HBO’s Succession season 4, episode 2 recap: Rehearsal

In episode 402 of HBO’s Succession, the Roy children have little time to celebrate in the wake of their successful $10 billion bid to purchase PGM. Siobhan “Shiv” Roy is under additional strain, due to her failed sham marriage to Tom Wambsgans finally ending.

That being said, the Roys try to tough it out, strategizing the news content of their newly acquired company. Meanwhile, back at Waystar RoyCo, Logan Roy is developing strategies of his own.

Greg Hirsch describes him as “terrifyingly moseying,” describing the people working at the ATN News channel as being “like Jaws if everyone in Jaws worked for Jaws.” On that note, Logan’s assistant and lover, Kerry Castellabate, is auditioning to be an anchor on the network but is not exactly ready for primetime, as she has awkward on-air vibes.

However, Logan still has charisma, giving a hyper-charged pep speech to the election coverage crew at the news network. So, to an extent, this episode explores the contrasts between someone like Logan and those who lack pizzazz.

After all, Logan does run a right-wing propaganda network masquerading as news, so he knows a thing or two about taking command with style, zeal, and a no-nonsense attitude.

Succession Season 4 Episode 2 recap – Family dynamics and acquisition woes

Next, the Roy siblings meet with Stewy Hosseini (Arian Moayed), who is attempting to stall the GoJo acquisition of Waystar to get a price increase on the deal. This all happens as Connor Roy fears that his marriage to Willa seems to be dead on arrival, as she has fled the wedding rehearsal.

Ostensibly to console their brother, the rest of the Roy siblings agree to meet at a “real bar” and loosen up somewhat, with Connor, the aspiring Presidential candidate, wanting to experience karaoke for the first time. However, business is never far away, as Kendall Roy gradually comes to agree that they should challenge the GoJo acquisition.

This decision arises after talking to GoJo’s owner, Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård), who indicates he’ll back out of the deal if pushed more about the price. Connor sings a rather depressing karaoke version of a Leonard Cohen song, after adding in conversation that not needing love is his superpower.

Things get more complex after it’s learned that Roman Roy texted Logan without his sibling’s permission, which he wasn’t supposed to do until Logan apologized. Logan has learned their whereabouts and shows up, seemingly under the advisement of Kerry.

Upon meeting them in the bar, Logan surprisingly actually apologizes to his kids, but it’s implied that it may be more about gaining leverage over them, rather than genuine sentiments.

Succession Season 4 Episode 2 recap – Roman the traitor?

Roman is branded as a traitor for communicating with Logan, even if only to wish the man a Happy Birthday. So, when Roman shows up to visit Logan later, viewers might not be so surprised.

Roman has been the most susceptible to Logan’s manipulations because Logan had more successfully made him subservient than the others. Logan tells Roman he needs him at ATN, which may be an offer he can’t refuse.

It would, of course, be sheer nepotism, but that’s really what Succession is all about, right?

Succession Season 4 Episode 2 recap – Greg vs. Kerry

This episode of Succession has other interesting developments, such as Greg needing to tell Kerry she’s not good at delivering the news. Among other things, he criticizes how her arms look (something the actress noted would make someone uncomfortable).

She counters by seeing through his claim that it was determined by a focus group, and there’s every sense that she now has Greg in her proverbial crosshairs. Succession has seen plenty of interesting little side quests with big eventual consequences, and this seems to be no exception.

What are your thoughts on this episode of Succession? Let us know in the comments!

Succession season 4 episode 3 airs on April 9 on HBO.