WiC Watches: Succession season 2
The Roy family Succession season 2 epiode 1, The Summer Palace photo credit- HBO
Episode 201: “The Summer Palace”
Succession season 2 picks up 48 hours after the season 1 finale. Kendall (Jeremy Strong) is in a rehab facility in what looks like the frozen tundra of Iceland. As you may recall, he fell off the wagon in the final episodes of season 1 and in the finale, he caused the death of a guy who was driving him to get drugs so he could cope with failing to remove his father — Brian Cox as Logan Roy — in a hostile takeover of the family company, Waystar Royco — one of the top five largest media conglomerates in the world.
Kendall Roy Succession season 2 episode 1, The Summer Palace Photo Credit- HBO
Kendall gets a visit from one of his father’s henchmen — after only two days of trying to get clean — who takes him to a studio so he can tell the world how he changed his mind and is now standing firmly with his father. “I looked at their plan and my Dad’s plan was better,” he repeats when asked why he flipped back to his family instead of taking over with the company’s longest and most hostile competitor
We can see clearly that Kendall is now his father’s puppet. His deadeye stare, the nervous tick in his hands, and the one repeating line about his dad’s plan being better is a bit unnerving and goes to show just how much mental abuse and power Logan Roy has over his eldest son. Logan is hanging the fact that his people covered up Kendall’s involvement in the guy’s death to keep him in line…and it’s working.
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As for Siobhan Roy aka Shiv (Sarah Snook), she’s on her honeymoon with Tom Wamsgans (Matthew Macfadyen), but they’re following Logan’s every move as he decides if he’ll sell the company to Sandy Furness (Larry Pine) for $10 billion, or stay the course and fight the takeover by choosing one of his children and grooming them to take over as CEO of Waystar Royco.
Shiv cuts the honeymoon short and lands on the family’s summer home — a huge palace-like mansion. The youngest Roy sibling, Roman (Kieran Culkin) is there and they come together to talk about what their father is going to do next. Culkin is one of my favorite actors on Succession. His ridiculously sharp and witty remarks about everything happening to his family are absolutely hilarious and keep me interested in the show when it falls into a temporary lull.
Shiv and Tom. Succession Episode 201, “The Summer Palace” Photo credit: HBO
Episode 201, “The Summer Palace” hit a couple of those lulls, but they were carried through by Roman’s sass.
Anyway, in this episode, we finally see Logan Roy start to crack a little. In season 1, he never showed weakness, even when he had a stroke — he came back from that incredibly debilitating illness and saved his company. But in season 2, he’s really considering selling, and he’s asking his children what they think.
Of course, Logan’s mental abuse on Kendall keeps him in line. Roman and Shiv notice it and constantly berate him for being a “walking dead man,” and an “old beaten dog about to be shot by its master.” It’s honestly hard to tell if Kendall will break free of Logan’s hold this season, but for now, he’s simply a meat puppet for his father.
in the final moments of the episode, Logan brings his children one-by-one into his office to ask them what they think he should do. Roman enters first, thinking his father would offer him the CEO position, but he doesn’t, and Roman walks out retaining his position in the Waystar Royco as the COO.
Logan and Kendall Succession season 2, episode 1 The Summer Palace photo credit- HBO
Shiv enters next with some demands. She wants her husband Tom to get a sizable promotion. She and Logan banter back and forth before he offers her the position of CEO. Logan wants to groom his daughter to take over for him when he retires. It’s a huge moment for Shiv and at first, she refuses the offer which surprises Logan.
Logan then threatens to sell and that motivates Shiv to say yes…she’s the new CEO. The only caveat to this is Shiv doesn’t want to tell anyone until it actually happens. It’s a bold move by her and Logan, and she is the best choice to replace him as her background in politics and her incredibly brilliant mind make the chosen one.
Episode 201 was basically a recap of what happened in season 1. The Roy family came together in one place to show the world there were no cracks in the company and all was well…only, it’s really not. Kendall is still an addict and he’s constantly looking for a fix. Roman is still a narcissistic asshole — albeit a hilarious asshole. Shiv continued to cleverly position herself and Tom into the right spot and the right time and it paid off.
I love this show, but I have to admit, “The Summer Palace” lacked the high drama I so enjoyed in season 1. Maybe it’s because the family didn’t really have any scenes in their offices where they have conference calls with shareholders in the company and tell them to “f*ck off” when they don’t fall in line.