History Recap / SuccessionS03E09

* NotSoDifferent: Caroline screwing over her own children in order to get a better deal for herself demonstrates that, for all her sarcastic comments about him, she's pretty much the same as Logan.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: The trio are nastily fucked over by their parents and godparents (Gerri wants to help but can't, but Frank and Karl do nothing), and Logan gets especially cruel while Shiv has proved she can be gentle, Connor yells at his siblings but makes it clear he loves them, Kendall's had a HeelRealisation and wants to be better, and Roman made his crying brother laugh; but they are still partly in this mess thanks to Kendall treating Greg badly all season and Shiv being an awful wife to Tom.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Logan begins the episode reading ''[[Literature/Mog Goodbye Mog]]'' to Iverson.

** Kendall has a HeelRealisation that he's not a good person and finally admits personal responsibility for the waiter's death. Logan in the last episode used his grandson as a poison tester and still thinks he's better than everyone.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Roman has spent the last few episodes paranoid that his mother Caroline reopening the divorce settlement with his father Logan is for the naked ambition of his new stepfather Peter, at the cost of Roman and his siblings' inheritances, a concern that his sister Shiv regularly dismisses. This episode reveals he was right to be paranoid about it, but not because of Peter's social climbing -- she had reopened it to remove the clause that gave the children majority control, allowing Logan to go ahead with the Matsson deal that would likely cut them out.

** Roman sits down with Kendall and tries to make him laugh through his tears, while telling him that it's narcissistic to call himself a murderer given the specifics of the situation. Logan's been hanging the waiter's death over Kendall's head for two seasons (several months in-universe) now.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: This episode makes clear that the Roy siblings, for all they were warped by their ultra-rich upbringing and hurt each other in their quests for power, strongly care about each other. Although the conversation quickly goes south, the others try to confront Kendall at lunch and tell him that for what it's worth, they do love him; Shiv and Roman later comfort him when he breaks down in a parking lot. In this scene they realize that they might actually have strength in numbers and work together for the first time in the whole series. (It fails, but it's the thought that counts.)

-->'''Tom:''' Do you want a deal with the devil?
-->'''Greg:''' Well...what am I gonna do with a soul, anyways? Souls are boring. Boo, souls!

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Roman and Shiv, who are traditionally pretty good at dealing with unexpected setbacks through [[StepfordSnarker Stepford Snarking]], both look to be on the verge of an emotional breakdown upon learning about what their father and mother's deal with Matsson entails.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: The trio are nastily fucked over by their parents and godparents (Gerri wants to help but can't, but Frank and Karl do nothing), and Logan gets especially cruel while Shiv has proved she can be gentle, Connor yells at his siblings but makes it clear he loves them, Kendall's had a HeelRealisation and wants to be better, and Roman made his crying brother laugh; but they are still partly in this mess thanks to Kendall treating Greg badly all season and Shiv being an awful wife.

-->'''Greg:''' Well...what am I gonna do with a soul, anyways? Souls are boring. ''(imitating a ghost)'' Boo, souls!

** Connor yells at the three forgetting about him and being entitled, but makes sure that they know he loves them, something Logan only does to manipulate.
** Kendall has a HeelRealisation that he's not a good person and finally admits personal responsibility. Logan in the last episode used his grandson as a poison tester and still thinks he's better than everyone.
** Roman sits down with Kendall and tries to make him laugh through his tears, while telling him that it's narcissistic to call himself a murderer. Logan's been hanging the waiter's death over Kendall's head for two seasons now.
** Shiv is kind and understanding (if awkward and trying to focus on business as well) to Kendall after he tries to commit suicide, and to Roman, trying to make him see that their father will throw him under the bus as he's done to her and Kendall. Turns out that both parents will screw over their children.

* TheDogBitesBack: Shiv has spent the entire season dismissing and belittling her husband Tom, who has been quietly ingratiating himself with Logan. Body language at the end of this episode implies Tom ratted her plan out to Logan and has thrown his lot in with him, cutting her out in the process...and she realizes it.

* WhamShot: Logan patting Tom on the back, heavily implying that Tom betrayed Logan, Roman, and Shiv.

* WhamShot: Logan patting Tom on the back.

* TheDogBitesBack: Shiv has spent the entire season dismissing and belittling her husband Tom, who has been quietly ingratiating himself with Logan. Body language at the end of this episode ''strongly'' implies Tom ratted her plan out to Logan and has thrown his lot in with him, cutting her out in the process...and she realizes it.

Kendall opens up emotionally to Shiv and Roman, admitting that he killed the waiter at Shiv's wedding and feels increasingly fragmented. Eventually, the siblings realize that Logan might really be going ahead with the merger that would make Matsson CEO. Kendall posits that part of Caroline's divorce settlement was to give the children super majority, meaning they could agree to stop the deal together, and so the three of them band together to confront Logan. Once they arrive, however, Logan announces he had already consorted with Caroline to amend the divorce settlement so Kendall, Shiv, and Roman can't actually stop him, devastating all three siblings -- and when Tom (to whom Shiv had previously spilled the plan) arrives, Logan pats him on the back.

* BungledSuicide: Though Kendall denies it, claiming he just fell off an inflatable, the ending of the previous episode already strongly implied Kendall was ready to end it all, and it was only Comfry's timely intervention that stopped him from actually drowning. His fragile mental state throughout the episode all but confirms it.