Succession season 3 episode 7 recap: honesty is such a lonely word

What makes a good party? Good music. Big company. The host hanging from a crucifix singing Billy Joel. Succession season 3, episode 7 is aptly named Too Much Birthday, as we are cordially invited to a celebration of Kendall’s 40th birthday.

Season 3, Episode 7: Too Much Birthday, now airing on HBO Max. Spoilers ahead!

It shouldn’t feel like an idiot’s birthday party

The episode begins with Kendall on the mic, but if you were expecting a rerun of L for the OG, you will be very disappointed. Instead he plans to hum Billy Joel Honesty (“Everyone is so fake / Honesty is almost never heard”), which is actually a vulnerable and genuine feeling. Except that he plans to follow up on being hoisted on a crucifix to emphasize that he is a great and unjustly persecuted guy. It’s another example of his annoying habit of saying how he really feels and then claiming irony (see also the cruel moment with Greg).

The whole party, in fact, is the best example of showing what you are feeling but trying to pass it off as an irony. The vaginal entry, the tree house, his crushing disappointment at the loss of a handmade gift from his children while his girlfriend couldn’t think of anything more personal than a watch – he’s telling the world that he’s just a boy, that long for a little love.

Logan, meanwhile, is barely in this episode. But it still looks big, ruining Kendall’s birthday with just five words scrawled on a tacky greeting card. It’s hard to know what would be considered the biggest slap in the face for a super rich person: an insultingly low offer or being offered enough to make you a double billionaire. What a problem to have, huh? As much as it is possible to sympathize with Kendall as a descendant of a monster and a toxic environment, he is still an idiot with the forgetfulness of wealth (paying the actors to be nice to everyone and sending Comfrey for the A-team lunch boxes, Springsteen and a jetpack).

One question: When will your father die?

Wow, Lucas Mattson is in full swing, doesn’t he? The weird tech CEO behind the GoJo streaming platform is the target of Roman and Shiv infiltrating their brother’s birthday, despite what Logan thinks of Mattson (talks about the pot calling the kettle a prick) . As played by Alexander SkarsgardThe Odin of scrambling may only be interested in three Ps, but a different pee closes the deal when it unleashes a stream of its own on WayStar’s streaming service. Unbelievably, Roman turns out to be the right man for the job, at least when the job involves making a deal between weirdos. They shake without washing their hands, of course, because it is a dirty business.

The WayStar Two reassembles

Tom begins the episode by sliding prisons like a kind of prison Tinder. But then comes the good news that no one will go to jail. Champagne corks explode with his wife, his family, and the company’s top brass, but when he wants to show his true self, he sneaks out to Greg’s hideout to feel an explosion of excitement spin his desk. But Tom is soon reminded that in this world, joy is simply not a lasting emotion. He takes the wrong drugs in the wrong order – that’s a metaphor if there ever was one – and ends his lucky day by lashing out at his best friend and rejected by his wife.

On the bright side, Logan gave him the nod that the big man will remember Tom’s willingness to take the blame. But that could change if the photo Kendall took at their meeting ever comes to light.

Emperor’s New Clothes

The Roy family has no style. The creators of the show put a lot of thought into creating a kind of super rich sweetness to the stages and clothes, exemplified by those hideous blank baseball caps insist on wearing. Shiv’s earth-toned trouser suits and Roman’s stylish dark shirts in the boardroom are as over the top as can be. It is not lack of taste, plus one absence taste.

But tonight the Roy family is demonstrating. At that point we learn that they actually have terrible taste. Shiv’s dress is fine, but the boys’ going out outfits are nothing to write home about. Look at Kendall in her turtleneck and ugly trainers, no doubt all insanely expensive. And is that a locket?

Let it slip away

“Congratulations, Dad. You’ve done it again,” Shiv offered, and even this ruthless recent version of Shiv can’t hide her frustration. It’s not just about Logan getting his way, it’s the corrupt elite doing what they do best: lying and buying their way out of trouble. The myth of a few bad apples continues to cover up not only the horrible abuse but also the system that facilitates and hides it.

This is depressingly real. But it also adds to the feeling that not much has happened this Succession season. Sure, the Roys elected a president, but it all happens in low-key discussions in rooms and hotels. This season was being built on huge twin calculations, investigation, and shareholder revolt. But both apocalypses are gone, ground under the boot heel of Logan’s corruption. There are two more episodes left, but it seems we’re still at the same point we started at.

Still, hopefully the maneuvers that have taken place are setting things up for some juicy showdowns in the final installments. Judging by the title of the next episode, Chiantishire, we are heading to Britain for that unexpected family wedding.

Season 3, Episode 8: Chiantishire, will air next Sunday, December 5.

Successive thoughts

• Kendall realizes that her crucifix plan sucks to the chords of LCD Soundsystem’s New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.
• With his busted newspapers attacking his brothers, Kendall demonstrates how the rich are capable of executing the silly ideas that most people think and then forget.
• The patriarchy gives Shiv another kick in the teeth. “All the men got together at the men’s club and we decided, honey, that everyone is fine.”
• Tom on Greg and Comfrey: “Like a haunted scarecrow asking Jackie Onassis out.”