In a particularly grim episode, Kendall holds a blowout fortieth birthday party and discovers that the hope he once had that his siblings might take his side against their father is long, long gone.
This season, each week, we are ranking members of the main cast of Succession based on how fast they are speeding toward moral ruin.
Logan sends Roman to the party with a birthday card in which he has actually crossed out “Happy Birthday” and written “CASH OUT AND F*** OFF.” The enclosed term sheet offers Kendall more than two billion dollars for his share of the company, but really, Logan is kicking Kendall out of the family for good, officially, full stop.
It should also be noted that if Logan isn’t having an affair with Kerry, his somewhat mysterious assistant, his kids certainly think he is.
Between last week’s embrace of Mencken and this week’s merciless treatment of Kendall and Shiv, Roman is really sinking into his role as the brother who’s decided to throw all his cards in, not just to be like Logan, but to be more Logan than Logan is.
I guess if you’re looking for something working in Roman’s favor, he does seem reasonably good at dealing with Matsson, even if by pursuing a potential deal in the bathroom for the second episode in a row.
The party is such a monumentally embarrassing endeavor — the spectacle, the pink tunnel, the dumb screens that show fire and show Kendall’s picture, the ridiculous things Comfry had to do, like sourcing lunchboxes he didn’t even use.
Meanwhile, you might have thought Kendall’s rap in Season 2, performed as a tribute to his father, was the most mortifying thing he could come up with as a public spectacle.
She’s disgusted by Roman’s treatment of Kendall — to Shiv, there is acceptable cruelty and unacceptable cruelty — but even more, she’s furious that Logan and Roman made a side deal to give Roman Kendall’s shares of the company.
Shiv has clearly been taking seriously her efforts to get involved in the company itself — she’s the one who sort of lays out the argument for buying GoJo: It’s meant to replace Waystar’s terrible streaming platform, and get them into other areas like social media and, interestingly, sports betting.
It’s hard to say which rich-person behavior is more utterly goofy: Kendall for insisting people take their coats off even if they don’t want to, or Connor for insisting on parading around with his coat on his shoulders.
It’s a celebration of the fact that it looks like Tom and Greg are not going to prison — though keep in mind, this is backchannel communication, and nothing is written in stone yet.