With season three of Succession now in the books, Vulture is returning to where it all began with weekly recaps of season one. Rewatch along with us, and check back every Sunday night for the next pair of episodes.
It isn’t often that the Roy siblings are surprised by their father’s gall, but Logan’s preamble to the family therapy session in “Austerlitz†seems to take them all aback:
“Everything I’ve done in my life, I’ve done for my children,†he says. “I know I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve always tried to do the best by them. Because they mean everything to me.â€
They agree, when asked by Alon (a perfectly cast Griffin Dunne), their corporate therapist, that Logan has said words here. “Good words,†says Connor. But words that are so absurd on their face that none of them can believe their father would have the nerve to say them out loud. After all, his No. 1 son, Kendall, is conspicuously absent from the room and may have fallen off the wagon — at least based on rumors that Daddy himself, in a fury over Kendall’s disloyalty, has planted in his newspapers. One of the great mysteries of Succession is how Logan actually feels about his children, because he does have a desire to keep them close to him but expresses no faith or trust or loyalty in them, much less fatherly warmth. Perhaps this therapy session might have offered some real insight into the question, rather than merely a chance to “take a pop at the champ.â€
And yet Logan’s statement is actually in keeping with the true purpose of the session, which he hasn’t fully disclosed to the kids: They’ve all gathered in Connor’s beautiful New Mexico ranch — named, ridiculously, after Napoleon’s greatest triumph — for a PR session, because the Roys are the most hated family in America and, worse still, they’re now seen as a dysfunctional family, too. In the opening scene, Logan gets hit by a bag of piss, which Stewy interprets as a sign of extreme public displeasure of Waystar’s plans to gobble up local TV stations. (He uses more cutting Stewy language: “The issue here, sir, is that everyone fucking hates you†and “Your family is a horror show, and it’s destroying America.â€)
Having the entire Roy family under one roof makes for a wonderfully combustible situation and some scenes of genuine hurt, as we realize how on the surface the issues are between Logan and his children. Alon recognizes it quickly, asking Logan questions like, “Do you realize how much power you wield in this room?†and “Have you thought about the possibility that your children are actually scared of you?†But for Logan, the session is merely a hassle, the most annoying agenda item, along with an interview and a photo op for a prefab feature about the Roys restoring their family bond in the desert. Poor Connor, who seemed to feel like the world was finally coming to him, discovers he’s been had within five seconds of Logan emerging from his SUV.
“Austerlitz†includes plenty of devastating hand-to-hand combat, particularly once it gets outside the formalities of pretend therapy and into the cage of Connor’s kitchen. But it’s also a great opportunity to get to know the significant others in the Roys’ lives and see how they interact with their mates — and, hilariously, with each other. Willa’s role as a hostess of sorts to the weekend gives her the richest arc, and Tom is her unofficial partner in misery, each riding the uncertainty of being outsiders to the family and unprotected by the Roy sibling who’s bringing them in. As for Marcia, she continues to assert herself as Logan’s chief loyalist and enforcer, scowling over her suspicion that the kids will “gang up†on her husband and openly referring to Shiv and Kendall as “traitors.â€
Let’s start with Willa, because “Austerlitz†could be cut into a nice short story around her, about the former call girl whose dreams of theatrical glory are tethered to an irritating client and a family that mocks her openly. This story begins with our heroine driving way the hell out into the New Mexico desert to Connor’s estate and ends with her asking him about the location of the nearest Starbucks, to which Connor’s “I have pods†answer is the opposite of reassuring. In between, she learns that she won’t have a place in the family picture and that Connor wants her to stay with him part time in New Mexico rather than stay in New York to work on theater projects. And in one absolutely mortifying conversation, she has to listen to Marcia talk about a young woman she knew in Paris who did “her work†and was murdered. (“It was nothing to do with her being a prostitute,†Marcia says. “It was from a restaurant that went poof.â€)
Tom, meanwhile, wants desperately to make a good impression on Logan since that expensive watch he bought him for his birthday didn’t make one at all. Shiv is no help to him, barely listening as she waves away his concerns, her mind split between this peculiar event, her ex Nate, and a possible consultant job for Nate’s candidate Gil Eavis (Eric Bogosian), a populist flame-thrower in the Bernie Sanders school, who’s vowing to torch the family business. All the songbird-eating confidence Tom had in Greg’s presence last week melts away in this environment, and he becomes the earnest Minnesotan again, weakly attempting to curry favor with vipers. When Logan finally does take notice of him, it’s to blast Shiv for “marrying a man fathoms beneath†her.
As for Kendall, one of those kids who mean everything to Logan, he returns from an evening of drinking and drug-binging (“I am interested in becoming a meth headâ€) to squabble more with his father, who simply calls him a “nobody.†The tragicomedy of the entire scene is that Kendall’s substance abuse acts as a kind of shield against his father’s abuse. He’s happier to give it back and numb to the pain that’s being inflicted. The hangover will wait until morning.
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• “People say he’s a coked-up dauphin who doesn’t know shit from Shinola and the two of you aren’t even talking to each other.†If it were possible to do a recap of all Stewy quotes, I would.
• Shiv does not believe in Gil’s vision. She considers class war “jejune†and thinks that the half of his voters who would be angered by her presence would stay with him because they “have nowhere else to go.†So what does she believe? The Roys are all slippery about that.
• “Hello to the metropolitan elite. Welcome to real America,†Connor Roy says. A true man of the people. Real America got $3,000 for shooting his dog.
• For some, therapy is a consistent, years-long mental-health process. For Logan, it’s the thing that’s in the old chapel on the ranch: “This way for the therapy!â€
• Alon diving headfirst into the infinity pool is a hilarious way to peace-out of a future therapy session that was never going to happen.
• Connor struggling to find the right metaphor for Willa: “Love is a strange and peculiar affliction. It’s like a virus. So could you please just stay here for a while and maybe you’ll catch it?â€