Two things:

First, Mencken can't take any concrete steps to block the GoJo deal in the immediate term because he won't be inaugurated for another two months. All he can do is make statements about what he will do after he is inaugurated.

Second, even if Mencken has the power to effectively blow up the deal before he takes office, Roman is a fool to trust him. My prediction is that Mencken (perhaps because of a back channel from Mattson) almost immediately turns on Kendall and Roman and backs out on his promise to block the GoJo deal.

Then the kids have to make the unpleasant choice of either breaching their fiduciary duties and supporting the GoJo deal, even though they know GoJo's numbers are bullshit, or blowing up the GoJo deal themselves and plowing ahead with a damaged news network that doesn't have Mencken's support but nevertheless is getting blamed for Mencken's election.

In other words, I think the show is going to end with the kids sitting in a stinking pile of their own making, basically having ****ed everything up through their own dysfunction and lack of judgment.

In further support of the bolded, when the election starts going to sideways, Mattson asks Shiv whether he needs "get ready to be cozy with this ****ing Mr. Crazy."

So you are saying Mattson not only will make an appearance at the funeral but I feel is going to interrupt Roman's speech and make a big deal out of something Shiv has disclosed to him - maybe the drowning from season 1 and the cover up of that.

I'm not predicting anything about Mattson at the funeral. My main prediction is that Mencken will turn on Roman.

Said already but Shiv is so terrible at this.

How about you just actually call Nate and see if his tune has changed now that **** has hit the fan? And even if he says no, you can still soft pedal it and say the same thing later to Kendall, only it won’t be immediately obvious she’s lying if he follows up.

The Greg threat had zero teeth. The fact that he even asked what’s in it for me shows he’s not scared of her. At least say something like there’s a piece for you if the deal goes through.

Looks like they’re setting it up for her to do some kamikaze deal next week.

Didn’t really like the ep overall. Felt like the “shock” of election manipulation was supposed to be this OMG moment, but came off meh + didn’t really move the main characters forward too much. Also didn’t get Kendall’s sudden attack of conscience based off of a two minute street argument with his ex.

I mean. If you think the election manipulation is supposed to be any sort of shock, youre doing it wrong.

The episode is called America Decides ffs

Greg blowing Shiv up was my favorite part of the episode. His smiling at her after he tells Kendall that she is in league with Matson solidified Greg as my favorite character of the season.

As for where this is headed. It seems to me that Shiv and Roman knowing that Kendall killed somebody is still dangling out there. I'd be surprised if that didn't come back in some way now that the show is ending, and Shiv is desperate to blow her brothers up.

Shiv has neglected the Greg relationship from jump. Kendall has kept him in his pocket for quite some time.

It struck me as a sort of creator/showrunner getting their hands back on the writing of the show and dropping bombshells after a few filler although reasonably good filler episodes. It can only get better and usually the penultimate episode of a season is usually the best.

I don't see what motivation Mencken would have to do so. His whole deal is pandering to the right wing and 'murica first, so it's very in line with his character to prevent a foreign entity from acquiring an American institution - even when you see Mattson's reactions to Mencken, they aren't indicative of them having any kind of back channel. He gains nothing by not blocking this deal, while blocking it keeps his relationship positive with ATN and speaks to his base.

thought about the Kendall thing a bit too. I dont think they set it up too well. but I think the idea was that Kendall fantasizing that he was not pos absentee father just like his own father. so as usual, his actions were to preserve his own ego. but I dont think they showed it well. he obv doesnt give a **** about his daughter or ex insofar as its not a reflection on him.

As someone mentioned, Mencken's TV speech was beautifully done and creepy to watch. A+

Have to admit I'm getting scared GOT vibes about the finale - you have an episode left for the funeral, and then one episode left after that to wrap everything up, and nothing seems close to being wrapped up - like, even if the GoJo deal fails, the question of who's running things (and what the people who aren't running things are doing) is not even close to resolved. If the resolution is GoJo goes through and they all turn into rich dilettantes like Connor, that won't be satisfying.

If I had to guess, having seen no spoilers or even read any speculation:

Roman kills himself or gets killed
Shiv reconciles with Tom and steps back to be a soccer mom
Ken ends up on the throne looking around as the "winner" with an empty feeling as to what's next and realizing he screwed every other part of his life up for this

People have always let themselves get much too wrapped up in these plot points and the "who wins?" nonsense; it's a character-driven show, not a plot-driven show. The GoJo deal and the permanent resolution at the running of ATN (if ATN should continue to exist in its present form) are just vehicles for character resolutions.

Basically the only resolution we're looking at here is exactly in what way each of the main characters will be unhappy as the series wraps, as having any of them end up happy would be a betrayal of the show and completely against the spirit of every creative impulse they've demonstrated so far. It doesn't look overly difficult to land the "make everyone miserable in their own unique way" plane from where they're at. Each of the siblings is already well into the process of spinning out.

The idea of one of the mains killing themselves is hilarious tv brain ****

Most shows set the deck for the final episodes. This show sets the deck while in the background destroying democracy

I'd be shocked if either of these things happened.

I'm not sure how the show ends, doesn't seem like anyone is gonna get totally screwed or anything.

Menchen going back on his word on GOJO deal wouldn't exactly be a shocker but that feels so low stakes. It makes for a good storyline, but a show like this feels like it has to end with somewhat of a bang. The siblings turning on each other feels low stakes as well.

also lol @ the PR guy saying "grow some balls or whatever" it was during Jiminez speech, that was pretty funny

Roman suicides.
Ken pays Fikret to kill Shiv. With her dying breath, Shiv tells him that she’s preg.
Fikret kills Ken and takes the throne with the help of his long time accomplices, The Disgusting Brothers

Roman’s suicide is ironically a false flag.
In reality, he was killed by the Fly Guys who assume high ranking positions at Waystar

Return of the Fly Guys would be an auto 5* ep

Rewatched the episode. Thought it did a masterful job showing how people used both sides of the political spectrum to push their personal agendas. Shiv really pushed hard on the "country is done" agenda to help her push for Mattson while Roman pushed for the opposite. Still not a fan of the episode but it certainly focused on characters more than I gave it credit for in live time. Episode was definitely better than I gave it credit for initially.

I agree…nobody gets screwed, almost certainly nobody dies. They may end up in various degrees of being alienated/estranged from each other, but for the most part since they are rich and privileged they are all just fine. Insulated from the outside world and even from their own bad decisions and ineptitude.

Maybe Tom ends up getting fired and on the outside. The only “shock” I could see happening is that somehow Ken’s daughter is the victim of some right wing crazies which would echo Shiv’s “things do happen,” but I still doubt it.

Yeah I watched it again last night too - thought it was even better the 2nd time around.

Where did the 10 eps in 10 days thing come from? It seems true, but never knew what made that official?

If that is the case then having the president and matson cozy up a day or two after election seems like a reach given ATN was hugely instrumental in his win, you could see him souring on the Roy's over a longer timeframe but 2 days? even though the show is kinda telegraphing that