{"id":394,"date":"2021-10-24T06:21:08","date_gmt":"2021-10-24T06:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/?p=394"},"modified":"2026-08-14T03:29:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T03:29:19","slug":"succession-s3e2-war-is-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/?p=394","title":{"rendered":"Succession S3E2 -War is Coming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The following contains spoilers to\u00a0Succession<\/strong> S3E2, \u201cMass in Time of War\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Succession<\/em>\u00a0S3E2, entitled \u201cMass in Time of War\u201d, was everything I love about this series. Some of the sharpest dialogue on television (or film). Some of the most clever one-liners and hilarious setups I\u2019ve seen anywhere. Family dynamics on full display, years of scar tissue and emotional abuse there for us to observe and dissect. And through all of the laughs and hi-jinx, there\u2019s this dramatic tension, this game being played on a larger level with very high stakes. As always, we\u2019re about to get into heavy spoiler territory, so if you need a refresher on last week, you can click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and if you haven\u2019t seen\u00a0Succession<\/em>\u00a0S3E2, you\u2019ve been warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a Family Thing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Succession<\/em>\u00a0S3E2 was built around a rare union of the Roy siblings, Connor included, without the presence of their father.\u00a0Succession<\/em>\u00a0wisely refrains from having all of the siblings alone together too often, treating it as an event of a certain importance. We learned here that Kendall had approached Shiv, Roman and Connor each to come, although they each had their own motives for accepting his invitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendall gave his siblings his best pitch to join him and take on their father. That this revolution, led by the adult Roy children, could represent a fundamental change in how the company operates. That they could reject their father\u2019s selfish and corrupt business practices and lead a company free of the toxicity that has plagued them for as long as any of them could remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Season 2 of Succession<\/em> especially had a ripped from the headlines feel and this conversation very much spoke to the way people are currently debating big business as a whole and what those business are doing \/ can get away with. There\u2019s a desire from some to hold businesses more accountable and to clean up a culture of greed and corruption. Kendall was speaking to those conversations here. Whether or not he wanted to be a true advocate for change or if this position is one he thinks would be advantageous is unclear, but given who these people are, it\u2019s likely the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Kill Dad or Not to Kill Dad<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While Kendall was obviously all onboard with taking their father out, his siblings spent the episode trying to determine what the best move for them individually was. Shiv and Roman sought out the advice of those they trust the most\u2014Shiv called Tom and Roman called Gerri. At various points in Succession<\/em>\u00a0S3E2, we saw them both come to the realization that if they listened to Kendall and banded together, they could take their father out. Kendall\u2019s plan was solid but required unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is what makes Shiv, Roman and Connor\u2019s decisions to not join Kendall so interesting. On the surface, it seemed for Shiv that her reasoning for not joining her brother is the realization that she wouldn\u2019t be in a position to inherit power. Joining Kendall means a lifetime of playing second in command. Siding with her father means she can play the waiting game and position herself to be waiting in the wings when Logan does crumble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Roman, it was more complicated. Gerri got to him during their phone call. I wrote extensively\u00a0last season<\/a>\u00a0about how Gerri is the only person Roman trusts, as a result of having absentee parents his whole life. Gerri is this mother-like figure to him, the one person who hasn\u2019t led him astray and genuinely seems to care about him. When Gerri pleaded with him to stay with her, that more than anything, was Roman\u2019s reason for rejecting his brother\u2019s proposition to him. His instincts told him to trust Gerri above any loyalty to any member of his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connor, the eldest child and the one who has suffered the most at the hands of Logan, simply doesn\u2019t want to be involved in something this dramatic. Is there a part of him that still wants to earn his father\u2019s approval? Absolutely. For Connor, he knows he\u2019s always the sidelines sibling, the one who will only ever get what\u2019s given to him. And for him, what he wants most is to win his father\u2019s love and affection. The only way to get that perhaps, is to not participate in the ending of his father\u2019s career and remain in his comfortable, if not frustrating role on the sidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Then There Was Greg<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cousin Greg continues to occupy this role on the show where his awkwardness makes for some of the best comedy, yet he continues to drive the narrative forward. He\u2019s much more than comic relief, even if he is hysterical. That strength of character writing is one of many examples why\u00a0Succession<\/em>\u00a0is, to me, television\u2019s best show today. Succession<\/em>\u00a0S3E2 sees Greg crumbling under pressure and his own paranoia. Tom continues to torment Greg, in one of the most complex relationships on the show. Deep down, I do think Tom cares for Greg and is probably even protective over him to some extent, but Tom is swimming with the sharks, his wife Shiv included, and that means all bets are off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greg leaves Kendall\u2019s makeshift war room at his ex-wife\u2019s home to return to his apartment in an effort to regroup. He brings an attractive woman home with him, who we learned is in her first semester of law school. Greg asking this new law student questions about his potential legal jeopardy was funny enough in of itself, but when a corporate lawyer arrives and spooks Greg even more, he cranks up his requests for advice from her. \u201cI dunno, I can text my professor if you want\u201d was a line that could\u2019ve been played much more over the top in a lesser show, but here it was done in a natural and subtle manner, seeming genuine and not sarcastic at all, which made the reality of Greg\u2019s situation so much funnier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, Greg would turn for help in Succession<\/em>\u00a0S3E2, from his grandfather Ewan, played by the formidable James Cromwell. Cromwell brings such a strong presence to the role, where you believe he\u2019s the one person who can truly take on Logan Roy, his estranged brother. And take on Logan is exactly what he plans to do. Ewan does offer to help his grandson, setting him up with a lawyer who is every bit as anti-capitalist as he is. The obvious implication here is that Ewan is coming for his brother, but I don\u2019t think this is good news for Kendall or Greg either. If Ewan is sending in a lawyer to dig up dirt on Logan to weaken him, it\u2019s inevitable that Kendall will get caught up in this too. This episode went out of its way to tell us that Kendall always knew where the bodies were buried and doesn\u2019t have the plausible deniability that his younger siblings do. If Logan goes down legally, there\u2019s a good chance he\u2019s taking Kendall with him. While Greg\u2019s hands aren\u2019t as dirty as others, his grandfather would certainly sacrifice him to take down his brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Returning in Succession<\/em>\u00a0S3E2 was Logan\u2019s estranged wife, Marsha. I\u2019ve always been a fan of the character and was hoping that the humiliation she suffered last season\u2014watching her husband\u2019s public affair with Rhea\u2014wouldn\u2019t be the end for her. At last, she is back, as part of a PR ploy to show Logan happily with his wife. Only his wife had a list of demands that all had to be met for her to play the role of happy wife on a public stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do think that Marsha\u2019s return, even if it was bought and paid for, emboldened Logan to some extent. Previous seasons have showed that he loves her, even if he doesn\u2019t always respect her. Then again, he doesn\u2019t respect anyone. I\u2019m not sure if I see Marsha playing a role in his potential downfall. I think she\u2019s gotten what she wants out of this deal and she doesn\u2019t like his kids, so I don\u2019t assume she\u2019ll be a threat to Logan. Logan did gain a certain sense of confidence after she returned, leading to their return to NYC and confrontations to come on the home turf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon their arrival to New York, Roman greeted his father while Shiv coldly waited in the car. Logan snubbed Gerri who attempted to greet him as he got off the plane. She is his new CEO, mind you. When Logan got in the car, he could tell Shiv wasn\u2019t happy with her and he did what he always does with her: Tells her that she\u2019s really the next in line and here in this instance, that Gerri is merely in place to take the fall. Is he telling the truth? It\u2019s hard to say. I could easily see him setting Gerri up as a fall woman but at the same time, how many times have we seen him lie to Shiv\u2019s face, promising her the big job when its time for him to go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Succession<\/em>\u00a0S3E2 seemed to draw some battle lines. I do think Shiv, as hurt as her feelings might be, is going to back her dad until the very end. To her, waiting in line behind him seems to be her most clear path to the top. Roman, despite all of his mentions in this episode about not wanting to take his father down, is going to be the one to identify the plot to take down Gerri and firmly side himself with her in this power struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendall has unforeseen troubles on the horizon with Ewan, but I\u2019ll take that a step further: his old pal Stewey wants a measure of revenge. At some point this season, Stewey is going to be a major problem for Kendall and might even be what prevents him from winning this war. Stewey represents the outsiders here, the small glimmer of hope that this company can be taken from the Roy family, and what an interesting twist that would be, if Stewey makes a major play this season amongst all the infighting to take the Roys out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next week, the war is on back at home and all of the players are back in one place. What do you think happens next?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following contains spoilers to\u00a0Succession S3E2, \u201cMass in Time of War\u201d Succession\u00a0S3E2, entitled \u201cMass in Time of War\u201d, was everything I love about this series. Some of the sharpest dialogue on television (or film). Some of the most clever one-liners and hilarious setups I\u2019ve seen anywhere. Family dynamics on full display, years of scar tissue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[283],"tags":[27,17,25,26,294],"class_list":["post-394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tv-recaps","tag-brian-cox","tag-hbo","tag-jeremy-strong","tag-kieran-culkin","tag-succession"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=394"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions\/396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}