Observe: This text accommodates spoilers for a number of Succession episodes, notably season 4, episode six, “Residing+.”
The opening scene of Residing+, the sixth episode of the ultimate season of Succession, is sort of a jolt down the backbone. It’s Logan, captured in medium close-up towards a inexperienced display, in an unedited, premortem video filmed to advertise a brand new Waystar enterprise to be introduced on the subsequent traders’ assembly: a gated retirement neighborhood known as Residing+ that may deliver the “cruise ship expertise to dry land,” Logan (Brian Cox) says.
Kendall (Jeremy Sturdy) and others from Waystar’s internal circle are watching the video, and Logan can’t make it even a minute with out dropping his endurance with the movie crew. “You’re as dangerous as my fucking fool youngsters,” he growls. Kendall winces and asks to play it again once more.
“Reduce shock, maximize satisfaction” is Residing+’s anodyne slogan. It seems like a subscription service; pay $9.99 and improve to a tier above mere existence.
“Mere existence” occurs to sum up the present state of the Roy youngsters. They’re mourning, however are additionally a bit numb. After the tradition shock of their Norway journey, they’re again on the semi-familiar, mundane floor of LA, the place co-CEOs Ken and Roman (Kieran Culkin) have to organize for the annual traders assembly, whilst they inch nearer to promoting Waystar to streaming firm GoJo.
Roman, feeling disrespected by everybody he meets with, seems glum as he attends to his new CEO duties. Shiv (Sarah Snook), it seems, is obstructing out time on her calendar to cry. And her brothers are nonetheless making an attempt to wreck the GoJo sale; Residing+ begins out as only a stale remnant of Logan’s plans, however turns into their likelihood to persuade shareholders that Waystar has a future sans GoJo CEO Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård), whereas Matsson is making an attempt to claim his dominance over the Roys.
That is an episode that’s actually about resurrections — the retreading of outdated concepts, outdated relationships, and outdated pains. There are solely 4 extra episodes left to wrap up the arcs of those characters, and Residing+ is organising ever greater stakes for the final word destiny of Waystar and GoJo. It’s additionally ruminating on what it could imply for the Roy siblings to not simply survive, however thrive.
Erratic conduct
Kendall and Roman name a gathering with the senior group, citing issues about Matsson’s “erratic conduct.” Shiv asks what they imply — she is aware of about Matsson’s unusual fetishes, however her brothers don’t.
They lie that Matsson had a meltdown in Norway (it was truly Roman who did), and instructed them he didn’t truly need the deal. Everybody’s confused by this. It was in all probability a negotiating tactic, Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) suggests. In any case, he made a suggestion — a really beneficiant one.
Kendall plows forward with this shoddily constructed case. “Can we advocate a cope with an individual of this character?” he asks.
It’s a ridiculous factor to say given the historical past of Waystar and its founder — to not point out Kendall’s personal questionable conduct previously.
The farce of Ken and Rome’s reign is that they must a minimum of try to run the corporate utilizing a democratic course of. Logan wouldn’t have known as a gathering to ask main questions and persuade others to take his view. Logan would have barked out an order, and they might have fallen in line and not using a squeak. Despite the fact that his sons (particularly Kendall) typically mimic Logan, they know intellectually that he was a despot. But all through Residing+, they notice that it would simply be simpler, simpler, to easily lead like Logan. Roman feels this intensely: his typical stream of inappropriate jokes, his schtick of not taking a lot in life severely, doesn’t work so properly when he’s the one in cost. His insecurity about not being sensible sufficient nor revered sufficient flares up with a vengeance on this episode; he fires one studio govt and even tries to fireside Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron).
It’s not in Rome’s head, not solely. The board is on the verge of mutiny. In response to Kendall’s query about Matsson’s character, Gerri says. “He’s a genius. No one minds a genius performing bizarre.”
“Actually, it form of provides to the mystique,” Tom provides. (We do see Matsson strolling outdoors barefoot on this episode, probably a reference to a different eclectic tech founder, Steve Jobs; in the meantime, Residing+ appears impressed by Apple’s branding whereas flippantly mocking tiered subscription companies as an entire.)
Gerri closes the ebook on the dialog, saying that Matsson’s fame has been priced into the supply. There’s a quantity at which every little thing is permitted; Ken and Rome ought to know that by now.
In the meantime, Matsson tries to persuade Shiv to place a cease to the announcement of Residing+. Kendall and Roman are simply minding the store till he formally owns Waystar, and anyway, he doesn’t like actual property ventures — they’re not “scalable.” Spoken like a techie.
Matsson dangles a place for Shiv excessive up within the new world order — somebody who can advise him carefully. It’s the form of noncommittal bait that her father continuously waved in her face, solely to govern her later. Matsson makes it sound like each a enterprise proposition and a sexual proposition, however Shiv remains to be fence-sitting about whether or not she actually needs Matsson as a accomplice in both realm.
Tom and Shiv are by no means, ever getting a divorce
Shiv’s livid that her brothers didn’t inform her about Matsson’s supposed blow-up — or, extra to the purpose, that they need to torch the deal.
“Actually, we have been defending you,” says Kendall. That sends Shiv’s blood strain even greater. The three of them had a plan — to promote, get out, and purchase Pierce World Media, which nobody even appears to say anymore. Ken means that they might maintain each Waystar’s information community, ATN, and purchase Pierce. (How would that even work when the 2 are ideological opposites?)
Roman apologizes, asking, “Can we do the huggy factor?”
Emotionally stunted they might be, however they do care about one another. The factor in regards to the Roy siblings is that not like Logan, they do apologize. Nevertheless it doesn’t appear to make Shiv really feel higher.
Shiv’s assistant interrupts; she’s been reserving assembly rooms for Shiv, who’s utilizing them to sit down in and cry alone, not simply over her father being gone, however over the loss of life by a thousand cuts of being omitted and underestimated by her household. Tom and Greg (Nicholas Braun) unintentionally stroll in on one in every of these crying classes; Tom’s radar is hyper-tuned to any signal that Shiv may be in misery. “You’re scheduling your grief?” Tom asks incredulously. He hugs and consoles her, and so they kiss. All through the season, the 2 have been extra tender and genuinely intimate than we’ve ever seen them within the sequence; they’re ostensibly on their solution to divorcing, however absence appears to have made the center — Shiv’s particularly — develop fonder.
However Tom and Shiv are additionally now on extra equal footing than earlier than. There’s a brand new dimension to their relationship that brings them nearer. Tom isn’t her punching bag anymore; she realizes that he’s an actual individual with difficult feelings and motives, in addition to a humorousness. Later, on the traders reception, Shiv and Tom flirt like youngsters within the schoolyard. Shiv asks Tom if he needs to play a recreation known as “bitey.” The principles are easy: You chew the opposite’s forearm as onerous as you’ll be able to, and the primary one to cry uncle loses. Surprisingly, Shiv surrenders first.
“Tom Wambsgans — lastly made me really feel one thing,” she says, sounding pleased with him.
All of this play-fighting can imply just one factor: They’re sleeping with one another once more. When Shiv admits that she and Matsson appear to have a connection, Tom tells her, “I believe I would like you. I believe I would love this again.” Nevertheless it’s not so easy. Tom’s betrayal final season remains to be a wedge between them.
Tom doesn’t apologize for it. He says what they’ve each recognized about their relationship. His love for her wasn’t only a gooey heat feeling, however an obsession with cash and standing — having good issues in life. He betrayed her as a result of he felt he was about to lose all of that. “Should you assume that’s shallow, why don’t you throw out all of your stuff for love,” he says. “Come and dwell with me in a trailer park.”
“I’d observe you wherever for love, Tom Wambsgans,” Shiv replies playfully. They each begin laughing, perhaps as a result of the thought is so absurd, or as a result of the fantasy of leaving the tangle of Waystar behind — of getting unconditional love — is definitely alluring.
Resurrection
Portray Matsson as unreliable and ill-tempered didn’t work, so Kendall and Roman now want a plan B to dam the Waystar sale. What they want is one thing so thrilling and explosive that it may make the Waystar share worth soar, to an outlandish valuation. Matsson, they presume, in all probability wouldn’t match it; he’d stroll away.
The reply is tech. Kendall needs a tech valuation on Residing+, and it’s not a nasty concept. It’s the business of moonshots and fake-it-till-you-make-it blustering. Numerous males, and some notorious ladies, have gotten wealthy off such braggadocio. Why not Waystar?
The pitch is that this: “Maximize your bodily potential,” Kendall gives, by maximizing residents’ lifespans. Perhaps the tech for immortality doesn’t fairly exist but, however they might dwell slightly bit nearer to perpetually. Longevity science is a well-known fascination of tech billionaires, however it’s additionally a topic on Ken and Rome’s minds proper now. “I simply didn’t see it coming with Dad,” Roman says. “I believe folks could be very intrigued if there was one other manner by means of the entire scenario.”
“You imply life?” asks Kendall.
“Life. Loss of life,” he confirms. Rome is envisioning a form of Matrix brain-in-a-vat situation. “There’s gotta be a manner by means of — loss of life simply feels very one-size-fits-all.”
Ken is manic once more. At any time when he will get energized by an concept — normally some scheme to take down his father — it has resulted in defeat, adopted by a fugue state of despair. However he’s heedless of previous smash. It’s what makes him a tragic, Sisyphean character. He all the time falls, and watching him rise up once more is painful as a result of the viewers is aware of the way it’s going to finish. This time, he needs to construct a powerful stage for the traders assembly. Standing on an empty stage, he’s starry-eyed describing his plan to the underlings. “Nobody can say no,” he declares.
“He’s bought that gleam in his eye,” Shiv says. She’s seen this earlier than — Kendall immediately going off script, making an attempt to drag off some loopy concept with out the backup he wants. Shiv convinces Roman to speak him down from these delusions of grandeur. “He has hare-brained schemes,” she says. “I like him, however he cracks beneath strain. And I believe we must always shield him.”
Nobody sees Kendall’s imaginative and prescient. Waystar CFO Karl Muller is uncharacteristically (and understandably) aggressive about Kendall’s pumped-up earnings projections, which may land them in authorized bother, and threatens Kendall to not current Residing+. Ken is alone — his default state of being — however for the eyes on him, ready for him to self-destruct.
Someway, he doesn’t.
Kendall’s large reveal is the video of Logan we noticed within the first scene, edited to make it appear to be they’re having a dialog. His siblings and the Waystar executives all cringe, however Ken forges on, pitching Residing+ as a sanctuary, with cutting-edge life extension companies, the kind normally reserved just for “tech billionaires,” Kendall says. This tech may double Waystar’s earnings — however don’t take his phrase for it. Logan’s video has been altered in order that he’s the one making the declare. It’s a intelligent transfer by Kendall to puppetmaster the puppetmaster. In some methods, he’s a spot-on CEO, hitting the right notes of being clear, enthusiastic, and emotional, genuinely tearing up on the considered having extra time along with his father — the form of factor Residing+ may need been capable of make actual, he tells his rapt viewers.
Matsson hates the presentation, and once more asks Shiv to cease it. She suggests he do one thing about it — and Matsson’s transfer is to tweet a Holocaust joke referencing one in every of Waystar’s motion pictures and mocking Residing+. Matsson finally deletes the tweet, and the Waystar outdated guard are pleasantly stunned by Kendall’s efficiency. However Roman and Shiv are each quietly upset — disenchanted that he didn’t fail. Did they need him to repeat the cycle of failing spectacularly, and crawling again to his household in emotional smash? It additionally reveals how cowardly Roman and Shiv might be. They didn’t have the heart to take the large swing with Kendall, and now they don’t get to bask within the glow of a win both.
The episode ends with Kendall on the seashore, dealing with the water and the infinite horizon. The swells are excessive, however he goes for a swim anyway. In season one, he unintentionally kills a cater-waiter when the automobile he’s driving crashes in a river. In season three, Kendall nearly drowns — nearly kills himself — in a pool. However this time the water is restorative, like his Residing+ pitch to traders: “It’s someplace you’re actually residing,” he says.
