'Succession' Season 2 Episode 9 shows the Roy siblings come together despite their big differences when it matters most
One of the best things about 'Succession' is the sharp writing combined with spectacular performances by the lead cast and this is no melodrama. The excitement and the thrill come solely from the setup -- of different character arcs --and how it all ties together to form brilliant subplots.
The penultimate episode of season 2 of the show is a great example of 'Succession' coming together for a memorable and intense episode. At the beginning of the season, one of the main themes of the episodes was to prey on Kendall aka Ken, Roman and Shiv Roy's doubts. Who will be next in line? Are they good enough to be named the next in line?
These were the two main questions in their minds. Ken had the extra responsibility of bearing the consequences of his decision to go against his father in season 1. He also had to deal with the guilt that came from leaving a man to die, when he and his driver had met with an accident in the finale of season 1 of the show.
Over the second season, we saw all of these questions and these doubts repeatedly surface over different episodes and none of them were really tied up very well. To be honest, however, it is this incomplete real-life treatment that adds value to the show.
Be it Ken's guilt about the accident, Roman's frustration with his father who is almost abusive, Shiv's anger at being fooled by her father yet again; all of these toxic incidents have not driven them apart. In fact, in the face of threat, they have banded together and episode 9 of 'Succession' Season 2 is all about the Roy family coming together despite their big differences.
When Rhea, the new CEO who is shocked to find herself in the middle of a media sh**storm tells Shiv she doesn't need to go to all the trouble, Shiv responds that she, of course, has to. See, if she doesn't succeed in convincing a victim of sexual abuse to back off from publicly giving testimony against Waystar employees, it spells the end for her family and their company.
So, despite what she may feel is right or wrong, Shiv soldiers on the responsibility of telling a woman who went through sexual abuse to back off. It is disturbing and borders on offensive, and then we see Shiv giving the victim the truth on a platter.
She doesn't convince the victim to back off and lay low but to back off publicly and work with Shiv behind-the-scenes to punish every man that was responsible for women employees of the Waystar Cruiselines being treated unfairly. She asks the victim to work with her in making Waystar a clean business.
She wants to stop the victim from facing the hatred from one half of the population in hopes of being supported by the other half, especially publicly as that might lead to her family's name being dragged through the mud as well.
Then, we have Ken, who has honestly stepped up time and again to help his father avert controversies of all kinds. When things go out of hand after one of the Waystar employees turns into a whistleblower, an enquiry is called by Congress.
The Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation aims to bring to light the "Corporate abuses in the Waystar Cruiseline". So we see Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) and Gerri being questioned first, and for some reason, Tom is attacked from all sides including by Shiv's former employer, Senator Gil Eavis (Eric Bogosian), who brings up all of Tom's dirty past to attack him.
Then comes Logan and Ken's turn. Ken rises to occasion with ease and with every word he speaks, he undermines Senator Eavis' position and after Shiv's talk, the victim also refuses to come forth for a formal testimony. The Roys have averted the crisis, but only for now.
Roman was entrusted by his father Logan with probably the biggest responsibility in his life. He is asked by Logan to procure investment from Central Asia, a thread Roman has been working on over a few episodes.
To say Roman is shocked would be an understatement. Roman also struggles with self-doubt at this point, but after words of encouragement from his father, he flies out, finds a connection for the investment that will allow Waystar to become private before the stockholders meet in 20 days.
As he follows the trail of money, he reaches Turkey and in the middle of a business pitch finds himself and his associates being led away for a business conference at gunpoint. He wheels and deals even then, and turns out Waystar may finally have a backer after all, but do they really know who they are getting in bed with?
And finally, we also have the answer to the question that was posed last week. Did Shiv's plan to flood Rhea with the truth about Waystar work? It did splendidly indeed. Not only did Rhea leave her position, she also burned the bridges she had built.
So, what are we going to be seeing in the finale? It would be satisfying to see who ends up on the throne. Not to forget, Logan is definitely planning on sacrificing someone from his close circle, but who is it going to be?
We cannot wait for the finale of 'Succession' Season 2, which airs October 12 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.