Succession review, Episode 303, “The Disruption”

I suspect that Kendall may be dead by the end of the season. When he bucked his father and declared war on Waystar Royco at the end of season 2, it looked like there was a possibility that he was turning over a new leaf and taking control of his destiny. But this episode more than any other so far this season shows him in a proper destructive spiral.

It should go without saying, but it’s clear now that Kendall’s move was never actually about improving Waystar; it’s about him scoring a personal victory over his father. And we see this week how the entire enterprise is all about him. In the limo, he has people read both good and bad tweets about himself, soaking up the attention even when it’s bad…maybe especially when it’s bad. He interrupts his own party to play a clip of an Amber Ruffin-esque talk show host taking him down, making everyone around him uncomfortable as he pretends to love the ribbing. And he decides to walk into Waystar Royco without telling his new lawyer, who I imagine is second-guessing her decision to do business with this guy.

Kendall is fired up so long as the press he’s getting is good, so long as he’s disrupting the established order and inspiring withering hot takes on Twitter. But the second things get too real, he folds. Like after Shiv, incensed over Kendall interrupting her company town hall meeting with a cruel stunt, puts out a scathing statement expressing “concern” over his drug addictions, misogynistic behavior and general instability. It’s not that anything in the statement is necessarily inaccurate, but it is intensely personal, so much so that Kendall bails on an interview and hides in the server room, staring at his phone as he waits to see if anything could happen that could restore his confidence in what he’s doing, and in himself.

Happily (or unhappily, if you prefer), he gets it: the FBI raids Waystar Royco just as news of Shiv’s statement catches fire, smothering it out. It results in a tense standoff not so much between the FBI and Waystar, but between Logan and several of his advisors — mainly Gerri, who may be a “puppet come to life” as interim CEO — over whether to cooperate with the law. “These aren’t the kind of guys you can just tell to f**k off,” Gerri tells him, doing her best not to lose it over Logan’s stubbornness.

And Logan, to his credit, does finally decide to cooperate with the FBI. His theory that he can avoid clashing with the law by working his presidential back channels proves ineffective…at least for now. And it gives Kendall the fuel he needs to keep this train running a little longer; his tiny smile in the server room reminded me of Logan’s muted grin when Kendall made his big move in season 2.

But that is not sustainable. Eventually, some move made by his father or one of his siblings will shatter Kendall beyond repair; or worse, the story about Waystar’s scandals might get out and people will stop paying so much attention to him. Kendall is looking to others to get validation right now, probably because he’s not in the right mental state to actually feel good about himself, and that’s a dangerous place to live.

Roy vs Roy

When you define myself by what others think of you, enemies are very important to you, and Kendall is racking them up. He and Shiv have crossed swords before, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen her this furious; her spitting in his book, hurt that her own brother would go so far to humiliate her, was a memorable crossing-the-Rubicon moment. If Shiv was at least entertaining the idea of going over to Team Kendall before, she isn’t now; she’s firmly in dad’s camp, for better or worse.

Connor and Roman refusing to sign her statement was interesting. Connor I’m never quite sure how to think about, but it was almost touching that Roman wouldn’t sign on account of Kendall…well, teaching him how to aim. Of course Roman put it in a vulgar way, but the point is that, underneath all the scheming and power plays, these siblings actually do have some affection for each other, some of which may not even be tainted by the dog-eat-dog world of high finance or their father’s mindgames. That’s what makes battles like the one between Shiv and Kendall especially vicious, because no one knows how to hurt you like family.

It all made for a really solid, emotionally taut episode of Succession, probably the best of the season so far. And that’s a good sign because the season has been terrific. Best show on TV right here.

Episode Grade: A

Roy Family Bullet Points

• I like the running gag where Roman makes fun of Kendall for not knowing the names of his own children.
• We spend some quality time this episode with Tom, who is caught in another relationship that’s part business partnership and part genuine human connection. Tom still doesn’t seem to be getting what he needs out of his relationship with Shiv, although they’re at least kinda stable? I wonder if he tends to rag on Greg so much because he feels disrespected with his wife.
• Speaking of Greg, he may be willing to turn over on Kendall because of a watch. C’mon, Kendall, just buy him the watch; you can probably find 40k under your couch cushions.
• Back to Tom, he tells Logan he’s willing to fall on his sword and be the face of the company’s current crisis, even accepting jail time if he has to. I don’t know if this was a bluff, but Logan seems genuinely grateful for the offer. Either way, Tom’s probably improved his position.

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