Full F****in’ Beast
Welcome to the Recap.
Succession heads, we are BACK. After two seasons of quietly marvelling over everyone’s favorite poor little rich family, I decided to take matters into my own hands and start my own recap. So let’s get to it, shall we?
Last we saw the Roys, the family watched from their yacht on the Mediterranean as Kendall went rogue at a press conference where he was meant to take the fall for the toxic culture of WaystarRoyco. The first episode of the season picks up right where we left them, with Kendall half-meditating in a hotel bathroom while his staff of Greg and Karolina try to pick up the pieces. The notion of Greg running comms for Kendall is honestly a modern tragedy, as he attempts to figure out the “cultural temperature” regarding Kendall’s attempted coup and celebrating Ken trending alongside Tater Tots. Karolina’s advice to Greg before she jumps ship that he doesn’t need to say “no comment” (“just don’t comment!”) shows how rickety Ken’s boat is. In a classic Ken move, he calls his coup “a revolution”, a misuse of radical language that is just pure uncut Succession. He then calls Naomi for support and puffery, who tells him he’s the “Best Man in the World”, reminiscent of his telling Rava that he is “hypothetically, maybe, the man” in Season 1. He has no clue that the wheels are about to fly off.
Meanwhile, the rest of the gang tries to figure out next steps after the cut-short yacht trip. Gerri mentions Geneva, New York, London, Singapore, or LA as options. Logan, apparently “talking about his mom a lot”, makes efforts to get Kendall to backtrack, get support from the President, and takes off for Sarajevo (no extradition treaty) with Tom and the old guys (so good to see Frank back in the fold! I love you Frank!), while he sends Shiv, Roman, and Gerri back to New York.
This act is a beautiful return to the hushed “so, what are you thinking” beats of Succession, as Roman, Tom, and Shiv each try to get their footing and figure out what Logan’s next move is. Meanwhile, Kendall’s security clearance at WaystarRoyco HQ is revoked, so he heads to Rava’s apartment to strategize and avoid the press. Here we have perhaps one of the most skin-crawlingly awkward scenes in television history, as Kendall chases his ex’s approval while it becomes apparent that she did not, in fact, watch the triumphant press conference. He attempts some light-hearted ribbing about the men’s razors in her bathroom, she wants him to leave, and we all want to die.
Kendall’s comms team of poor helpless Greg is bolstered by Berry Schneider (Jihae) and Dasha from Red Scare (I’m assuming she’s playing herself?). Good thing too, as Greg is trying to cancel his mom’s corporate card, as she keeps buying NutriBullets and Krugerrands (yes, the apartheid currency). Ken’s bluster is at a fever pitch here, telling Berry that he wants to deploy go the comedy route, bringing on board “some of the BoJack guys” and Harvard Lampoon writers to write tweets for him. Has Kendall ever watched BoJack Horseman? Who would want staff writers for a show about a suicidal horse to write their corporate tweets? Again, Kendall thinks he has it all figured out, but the jumps between him and New York and Logan’s war room in Croatia make it abundantly clear that he will never be as clever as his father. But perhaps Roman is.
The two planes are hives of speculation, as Logan’s unit, headed to Bosnia, is trying to figure out who should fill in for Logan as he steps aside to cover his ass from the speculation. Shiv and Gerri are women, good for WaystarRoyco in the post-Me Too environment, but Shiv has no experience. Roman and Shiv, meanwhile, are young enough to have staying power. It seems like the Venn diagram is favoring Gerri. Tom has been thrust into a position of advisement, which Matthew Macfadyen plays beautifully, letting slip Tom’s pride, excitement, and absolute fear of Logan. He and Shiv call each other from their respective plane bathrooms and put on a 3-minute, gender-flipped production of Macbeth where she presses him, as subtly as possible, to advocate for her to take over.
Shiv, meanwhile, is off to meet with Lisa Arthur (welcome to the show, Sanaa Lathan!!!!!!), a high-powered corporate lawyer and old friend (probably actually a loose acquaintance). Sarah Snook performs this scene masterfully, shifting from kissing her sort-of friend’s ass, to begging her for protection, to furiously storming out when it becomes apparent that she is representing Kendall, who called her earlier in the episode. I am very excited to see the world of the Roys through Lisa’s eyes this season since she clearly has some history with them. Additionally, as the first featured Black character on the show, how will her presence poke at the white hegemony of the show? Wait and see.
What else, what else? Roman makes a call to Logan to see if he could run the show with Gerri’s advisement, but his fear of his father is palpable over the phone and he immediately takes himself out of the running. Not long after, he and Gerri hide out in an airport hotel room where he wants to continue the Slime Puppy games, which Gerri flatly refuses. Too bad, champ, maybe next time.
Naomi shows up at Rava’s apartment (CRINGE!!!) and attempts with Greg to open a bottle of wine that Rava’s godfather gave her (“Didn’t you see the dust on the bottle??” is another pure distillation of this show’s tone). There’s a weird exchange between Rava and Naomi, which clearly has Ken rock-hard, and then Lisa Arthur shows up. She agrees to take Ken on, in a scene which is mostly just a super-pumped-up Ken yelling at Lisa.
Word comes down from on high (Logan) that Gerri will run things for the time being (the best move strategically, also Gerri deserves it all IMO). Roman calls Shiv in the car, who immediately tells her driver to take her somewhere else (where is she going!?!?!). Kendall then calls Logan (via Frank) to tell him that Lisa is taking Ken on. Logan declares that they will instead hire Layo Upton (what a name!!!) and wanders off into the Sarajevo night (where is he going!?!?!).
And that’s it. What an episode. The battle lines are actively being drawn, erased, and redrawn, Roman is horny as ever, and it seems that the FBI will be knocking down Logan’s door this season.
Poor Conor got hardcore shafted, but we did see him suggest to Willa that they deploy the “irono-cycle” to fend off the pans of her play Sands.
Despite the battle being waged, it seems like things in the Roy family are the same as they ever were. We are back!!!
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Sarah Snook deserves an Emmy just for Shiv’s scene with Lisa. True emotional whiplash.
Gerri’s “I’m just a very straightforward person, Shiv” needs to be on a t-shirt. A contender for “Quip of the Night” alongside Logan’s “Are you playing the reverse banjo, son?” volleyed at Tom for playing his Shiv advocacy (Shivvocacy?) just a little too low-key.
Is Shiv off to Ken’s war room? Is no one going after Logan? Will Greg hook up with Red Scare Dasha??
We will see next week!
