HBO’s Succession season 4, episode 7 recap: Tailgate Party

Episode 407 of Succession begins with Tom Wambsgans and Siobhan “Shiv” Roy seemingly back together, in the aftermath of Gerri Kellman being fired and a big product launch speech by Kendall “Ken” Roy. It is now election eve and there is a big corporate party at Shiv’s house.

As a weird sort of gift/omen of what shall unfold, Tom gifts Shiv a weird scorpion, likening it to a joke. Of course, this may be a strong indication of how he really views her, as having a scorpion-like sting.

There are also some political reasons for them to dislike each other. At her heart, Shiv is further to the left of Tom and the ATN News network, and she hates Mark Ravenhead (Zack Robidas) and Waystar RoyCo’s chosen Presidential contender, Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk).

Similarly, Ken is chastised by his ex-wife, Rava (Natalie Gold), because their daughter, Sophie (Swayam Bhatia) experienced a racist moment that she attributes to ATN’s coverage. Meanwhile, Greg Hirsch and Tom speak about restructuring ATN, which is a nice way of saying “mass firings.”

Additionally, GoJo CEO Lukas Matsson eventually shows up at Tom and Shiv’s place, as well as Nate Sofrelli (Ashley Zukerman), a political strategist and former lover of Shiv’s.

Succession season 4, episode 7 recap: “Nuke the Luke”

As one might expect on Succession, this party is not just a party. Roman Roy asks his brother, Connor to drop out of the Presidential race to benefit Mencken. He offers him an ambassadorship to Mogadishu if Mencken wins.

Meanwhile, the co-CEO brothers of Waystar, Ken and Roman, strategize what Ken calls “Operation Nuke the Luke”, to get out of their burgeoning business deal. Though the deal was a final project launched by Logan Roy, they do not trust his judgment.

In fact, Lukas even shows up at the party during a moment of silence for Logan, further suggesting Lukas is an awkward, alien presence. However, Shiv wants to make a top-notch deal with Lukas, if she assists in making the deal go smoothly.

That being said, Lukas is not without scandals, as GoJo Communications Director Ebba (Eili Harboe) is at the party as well. Lukas has been harassing her by sending her frozen bags of his own blood.

Ken asks Greg to tail Matsson. Greg does so, demonstrating his commitment to dirty work for the family business.

Succession season 4, episode 7 recap: Overinflated egos, overinflated business numbers

Ken learns about Lukas’s harassment of Ebba, and Lukas has enough gall to joke about firing Ebba at the party. As if to encourage Lukas, Greg brags about his own recent firings.

However, that’s not the only scandal the Roys discover. They learn that Lukas has drastically exaggerated subscription numbers reported in India, which could ruin the deal with the board of Waystar.

Ken tells Lukas his numbers are “literally unbelievable.” Later, Ken tells Frank Vernon he wants to go “reverse Viking” and have Waystar acquire GoJo instead of the original plan.

Meanwhile, Roman wants to walk back his firing of Gerri. However, she reveals she has negotiated a decent severance package and threatens to sue Roman and publicly reveal the “d*** pics” she sent him, if he ever undermines her “narrative.”

Succession season 4, episode 7 recap: Tom and Shiv’s on-again-off-again is off again

Toward the end of the episode, Tom is tired, plus he’s sick of all the gossip that he’ll get fired, and how (the secretly pregnant) Shiv, has been undermining him at the party. As a result, the couple argue about practically everything they have gone through.

Ultimately, Shiv says she does not like Tom, and it appears that (perhaps), they will finally call it quits. Then again, Succession has done this before, and season 4 really keeps viewers guessing about whether these two could possibly break up, or possibly stick together.

Succession season 4, episode 7 recap: Connor

Finally, this episode does pay some attention to Connor’s Presidential race, and how he feels insulted by Roman. He does not want to drop out of the Presidential race.

His wife Willa hates Mencken and doesn’t like the sound of living in Oman under Connor’s hypothetical ambassadorship. Still, even though this episode portrays Roman in a mostly negative light, it does seem he will be handling their father’s funeral arrangements.

So, he does take some responsibilities seriously. The greater question is: Is Logan’s legacy at all worthwhile?

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