I’ve been thinking a lot this week about the differences between “Succession” Season 2 — one of the most thrilling and funny TV seasons of recent years — and Season 3, which has been just as intensely dramatic and absorbing but overall not as much of an out-and-out pleasure.
But in the best Season 3 episodes — “Mass in Time of War,” “Too Much Birthday” and now this week’s finale, “All the Bells Say” — Kendall, Shiv, Roman and even Connor have spent time in the same space, talking out their problems in person.
Yes, Kendall survived passing out facedown in the swimming pool after what he insists was “one too many limoncellos.” Comfrey fished him out and got him medical help.
The “intervention” scene between Kendall and his brothers and sister is the second indication that this episode is going to be something special.
Connor is genuinely upset that no one has bothered to keep him looped in on the GoJo deal — “Matsson wants to de-platform guys like me,” he grumbles — and also that no one has congratulated him for proposing to Willa.
Connor hips Shiv and Roman to the possibility that Logan might be taking an herbal supplement to boost his sperm count, in hopes of fathering a child that could replace all of them.
But it’s hard to argue with the results in this episode, as Kendall confesses to Shiv and Roman that he is responsible for a young man drowning.
The siblings try to shrug it off, and then to make him feel better about what happened to the dead kid.
Brian Cox is terrific in this scene , as he delivers a mini-soliloquy about coming to America for the first time and tussling with all the great business giants who smelled of “gold and milk.” He can’t pretend that he’s as excited about the future as he was about his past.
When Logan sends Roman away so that he and Matsson can talk more in private, that’s a red flag that Roman initially chooses to ignore — perhaps because he’s confident that Matsson will keep him around even if GoJo buys Waystar.
And then: the sucker punch, as Shiv discovers that maybe her glib toast at her mother’s wedding and her dismissal of Tom’s employer ATN as “the bigot spigot” might have consequences.
But by the end of the episode — and the season — they learn that cheating only works if everyone agrees on the rules in the first place.