Season 4, Episode 7: “Tailgate Party”
The first episode of this “Succession” season ended with Tom and Shiv lying in bed together, bitterly angry but still holding hands. In the weeks since, the pair have been flirting more openly (and bizarrely), trying to figure out if maybe they’re both broken just enough for their jagged pieces to fit back together.
Their odd romantic renaissance culminates with this week’s episode in which they sex incessantly – and confusingly gives Tom Shiv a glass-mantled scorpion, in a nod to the simile “the scorpion and the frog.” (Tom embarrassedly explains, “I love you, but you kill me and I kill you?”)
The pair intend to cement their comeback by hosting an election night “tailgate party” together at their swanky triplex apartment, with a guest list drawn from a who’s who of media, politics and business. They inherited this shindig from Logan, who used it regularly to reconcile with his ideological enemies, allowing them all to meet as friends for at least a night and pretend they didn’t despise each other. It’s like a cocktail party version of Tom and Shiv’s marriage.
As always on “Succession,” the Roys come to this party with discreet intentions. Shiv intends to continue her secret role as a Matsson Whisperer. Unbeknownst to Kendall and Roman, their father had already invited Matsson to the party; but the Swede declined, bored of the backslapping and chest bloating of old media. Only after Shiv warns him that the Roy boys are making moves does Matsson mobilize. His proud GoJo band storms into the triplex as Kendall initiates a minute’s silence for Logan.
Shiv pretends to be appalled by the rudeness, but after Kendall insists he wants to avoid any direct confrontation with Matsson – “There’s too much peanut butter between us,” he says – she accepts the assignment, at Matsson’s side to stay and introduce him to the power broker, while also subtly promoting GoJo’s plans for Waystar and ATN. She’s making sure everyone knows she’ll be involved — or, as she puts it of Matsson, “play a very, very, very important role” in whatever comes next.
Roman, meanwhile, is still kicking himself after skipping the Living+ presentation that made Kendall the new Waystar star, so he’s making his own big move. The polls show a close race for the presidency, with Republican nominee Jeryd Mencken narrowly falling behind in some key states. If Roman can persuade Connor to drop out and support Mencken, that might be enough to make a difference, which would mean the new President of the United States would owe all the favors to Roman Roy.
Overall, this is a very intense episode, but almost everything to do with Roman courting Connor is hilarious. After his older brother scoffs at the idea that he would concede for the “good of the republic,” Roman becomes a broker for ambassadorial offers. Somalia? “A bit of a car bomb.” Climbing to a major European post via Slovenia or Slovakia? “On Slos it’s a no.”
They eventually settle on Oman (“rich man’s Yemen!”), but Willa is concerned when she looks up the country and reads, “The Sultan’s word has the force of law.” Nor is she swayed by the prospect to help Mencken, telling her husband, “All my family and friends hate Mencken.” (Connor just smiles widely and says, “Diplomatic plates!”)
The subplot takes a lopsided turn when Willa persuades Connor to reject Oman and stay in the running, which angers Roman so much that he refers to Willa as Connor’s “wife” (in quotes) and calls his brother “a joke”. This comes immediately after Roman has a devastating encounter with Gerri, who tells him about her plan to extort “staggering amounts” from Waystar thanks to his self-titled arrogance, sloppiness, and sexual harassment.
Then, as the ultimate slap in the face of her former protégé, she adds: “I could have taken you there.” It’s no wonder Roman is angry when he confronts Connor – although that’s no excuse for how mean he is.
Kendall also makes a few missteps while coasting on his Living+ Triumph. He invites Shiv’s ex-lover and top Democratic official Nate Sofrelli (Ashley Zukerman) to the party to see if the Dems might consider scrapping the GoJo deal from a regulatory standpoint. In exchange, Kendall promises that ATN will give the potential new government “a better ride in the first 100 days.”
Nate is uncomfortable with all this courtesy, as well as Kendall’s insistence that old acquaintances don’t have to worry about ethics and legal formalities. (“You’re not Logan,” Nate warns him. “And that’s a good thing.”)
However, Kendall recovers when he learns useful information about Matsson. Ebba (Eili Harboe), GoJo’s long-suffering communications director, misses the fact that the company’s metrics are falsely doubling their subscriber count in India. (“New money,” Kendall later tells Shiv, shaking his head. “You gotta hold those bills up to the light.”)
Kendall comes to Frank and suggests a new tactic: “Reverse Viking”. Acquire GoJo and make Waystar bigger than anything Logan has ever achieved. What if Roman and Shiv object? Kendall shrugs. “I love her, but I’m not in love with her, you know,” he says. “One head, one crown.”
The whole premise of Logan’s tailgate parties is that the attendees are all putting on a show to some degree. Crazy lefty? neofascist? These are only performative personas. At this party, everyone can take off these masks and put on another one. But while it’s all well and good to play these types of games in public, emotionally sane people don’t continue to play them in private. Damaged by their manipulative and reserved father, the Roys keep failing to grasp this. This allows Kendall and Shiv to pretend to have each other’s backs while secretly plotting to stab each other.
Which brings us back to poor Tom, who as the night progresses realizes that Shiv will not protect him from the people who want to change ATN. Despite standing right next to Tom, she calls him “Mr. Mild” and “a one pepper menu item”. While associating with Matsson, she never shies away from hints that her husband has no future in the company. That rumble eventually reaches Tom, who is already exhausted by questions from the party’s more liberal guests about whether ATN encourages a climate of political violence.
Everything ends in tears. On last week’s episode, Shiv and Tom enjoyed a truth-telling moment, which they both found refreshing – and even a little kinky. This week, however, in a private moment on their balcony, they throw honesty bombs at each other until they do some real damage.
In a nightmarish scene, they keep saying the worst things about each other that they can imagine. Shiv calls Tom a “hiccup”. He tells her she’s “maybe not a good person to have kids.” She accuses him of separating her from her father during his final months. He replies, “It’s not my fault you didn’t get his approval.” The argument is brutal and could mark a turning point for the show as it nears its finale.
Because unlike the timid togetherness that ended the season 4 premiere, this episode ends with Tom and Shiv in separate rooms, in deep pain. It’s a powerful visual metaphor for where the “Succession” story is right now. The tailgate party has dissolved. All have returned to their respective sidelines. Welcome to Rivalry Week.
due diligence
Lest you feel too much sympathy for Tom, remember that in this episode he makes goofy faces while Greg fires dozens of ATN employees at once over a group video call. Later at the party, Greg tries to impress the GoJo crew with his willingness to be heartless. (“You gotta do what you gotta do, right?” he says to Matsson, who replies, “But you do?”)
Greg is “Team KenRo,” although Kendall – like Tom – mainly expects him to perform morally objectionable tasks, such as finding drugs that might trick Matsson into doing something embarrassing. Greg agrees to do his best, although he has warned Kendall that Matsson “has in the past expressed a dislike for my particular taste of me.”
The cases of awful “biodynamic” German wine that Tom was stuck with last season return at the tailgate party, where he tries to fob them off the guests. (Tom pressuring Nate to drink it: “It’s the kind of wine that separates the connoisseurs from the weekend Malbec jerks.”)
When will Logan’s funeral be? The series finale maybe? The last few episodes have set us up for a really humdinger ceremony, which is currently going to be either Marcia’s “three-day mourning-a-thon” or Connor’s “straight 90.” One thing we do know: Roman will deliver the eulogy in what may be his last chance to convince the nation’s trendsetters that, contrary to what his father thinks, he’s a serious person.
Connor about the time with Logan’s body: “The strange thing is how often he’s not around. I find that comforting.”