really wanted this show to be about juicy corporate intrigue, not a show about a ****ed-up family. Oh well. I know, it's called Succession, and I can't fault a show for not being what I want it to be.

But if you're going to have it mostly be about the characters and not the narrative, then there has to be at least ONE likable character:

Logan - he's actually the most likable character...he is what he is.
Kendell - the most unlikable character...who gives a **** what a self-deluded, drug addict, moron does or says?
Shiv - wants to be Lady Macbeth, but still acts like she's got ethics. <yawn>
Cameron - more self-delusion, but at least he's funny
Roman - like other have said - pure schtick and not realistic at all that he would be anywhere near the company
Tom - funny, and maybe the most sympathetic character...except when he's torturing Greg
Greg - one-note, flibberty-gibbet stuttering does not mean you're a 3-dimendsional, fleshed-out character.
Gerri and other non-family Waystar execs - not a backbone among them; cowardice and self-preservation is not that interesting

Everybody else....meh

I don't see how they can threaten to expose kendall as it would look almost as bad or possibly even worse for the company and Logan for covering it up.

Kendall would probably say something like: "I was in a very bad place due to xyz and other pressure from my dad got in an accident and my dad and the company forced me to stay quiet and let them deal with it. I didn't do anything intentionally or maliciously and my father and waystar were the ones who dictated the response/cover up"

I'm sure he'd come up with something way better than what I just spouted off the top of my head but that's the general gist.

dunno just seems like an unbelievable threat.

You have insinuated his primary role is being a dipshit but it is very clearly not that. The whole point of the show is that these companies who are run by billionaires are actually run by people who are no more ordinary or human than you or me - which is one of the greatest misunderstandings which led to trumps election... the thought that he was actually a smart guy (because he's rich, he must be smart right?). Roman running waystar would still be less ludicrous than trump running the country but he's legitimately jockeying for position (amongst other completely incompetent candidates, i.e. his siblings). This is a look behind the veil. That's the point of the whole show IMO

Kendell is a fool and a clown....which is disappointing, because after the finale last season, I thought he was a bad-ass.

I am a little disappointed with how they are using Roman, because he had a couple of promising arcs with Jeri and the training centre and they seemed to just let both of those go. Even this season they could of had him involved with her ascension into the CEO role as a supporting member and having a relationship with her, but besides innuendo there's been zero of that.

Maybe the writers got a bit arc happy kind of like with Conor's run for president that seems to have faded away and they had to focus on other things.

Roman was physically and emotionally abused by his father, he was always the runt of the litter and a disappointment. So his constant sarcasm and shtick is his defense mechanism which he has obviously been using since he was a kid. It was shown pretty well when Logan knocked his tooth out and you could see how hurt he was, but still tried to crack a joke about "I can always get another one" or whatever.

I love the Roman character because I think Culkin does a great job of managing to show the hurt little boy who is desperate for daddy's approval, but tries to hide behind acting like he doesn't give a **** about anything.

Yeah I mean obviously he's not a great employee but he's there at Royco because his father has weird conceptions of family loyalty, even as he looks down on his family and treats them like crap.

great commentary

fwiw roman is very accurately portrayed imo, particularly the way they view their father as a god character - if you grow up in a situation where your father can get the president on the phone to do a favor you grow up with a very unique perspective

but normally those kids are shuttered away from the important stuff like how it was done with connor - or as dom prefers to call him cameron

usuaully there's at least one kid who was raised incredibly strictly and took well to it instead of becoming a screw up as a result like roman - i was hoping/expecting kendall or shiv to emerge as that person but we just have them all crumbling down the deeper we look into them

The funniest part is Kendall constantly spewing faux-biz talk babble like he's trying to impress people that he's competent at anything.

i think you guys should watch movie french exit, as eccentric as they are, they nail it quite well

Do the kids have their own money or do they rely on dad? I mean I'm sure they have had large salaries for their positions over the years, but that must pale in comparison to their father's potential legacy. At one point Connor just casually asked to borrow 100 mil.

This is a good post and does soften my position on Roman a bit, even if he remains quite annoying.

Kieran Culkin(Roman) hosting SNL tomorrow.

Spot on.......great post

Anyone watch it? Curious if he's actually funny.

Thought it was a very good episode, particularly the walk back with Kendall and Logan.

There is a lot going on right now, the inevitable shareholder meeting episode should be great.

Decent episode, he kinda did a lot of the same thing. Not much character range.

Bigger news is that SNL's new go to guy for impressions, James Austin Johnson, finally did his Trump, which is next level amazing and puts Alec Baldwin's to shame (not that hard to do, obv). His IG vids of Trump are what put him on the map actually. They're fantastic. Or maybe I should say TREMENDOUS.

Tonight's ep was best of the season so far imo.

Lol the lunch with Adrien Brody. The catering brings a feast to the middle of nowhere (and it's probably freezing there considering how they're all clothed), Brody eats about one clam, others don't even touch the food, and after 5 minutes it's like "ok, gotta go back".

his purpose on the show is comic relief. and being heartless like with baseball game and the tattoo guy and the fly guys at Toms party.

his purpose in the company is not about talent. its about sucking up to Logan and being an asset to him. thats why they keep him around. didnt Shakespeare write something about talentless sycophantic children kissing up to their dad?

great episode, adrien brody killed it

def some of the best on the show. I think it was episode 1 where he sits down at the table with the execs and tries to act like hes running the show and he spews a bunch of **** and then says something so I just wanted to sit down with you people and just say "Yooo".

so I dont think hes trying to impress people with that talk. I think he actually thinks that way bc of his environment and his goals. like he just grew up with those ideas in his head.

weird
i thought that one sucked, easily the worst of the season


so much wasted screen time

I thought it was a good ep but there's just no reason for the endless trek on the beach. Felt like a plot device to show Logan acting old and frail. Why not just talk on Adrian Brody's patio, or in his living room?

Best part was Tom's scene with Gregg. Although I don't get Gregg staying with Royco. Isn't he the one who gave Kendall the documents in the first place? Wouldn't people at Royco know this or at least suspect it? How the hell is he not 100% on team Kendall at this point?

yeah i felt like i missed something, greg was mulling his options, him and tom spazzed out, then next thing shiv is congratulating tom for getting greg to switch

I thought that the whole point of the walk was so Brody could listen to both of them talk after planting a bug at lunch. Decent episode. Cousin Greg hasn't done very much this season. So far this season is a B-.

I'm pretty sure Greg was just saying that to get Tom to go away. And Tom wants to save his ass from going to jail so he will say anything.

Yeah, I feel like they could have done the Kendall/Logan meeting differently. It was far too tame considering Logan was threatening to kill him two episodes ago.