'Succession' season 2 premiere sees Logan Roy gear up to fight the acquisition as he names Kendall co-chief operating officer
This article contains spoilers for 'Succession' season 2 episode 1 'The Summer Palace'
The second season of 'Succession' premiered August 11 and the first episode titled 'The Summer Palace' takes us back into the world of Waystar Royco and how Logan Roy's (Brian Cox) four children -- Connor (Alan Ruck), Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) -- try to outwit each other and their father in an attempt to get the biggest piece of the Waystar pie when Logan does kick the bucket.
We last saw Shiv, Connor and Roman have a showdown with Kendall about the takeover with the help of his friend and Waystar board member Stewy Hosseini (Arian Moayed) and Waystar's rival big shot Sandy Furness (Larry Pine). They are unhappy about what Kendall did and Logan in fact tells his son he is good for nothing if Waystar was acquired and went out of the family.
Logan and Kendall did finally come to terms once Kendall gets himself caught up in an accident which leads to the death of the driver as Logan comes to his rescue in exchange for calling off the acquisition. Shiv also brokers a deal between her father and the liberal senator who is a presidential hopeful - Gil Eavis - as she works for him as a political analyst.
Season 2 begins with Kendall, who is pulled out from a wellness retreat to publicly announce the withdrawal of the acquisition he had planned out. He is asked to face some tough questions like why he would team up with one of his father's most bitter rival and why he chose to change plans so suddenly.
Kendall is not confident, and it is clearly visible. In Shiv words, "he looks like a sweaty corpse". He is, in essence, telling the whole world his plan was not a good deal in comparison to his father's. Kendall is visibly shaken but it doesn't seem to be about being asked to appear on television. He seems more worried about opening up to his father about intimate details of how he planned to take over Waystar with his latest coup.
This results in Kendall being put under a lot of pressure. Even as he claims he will be cleaning up his act, he is in need of drugs to help him numb his nerves. He is desperate enough to try park cocaine that cousin Greg got for him.
So, what's Logan's move now? He will have to name a successor, but who? That, Logan claims, is complicated. So, what is the other option? His advisor suggests he give in and sell because technology is going to take over. His advisor tells him it is going to be hard for a media conglomerate like Waystar to survive.
Shiv thinks the heir apparent could now be Roman considering she is with the senator and Connor has set his sights on the White House. Kendall, she feels will be a carcass figuratively speaking, once Logan is done using him to put the kibosh on the acquisition plan. But of course, no one really knows what Logan is thinking.
He calls his family to have an open debate about if they should stick or sell, but no one is ready to give their honest opinion. So, he gets them to give their opinions in private and each of them give him a way to keep Waystar afloat and within the family.
Logan tells Shiv, Kendall will have to be named the heir of the company for now, but she will have to be the Chief Executive Officer soon. If not, Logan would rather sell out and cash in his legacy for 10 billion dollars.
Of course, the two of them play hardball and in the end, she accepts. But is this backroom deal real? Seeing as Logan would never consider Connor or Roman to be his successor, Shiv heading Waystar is a possibility.
After the private meetings with his children, Logan announces to his family that he wants Waystar to be the one legacy media organization that is left standing while all others go down. He names Kendall and Roman as Co-Chief Operating Officers, which of course pisses Roman off because Kendall is the son who went behind everyone's back to be a part of an acquisition to sell Waystar out.
How will the Roys get ready for a bloody acquisition battle that's coming up? We will have to wait and watch. 'Succession' season 2 episode 2 will air on HBO August 18.