Succession Season 4 Episode 5 Recap: “Kill List”

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Succession, Season 4 Episode 5, “Kill List.”]

What might be lovelier than a visit to Norway, to debate a daring new period of enterprise whereas looking on lovely forests and expansive mountain ridges? A number of issues, should you ask the Roy siblings on the finish of Succession this week. The post-Logan summit will get ugly for practically everybody concerned, as Alexander Skarsgård‘s Mattson continues to skillfully play the Waystar Royco staff — at this level, seemingly for his personal amusement.

The episode opens in New York, with Kendall arriving for his first day as co-CEO to the tune of Jay-Z’s “Takeover” (relating to needle drops, this present doesn’t miss). However after coming into the workplace to some applause, Ken and Roman’s time as probably the most highly effective males within the constructing will get lower quick by a summons from Mattson.

Gathering Waystar and GoJo’s prime execs collectively at a mountain resort is sweet information for the pending sale of Waystar, however it does additionally imply that the following few days will result in some epic jockeying for standing and approval, as a result of the one assure that comes with acquisitions like that is that not everybody will nonetheless have a job, post-sale.

So whereas “the previous guard” of execs fret over who from Waystar may be expendable, given the present government lineup at GoJo, Roman and Kendall are getting ready to face down Mattson: They’re primarily involved that he would possibly ask questions concerning the film studio, which is being kindly known as a “money incinerator” because of an enormous studio tentpole that at present wants reshoots. (“Sleepy robotic in a cave — how is {that a} quarter invoice?” is a particularly reasonable query, one so many individuals outdoors the movie enterprise may also ask.)

Nonetheless, Mattson isn’t involved in motion pictures — as a substitute, he needs ATN, the information community that Logan needed so badly to take care of management over, carving it out of the unique acquisition deal. Succession has by no means been shy about drawing parallels between ATN and Fox Information, however the brutality of Mattson’s feedback concerning the information community function a sort of obituary for the embattled real-life community: “It’s not difficult — it’s quite a lot of yelling… Small males, large veins, fats wallets… Long run, I don’t suppose information for indignant previous individuals works. Good components, unhealthy model.”