Succession Season 4 Episode 2: Tensions run high between Tom and Chief

Tensions continue to rise between Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Chief (Sarah Snook) in the second episode of Succession 4.

Tom and Shiv eventually agree to end their marriage, after Tom decides to side with her father Logan Roy (Brian Cox) in the Season 3 finale.

Finally, working together for once, all of Logan’s kids — Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Chef, and Roman (Kieran Culkin) — work together and take over Pierce Global Media for $10 billion, wresting the company from under their father’s power.

Sunday night’s new episode – titled Rehearsal – follows Roy siblings as they consider backing Sandy Furness (Larry Pine) and Stewy Hosseini (Arian Moayed) in their hostile bid to take over Waystar Royco.

The episode’s title is from Connor Roy’s (Alan Ruck) wedding rehearsal dinner, which is dramatically complicated when his fiancée, Willa (Justine Lupe), moves out.

The episode opens with Logan driving to ATN, getting into his car and saying, “Happy birthday to you as you watch the f***s.”

Meanwhile, the kids are all together at their trading house, with Connor texting and asking if they’re on the way.

Kendall tries to hone her tone as Shiv takes a call and says many are ‘conflicted’ on the deal, as she says she will call her back even though she is visibly concerned as the title sequence begins.

While, for the majority of the series, Roy’s children are at odds with one another, the final few episodes of season three find them finally coming together to stop their father Logan from selling the family’s media collection.

Little did they know that the black sheep of the family Tom Wambsgans (Matthew McFadyen) had betrayed his wife Shiv and gave Logan heads up what they were doing, giving him just enough to remove their power to prevent the impending sale.

The final footage from Season 3 seems to indicate that Shiv realizes her husband has betrayed her, though it’s unclear how that will happen in Season 4.

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong first confirmed that Season 4 would be the end of the show in a wide-ranging interview with The New Yorker, where he was asked why he decided to confirm a final season before it even debuted.

“First, we could have said that as soon as I kind of decided, almost when we were writing it, which I think would be weird and perverted,” Armstrong began.

We could have said that at the end of the season. I absolutely love that idea, creatively, because then the audience is able to just enjoy everything as it comes, without trying to figure things out, or perceive things a certain way once they know it’s the last season,” he added.

But, also, the parallel idea is that we don’t hide the ball much in width. I feel a responsibility to watch, and I personally don’t like feeling like, “Oh, that’s it, guys. That was the end.” I don’t like it on the show. I guess I’d like to know it’s coming to an end.”

He added, “And also, there’s a bunch of clichés, like it would have been weird for me and the cast to do interviews.” It’s quite the ending, so it can be uncomfortable having to sound like a politician for the ages about it. I hope the show is against bullshit, and I don’t want to get bullied when I’m talking about it.