‘Succession’ recap: S3 E4 – “Lion in the Meadow”

This past Sunday, there was much to process during the 4th episode of Succession‘s 3rd and perhaps best season yet. We were all witness to one of the most awkward father and son interactions in maybe the history of the world; it seems Shiv (Sarah Snook) is starting to slowly realize just how little power she has in the company, and who could forget Tom’s (Matthew Macfadyen) attempt and getting Greg (Nicholas Braun) to sign on to the joint defense agreement. All of these moments are seemingly building towards a very tense shareholder vote which is set to happen this Sunday, and it appears that the Roy’s maintaining control of Waystar is far from assured. With that in mind, here are our 5 takeaways.

5. Saying what you want to hear

With Logan (Brian Cox) feeling as if everything in his world is coming untethered, he asks Shiv (Sarah Snook) to not only get involved in the negotiations with Sandy and Stewie but to see if the news division at Waystar can turn up the heat on the President in retaliation for the DOJ raid which is now dominating headlines. Of course, Shiv jumps at the chance to please her father, and Logan once again is able to get a member of his family to do whatever he wants blindly. It’s only later in the episode that she starts to realize the truth.

4. Cousin Greg with some ambition

For the first time, we begin to see that Greg shows some ambition to make his way up the corporate ladder. While he might still be a bit naive about the world, he slowly realizes that he does have some leverage when Logan (Brian Cox) calls him to his apartment to ask him about joining the joint defense agreement. The trouble with him is that he’s not sure what to ask for at first. What was interesting is we see how he’s very much playing both sides. Could this be a factor in how Season 3 unfolds?

3. It’s just a title

While Shiv was on board with becoming the President of Domestic Affairs at Waystar, she now realizes just how little her title means. When she attempts to lend her input to negotiations with Sandy and Stewie, Frank calls her dad, which results in Logan calling Shiv and verbally chastising her. When she enters a meeting, people seemingly don’t respect Shiv’s position. Even Tom questions a directive from her about asking the news department to turn up the heat on the President. How long before she realizes there’s nothing to be gained from working with her father?

2. Top 5 scene ever

About a year ago, when we spoke with Nicholas about his role on Succession, he made it reasonably clear that the most challenging scenes to get through are with Matthew Macfadyen because of his uncanny ability to make him break. It’s hard to imagine that they were able to shoot this scene in under 10 takes. This scene between Tom and Greg about his willingness to join the joint defense agreement was so awkward, so well written, and perfectly executed. The line about castration and marriage will go down as one of Succession‘s best lines ever.

1.  A gun to their head

We are introduced to Josh Aaronson (Adrian Brody), a billionaire activist with a substantial investment in Waystar. He’s threatening to pull his support of Logan’s claim during the upcoming shareholder meeting and shift to Sandy and Stewie, which would, in essence, end the Roy’s control of Waystar. Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Logan briefly put aside their differences in a last-ditch effort to secure his support. Despite the pleasantries, Josh sees right through everything but is willing to listen to them. He even attempts to get Kendall to back off his quest to oust dear old dad. Despite their best efforts, it seems Josh had his mind made up well before they arrived. Could this spell the end of the Roy family controlling Waystar?