan an opportunity to do his worst he will fucking bring it. I think he does love his kids. Time and time again he has shown concern for them. And then he goes right back to sticking the knife into each one and twisting it with glee.
At some point we're going to see divorce proceedings or at least a separation between Shiv and Tom. He's coming to some sort of epiphany regarding her and it won't be pretty. Tom is a piece of shit, of course. But he does love his wife and its pretty much certain that the feeling is not mutual.
Roman soared too high and like everything else, he was doomed to fuck it up. He is the one who has the most concern for his parents. He worries about his dad's health, he tries to get his mother from going into a bad marriage. But his relationship with his equally poisonous siblings is terrible.
I see the Gojo deal going two ways. Either it will implode like the deal with Pierce or there will be a battle royale with Mattson, and I don't think the Roys know how to maneuver against this guy. Gods, I have always loved Alexander Skarsgård acting and this has been sensational. He toys with them so well.
posted by Ber at 10:19 AM on December 7, 2021
At some point we're going to see divorce proceedings or at least a separation between Shiv and Tom. He's coming to some sort of epiphany regarding her and it won't be pretty. Tom is a piece of shit, of course. But he does love his wife and its pretty much certain that the feeling is not mutual.
Roman soared too high and like everything else, he was doomed to fuck it up. He is the one who has the most concern for his parents. He worries about his dad's health, he tries to get his mother from going into a bad marriage. But his relationship with his equally poisonous siblings is terrible.
I see the Gojo deal going two ways. Either it will implode like the deal with Pierce or there will be a battle royale with Mattson, and I don't think the Roys know how to maneuver against this guy. Gods, I have always loved Alexander Skarsgård acting and this has been sensational. He toys with them so well.
posted by Ber at 10:19 AM on December 7, 2021
How unconscious would you have to be to not wake up when you snort in water? I would think pretty unconscious. And yet, we see him with a half filled beer, able to grunt something to his son. If he were so incapacitated as to drown that way, I think they'd have to show a little more of how he got there.
posted by condour75 at 10:24 AM on December 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by condour75 at 10:24 AM on December 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
Hey, Kendall defied my expectations and now it's Logan who's yanking the football back again. Of course. I don't know that my comment on Willa and Connor aged particularly well either, but next to Shiv and Tom it's a romance for the ages.
I'm trying to think about why any of them don't walk away. Connor sort of has, but he's still on the money spigot, and for the other Roy children there's certainly the fact that none of them knows how to function without the clout and influence of their father's name, and anything less than 10 figures' worth of funds. Kendall could still check out without the $2bn but then what? He has no skills other than posing as a finance bro big-ideas-CEO-guy. He can't give up the billionaire lifestyle to settle for a mere millionaire lifestyle. And as we see over and over, Logan doesn't want them to walk away, so he metes out whatever crumbs of affection and promises, or negging and threats, he can to reel them back in. (It works really really well on Shiv, even after Caroline's speech about kicking dogs to see if they'll come back. Shiv, your mother is horrible but she's right about that!)
For the company execs and non-family inner circle, part of it is probably sunk-cost fallacy, but there's some truth to it. At that level it's hard to find a similar position at a different company, and it comes with the same bullshit politicking and petty personal dramas sucking up to whoever is pulling the strings elsewhere. So I'm sure a lot of them are sticking with what they know, their loyalty occasionally gets rewarded, and they are fully aware of how much of a battle they'd have trying to get the next high-status job. If they leave without his say-so, do you think Logan is going to write them a nice letter of recommendation? I'm sure they each have enough money to fund dozens of more modest retirements, but they're also hesitant to walk away from that lifestyle, even with how miserable it is to stay there.
posted by j.r at 10:35 AM on December 7, 2021
I'm trying to think about why any of them don't walk away. Connor sort of has, but he's still on the money spigot, and for the other Roy children there's certainly the fact that none of them knows how to function without the clout and influence of their father's name, and anything less than 10 figures' worth of funds. Kendall could still check out without the $2bn but then what? He has no skills other than posing as a finance bro big-ideas-CEO-guy. He can't give up the billionaire lifestyle to settle for a mere millionaire lifestyle. And as we see over and over, Logan doesn't want them to walk away, so he metes out whatever crumbs of affection and promises, or negging and threats, he can to reel them back in. (It works really really well on Shiv, even after Caroline's speech about kicking dogs to see if they'll come back. Shiv, your mother is horrible but she's right about that!)
For the company execs and non-family inner circle, part of it is probably sunk-cost fallacy, but there's some truth to it. At that level it's hard to find a similar position at a different company, and it comes with the same bullshit politicking and petty personal dramas sucking up to whoever is pulling the strings elsewhere. So I'm sure a lot of them are sticking with what they know, their loyalty occasionally gets rewarded, and they are fully aware of how much of a battle they'd have trying to get the next high-status job. If they leave without his say-so, do you think Logan is going to write them a nice letter of recommendation? I'm sure they each have enough money to fund dozens of more modest retirements, but they're also hesitant to walk away from that lifestyle, even with how miserable it is to stay there.
posted by j.r at 10:35 AM on December 7, 2021
My enjoyment of this show is 100% schadenfreude, I love watching these assholes suffer (same with The Crown).
This episode certainly delivered.
posted by signal at 12:30 PM on December 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
This episode certainly delivered.
posted by signal at 12:30 PM on December 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Based on the show, I didn’t think Kendall was dead, but that New Yorker article…
posted by betweenthebars at 1:17 PM on December 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by betweenthebars at 1:17 PM on December 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
He worries about his dad's health, he tries to get his mother from going into a bad marriage. But his relationship with his equally poisonous siblings is terrible.
While he's obviously a wise-ass with Kendall, also worth noting he refused to sign on to Shiv's letter throwing Kendall under the bus. Roman is, weirdly, the most sentimental of the main three children, even if this is mixed-in with a fair bit of defensive cruelty.
If he were so incapacitated as to drown that way, I think they'd have to show a little more of how he got there.
My prediction is a future autopsy report reveals some form of sedative (at the very least, some OTC drug).
posted by coffeecat at 4:06 PM on December 7, 2021
While he's obviously a wise-ass with Kendall, also worth noting he refused to sign on to Shiv's letter throwing Kendall under the bus. Roman is, weirdly, the most sentimental of the main three children, even if this is mixed-in with a fair bit of defensive cruelty.
If he were so incapacitated as to drown that way, I think they'd have to show a little more of how he got there.
My prediction is a future autopsy report reveals some form of sedative (at the very least, some OTC drug).
posted by coffeecat at 4:06 PM on December 7, 2021
His food was poisoned!
posted by armacy at 5:09 PM on December 7, 2021 [12 favorites]
posted by armacy at 5:09 PM on December 7, 2021 [12 favorites]
I think Kendall didn't drown, but he was just...trying it on for size. He's been thinking more about that waiter, what with the podcaster and Logan's needling him about how the waiter felt in the last few moments, and so Kendall maybe wanted to find out for himself. But not, like, for real, because Kendall has never had to follow through with anything in his life.
posted by Liesl at 7:19 AM on December 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by Liesl at 7:19 AM on December 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
I'm very torn on where they go with Kendall. I personally think the last episode ending was what Liesl said in the previous comment but the point about him metaphorically drowning throughout the series is very well made and him dying by suicide would make sense for his character - his image of himself has basically collapsed and his attempt to then escape out of the company has been blocked by Logan. So he's trapped and his identity is in tatters.
On the other hand, I sort of feel like Succession wasn't built to handle that kind of drama. Or, if they did do it, it would really change the character of the show.
My idle theory is that Ken will hand himself into the authorities over the death of the guy in S1. It's a kind of escape from Logan's trap, it feeds his image of himself as a "good guy", and its an ironic reversal of who ends up going to prison.
posted by crocomancer at 2:11 AM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
On the other hand, I sort of feel like Succession wasn't built to handle that kind of drama. Or, if they did do it, it would really change the character of the show.
My idle theory is that Ken will hand himself into the authorities over the death of the guy in S1. It's a kind of escape from Logan's trap, it feeds his image of himself as a "good guy", and its an ironic reversal of who ends up going to prison.
posted by crocomancer at 2:11 AM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
"Roman, are you a sicko?"
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:57 AM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:57 AM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
This show makes me wonder if we need an inverse to the Bechtel test: At any point when two women are talking to each other, are both or one trying to destroy the other?
I feel you here, though I'd add that the show and in particular this episode is all about people trying to destroy each other, always.
This episode:
Caroline destroying Kendall
Shiv destroying Tom (the cryo egg discussion was soooo wtf)
Connor destroying Willa (maybe not intentionally, but Connor is a self-serving narcissist, and as we know from real-life experience this can be intensely destructive)
Mattson destroying Roman or whomever Mattson feels like. Mattson is a psychopath.
Shiv Destroying Caroline Destroying Shiv
Logan destroying Kendall, as usual very f-ing effectively
Shiv destroying Roman via Gerri
Logan destroying Roman
Power consumes all, destroys all. Eventually I think the show is going to live up to its title and someone will replace Logan. But the question will be, what will be left in the smoldering ruins.
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:10 AM on December 9, 2021
I feel you here, though I'd add that the show and in particular this episode is all about people trying to destroy each other, always.
This episode:
Caroline destroying Kendall
Shiv destroying Tom (the cryo egg discussion was soooo wtf)
Connor destroying Willa (maybe not intentionally, but Connor is a self-serving narcissist, and as we know from real-life experience this can be intensely destructive)
Mattson destroying Roman or whomever Mattson feels like. Mattson is a psychopath.
Shiv Destroying Caroline Destroying Shiv
Logan destroying Kendall, as usual very f-ing effectively
Shiv destroying Roman via Gerri
Logan destroying Roman
Power consumes all, destroys all. Eventually I think the show is going to live up to its title and someone will replace Logan. But the question will be, what will be left in the smoldering ruins.
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:10 AM on December 9, 2021
"I can't go on forever, and I don't really want to try. So who can I trust to run the factory when I leave and take care of the Oompa Loompas for me? Not a grown up. A grown up would want to do everything his own way, not mine. So that's why I decided a long time ago that I had to find a child. A very honest, loving child, to whom I could tell all my most precious candy making secrets." — Willy Wonka
If Kendall took the $2 billion, exited the maelstrom, invested the money in a plebeian index fund with a modest 7% annual roi, he'd be making $140 million a year in interest. Enough to healthily afford fractional jet ownership and two of the current Roy properties, with plenty left over for a crucifix carved from African Blackwood. But if the "how do I deal my with narcissist parent" questions on the green are any indicator, taking the money would mean he has acknowledged a relationship with his father is not possible. Sometimes we keep the dynamic alive because it comes boxed with a little bit of hope. He could also sell to Stewy, though, right?
For all the drowning history, imagery, and symbolism, it was interesting that he was in a room on fire when he opened that letter.
I don't think Mattson is worse than the Roys. I think he's Kendall without the toxic family: wealthy to a level where nothing has meaning, alone, adrift, and hitting the existential wall hard. Monastic to Kendall's maximalist. But we don't see him being intentionally cruel to those who might love him.
I predict Kendall will come clean about the death of the catering guy. It takes his dad's sadistic bargaining chip away, rights the "original sin" of the narrative, implicates Logan too, and creates a template for "un-doing" the parallel deaths in Cruises.
posted by cocoagirl at 9:00 AM on December 9, 2021 [10 favorites]
If Kendall took the $2 billion, exited the maelstrom, invested the money in a plebeian index fund with a modest 7% annual roi, he'd be making $140 million a year in interest. Enough to healthily afford fractional jet ownership and two of the current Roy properties, with plenty left over for a crucifix carved from African Blackwood. But if the "how do I deal my with narcissist parent" questions on the green are any indicator, taking the money would mean he has acknowledged a relationship with his father is not possible. Sometimes we keep the dynamic alive because it comes boxed with a little bit of hope. He could also sell to Stewy, though, right?
For all the drowning history, imagery, and symbolism, it was interesting that he was in a room on fire when he opened that letter.
I don't think Mattson is worse than the Roys. I think he's Kendall without the toxic family: wealthy to a level where nothing has meaning, alone, adrift, and hitting the existential wall hard. Monastic to Kendall's maximalist. But we don't see him being intentionally cruel to those who might love him.
I predict Kendall will come clean about the death of the catering guy. It takes his dad's sadistic bargaining chip away, rights the "original sin" of the narrative, implicates Logan too, and creates a template for "un-doing" the parallel deaths in Cruises.
posted by cocoagirl at 9:00 AM on December 9, 2021 [10 favorites]
I predict Kendall will come clean about the death of the catering guy
Would Logan add his son to the company's "No Real Person" list, before this happens?
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:20 PM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
Would Logan add his son to the company's "No Real Person" list, before this happens?
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:20 PM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
It didn't even flit across my mind that Kendall might have died until I read this thread. Over in the AV Club comments for Succession, there are folks who are always coming up with various plot theories etc and a few people will (correctly, imo) point out that the narrative style of this show really doesn't deal in audience misdirection or ambiguity of key events. Has any episode ended in a cliffhanger where the suspense revolves around "what actually happened?" as opposed to "what's going to happen?" So yeah, I will be super surprised if Kendall proves to have died, I think that would be a pretty shocking departure from the show's basic narrative predilections.
posted by dusty potato at 4:37 PM on December 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by dusty potato at 4:37 PM on December 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
This is an old video but I just came across it and I found it very funny: Nicholas Braun From "Succession" Wants To Be Conan’s Sidekick.
posted by Pendragon at 3:07 PM on December 10, 2021
posted by Pendragon at 3:07 PM on December 10, 2021
Every week, I find myself more and more distracted wondering why in the world it doesn’t occur to any of them to leave. Surely they all have enough personal wealth to live comfortably.
I don't know, they do a pretty good job of making me feel like every single one of the Roys-- and some of the ex-Roys-- find it compulsory to play this game for whatever reason. They can't just cut their losses. The mom would surely have enough to live on if she told Logan to choose "a number" as he puts it, and accept some kind of financial loss and move on. But no, she has to humor Logan and humiliate her son because they are opening up the divorce settlement again. These people just don't seem to have any other frame of reference. Both Rava and Willow are very refreshing to me because they seem to stand at least partly outside of all that.
posted by BibiRose at 5:11 AM on December 11, 2021
I don't know, they do a pretty good job of making me feel like every single one of the Roys-- and some of the ex-Roys-- find it compulsory to play this game for whatever reason. They can't just cut their losses. The mom would surely have enough to live on if she told Logan to choose "a number" as he puts it, and accept some kind of financial loss and move on. But no, she has to humor Logan and humiliate her son because they are opening up the divorce settlement again. These people just don't seem to have any other frame of reference. Both Rava and Willow are very refreshing to me because they seem to stand at least partly outside of all that.
posted by BibiRose at 5:11 AM on December 11, 2021
> New Yorker profile of Jeremy Strong
A Redditor took suggested events from the show and wrote about them in the style of this profile. One example:
A Redditor took suggested events from the show and wrote about them in the style of this profile. One example:
Kendall loses his kids gifts at his 40th birthday party.posted by ASCII Costanza head at 1:54 PM on December 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
Strong notes that to capture the "childlike volatility" of the scene, he spent weeks attending children's birthday parties among family friends in his neighborhood and promptly smashing all of the gifts in what he called a "summoned rage." He elaborated: "I just envisioned socks for Christmas under every single one of those packages. It didn't matter if some kid's mom had actually bought him a 200-dollar Death Star Lego set, to Kendall that was all worthless. I needed to fully realize the feeling of desecrating a valuable gift in that way. That was the only way I could authentically ransack the prop gifts as Kendall." When asked about the lifetime of emotional distress he possibly inflicted by ruining those children's birthdays, Strong replied, "I'd tell those kids to hold onto that visceral anger and take it with them to the stage one day. There is a very porous boundary between acting and life, and these are the moments to discover that, especially at a precocious young age."
It didn't even flit across my mind that Kendall might have died until I read this thread… Has any episode ended in a cliffhanger where the suspense revolves around "what actually happened?"
If that’s the case, then surely it means he’s dead, because what we saw was an unconscious Kendall face down in a pool.
posted by chill at 11:10 PM on December 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
If that’s the case, then surely it means he’s dead, because what we saw was an unconscious Kendall face down in a pool.
posted by chill at 11:10 PM on December 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
"Chiantishire" is a British term for the Italian location where you are likely to find Sting, Tony Blair, Bryan Ferry and the like, in season. It has been a top location for indolent and feuding families since Roman times. Back in 1740 one Brit wrote of Florence:
posted by rongorongo at 2:03 AM on January 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
“We get up at twelve, breakfast till three, dine till four, sleep till six, drink cooling liqueurs till eight, go to the Ponte Vecchio till ten, sup till two, and so sleep again till twelve.”Tuscan film locations for this episode - in case anybody would like to try their luck at having a better time than the Roys on a visit. Villa La Foce, as used, can be yours for up to 24 guests from about £15K a week.
posted by rongorongo at 2:03 AM on January 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
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posted by Pendragon at 2:53 PM on December 6, 2021 [3 favorites]