History Recap / SuccessionS04E08

Kendall and Roman agree to call Arizona for Mencken, essentially declaring him POTUS. A pleased Roman fields a call from Mencken, who is eager to continue doing business with the Roys. A furious Shiv promises Matsson that she will strike back. A despondent Kendall tries to get in touch with his children.

* PsychoticSmirk: After Greg tells Kendall about what Shiv is really doing behind her brothers' backs, he briefly flashes one of these at her as he walks away from the meeting room. Bonus points in that he does this after Shiv had verbally threatened him previously.

* PersonAsVerb: Tom describes the process of an underling [[YouGetMeCoffee getting coffee for him]] as "Gregging". Which is (perhaps unintentionally) hilarious to British viewers of the show, as there's a high-street bakery chain (that also does tea and coffee) called Greggs in the UK.

* {{Irony}}: In Season 3, Tom was constantly pressuring a reluctant Shiv to have his child, as he didn't want to go to jail without leaving some kind of legacy. When Shiv tells him that she's actually pregnant with their child, Tom has become too disillusioned with his ex-wife to the point where he sees it as little more than a manipulation tactic on her part, much to her disgust.

* ElectionDayEpisode: The episode is about an in-universe presidential election -- the characters, billionaires who own a major news network, are fretting about how to cover the vote counting after the polls close.
* EverythingIsRacist: Tom mocks Greg for not wanting to do cocaine with him. Per Tom, since the Aztecs did it, Greg not wanting to is racist.

* IdiotBall: Shiv's "strategy" to convince Kendall that the Dems are going to block the Matsson deal relies on fake-calling Nate and then [[BadLiar unplausibly]] lying about the contents of their alleged conversation.

* BeneathNotice: Alluded to when Frank expresses surprise when he learns that Connor was running for President as an independent candidate — emphasising just how much Logan's eldest son ''does not matter'' to the Waystar executives.

* {{Bathos}}: In the middle of an incredible tense episode, with characters making decisions that may have serious consequences for the world, recalling for viewers some of the most stressful and traumatic election nights of recent memory... suddenly a minor character accidentally gets wasabi in his eye and that's what the scene is about for the next few minutes.

* ComicRelief: In the middle of an incredible tense episode, with characters making decisions that may have serious consequences for the world, recalling for viewers some of the most stressful and traumatic election nights of recent memory... suddenly a minor character accidentally gets wasabi in his eye and that's what the scene is about for the next few minutes.

* TheBadGuyWins: Everyone's worst instincts and self-serving motivations during this episode result in the far-right Mencken being declared the president-elect by media.

* TheDogBitesBack: Shiv makes the same mistake as Kerry did several episodes early, trying to intimidate Greg. Greg retaliates by telling Kendall about her dealings with Mattson.

* IdiotBall: Shiv's "strategy" to convince Kendall that the Dems are going to block the Mattson deal relies on fake-calling Nate and then [[BadLiar unplausibly]] lying about the contents of their alleged conversation.

It's the evening of the American election. The Roy siblings hunker down at ATN headquarters as polls begin to close and vote counts begin to come in. Early projections favor Jimenez, the Democratic nominee, and Kendall reaches out to his team in hopes that Jimenez will block the [=GoJo=] sale. Leadership wonders why Tom, as head of ATN, isn't covering the story of a fire at a Milwaukee voting center that cost about hundred thousand votes; ATN eventually runs it as it becomes clear the votes will be crucial in calling Wisconsin. Roman, who is batting for Mencken, is ready to disregard them, but Shiv and Kendall are hesitant. At Roman's urging, ATN eventually calls Wisconsin for Mencken, giving him a significant lead.

* TheBadGuyWins: Everyone's worst instincts and self-serving motivations during this episode result in Mencken being declared the president elect by media.

* YouGetMeCoffee: Exaggerated. Greg's been promoted far above "the guy whose job it is to get Tom coffee", but Tom, antsy from both the stress of his crumbling marriage and the pressure of running America's one of most influential networks on election night, yells at him to do get him coffee anyway -- [[SlipperySlopeFallacy because the state of America depends on Tom and if Tom screws up due to drowsiness, war will break out and the human race will be reduced to amoeba]].

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Mencken's electoral success is the clear in-universe equivalent of the infamous US 2016 election.

* DisasterDominos: At one point Darwin

* IgnoredExpert: "Decision Desk" Daniel, ATN's in-house political analyst, is hesitant to call states for Mencken, but the highers-up push him to do it because it furthers their own agendas. When they call the whole shebang for Mencken, the camera focuses on an increasingly frustrated Daniel eventually leaving the room.