Succession thread

[Webster]

Since there are a few of us who like to discuss the show, creating this so non-watchers don’t have to worry about spoilers in the TV thread.

Do you think that Naomi Pierce wanted Shiv to be announced as the successor so that Kendall could get out of the business, like his pitch to her as to why she should approve the sale?

As I alluded to on the TV thread, the ending shot of Logan ascending the stairs alone while everyone beneath him was just miserable and broken was just perfect.

 

[clintrichardson]

I think this show grown very smartly this season. When I began watching the first season, I felt like Succession was a tepid effort by HBO to get into the Billions space (dramas of rich people in New York). But I feel like at this point Succession is the superior drama. Certainly it has much greater emotional depth.

 

[Cosmo]

Reposting from the TV thread ...

When is Tom going to snap? He basically spends the whole show being emasculated by Shiv, now he's losing his only real piece of the action and even cousin Greg(ory) isn't around to be his whipping boy anymore.

The Roman-Gerri thing ... that's something.

Good point on Shiv. Logan is doing everything in his power to show people he's still in charge, and he won't take kindly to Shiv trying to force the issue when it comes to announcing her as his successor. As she said, there will be consequences.

Wonder what was the tipping point to getting the deal done? I'm sure it will be addressed next week.

Connor: I might have gotten a little tipsy and offered him the State Department.

Kendall waking up caked in his own ****, that was an odd touch. Not familiar with going on coke benders, but is that a thing that happens often?

 

[clintrichardson]

My guess/hope is that Tom doesn't survive the season. His marriage to Shiv is the only major part of the show that doesn't work for me—I don't believe them as a couple at all. She doesn't seem to like or respect him at all, and they've only been married a few months. In my hopes/dreams they address this by killing off his character. All this dumping on him—not just by his wife, but by the main woman at ATN and also my Greg(ory) feels like it is preceding a fall of some sort.

 

[Webster]

I don’t understand Tom/Shiv at all. They haven’t given a reason why she would marry so far beneath her pay grade — they don’t play them as having any sexual chemistry and it’s not like he’s some business genius.

I think he will be the fall guy for the cruise line issues unless it is Greg(ory).

Logan dying soon would actually be good for the show but I love the actor so much.

 

[Cosmo]

I would hate to lose Tom only because I think Matthew McFayden just slays in that role. But I agree with the point about his marriage to Shiv. It's such a total sham. He's desperately clinging on hoping to get a piece of the Roy action/money, but the writing is on the wall. Logan is already demoting him. Shiv doesn't respect him. There's no way he's not the fall guy for the cruise line issues, especially since Greg(ory) has the goods on him.

 

[clintrichardson]

My favorite small moment of dumping on Tom from the last episode is when they inform him that he's going to tbe ATN fall guy, and Tom asks if maybe it could be the woman at ATN instead. Logan briefly pauses before saying it has to be Tom, and I felt like the unspoken words in that pause were, "It can't be her. We actually need her to run the network."

 

[britwrit]

Like a lot of powerful men, I don't think Shiv really wants a spouse who would challenge or upstage her. Tom fits the bill and I think there's genuine affection between the two, You saw more of it in the first season,

As long as he knows his place, the marriage will work out well. For her.

 

[qtlaw]

Logan Roy (Brian Cox) projects as well as Tony Soprano, a real nice foundation for all the other crap that happens. When he was in a coma, the show seemed a bit unmoored. His storyline allows all the other stuff to unfold without having to carry the show.

That Kendall mess was one of the most uncomfortable solo scenes I've ever watched.

I loved the Panic Room, from Greg saying "the terrorist child could go right through that window (above the door)" to Tom saying "what is this, the kids Panic Room?" to Greg under attack from Tom.

I get the Tom/Shiv coupling. He's certainly a weak fellow compared to Shiv, but he's someone who's physically slightly imposing, he projects as naive but he's not stupid, he knows the calculus going on, so kind of a catch. And he's got some decent upbringing (parents bought the wine!)

Roman is so vulgar that after a while I'm turned off by his crap.

I think Kendall, while a flat-lining coke head but an effective assassin, is an outstanding acting job.

 

[Cosmo]

It still kills me that Logan Roy was in Super Troopers.

 

[Cosmo]

Also ... Roman: "Dead women aren't supposed to get wet."

 

[Webster]

Also ... Roman: "Dead women aren't supposed to get wet."

It’s just strange that 2 of the 3 sons are in long term relationships with hookers.

 

[Webster]

I think that Nan and Rhea were playing a game on Logan and that Pierce is going to sell to Sandy and Stewy.

Also, there is zero chance that Logan is ever attending any roast.

 

[clintrichardson]

An interesting theory that I heard on a podcast: what is Logan is so disgusted with all his children (especially Siobahn after the dinosaur remark) that he decides to bring in an outside CEO, and that CEO is Holly Hunter, who he had a clear personal chemistry with?

 

[Cosmo]

Well, she's available ...

 

[Webster]

The amazing part is that he wants any of them near his business.

 

[gingerbread]

James Murdoch doesn't know what y'all are gibbering about:

"If it all sounds a bit like Succession, that’s no coincidence: the hit HBO series is inspired by the mythos of Rupert Murdoch, his sons, and the questions surrounding the future of his media empire. James, for his part, says he doesn’t watch."
James Murdoch Suggests His Dad’s Empire Is Ruining America

 

[Webster]

Man, the mother of Kendall, Roman and Shiv is some piece of work. Everyone’s world revolves completely around pleasing or pissing off Logan.

I also thought that the Greg(ory)/Tom stuff was a bit too camp, even for this show.

 

[Kato]

I think the Tom/Shiv thing must be something like this: He's probably from a rich family in Iowa but is nowhere near the wealth of the Roys. He and Shiv met in college, had a real relationship there. She probably really likes him, even while not being very faithful to him and has outgrown him quite a bit, especially the deeper into the family business she's gotten. It's worked well for him, as he's been able to rise up the Waystar/Royco ranks, but now he's in over his head with both his job (and the cruises controversy) and his wife.

 

[clintrichardson]

The question after this week's episode: is Rhea playing Logan or vice versa?

I would think: Logan is playing her, simply because right now it seems to be the reverse