With the presidential election looming, the Roys are buckling down and figuring out their next power plays. And what better way to do that than host a party on election eve with a room full of the country’s top dogs? So goes the set-up for episode 7. But this is a Roy party, and for the first time ever, Logan (Brian Cox) isn’t there to keep his kids in check. Naturally, things go awry. If you ever thought Succession‘s writing team couldn’t come up with more ways to have their characters absolutely roast each other, think again.
Episode 7 is a hot dish of drama. Incorporating everything from full-blown fights to knockout one-liners, the episode’s emotional range is incredible. You’ll experience second-hand embarrassment, dry heaving, and downright disbelief that the gang actually crossed the lines they did.
Without further ado, here are all the times I wanted to scream, cry, and throw up while watching this week’s Succession. I have never wanted a party to end more in my life.
1. When Matsson walks in during Logan’s moment of silence
Credit: HBO
This should have been our cue that the party would be a disaster.
Kendall (Jeremy Strong) decides to kick the evening off with a toast celebrating the upcoming election while honoring his late father. He asks the group for a moment of silence to remember Logan, but here comes Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) in a golden train wreck of a jacket, barging in with his team and slicing through the silence with his surprise presence.
The full-body cringe of this moment is multifaceted. On the one hand, no one thought Matsson would actually come to the party (he RSVP’d “yes” only minutes before). On the other hand, it perfectly reflects all the ways Matsson has disrespected the Roys and how he continues to take a metaphorical dump on the entire family any chance he can.
It’s poetry. It’s dramatic timing at its absolute best. In the wise words of Jeremy Strong, “I thought it made sense dramaturgically.” A 10/10 scream-worthy, please-get-me-out-of-this-room moment.
2. Whenever Matsson speaks to Ebba
Credit: Graeme Hunter / HBO
I need Matsson to be at least 10 feet away from Ebba (Eili Harboe) at all times. Not only has this man endlessly harassed her, including sending her actual bricks of his blood, but he has the audacity to publicly make fun of her. From his whole shtick of having a comms executive who doesn’t like mingling with people at parties to him and Oskar (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) fake-firing her for not laughing at their jokes in front of everyone, I was riddled with repulsion and wanted to throw up repeatedly. Matsson’s never beating the red-flag allegations.
3. When Kendall and Roman cosplay as the vultures from Snow White
Do you remember the two creepy vultures circling around Snow White in the 1937 film? If not, don’t worry, because Kendall and Roman (Kieran Culkin) are here to jog your memory. Like the hungry, flesh-eating beasts in the animated flick, Kendall and Roman go full scavenger mode when approaching Ebba on a balcony to get dirt on Matsson. The two burst from the shadows and corner her, eager to validate the rumors that Matsson’s been harassing her and desperate to find out any new tea they can use against him.
While Kendall and Roman have always been comfortable exploiting people’s trauma (or scandalous secrets) for their benefit, it was jarring to watch them turn Ebba into their token in real time. The added realization of just how much they’d juice what happened to her makes the entire interaction even cringier. “Fuck the patriarchy,” as Kendall Roy once famously, very questionably, declared.
4. When Gerri ends Roman with a single line
Credit: Macall B. Polay / HBO
“First of all, I want money: eye-watering sums, hundreds of millions of dollars.” Yes, Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron).
“I have retained personal reputation management; they will be on the line when Karolina does her background briefings off a set of my bullet points.” OK, Gerri.
“And if I ever get a whiff of anything undermining my narrative, anytime in the next five years, I will sue, and I will go public with the many, many, many pictures of your genitalia that I have in my possession.” YES, Gerri!!
Roman tries to make amends with Gerri after firing her in episode 6, but she is having none of it. Even if it was a “fake” layoff, it was still incredibly insulting, particularly to someone like Gerri, who’s done her absolute best for the company. Gerri’s threat to Roman is astounding, but she adds even more salt to the wound by ending it with “I could have got you there, but nope,” referring to Roman’s secret dream of being CEO. Gerri supremacy forever.
5. When Matsson and Kendall bicker with everyone watching
Kendall and Matsson get into this weird argument disguised as casual conversation. It starts with Matsson declaring New York a has-been city (our babygirl is a native New Yorker and does not take kindly to this statement) and ends with Kendall calling Matsson homophobic, with a pit stop in the middle where they both lie about their company’s numbers. It’s something straight out of Mean Girls.
The tension is painfully awkward, with Kendall and Matsson bickering in the cringiest alpha male face-off ever as everyone at the party looks on. Where is the decorum? What happened to healthy conversation? I have never wanted a scene to end so badly. As Shiv (Sarah Snook) succinctly puts it: “The fuck? Bit of a show.”
6. When Roman destroys Connor
Credit: Macall B. Polay / HBO
“Everyone in this room thinks you’re a fucking joke.” Ouch, Roman, ouch.
While the Roys have notoriously ripped each other to shreds in the past, Roman’s outburst at the party feels like new territory. He roasts Connor’s (Alan Ruck) entire existence in less than a minute, leaving no part of his elder unscorched. Meanwhile, Connor’s spent the last five episodes telling his siblings how unloved he feels.
Roman’s diatribe gets even worse when he insinuates that Willa (Justine Lupe) isn’t really Connor’s wife, that Connor’s dreams will never amount to anything, and that they’re both better off “packing a fucking bag” and moving to Oman. Kendall has to step in and calm him down. Of course, Matsson is chilling close by, watching this entire fiasco unfold with Scandinavian bemusement. The sheer secondhand embarrassment made me squirm in my seat.
7. When Tom and Shiv yell at each for 10 minutes straight
Credit: Claudette Barius / HBO
With the party’s tension at an all-time high and rumors circulating about Tom getting fired, the pair step onto the balcony for some privacy. Tom and Shiv’s explosive fight sees them hashing out everything, from Tom’s betrayal in Season 3 to Shiv never loving him, to them both admitting that maybe they should have never gotten married.
Then Tom drops the ultimate bomb and says Shiv isn’t fit to be a mother and he’s glad they never had kids. The silence is deafening. We all know Shiv is pregnant. We all know she already doubts her maternal skills, and here’s her husband (and most likely the baby’s father) screaming that she shouldn’t be a mom. I have never been more uncomfortable yet entranced by a scene in Succession. Tom and Shiv’s fight made me want to cry, scream, and throw up all at the same time. I’m beginning to feel like a child of divorce.
Succession is now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes airing at 9 p.m. ET Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
