Succession Recap: Season 4 Episode 2 – “Rehearsal” karaoke scene

The Waystar sale and Pierce deal got Logan in trouble with his kids this week successor. But has he managed to bring anyone back into the herd?

Logan decides to pay a surprise visit to the ATN studios, and Greg reports to Tom that Logan is intimidatingly walking the halls over the shoulders of the ATN staff: “It’s like this Jawwhen everyone is in Jaw worked for Jaws.” Once the sale to GoJo is complete, Tom warns, Logan will be there every day — and he doesn’t like what he sees. Also, Kerry did an anchor casting tape (yikes), but Logan claims it’s her decision whether or not to go on the air. (Yeah, right.) Meanwhile, Kendall, Roman and Shiv have some regrets when they see how boring Pierce’s current program is. (As Kendall presents hard-hitting daily news updates on Africa, Shiv quips, “It sounds like Homework: The show.”) Shiv also tries to find a divorce lawyer, but the best ones have fallen out even after meeting Tom — a move Shiv realizes is straight out of Logan’s playbook.

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Kendall and Roman happily poke fun at Kerry’s audition, which seems to be doing the rounds for all the wrong reasons. However, Shiv is busy finalizing a side deal with Waystar shareholder Sandi Furness. Maybe they’ll team up and keep the GoJo deal going to squeeze a few more bucks out of Matsson? At ATN, Logan wants to give a speech to inspire the troops, and when Tom congratulates them on a 15 percent rating increase, Logan points out that the cost has increased by 40 percent. He makes it clear that he will be spending more time there and tells them not to show any mercy to their competition: “You are bloody pirate kings!” He also catches Hugo and Gerri laughing at Kerry’s audition and reminds them: “I’m still here, you know. I didn’t leave.”

Shiv, Roman and Kendall try to get the Waystar helicopter into town for Connor’s wedding rehearsal, but are told they don’t have a permit – a middle finger from dear old Pop, it seems. They head into town anyway and consult with Sandi and Stewy, who believe there’s more money to be had by voting no on the GoJo deal. Kendall and Roman wave him off…but Shiv listens. And just as they go into rehearsal, Willa comes out. (As Roman puts it, “There goes the bride.”) They find a drunk and despondent Connor inside, who tells them Willa said, “I can’t do this,” and then ran off with her friends, and now he can’t grab them. But he wants to go out and live it too. Like in a karaoke bar!

While Logan complains about all the uneaten pizzas in the ATN break room, he corners Tom again for having Kerry’s potential as a presenter, and Tom admits that she might need a little more spice. He hires Greg to break the bad news to Kerry, and Greg babbles through, blaming a nonexistent focus group: “The arms aren’t right. They’re a bit un-TV.” Kerry is furious and vows to blast Greg if she finds out there’s no focus group – but hey, he did it! Connor drags his siblings into a pub and makes contact with the common man by ordering “a Belgian wheat beer, not a Hoegaarden”. He also tracks Willa’s phone, and Kendall offers, “We can monitor her point together.” Kendall also gets an ominous call from Matsson, who has already heard about the potential board shenanigans and expensive Pierce sale. “Don’t push me,” he warns, threatening to drop the whole thing.

However, Kendall gets some new numbers from Stewy and agrees with Shiv that they could actually get more money out of this deal. Roman is still hesitant – and he gets messages from Logan too. He claims he only wrote to his father on his birthday, but Kendall and Shiv feel betrayed; They all agreed not to speak to Logan until he apologized. Roman has also been in touch with Matsson and believes he might actually leave if they try to renegotiate, but Shiv admits they’re “too committed to Pierce” and need every dollar they can get: “That’s what Dad would do in his prime.” Speaking of dad, Logan hears his kids are considering blowing up the board vote and has to admit, “They’ve got some juice here.” So when Connor put them in one tows his private karaoke room so he can sing a chewy ballad, he also tells them he told Logan what they were planning… and soon Logan comes into their karaoke room himself, with Kerry in tow.

Logan starts off by saying he wanted them to be at his birthday party (Kendall: “Holy s—t, did Dad just say a feeling?”) and he knows they outbid him on Pierce just to repay him. But he advises them to vote yes to the GoJo sale so they can all get a fresh start. Kerry tries to interfere, but Shiv interrupts her and brings up her anchor audition: “Has he f—ked you on that?… Congrats on lost your betrayal cherry.” Logan offers a halfhearted “Sorry,” but it’s not good enough; Kendall demands a long list of apologies on behalf of everyone in the room. Logan tells Shiv that he was just giving Tom divorce advice, which he would have offered her if she had asked for it, adding that if they ask Matsson for more money he will leave: “I know that.” Shiv believes not him (“You’re a human f—king gaslight!”), and Kendall tells him that he just wants to “make his own bunch” by throwing back Logan’s own words. Logan finally gives up: “You’re such f—king dopes… I love you, but you are not serious people.” He briskly walks out and complains to Kerry about all the rats in town on the way home.

Shiv and Kendall bask in the afterglow of “f—king Dad,” but Roman’s feelings are still mixed. Connor proclaims that he’s been neglected his whole life, so he doesn’t need love like her (“You’re Needy Love Sponges”), but when he goes home, Willa is waiting for him in bed and he snuggles up next to her. Roman, meanwhile, sneaks off alone to meet Logan, who tells him he’s pushing back on the board vote and wants Roman to come with him to Matsson. (He’d have to miss Connor’s wedding, but he says sure.) “There’s a night of long knives coming,” Logan explains, and he needs a “ruthless f—k” to help him reinvent ATN from scratch. Pierce wouldn’t be a good fit for Roman, he notes: “Smart people know what they are.” Finally, he says to Roman, “I need you.” And that’s what Logan’s kids have been waiting to hear from him for the whole time.

Have thoughts about this week successor? Grab the karaoke mic and sing ’em in the comments below.