Succession Season 4 Recap: Rehearsal
“Smart people know what they are.”
After losing Pierce, Kerry (Zoe Winters), and apparently, everyone else, is trying to anticipate how Logan (Brian Cox) feels. He’s being asked how he is feeling again and again and he wants to assure everyone that he’s unmovable. So, early in the morning, he heads to ATN for an uncharacteristic surprise visit.
In the meantime, the Roy siblings are talking about their future. Shiv (Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Kendall (Jeremy Strong) are watching ATN and criticizing everything. Roman is convinced “Our PGN is just gonna crush this.” But it’s not there’s yet. They are a little over confident for a group of people who may or may not have the funds to pay for the acquisition. Kendall’s pitch for a better PGN? “Hardcore international news from global-global to hyperlocal.” (He just wanted to rhyme.) He slides in a little microaggression too for our poor Jess (Juliana Canfield) and she has no choice but to pretend it’s okay. Shiv receives a call with bad news: all the divorce lawyers she wants to hire have “conflicted out” of assisting her and now she’s mad. She instantly knows that her dad is involved. Greg (Nicholas Braun) calls Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and tells him that Logan is at the ATN office and the way Tom runs back to the office is so funny to watch. He is trying to look unbothered while being very bothered so, he looks corny. It doesn’t help that Shiv calls to tell him he’s a bitch boy.
At the ATN news station, Logan is watching everyone, very carefully. Tom already filled us in, this is all Logan has left so, he is being extra picky about everything except apparently, hiring Kerry as an anchor. Tom clearly thinks she has no skills but when asked under pressure, he says she has “it”. Of course, since she has no experience, Kerry fumbles so damn bad as an anchor and the Roy siblings watch on in enjoyment. Since her dad is playing with her, Shiv decides to fight back. She calls Sandi (Hope Davis) to try and get more money for the Go-Jo deal.
Trying to be the “Man of the People” Logan stands on a package box at ATN to scream threats (directed towards his opposition, kinda?) about his new vision. All Logan has to offer is a few heated lines of “You’ve got to knuckle down for me” and “You’re fucking pirates!” but the crowd goes wild. Greg’s enchanted face tells us all about how easy it is for Logan to charm people when he really wants to.
But, still a petty man, Logan’s refusal to let his kids use the company chopper is finally taking effect and it’s so funny because they think they have so much power in their company but without their dad, they’re nothing. The issue with the chopper means that they will be late to Connor’s (Alan Ruck) wedding rehearsal. In the midst of all this, Shiv pretends that Sandi is just reconnecting with her out of nowhere.
Disconcerted about the state of his deal with Go-Jo, Logan meets with Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) and Hugo (Fisher Stevens) to discuss finals steps. But when he walks into their board room, he finds Hugo and Gerri laughing at Kerry’s fumble. Hugo pretends otherwise, but he’s not slick. The heart of the meeting is to discuss the final bits of the acquisition deal and Matsson’s (Alexander Skarsgård) wish for a photo-op. Given the context of this meeting (all the laughing), when Gerri questions if he wouldn’t want a “moment in the sun?” it seems almost cutting to Logan, that she would imply his “moment” is over, is immediately taken as mocking.
Back at Connor’s Rehearsal dinner, Stewy (Arian Moayed) and Sandi pop by to convince the Roy siblings to ask for more money out of the Go-Jo deal. It doesn’t go over so well. When the siblings finally enter the venue for Connor’s rehearsal, Roman finds Willa (Justine Lupe) at the staircase, on her way out. She looks very distressed about her coming marriage and trying to convince them that “You can’t be jumping for joy the whole time.” Shiv doesn’t really care that much about this though, she really just wants to skip the dinner entirely to discuss Stewy and Sandi’s idea and it’s clear from the angst in her face that there may or may not be more to her reason for this push. Do you think she is worried that Tom will rob her of a lot of her wealth?
Connor is found casually drinking by himself. He has internalized their lateness to mean that he is in the line of fire because he supports Logan. When really, they all know that it’s because they don’t care that much about him and neither does Willa. Apparently when Willa stood up for a speech, she said she couldn’t do it and ran to the washroom. It’s a tough blow but again, Shiv would rather talk about Stewy and Sandi. Connor’s answer to being ditched is Karaoke or a bar with blue colour workers.
Generally disturbed, Logan is angry about the staff, pizza and Kerry. Finally, it seems that Logan is seeing how bad she is at anchoring and he wants to get rid of her role but without any direct involvement. So, he entrusts Tom with the task.
At a bar, the Roy siblings seem completely out of place with the normal people. What do normal people order in these kinds of places? Connor decides it’s “Belgian Weissbier. Not Hoegaarden, ideally.” He is tracking Willa’s location on his phone but apparently, he is able to do so because of a factory setting. As they all muse about what it could mean that Willa is at an aquarium supply retailer and then at a dry cleaner, Kendall takes a call from Matsson.
Matsson is being a weirdo as usual. It balls down to this, he didn’t sleep, he heard rumblings about Kendall working with Stewy and Sandi and he doesn’t like it. He wants Kendall to stop asking for what the company is worth and he will walk away from the deal but not in an aggressive way. In any case, this is the thing that tips things towards Stewy and Sandi’s favour.
Being a coward, Tom abandons Logans task to Greg and even coaches him on exactly how to manipulate Kerry. While Greg struggle with this new assignment, Kendall returns to his siblings to inform them that actually, on second thought, he wants to reconsider his position. Connor listens in as they discuss their position, then Roman receives a check-in text from Logan. Turns out Roman sent a “take care” to Logan and Shiv and Kendall decide it’s far too warm a text to send. Anyway, Roman is convinced that asking for more money will make Matsson walk but Shiv and Kendall believe Matsson is bluffing. Ultimately, they decide to join Stewy and Sandi in their fight and then go to a Karaoke to pacify Connor since this decision will affect his money.
Back at ATN, Greg meets with Kerry as a friend to let her know about the murmurs of people in the office. The tagline is she sucks, but he has to be gentle about it because her position next to Logan makes her a threat. Kerry punches back but she’s still fired. When she eventually returns to Logan’s side, she learns that Logan has been told that the kids will squeeze Matsson for more money. Connor is the whistleblower. To address this delicately, Logan goes to Karaoke to strong arm his kids to change their mind. Everything he does after making this decision is a mistake. He meets the kids with Kerry (a mistake), then invokes heartstrings to manipulate them (another mistake), gives a weak apology then slams them with insults (the biggest mistake). Failing, he leaves the meetup with a final blow, “You’re such fucking dopes. You’re not serious figures. I love you but you are not serious people.”
On his walk out, Logan is busy complaining about the city to deaf ears. Kerry is visibly turning away from him but he doesn’t notice that he’s all alone. He decides to meet Matsson again. Once gone, the Roy siblings convene to discuss the disturbance of Logan’s appearance. Shiv and Kendall pretend they were unmoved by his insults, but Roman looks very disturbed by it all. As Connor is heading out, he says some of the most tragic bit of truth about their family: “The good thing about having a family that doesn’t love you is you learn to live without it.” They are all chasing after their dad’s love and approval but not him, he’s different. He doesn’t need his father’s love and he certainly doesn’t need Willa’s love. He’s fine either way. Shiv, Roman and Kendall are stunned by his words. As they all leave for home, Kendall is seen snickering to himself in his car, Shiv battles with herself and her desire to call Tom and we finally see Connor back in his home. When he gets to his bedroom, Connor finds Willa in bed and he kisses her shoulder. He may not need love but he doesn’t want to be lonely. Where is Roman you ask? Cozying up to Logan’s side to offer a statement to balm the mess at Karaoke. Logan is pleased to see him and asks him to tag along to see Matsson but Roman is hesitant since Connor’s wedding is the same day. Logan decides to push him. Logan hands Roman a drink and tells him, “You’re not Pierce. Smart people know what they are … I need you.”