The final episode of season 2 pays off a long game that goes all the way back to the early episodes of season 1. Not a sound in this or any other universe: Me: Succession Season 2 has shown us the absolute pinnacle of satire. And yet that killer instinct never left him, much as it was suppressed by shame and depression, not to mention all the cocaine and liquor (and meth) he could find to numb his conscience and salve his pain. Meredith: Roman wins this week by showing up — literally, as far as I’m concerned, because I was very worried about him dying last week. In its second season, Succession, America’s favorite show about the haunting legacy of physical and psychological abuse and/or rich white folks trying to win a kiss from daddy — has seemingly gone from a show that a bunch of TV critics couldn’t shut up about to a show that seemingly everybody* can’t shut up about. From the very beginning, Succession has been leading up to the events of Succession Season 2 Episode 10, but that doesn't make the way it happened any less jarring or repugnant. Even life-long boat-seer Kendall was impressed. Nope! He tries to explain just how distraught he is. And when everything about their lives looks this gorgeous, we have no choice but to sympathize with them. At some point, for example, he would have had to have a conversation with Greg about the incriminating documents in his possession. And Connor, hilariously, volunteers himself as Tribute. There are many superbly wrought scenes in this episode that lay the path for that ending, but the one that sticks out to me now is the lighter one between Kendall, Shiv, and Roman on the yacht before the anticipated kiss from daddy. I don’t think I’ve ever loved anything on television as much as I’ve loved Shiv’s hair. But any show that recalls King Lear and other Shakespeare works so frequently has a respect for classical dramatic structure. And the buildup to those tremendous final moments, with Kendall finally, finally flipping on his father on live television, was bruising and boozy, with the characters sailing through a too-hot yacht trip from hell. Join Stephen Colbert for His Live Election Night Special on Showtime, Brian Wilson As Surprised As You Are Beach Boys Playing That Trump Fundraiser, “We have absolutely nothing to do with the Trump benefit today in Newport Beach. The questions of what they knew and when they knew it (universally: “a lot about crimes but somehow nothing about basic morality” and “probably from the very beginning”) are about to become very public fodder, and the scramble to get in front of this disaster is going to be great TV. Frederick Douglass (Daveed Diggs) is introduced in direct dichotomy to Brown in an episode that purposely pushes our buttons. It had to be Kendall and Kendall had to react as he did, because the entire arc of the show makes any other choice seem as inadequate as offering Tom with “Greg sprinkles.”. Shiv thinks Tom looks logical. Then he tried to lead the proxy bid with Stewy and Sandy and that also blew up after he staged his own version of Chappaquiddick. © 2020 Vox Media, LLC. PGM, New York magazine, Jessica Hecht’s forgotten biographer character. After all, when Kendall asks Logan if he ever could have been the big boss, Logan tells him he’s not sure Kendall could ever be a killer. It’s not clear exactly how a woman so disconnected from Waystar’s day-to-day operations could take the fall, but that’s something for Jesse Armstrong to work out. Marcia had the ship “refit,” as they apparently say, in the billionaire version of “cutting [Logan’s] ties,” but for my money (none), it looks awesome. Meredith: In last week’s penultimate episode, Logan casually accused Roman of wanting to fuck his mother (and excuse you, Gerri is not his mother), but he was worried about the wrong Oedipal impulse in the wrong tormented son. Already a subscriber? Two scenarios: What won’t happen (but seems like it will), and what will happen (but seems like a stretch).