"Lion in the Meadow"
Kendall and Logan are asked to meet with a stakeholder, Josh Aaronson, who has been spooked by the instability he sees in Waystar Royco's leadership and is considering switching over to Sandy and Stewy. At his exclusive mansion, Josh weighs supporting either Kendall or Logan, and is at least seemingly convinced to support the family over the bear hug at the upcoming shareholder's meeting. However, while on a hike, Logan suffers heatstroke, but Kendall chooses to appeal to Josh instead of tending to Logan. Seeing this, Josh backs Sandy and Stewy.
Shiv asks Tom to get a prominent anchor to criticize the president and to pressure Greg. Despite his increasing worry about his potential prison stint and the optics of him getting ordered around by his wife, Tom agrees. He manages to get Greg to switch sides, but gets chewed out by Ravenhead, whom Shiv personally convinces. Logan holds this attack over the President's head for the FBI raid.
Meanwhile, Connor is seeking a resume boost at the family business. Shiv offers him their food network, which he declines. Roman's idea of a hit at Kendall is dredging up old photos of a homeless man whom they convinced to get Kendall's initials tattooed on his forehead, but Gerri talks him out of it.
Tropes in this episode:
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: As bitter as their relationship is, Kendall is still genuinely concerned when he sees Logan short of breath and struggling during their walk with Josh and when he collapses with heatstroke.
- The Big Easy: New Orleans's reputation as a party place is tapped in this episode. Kendall's bachelor party was set there, and during a Bourbon Street pub crawl, the brothers convinced a homeless man to tattoo Kendall's initials on his forehead.
- Conflicting Loyalties: What fucks Kendall over in the end, he can't help himself kowtowing to his dad, trying to help and not embarrass him, but also wanting to suck up to Josh and wanting to be the snarky champion. The result is that Josh is done with him, Logan convinces the family that he did nothing to help him and his mania is fading fast.
- Embarrassing Tattoo: The Roys once convinced a homeless man to get Kendall's initials tattooed on his forehead. The man has since had the tattoo removed but it can still be faintly seen. Roman tries to exploit this trope by releasing the photos to make Kendall look bad, but the idea is shot down.
- Literary Allusion Title: The title refers to a children's book by Margaret Mahy, titled "A Lion in the Meadow", about parents' Lies to Children. Logan's cryptic statements and what they mean in relation to his kids are the undercurrent of the episode.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: For a certain variation of "hero", but Kendall choosing to suck up to Josh instead of look after his father convinces Josh to back Sandy and Stewy, potentially costing the Roys the Family Business.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Kendall tries to tear Logan a new one while on a hike, telling him that he's on his way out, he's made several terrible mistakes, and his employees and investors think lowly of him. It only exacerbates Logan's impending heatstroke.
