‘Succession’ S4E7: The Devil’s in the Details

Episode Grade: (8.9/10)

Plot (44/50)

Kendall’s Living Plus announcement strengthened his position, but on its own, it isn’t enough to stave off Matsson’s bid. As a result, Kendall must resort to lobbying politicians and digging up dirt on Matsson. He succeeds in the latter, but Shiv’s coaching positions Matsson in a much more favorable spot with the political figures in the room. Meanwhile, the impending election has put some serious pressure on an increasingly isolated Roman. In fact, the election looms large on just about everyone.

Matsson’s Achilles Heel

Kendall looks to build on the momentum generated by his Living Plus announcement. His search for a killshot takes him to Nate, Shiv’s political strategist ex-boyfriend. With the election seemingly swinging in Jimenez’s favor, Nate is going to end up on the winning team. Kendall pitches a narrative shift for ATN that would give Jimenez favorable coverage in his first 100 days. In exchange, Jimenez’s administration would challenge the legality of the deal. Nate, of course, has no intention of helping Kendall. Part of that decision is the fact that it doesn’t make any sense politically, but it’s mostly personal. A GoJo takeover takes a hammer to Logan’s legacy while also hurting Tom’s career. Ultimately, Nate’s a dead end.

Kendall’s search then takes him to Ebba, Matsson’s head of communications. After more disrespect from Matsson at Tom and Shiv’s tailgate party, Ebba reaches her limit. Kendall and Roman ask about her troubled relationship with Matsson after “ratfucker” Sam uncovered the weird details. What they get is much better than they could have hoped for. Ebba reveals that GoJo’s India metrics are dramatically inflated. Furthermore, she seems to believe that this information will come out in the coming weeks. In any case, this is a legitimate reason to tank the deal, and that’s all Kendall cares about.

The Election

A likely victory for Jimenez is bad for Waystar, but it is especially bad for Roman because he’s taken point with Mencken’s team. ATN’s status as the premier right-leaning news organization gave Logan considerable political sway. Favorable coverage for Mencken has continued under Roman and Kendall, but it seems it has not been enough to push Mencken over the line. As we have seen through Nate and Kendall, a Jimenez administration would not be willing to play ball with Waystar. Furthermore, Mencken will be looking for someone to blame in the event of a loss, and much of that will be directed towards Roman.

Mencken would blame Roman because his failure would be two-fold: ineffective coverage and an inability to convince Connor to drop out of the race. Connor, for his part, has remained steadfast with Maxim Pierce and Willa by his side in what was a nice bit of consistency. He has absolutely no chance of winning, but his ~1% slice is mostly taking away from Mencken. If he were to drop out and endorse Mencken, Mencken’s chances would greatly improve. All of a sudden, Connor holds considerable influence in this game of thin margins.

This influence is officially recognized with the offer of an ambassadorial position. Still, there are limitations to what Mencken’s team can offer. They want to give Connor a token position to some obscure country, but he wants a prominent position. Oman is somewhat of a middle ground, but after some deliberation, Connor declines. He wants to see his campaign through, even if it means giving up material success. The hail Mary play doesn’t work out for Mencken. He, and by extension Waystar, are now staring down the barrel of defeat.

Looking Ahead

The election will take place in the upcoming episode. Its outcome has serious implications for the Waystar as a company and the Roys as a family. The intricate scheming made for some great drama, as usual. News of GoJo’s inflated subscribers adds an intriguing wrinkle as it makes the prospect of a Kendall victory more believable. All the while, Logan’s funeral creeps closer. Look for that to happen sometime in the last two episodes. If I had to guess, I would say it’s happening in the finale.

Character Development (15/15)

Amidst the pre-election and pre-acquisition chaos, the Roy siblings find themselves on increasingly divergent paths. Kendall has no dog in the political fight, so he utilizes the tailgate party to advance his plans for Waystar. Shiv is in a similar position, but she’s also pre-occupied with Matsson and Tom. Roman has his hands full with Mencken and Connor. Connor, of course, is focused on his own campaign. The playing field is the same for all involved, but the directions are very different.

Kendall

Kendall is a man on a mission. Where others are legitimately invested in the outcome of the election, he sees it as a means to an end. Even news of his daughter’s troubles isn’t enough to get him to actually care. The conversation with Rava was a brilliant reminder of how out of touch Kendall is from reality. He seems somewhat functional relative to the other corporate goblins, but in an everyday real world setting, he was like a deer in headlights. In any case, he’s not particularly interested in the fate of the nation because he’s too focused on securing control of Waystar.

His first attempt at gaining support for his cause takes him to Nate, ironically. His pitch to Nate is mostly wishful thinking. The two don’t get along. They’re practically opposites. The pitch to change a decades-old political stance in a day is unrealistic. Of course, it doesn’t help that Shiv is working against Kendall (more on that in a bit). Nate rebuffs Kendall’s advances pretty decisively. Again, Kendall flashes that look of defeat, that look he has before he spirals down. But again, he manages to hold it together thanks to an opportune way forward through Ebba.

Ebba finally reaches her breaking point, and out of spite, gives Kendall and Roman the smoking gun they’ve been looking for. They share news of GoJo’s funky numbers with Shiv, who, unbeknownst to her brothers, confirms the news with Matsson. This all but eliminates the possibility of a ploy here. Shortly after, Kendall and Matsson clash over their respective wobbly numbers. The passive-aggressive theatrics serve the singular purpose of putting Matsson on high alert. Kendall pushes forward by sharing the news with Frank. He needs Frank’s support, and he’s willing to shed his siblings in the process.

Roman and Connor

Out of all four siblings, Roman is standing on the wobbliest grounds. He bailed on Kendall in the previous episode, so he can’t bask in the glory of the Living Plus announcement. Yet he’s still aligned with Kendall with regards to tanking the deal. This puts him at odds with Shiv, even if he doesn’t yet know it. He’s not on good terms with Matsson should should the deal go through either. Furthermore, firing Gerri has left him with no allies on the board or of the old guard. He can’t even exert any influence over Connor. The pressure is on, and he’s starting to feel it.

Roman’s mini-meltdown when Connor turns down an ambassadorial position under Mencken is evidence of this. Roman really needs a win. Unfortunately, what he thought should have been a relatively easy win with Connor quickly dissolved into another failure. Love him or hate him, Connor has a key characteristic that Roman lacks: conviction. He’s an oddball, even by his family’s notorious standards. Still, he’s managed to carve out a niche for himself. Furthermore, he’s surrounded himself with people that actually support him. This gives him the confidence to see his campaign through. He knows he probably won’t win, and he’s OK with that.

The same can’t be said for Roman though. Because he lacks any sort of conviction, he’s always looking to latch onto the favorite, so to speak. He did it with Logan and Gerri in the past, Kendall in the not-so-distant past, and he’s doing it with Mencken now. Except now Mencken is losing, and Roman’s hands are tied. He can’t jump over to the winning side, and that makes him anxious. He turns to Gerri for some sense of stability, but she categorically turns him away. It’s make or break time for Roman, and it’s not looking good. At least he mustered the courage to give the speech at Logan’s funeral.

Shiv and Matsson

Roman might be in the most precarious position, but Shiv isn’t too far behind. She’s continuing to play all sides, but maybe she’s in too deep with Matsson. At least that’s how she feels. And to think it was all going so well for her in the first half of the episode. Jimenez is the frontrunner, and as a left-leaning former political strategist, that means her “team” is winning. She was selling Matsson so well to the lobbyists too. Her relationship with Tom was in a rare happy place, and her siblings were oblivious to her backstabbing. Then she got news of GoJo’s inflated subscribers.

The advantage Shiv has over her siblings is that Matsson trusts her somewhat. Maybe he doesn’t trust her enough to hand her a “very, very, very significant role,” but enough to answer honestly about the subscribers issue. He confirms the news. He then unconvincingly assures Shiv that it’s all under control, and that the acquisition of Waystar would drown out any concerns about India’s subscribers once they publicly report it. Of course, this information would probably still be under wraps had Matsson conducted himself with decency towards Ebba. Alas, you reap what you sow.

Shiv and Tom

Speaking of which, Shiv incessantly telling all these super influential people that Tom is getting fired -at their party in their own home no less- was the final straw for Tom. He tears into her for her inability to think of him. He tells her that he thinks she’s incapable of love, and that she wouldn’t be a good mother. That’s particularly scarring for Shiv, who still hasn’t revealed to anyone that she’s pregnant. She fights back with legitimate shots, but it’s no use. There’s nothing she can say that would hurt Tom more than she’s already hurt him.

Before closing out where Tom and Shiv stand, I want to mention that Greg split from Tom once again. Still, they find themselves in similar positions. Greg is Team Kendall because Matsson doesn’t like him, and Tom is team Matsson because his relationship with Kendall seems damaged beyond repair. They’re both holding onto whatever they can as opposed to choosing what they want. Tom brings this very point up with Shiv during their yelling contest. She has the skills, connections, and privilege to always have options, yet she lives in fear of abandonment. Tom’s tried and failed to alleviate her insecurities because, like him, she too is broken.

Theme/Messages (3/5)

• Politics, big money, and mainstream media are almost indistinguishably intertwined.

Acting (15/15)

Matthew Macfadyen (Tom) and Sarah Snook (Shiv) tore the house down with their performances. Matthew Macfadyen (Tom) was especially brilliant here. He captured the heartbreak and frustration of Tom so well. He continues to raise the bar with each passing episode. The performances of Jeremy Strong (Kendall), Kieran Culkin (Roman), Alexander Skarsgård (Matsson), Eili Harboe (Ebba), Oskar (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) were all notable as well.

Cinematography (12/15)

• Well-executed transition shot of Shiv and Tom texting eachother (14:05)
• Cool montage of final party preparations and guests arriving (18:05 onwards)
• Symbolic montage of the lights going out at Shiv and Tom’s pad (1:01:50 onwards)

Check out the Power Rankings for Season 4 Episode 7 here

Watch the promo for Season 4 Episode 8 here