Succession review, Episode 307: “Too Much Birthday”

Roman embraces the Dark Side on an emotionally bruising episode of Succession. He’s setting himself up for a fall…a big one.

“Too Much Birthday” marks the rise of Evil Roman, the Shadow Logan, the balloon beast destined to puff up and float too close to the sun. At the beginning of the show, Roman was the easiest one to point to and name the family screw-up; he was immature, juvenile and so eager to prove himself he lumbered into one mishap after another. Now, towards the end of the third season, he’s learned patience, persistence and has several wins under his belt…and they’re turning him into a monster.

The action this week mostly takes place at Kendall’s self-aggrandizing 40th birthday party, which Shiv and Roman attend purely to get an audience with tech tycoon Lucas Madsen, yet another billionaire egotist Waystar is trying to woo. Kendall is happy to see his siblings at first, but quickly turns sour once he realizes their true intent.

Kendall, as you can guess, has a terrible time at this tacky shrine he’s built to himself. (“It feels like an asshole’s birthday party,” he laments as we sit here shocked it took him that long to figure it out.) Thank goodness he has Naomi Pierce to lean on; after he craps on her birthday gift I’m surprised she stays by his side, but heaven knows he needs someone in his life who actually cares about him for something other than his money. His ex-wife and kids do that, but he mostly ignores them.

Ugh, I’m forever torn between wanting Kendall to get better and wanting him to suffer the consequences of his self-involved behavior. Jeremy Strong is a raw nerve as always; I smell another Emmy nomination, although Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook are right on his heels.

Logan doesn’t attend the party but is there in spirit in the form of a birthday card that tells Kendall to “Cash out and fuck off.” Basically, Logan wants to buy out Kendall’s shares in Waystar for around $2 billion, making his expulsion from the family official. It’s a cruel move, although not unexpected. The real surprise is that Roman worked out the plan together with Logan and is happy to deliver the message for daddy.

Remember, earlier this season Roman refused to sign on to Shiv’s withering statement about Kendall at least in part because he still has some affection for his big brother. But now that Logan approves the twist of the knife, he’s all in. Roman is letting his closer working relationship with his father go to his head, which blows up to gigantic proportions after he gets Madsen to agree to talk with Logan. Roman has always been a bit of a shitgibbon, but I was caught off guard by just how petty and mean-spirited he got. He belittles Shiv and even pushes Kendall to the ground, then laughs in both their faces before calling dad to proclaim himself “the only child you will ever need.”

Last week, Logan said that Roman is “maturing,” and he is, but he’s not all the way there, not by a long shot. He’s as hungry for daddy’s approval as ever, and I have no doubt that this turn is going to send him down a dark alley in short order, either because his behavior will force Shiv over to Kendall’s side or because he’s going to make a misstep and find out just how disposable his father actually considers him, possibly both.

As Tom says, no one seems to be having a good time at this party; even Roman’s joy is an ugly, twisted thing. An insecure Shiv spends her time “getting the demons out” on the dance floor while Tom yells at the people telling him how graceful he is in the compliment tunnel, unable to enjoy himself even as it looks as though he’s not going to jail. The only exception is dear sweet Greg, who gets a date with Kendall’s assistant Comfry. Sure, she might have only said yes to defy her nightmare boss, but at least someone is having a good time.

Someone besides the audience, I mean. “Too Much Birthday” is a pretty rough watch — it’s basically an hour of TV’s most messed up family hurting each other — but it’s another solid piece of work from a show that refuses to let up on the gas.

Episode Grade: A-

Roy Family Bullet Points

• Hey, Kendall doesn’t have a terrible voice. Probably for the best he didn’t sing Billy Joel in front of his guests, though.
• Succession gives the Tom-Greg shippers a celebratory forehead kiss.
• We get a bit more of Logan’s assistant Kerri, who Roman and Shiv both notice is having an undue influence on their dad. “We appreciate your input, Kerri, but ‘fuck ’em,’ is not good tactics.”
• Kendall’s party is one insufferable gimmick after another. “Kendall would like his present to be everyone being present.”
• Speaking of insufferable gimmicks, Freudian nightmare Roman Roy gets hung up on the birth canal hallway. “I am repeatedly entering my own mother.”
• Tom doesn’t like Greg’s chances of getting a date with Comfry: “It’s like a haunted scarecrow asking out Jackie Onassis.”
• The Roy siblings get in plenty of those patented family zingers in tonight. Kendall: “Who isn’t here?” Kendall’s own flesh and blood: “Your dad.” “Your mom.” “Your wife and kid.” “Any real friends.”
• I know Connor is kind of a joke, but buried under his absurd presidential aspirations (he’s polling at “very close to 1%”) is a wounded man who’s been just as warped by his father as any of his siblings. Willa gives him some humanity; she stepped up this episode when she fought off Kendall’s control freak insistence (delivered through Comfry) that he remove his coat during the party.
• Why does Greg lapse into a cowboy accent when trying to ask out Comfry? I have no idea but it’s adorable.

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