After that magnificent season opener, the fourth and final season of Succession continues with episode two, 'Rehearsal', which brought together Conor's miserable rehearsal dinner ahead of his wedding to Willa, a family showdown over karaoke, some classic Succession-style skulduggery on the eve of the Gojo acquisition of Waystar, and a shocking betrayal from Roman.
Let's dive in...
Succession S4, Ep 2 Recap
The episode kick off with Logan issuing a 'f-ck you' to the kids in the most one percent way possible - axing their helicopter access - before making a surprise visit to his employees at ATN. 'He’s moseying,' Greg tells Tom. 'Terrifyingly moseying. He’s wearing sunglasses inside. It’s like if Santa Claus was a hitman.'
Logan's assistant/girlfriend Kerry (Zoe Winters) has hopes of becoming a news anchor at ATN and has made a cringe audition tape, which has everyone sniggering behind her back. Logan realises this and tasks Tom, who of course then tasks Greg, with letting her down gently. Which he later fumbles through in the least graceful way possible.
Meanwhile a livid Shiv learns that Tom has shafted her by taking a leaf from the Logan Roy divorce playbook, ensuring all the top divorce attorneys are 'conflicted out' and can't represent her.
Shiv's on the warpath and calls Sandi Furness who’s in a partnership with Stewy Hosseini, a private-equity investor who sits on Waystar’s board. Sandi and Stewy want to squeeze more money from Lukas (Alexander Skarsgård), potentially upending the deal - which would be a major blow for Logan. It's risky business for the Roy siblings too: they could walk away with more money, or they could tank the deal - which they need to buy Pierce Media.
Shiv, Kendall and Roman are figuring out what to do, but have to go to Conor's rehearsal dinner, ahead of his wedding the next day to Willa. When they arrive, they bump into a very strung out, and very drunk Willa, who is clearly getting cold feet.
In a bid to console poor Conor the siblings agree to go to a karaoke bar with him - where Conor delivers a depressing rendition of Leonard Cohen's Famous Blue Raincoat.
But Conor has ulterior motives - he's engineered a family reunion, with Logan and Kerry turning up unexpectedly. Logan kind of, sort of apologises for his past misdeeds - but learning that they want to get more money from the Dojo deal, he can't help but end the conversation with a devastating indictment of his children: 'You are such fucking dopes, you are not serious figures. I love you - but you are not serious people.' Ouch.
And then comes the shock betrayal: in the final scene we see Roman go to meet Logan, who promises him a key role at ATN. 'Smart people know who they are,' Logan says, ominously.
The best lines from 'Rehearsal'
'It's like Jaws. If everyone in Jaws worked for Jaws' - Greg's assessment of Logan's surprise visit to ATN
'I'm going to take you apart like a human string cheese' - Kerry does not react well to Greg's negative feedback about her audition tape
Watch Succession S4 on Sky Atlantic, Mondays at 9pm, or subscribe to NOW to catch up on all episodes