I can’t tell you anything specific about tonight’s episode of “Succession.” But I can say you must not miss it if you’re a fan. It’s a comic masterpiece with a gut punch at the end.
Written by Tony Roche Susan Soon He Stanton, the show picks up from last week as Logan Roy — our King Lear, or King Fear, so to speak, is trying to sell Waystar Royco to Alexander Skarsgard. There are a number of obstacles including three of his four children, the redoubtable Shiv, Kendall, and Roman.
And then there’s eldest son, Connor, moving closer to marriage to girlfriend, Willa, although that’s proving as tricky as the company sale.
Waystar Royco owns conservative news channel ATN. So Brian Cox’s Logan decides to make a visit to the newsroom floor. I’ll give you one bite from the script. As Logan is wearing sunglasses, he’s described “as if Santa Claus were a hit man.” What follows is even better, except to say you’ve never seen boxes of Hammermill copy paper used this way.
We know the acting is great, it’s also spot on. I do think we see the kids’ heartbreak more poignantly than ever. I will put on the closed captions tonight because I want to read Kieran Culkin’s snide asides and mutterings which as are sometimes overlapped, Robert Altman style, under the next conversation.
The writing, however, especially tonight, I thought was especially keen. It’s a very funny episode– I laughed out loud a lot. I thought for a minute, this show could Best Comedy. But then the landing comes, and you remember fast: This Is a Drama.
PS Enjoyed seeing the entry and Grill Room of the old Four Seasons restaurant, and Maru Karaoke Bar.
