[S3E1] It's You [UPD]

Look, Jensen Ackles probably has chemistry with my laundry room door, so it's no surprise that he fits in flawlessly on this show which relies a lot on the chemistry between the women. They are the biggest draw and introducing someone who could disrupt that connection would have been a death sentence.

[S3E1] It's You

If by "moral ruin" we mean "ethical nihilism," or, say, "hell," then it's safe to say that all the Roys and many of their associates are well on the way. But how quickly are they traveling? Let's look at the major players in order.

A question: Is Logan actually trying to pick the new CEO when he comes up with "it's Roman or Shiv, but it's also Shiv or Gerri, and it's also Roman or Gerri," or does he just enjoy tying everybody into knots and watching what happens? One of the things they leave the most opaque on Succession is what Logan is actually feeling, since he's naturally deceitful and there's almost nobody to whom he tells the truth. (This is why people speculated at the end of last season that maybe he wanted Kendall to hold that press conference. You can project onto Logan pretty much endlessly.)

I love the way they use the suspense that's built up for the last two years about what's going to follow the events of the Season 2 finale, because when you see Kendall slide down into the bathtub and you see that Karolina is still with him, it's like, "Hmm, is Kendall falling apart? Is Karolina going to steer this back to normalcy?" NOPE! Because what you get when Kendall emerges from the bathroom is the return of Season 1 Kendall, before the whole ugly Schmappaquiddick situation. Back when he was trying to unseat his father the first time, back when he was trying to throw his weight around with Lawrence about Vaulter, back when he was trying to plot with Sandy and Stewy.

But now, it's like it's worse. The way Kendall goes to Rava's and takes over is bad enough, and then he talks over the women he hires to work on crisis PR, refusing to listen to anything they have to say, refusing to let them do their jobs. This is around the time when I thought: oh, among other things, Kendall is extremely high. He is Less Than Zero high. He is Ellis-in-Die-Hard high. Basically all the time.

Roman, however, inadvertently removes himself from the running by trying to hedge his bets: If it's not him, he thinks it should be Gerri. Logan doesn't permit anyone to have doubts about their own entitlement to power, so he instantly disqualifies Roman. Perhaps Roman is the one who, as Logan put it to Kendall in the Season 2 finale, is not a killer.

Karl, Hugo and Frank would like to believe that they are not really of the Roy family; they are merely working for a company. But every time, the veil slips a little and Karl and Frank, in particular, end up tussling over scraps that Logan will never, never give them, as if they are locked in an eternal round of Boar on the Floor with a never-ending supply of sausages. (The reference to the long plane ride in which Logan hired and fired and promoted and demoted various members of the team brings to mind a vision of pandemonium and groveling it's hard not to enjoy.)

Rava's sympathy for Kendall, and her desire that her children's father might one day get himself together, has always been very poignant to me, and you can see the last bits of it withering here. Kendall's insistence that he did the whole press conference for her and their kids, and his desire for her to watch the whole thing and be in awe of him, clearly make her want to throw up. And then Naomi drinks her prized wine, which is the final insult. But there's no point in arguing with your very high ex's very high girlfriend, so it's fine: "It's like when someone breaks something beautiful and it reminds you that nothing lasts," she says. HA HA HA HA. Oh, Rava.

Nancy delivers food to the Hawkins Post workers and suggests to the all-male writers that they run a story on the mall outcompeting local businesses, but is laughed off. Dustin shows his most complicated camp invention to his friends, a powerful radio tower dubbed "Cerebro". He claims its primary purpose is to talk to his long-distance girlfriend Suzie, this revelation shocking his friends, and they leave to go set it up and talk to her. Steve, forced to work at the ice cream shop by his father after not getting into college, fails to secure a date with a female customer, and this is tallied by his sarcastic coworker Robin Buckley on a board that tracks his repeated, failed attempts at flirtation. He removes the company outfit's hat and tries again to flirt, failing again. Hopper writes a speech for Mike and Eleven with Joyce's help, and he asks her out on a date, which she politely declines.

The episode opens with the sound of hammering. (Like the Mandalorian warriors themselves, their beskar armor is forged in fire and repeatedly beaten.) Their leader, the Armorer, builds a new helmet in a fetching shade of turquoise, and it's carried onto a beach where a youngster feels the sun on their face for the final time.

Prax is pretty much the only one on the Roci still talking to Naomi, so they bond a bit over what they should name the transponder. Prax suggests "Contorta," since it's a pine that can only survive by dying with fire. Naomi seems to take some small comfort in that.

Theo retrieves the comm logs, and Cotyar hustles the group to find this racing ship. They find it, but the bad news is it's a two-seater. And they can't even get to it with the doors locked, which they will remain as long as the ship is at full burn. Draper heads off to handle it. 041b061a72