'Succession' Season 4, episode 7: The 7 instances I wished to scream, cry, and throw up

With the presidential election looming, the Roys are buckling down and determining their subsequent energy performs. And what higher means to try this than host a celebration on election eve with a room filled with the nation’s high canine? So goes the set-up for episode 7. However it is a Roy occasion, and for the primary time ever, Logan (Brian Cox) is not there to maintain his youngsters in test. Naturally, issues go awry. In the event you ever thought Succession‘s writing group could not give you extra methods to have their characters completely roast one another, assume once more. 

Episode 7 is a scorching dish of drama. Incorporating the whole lot from full-blown fights to knockout one-liners, the episode’s emotional vary is unbelievable. You will expertise second-hand embarrassment, dry heaving, and downright disbelief that the gang truly crossed the strains they did.

With out additional ado, listed below are all of the instances I wished to scream, cry, and throw up whereas watching this week’s Succession. I’ve by no means wished a celebration to finish extra in my life. 

1. When Matsson walks in throughout Logan’s second of silence 

This could have been our cue that the occasion can be a catastrophe. 

Kendall (Jeremy Robust) decides to kick the night off with a toast celebrating the upcoming election whereas honoring his late father. He asks the group for a second of silence to recollect Logan, however right here comes Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) in a golden prepare wreck of a jacket, barging in along with his group and slicing by means of the silence along with his shock presence. 

The complete-body cringe of this second is multifaceted. On the one hand, nobody thought Matsson would truly come to the occasion (he RSVP’d “sure” solely minutes earlier than). However, it completely displays all of the methods Matsson has disrespected the Roys and the way he continues to take a metaphorical dump on the complete household any probability he can.

It is poetry. It is dramatic timing at its best possible. Within the sensible phrases of Jeremy Robust, “I believed it made sense dramaturgically.” A ten/10 scream-worthy, please-get-me-out-of-this-room second. 

2. At any time when Matsson speaks to Ebba  

I would like Matsson to be at the least 10 ft away from Ebba (Eili Harboe) at all instances. Not solely has this man endlessly harassed her, together with sending her precise bricks of his blood, however he has the audacity to publicly make enjoyable of her. From his complete shtick of getting a comms government who would not like mingling with individuals at events to him and Oskar (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) fake-firing her for not laughing at their jokes in entrance of everybody, I used to be riddled with repulsion and wished to throw up repeatedly. Matsson’s by no means beating the red-flag allegations.

3. When Kendall and Roman cosplay because the vultures from Snow White 

Do you keep in mind the 2 creepy vultures circling round Snow White within the 1937 movie? If not, don’t fret, as a result of Kendall and Roman (Kieran Culkin) are right here to jog your reminiscence. Just like the hungry, flesh-eating beasts within the animated flick, Kendall and Roman go full scavenger mode when approaching Ebba on a balcony to get filth on Matsson. The 2 burst from the shadows and nook her, desperate to validate the rumors that Matsson’s been harassing her and determined to seek out out any new tea they will use towards him. 

Whereas Kendall and Roman have all the time been snug exploiting individuals’s trauma (or scandalous secrets and techniques) for his or her profit, it was jarring to observe them flip Ebba into their token in actual time. The added realization of simply how a lot they’d juice what occurred to her makes the complete interplay even cringier. “Fuck the patriarchy,” as Kendall Roy as soon as famously, very questionably, declared.

4. When Gerri ends Roman with a single line

“Initially, I would like cash: eye-watering sums, lots of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.” Sure, Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron).

“I’ve retained private fame administration; they are going to be on the road when Karolina does her background briefings off a set of my bullet factors.” OK, Gerri.

“And if I ever get a whiff of something undermining my narrative, anytime within the subsequent 5 years, I’ll sue, and I’ll go public with the various, many, many photos of your genitalia that I’ve in my possession.” YES, Gerri!! 

Roman tries to make amends with Gerri after firing her in episode 6, however she is having none of it. Even when it was a “pretend” layoff, it was nonetheless extremely insulting, significantly to somebody like Gerri, who’s achieved her best possible for the corporate. Gerri’s menace to Roman is astounding, however she provides much more salt to the wound by ending it with “I may have gotten you there, however nope,” referring to Roman’s secret dream of being CEO. Gerri supremacy perpetually. 

5. When Matsson and Kendall bicker with everybody watching 

Kendall and Matsson get into this bizarre argument disguised as informal dialog. It begins with Matsson declaring New York a has-been metropolis (our babygirl is a local New Yorker and does not take kindly to this assertion) and ends with Kendall calling Matsson homophobic, with a pit cease within the center the place they each lie about their firm’s numbers. It is one thing straight out of Imply Ladies.

The stress is painfully awkward, with Kendall and Matsson bickering within the cringiest alpha male face-off ever as everybody on the occasion seems to be on. The place is the decorum? What occurred to wholesome dialog? I’ve by no means wished a scene to finish so badly. As Shiv (Sarah Snook) succinctly places it: “The fuck? Little bit of a present.” 

6. When Roman destroys Connor 

“Everybody on this room thinks you are a fucking joke.” Ouch, Roman, ouch.

Whereas the Roys have notoriously ripped one another to shreds up to now, Roman’s outburst on the occasion looks like new territory. He roasts Connor’s (Alan Ruck) total existence in lower than a minute, leaving no a part of his elder unscorched. In the meantime, Connor’s spent the final 5 episodes telling his siblings how unloved he feels.

Roman’s diatribe will get even worse when he insinuates that Willa (Justine Lupe) is not actually Connor’s spouse, that Connor’s desires won’t ever quantity to something, and that they are each higher off “packing a fucking bag” and shifting to Oman. Kendall has to step in and calm him down. In fact, Matsson is chilling shut by, watching this whole fiasco unfold with Scandinavian bemusement. The sheer secondhand embarrassment made me squirm in my seat.

7. When Tom and Shiv yell at every for 10 minutes straight 

With the occasion’s rigidity at an all-time excessive and rumors circulating about Tom getting fired, the pair step onto the balcony for some privateness. Tom and Shiv’s explosive struggle sees them hashing out the whole lot, from Tom’s betrayal in Season 3 to Shiv by no means loving him, to them each admitting that possibly they need to have by no means gotten married. 

Then Tom drops the last word bomb and says Shiv is not match to be a mom and he is glad they by no means had youngsters. The silence is deafening. Everyone knows Shiv is pregnant. Everyone knows she already doubts her maternal expertise, and here is her husband (and almost definitely the newborn’s father) screaming that she should not be a mother. I’ve by no means been extra uncomfortable but entranced by a scene in Succession. Tom and Shiv’s struggle made me need to cry, scream, and throw up all on the identical time. I am starting to really feel like a baby of divorce. 

Succession is now streaming on HBO Max(opens in a brand new tab), with new episodes airing at 9 p.m. ET Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.