Succession
“The rat takes the cheese, the rat takes the cheese,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the rat takes the cheese.
The cheese stands alone, the cheese stands alone,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the cheese stands alone.”
~from the nursery rhyme The Farmer In The Dell
Succession’s election episode is one of the bleakest, most profoundly upsetting in the HBO drama’s entire run. In ‘America Decides’ we see just the opposite. Americans head out to vote, but it’s the whims of the three mercurial Roy children that determines how the race is called (whether or not that call will hold up in the courts). And let’s not forget Connor (Alan Ruck). He may not be calling any shots at ATN, but his rousing concession speech sure was something. “I am in fact a billionaire,” he reminds us. And: “The Conheads are coming.” They’ll be back and in greater numbers. Or Connor’s other great line this evening, after he (shockingly) doesn’t win Kentucky:
“I shan’t become that, no. Alas, Kentucky, Willa. Alas, vanity.”
This was a big night for just about everyone. Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) is in charge of ATN’s entire election production and enlists Greg (Nicholas Braun) as his direct, personal aid. “I want you Gregging for me!” Tom practically shouts at him. Lots and lots of great Tom and Greg moments this episode. When they discuss Greg’s harrowing night out with Mattson (Alexander Skarsgård) and his entourage, Greg let’s slip that Shiv has some backroom dealings with the Swede.
“Information, Greg,” Tom tells him in a moment of foreshadowing. “It’s like a bottle of fine wine: you store it, you hoard it, you save it for a special occasion, and then you smash someone’s f*#(ing face in with it.”
The bottle comes out toward the end of the episode, when Ken (Jeremy Strong)—suddenly suspicious of Shiv (Sarah Snook)—pulls Greg aside and asks him if anything’s been going down between his sister and the GoJo boss. Before we get to the coup de grace, let’s talk about Shiv.
Shiv Roy
Shiv’s greatest failing is her lack of self-knowledge, at least as it pertains to her influence over the people and events surrounding her. Long ago, when Logan (Brian Cox) told her that he wanted her to succeed him, she lacked the patience to prove to him that she was ready. Despite agreeing to keep it secret, she blurted it out during dinner with the Pierce family. She’s a bad poker player in a high-stakes game and she constantly overplays her hand.
In Sunday night’s episode, the house of cards she’s built comes crashing down. She’s been lying to her brothers about the GoJo deal this whole time, but she’s not smart enough to pull off such a big play, and something as simple as Greg going out with the Swedes is enough to topple the whole thing. Instead of bribing her cousin, she threatens him. He even asks for a sweetener, but she’s naïve enough to think that she can strong-arm him. Never underestimate Greg.
Shiv lies and lies the entire episode, blatantly lying about calling Nate. The only time she tells anything like the truth is when she drops the baby bomb on Tom. “There’s never a good time,” she prefaces the revelation, before choosing the worst time to break the news. Tom, so jaded at this point he can’t tell truth from fiction, asks her if she’s telling the truth or if this is just some new tactic.
The lies catch up with her in the end. Ken pulls Greg aside and learns the truth in one of the best scenes in the entire episode. Shiv watching the two men speak through the glass. The smirk on Greg’s face as he walks by, knowing that he’s utterly destroyed her. Ken’s shock and disappointment at his sister’s betrayal, turning him over to the Dark Side in an instant.
Roman Roy
Speaking of Dark Side, Roman (Kieran Culkin) goes full Sith this episode. He’s been slowly emerging as a power-drunk villain over the last couple episodes, but all bets are off on election night. There was a time when the youngest Roy child was the most likeable of the bunch. He was trying to be a good son, and even briefly after his dad died he was still trying to be loyal and his vulnerability and grief made him seem almost human. Almost.
He’s shed that skin entirely as he champions Mencken’s candidacy, brushing aside every concern raised by his siblings and ATN staff. Absentee ballots burned in Wisconsin? Tough. Call the state for Mencken (Justin Kirk). An election that will almost certainly be tied up in the courts because of this? Whatever, call the whole thing for Mencken. People nervous about Mencken’s fascist leanings? Make a joke about “the blacks and the Jews.” Far-right extremists intimidating voters, burning down buildings? Whip out the “both sides” card. It’s a particularly noxious playbook, but one that Roman is perfectly comfortable with, unlike Kendall’s squirming misgivings.
Not since the very first episode, when Roman offered that kid $1 million to hit a homerun, has Roman been this despicable. In the season premiere, Roman came off worse than any of the others. Even Logan seemed dismayed by his son’s heartlessness (whereas he seemed to admire the boy’s tenacity). I never forgot that scene, but I did wonder if Roman was changing over time, becoming less horrible as he strived to be the good son. It appears not.
Kendall Roy
Then again, American democracy isn’t really a major concern for any of the Roy children. Ken, despite knowing how afraid his daughter was by the rise of Mencken, nevertheless decides to back him, in part because of the GoJo deal (which is just pure vanity at this point) and in part to spite Shiv. Shiv, for her part, could have given up on her push to make the deal go through and worked with Ken to stop Mencken but for all her talk about the dangers of fascism, it’s still more important for her to win than to do the right thing.
In the end, Shiv is isolated and Ken and Roman have at best a pyrrhic victory. One that could not only come undone in a flash, but one that could get them in a world of trouble. Mencken may have declared himself the winner, but it’s clearly not over. Indeed, with just two episodes left, we may never find out what happens. But the threat of a truly dangerous candidate looms over them. Mencken’s charismatic victory speech was chilling. All his smooth talking about purity—about ‘something clean’—was dripping with white supremacist undertones.
All of it hit a little close to home.
Next up: Logan’s funeral. If anything can top the ghoulishness of election night, it’s that.
Succession
Scattered Thoughts / Best Quotes:
- “Connor was running for president?” Ten points to Frank.
- Tom, urging Greg to do blow with him: “Greg, it’s medically good for your brain. It is. What are you saying, all Aztecs are stupid? Don’t be a racist little bitch about it.”
- Greg, describing his evening with Mattson: “His crew knows some unseemly venues. I danced with an old man. … He didn’t want to dance, but they made us dance. He was so confused. I drank things that aren’t normally drinks.” A part of me wants to know what these drinks were, but most of me does not. This may also be a subtle nod to Tom’s bachelor party.
- “I don’t think of things such as that” is classic Greg.
- “How should I frame my face?” ~ Tom
- If you introduce bodega sushi in the first act, you must deploy it by the third. Chekov’s bodega sushi, basically. In this case, wasabi fingers (and lemon La Croix) in the eyes of the guy responsible for getting the numbers right. How fitting.
- Only Succession can get away with using the word ‘touchscreen’ so much in rapid, er, succession.
- Ken’s defense of Shiv against Tom was a nice brotherly moment made all the more potent when he calls her “dirt” a few minutes later after he learns the truth about her Mattson dealings. What a pivot!
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2023/05/15/succession-season-4-episode-8-review-something-pure-something-clean/