Succession‘s Roy siblings jetted off to Norway this week to hammer out the GoJo sale — but did Lukas Matsson drop the hammer on them instead?
Kendall’s swagger is back as Sunday’s episode opens, cruising into the Waystar building while listening to hardcore hip-hop, just like he did in the pilot. He basks in applause from his employees as he enters — and gazes at his father Logan’s empty office. He and his fellow co-CEO Roman get right to work, approving reshoots on a troubled movie before turning to the GoJo deal. Kendall is flying to Norway to meet Matsson and wants to squeeze out a few extra dollars per share before sealing the deal, but then they get an email that GoJo wants all division heads to come to Norway, too. It’s a “cultural compatibility check,” they’re guessing, but Kendall is undeterred and pumped to play hardball: “Let’s bleed the Swede.” Greg is just excited to meet some “Arctic foxes,” but Hugo warns him they’re all going to have to justify keeping their jobs. Plus, Tom is worried Shiv could fire him at any moment, now that Logan isn’t around to shield him from her wrath.
On the plane to Norway, Shiv is seeing a bunch of hit pieces about Logan, so Kendall orders Hugo to “crucify” whoever’s responsible — which would be him, of course. When Shiv persists, Kendall distracts her by suggesting they could “cut Tom’s throat.” And she might be considering it? Karolina marvels at GoJo’s staff, which is loaded with impressive young people, “a NASDAQ master race.” Will the deal be a bloodbath? The Waystar veterans are worried, but Gerri shrugs them off as soft Europeans: “They may think they’re Vikings, but we’ve been raised by wolves,” meaning Logan F—king Roy. They arrive in Norway and settle in at a woodsy outdoor retreat, and Kendall decides that 144 is the absolute minimum stock price he’ll accept in a deal. Oh, and Connor is calling them and bugging them with details from Logan’s burial. (Marcia wants to bury him in a kilt?)

Greg awkwardly tries to huddle with Kendall, Roman and Shiv, dubbing the four of them “the quad squad” — yeah, that’ll catch on — while Tom awkwardly sits down with Matsson and his GoJo cronies and fumbles his way through some talk of international politics. But really, “we’re just passing time until you come up with a counter,” Matsson pointedly tells Kendall. Roman wants to know what his offer is minus ATN, but Matsson insists, “You don’t want ATN.” He has a new vision for it, and laughs out loud when Kendall calls Waystar “a trusted brand.” He calls them “a parts shop… good parts, bad brand,” and when Kendall pushes back, Matsson sneers that he’s just “a tribute band.” Ouch. But hey, who wants to sauna? Matsson later pulls Shiv aside and levels with her: “When it comes to money, just say the f–king number.” He asks her if a deal is still possible, and she says it’s “potentially” still there for the taking.

Kendall gets Greg to leak to the press that “the deal vibes are bad” and makes the GoJo executives sit through a rough cut of that troubled movie — that’ll get them to reconsider! — while Shiv tells them Matsson will go high to get ATN in the deal. Ken decides on a price of 146 without ATN, or “a crazy premium” to include ATN. (Plus, Shiv and Tom have an ugly encounter where he slaps her and calls her earlobes “thick and chewy,” and she taunts him with how “very conventionally attractive” Matsson is. Does this count as flirting for these two?) Roman is dogged by Connor’s constant texts about Logan’s body as he and Kendall ride up to the top of a Nordic mountain to meet Matsson. “Are you Scooby-Doo-ing me?” Matsson demands to know, pointing out their transparent efforts to kill the deal. “I preferred doing this with your dad,” he sniffs. “He was a prick, but at least he knew what he wanted.”

On the flight home, Frank gets a call from Matsson… and he has a new offer: 192, including ATN. That’s a huge number, and the rest of the team celebrates, but Roman and Kendall sit stone-faced. Shiv tells Tom she wants to make some moves at ATN, but instead of firing him, she tasks him with firing Cyd instead. (And she asks him out to dinner?) Matsson calls Shiv and asks her to send him a photo of her brothers’ faces, which she does — they don’t look happy — while the Waystar staff scroll through a “kill list” of potential post-sale cuts. Hugo, Frank and Karl are out; Karolina, Gerri and Tom are still in. Kendall, Roman and Shiv toast the lucrative new deal with flutes of Champagne… but we’re not sure how sweet that bubbly tastes to Roman.
Got thoughts on that dramatic episode of Succession? (Did Roman, in fact, just f—k himself?) Hit the comments below and give us your take.
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