Succession [spoilers]

[RumHam]

55 minutes ago, 1066 Larry said:

Did Greg rat out the siblings to Logan? 

No, it was Tom. Hence Shiv's expression at the very end.

Great finale. I'm glad Kendal made it! and Roman was sort of decent at the end. I guess Logan really wanted to give him a chance to take his side, since he already knew about their plans when he made the offer. 

[Winterfell is Burning]

Seems pretty clear to me it was Tom who ratted them out, but he might have used Greg to deliver the news. And yeah, this episode didn't go like I expected, but was pretty great. If the deal goes through, then the days of them wrestling for control are really over- everyone lost.

[Infidel]

"If Roman marries her, he'll invade France."

This fucking show....

[Cashless Society]

I wasn't completely satisfied with the season finale. The majority of this season was spent turning the toxicity of the Roy siblings in on themselves and seeing their relationship burn to ashes, but then in the final episode they are able to quickly reconcile, put their differences aside just to block the takeover. The events of this episode could have easily been the storyline for the first half of season 4, but it just felt cheap here.

I wonder how much the purchase of Warner Bros by AT&T was used as an inspiration for the GoJo/Wayster storyline. Also, if anybody here is in the finance industry, could you please explain how GoJo got to be so large in a relatively short period of time? It went from a company that could be bought out by Waystar Royco (which, according to the Aaronson episode, is valued at about 80 billion) to a few weeks later being in a position to merge and then within a day being in a position to buy out Waystar; is this even possible?

I liked the Greg and Tom part though. It really linked a few threads together. Tom hates it whenever Greg is happier than him. Greg has used the dating ladder for a guilt-free switch-up. Tom does something similar trading the relationship with Shiv for Logan, although it may not be guilt-free. This prevents Logan from getting fucked while Kendall gets fucked yet again. But how is it that Logan never ever ends up being fucked? Well, it's as Shiv said when Tom suggested he be the sacrifice; "Everyone is doing somersaults for him" when they really don't have to. I wonder if Tom siding with Logan was really the best idea.

[Cashless Society]

On 12/11/2021 at 9:09 PM, RumHam said:

I dunno I took it as a looks thing and they're just not going to cast an actual unattractive person because they usually don't like to do that.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HollywoodHomely

I'm thinking about it, what if they're doing the opposite? Getting a slightly above average looking actress to play a role where the character is more beautiful?

[Nictarion]

The finales are always so good for this show. I had a bit of a jaw drop moment when Logan patted Tom on the shoulder on his way out. 

And Roman was totally right to be worried about their mom’s marriage. 

[Morpheus]

Tom ended up living up to his Nero and Sporus dreams with Greg after all.

[Ran]

8 hours ago, 1066 Larry said:

That entire scene out in the parking lot was amazing.

Agreed. Really fantastic, especially from Jeremy Strong. Knocked it out of the park, regardless of how moody he must have been behind the scenes trying to keep in character.

 

8 hours ago, 1066 Larry said:

And congrats to Connor and Willa!

I have a feeling she was already regretting her "Fuck it" acceptance when she was getting emotional at the wedding. 

 

7 hours ago, RumHam said:

No, it was Tom. Hence Shiv's expression at the very end.

Yep. She fobbed him off once too often. "Something high, we'll figure it out later, be a good boy and here are your marching orders for ATN" was such a mistake, though perhaps the camel's back was broken long ago. I keep thinking back to Kendall's attempt to get Tom on his side, and Tom remarking that he's never seen Logan "get fucked" even once. 

Brilliantly done, the whole thing. Just watch how he ends the talk with Greg -- just marching away towards the party. To find Caroline, maybe, and suggest she ring up Logan with an opportunity to get his guaranteed help for Peter? To place a call to Logan? He knew what he was doing at that point.

(Speaking of Shiv, I don't care what some might say, the jumpsuit she had on in the first part of the show was tailored to a T and looked fantastic on her.)

@Infidel

That whole conversation made me laugh.

[Mark Antony]

What an awesome finale. All the kids knocked it out of the park. Jeremy Stong could do whatever weird process he wants if those are the results he gets  immense.

[kairparavel]

I suppose there's like a 0.1% chance it was Greg?

 

[Mark Antony]

So many Godfather vibes last night. May be the best ep they have done

[Ran]

17 minutes ago, kairparavel said:

I suppose there's like a 0.1% chance it was Greg?

Surely 0%, he had no idea what the siblings were up to whereas Shiv told Tom the supermajority plan.

@Mark Antony

Only thing that would have made it more The Godfather would be if Logan proceeded to lead Tom away to chat and his henchman slowly closed the door on the siblings.

@Cashless Society

I'm willing to say that the combination of rumors of a "historic fine" damaging Waystar Royco and hype at the idea that GoJo could end up pivoting to buy Waystar Royco has led to a bubble for GoJo that may not represent "correct market value" now but is motivated by very strong expectations of its future. The speed of things is no doubt a bit accelerated for drama, though.

[RumHam]

It's odd that neither Connor nor Willa seems to realize that getting married won't fix the "this reporter has been asking about your past" problem. I liked Conner repeatedly pointing out that Kendall wasn't the first born. 

I also meant to mention that Logan's imitation of shiv at their final confrontation was really brutal. It made me a little uncomfortable watching a man mock his adult daughter like that. I'd love to see them as flat out adversaries next season. She could go back in politics and try to thwart the nazi guy. 

[Zorral]

Finale “All the Bells Say”  --  From John Berryman’s “Dream Song 29.” -- “All the bells say: too late.” But I thought also a play on John Donne’s “Ask not for whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee”, from which Hemingway’s novel of failed resistance to Franco’s fascists, For Whom the Bell Tolls, took it’s title.  Also thinking all these Roy fam war dead get theirs in Italy, where the church and cathedral bells continually toll, for deaths even now, and where Hemingway spent so much time in WWI.

It was brilliant indeed then, putting a Monopoly game at the top of the episode, at which, one way and another, all the presumptive heir pool were present, including Willa, Greg, Tom and even Kendall, who stumbles back to wedding central from a night in the hospital after nearly drowning in his swimming pool in an alcohol induced pass-out. So was Logan and their mother Caroline, Logan’s ex-wife, fucking them all over, in favor of themselves – not to mention it is suspected Logan’s trying for yet another new version of kids with his 50 years younger assistant, Kerry. Gerrie’s still standing tall, which is hilarious because we knew she'd weather this storm too. Shiv, life-shivved by her dad, and her mother – and her husband! -- in the same hours of the same day.  Now that is hilarious. Just imagine what that marriage is going to be like now.  Very Funny. 

Logan’s deal, giving Waystar to GoJo means they’re all out. Their mom exchanged her divorce settlement of controlling shares re the kids for something for her new husband – that introduction list of Members of Parliament he wanted? A Big Position in the Biz?  And Tom sold-out Shiv, informing Logan the kids were coming for him. Tom’s got a position now too, and says he’s taking Greg with him. 

Quite something there, ‘ole Massa Logan, that winning is the only thing that matters, even down to screwing your own kids, leaving them with nothing. But then the kids were trying to screw Logan too, so all’s fair in love and war. But evidently Marcia’s kid, Amir, is taken care off in a bargain Logan made with her, even prior to the wedding, and then sweetened for some reason as the GoJo deal's wheels start turning there in Italy. Which is very funny. 

In terms of the structure of this finale – it was admirable making another family a wedding (not to mention Connor’s proposal of marriages to Willa, and her acceptance) – while Connor was the MIA sibling when the GoJo pennies dropped) as the backdrop to Logan screwing them all, when at the first wedding of the series, Kendall was strategizing taking out Logan – and then killed one of the wait staff in an effort to get more drugs – and then confesses that event to his siblings at their mother’s latest wedding. What he didn’t do was tell the sibs Logan covered it up. Personally covered it up.  But reporters have gotten a whiff of this event … so season 4 here we come. Kendall – and the show – aren’t finished yet with that young guy’s death.
 

[RumHam]

So I was thinking and assuming the deal goes through* Logan keeps ATN, right? That would be the asset he holds on to? Sorta like Fox News in the Fox/Disey deal. GoJo wants movies and shows to stream, not so much "news." Logan probably still wants the political influence.

*I wonder can Stewy and the Sandies stop it if they object? Logan said Mattson would bring in his own board so presumably they'd lose their seats.

[Winterfell is Burning]

The Sandies might be a road block, since their project doesn't seem just to cash in on Waystar, but use it's political influence. Sandy is pretty much a mercenary, though.

[Relic]

37 minutes ago, RumHam said:

So I was thinking and assuming the deal goes through* Logan keeps ATN, right?

Presuming the deal goes through, yes. I'm not convinced it's done and done yet. 

[Ran]

14 minutes ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

The Sandies might be a road block, since their project doesn't seem just to cash in on Waystar, but use it's political influence. Sandy is pretty much a mercenary, though.

Yeah, that's the wrinkle in Logan's plans. He has to sell them, and Adrian Brody's character, on it while the kids are clearly going to be trying to sway them the other way.

[RumHam]

15 minutes ago, Relic said:

Presuming the deal goes through, yes. I'm not convinced it's done and done yet. 

Yeah if it was done they would have said. I'm guess much of next season will be about the deal.

Given Logan's propensity for pissing in strange places Roman may yet trick him into peeing on the GoJo app in front of Mattson, souring the whole thing. 

[Zorral]

    Also gotta keep the drama going 'round.  This is another version of the Wheel of Time -- everything that went around, goes around, comes around.    Ooops, not right.  In Wheel of Time it's everybody, not everything, that keeps going 'round and 'round.