WiC Watches: Succession season 2
Kendall and Shiv. Succession 204. Photo credit Peter Kramer. HBO
Episode 204: “Safe Room”
Shiv has her first day at Waystar Royco. Logan and Kendall try and push through an important deal. Roman goes to manager training and has an unexpectedly good ending to a very long day. Meanwhile, Tom and Greg find themselves locked in a safe room during a shooting.
This was a very fun episode of Succession. Who won? Who lost?
Roman. Succession 204. Photo credit Peter Kramer. HBO
Winners:
- Not only does Roman make a new friend at management, but he got to masturbate on the phone with the unbelievably sexy Gerri. Sure, she might be old enough to be his mother — which I think for Roman is a point in her favor — but her dirty talking skills are second to none.
- Greg is a winner and a loser. He’s a winner because he finally used the leverage he acquired last season when he saved all those documents from the shredder and “slimeballed” his way into a sweet promotion. He’s a loser because Tom threw water bottles at him and he was locked in an impromptu panic room during a shooting.
- Holly Hunter plays Rhea Jarrell, who’s in charge of negotiations for the Pierce family media company, and straight killed it tonight. I loved her smooth delivery of lines like, “You eat, I have a delicate tummy. We only eat Pulitzers at Pierce.” She nailed it.
- Logan offered Rhea $24 billion to close the deal. We’ll find out next week if she accepted, but the point is that he has that kind of money to negotiate with. That makes him a winner in my book.
Greg and Tom. Succession 204. Photo credit Peter Kramer. HBO
Losers:
- Tom is now on a three-week losing streak. He lost his shit when Greg told him he wanted out of ATN because he felt Tom was encouraging a culture of bullying, which he definitely was; there are only so many ways to interpret him having his assistant be a human footstool. At least he wasn’t on board with the Nazi news anchor.
- Also, you could tell Tom’s anger at Greg for wanting an “open business relationship” was more about his frustrations with Shiv sleeping with some rando last week. Pray for Tom, you guys.
- Shiv’s first day at work is a non-stop cavalcade of frustration. I’m predicting that Logan screws her out of being named his replacement by the end of the season, and I think she’s starting to feel it too.
- Kendal…my god, Kendall. He went to the top floor of Waystar three times and looked over the edge of the building. Y’all, Kendall is seriously contemplating suicide and his final conversation of the episode with Shiv was absolutely heartbreaking.
- The guy who killed himself, because, well, he’s dead. With attention now focused on the gun violence epidemic in this country, this was a very pointed choice of storyline for Succession.
Tom and Cyd. Succession 204. Photo credit Peter Kramer. HBO
This was another beautifully directed episode of Succession and I am riveted to my seat waiting to find out what happens between the Roy and Pierce families next week. It should be a giant shit-show…which is to say, an absolute blast!