It is horrific that the seesawing of the United States government toward fascism in the end came down to the business desires, petty family grievances, and ignorance of the Roy family. Jeryd Mencken barely wins the presidency due to ATM’s management-mandated calls of Wisconsin and Arizona for the hard-right Republican.
Everyone in this family had a part to play in this election:
Roman, who once seemed to have a flicker of conscience for what a Mencken presidency would do to the American people, goes all-in on the candidate since Mencken had promised he would use the government’s regulatory powers to disrupt the Waystar–GoJo deal. More than just a business deal, this is personal—Rome’s grief over his father’s death combines with his desire to both one-up and please Logan to take the side of the right wing. In his arguing with Shiv over whether Menken supporters or “antifa” set the fire at the Milwaukee polling place, there is also a distinct sense of sibling rivalry, that the two are just being contrary like they were as children. It’s more explicit with Ken, as Roman whines that they always had chicken growing up because Ken wanted chicken for dinner, while Roman never got the steak he wanted. The fate of America turned on these grievances.
Siobhan, a Jimenez supporter, is genuinely horrified by the prospect of Mencken’s win, but the personal mixes with her actions, too. At Ken’s urging, she calls Jimenez’s people to try to get them to scotch the deal in exchange for ATN’s calls in the Democrat’s favor. But Shiv also wants to get back at her brothers for freezing her out, so the call is a fake one, her need to get back at her brothers and get in good with Matsson outweighing her concerns for the country. It backfires badly on her when Ken finds out and calls her a “piece of dirt.” (God, that quick flash of anguish when she realizes Ken knows she faked the call and there’s no coming back from betraying her family—engrave Sarah Snook’s Emmy now.)
Kendall seems genuinely torn between his desire for Mencken to win and screw Matsson, and his desire to do what’s best for the country. That scene when he was discussing the larger implications of the election with Shiv showed just a little crack in Ken’s armor to his humanity. His conscience is so close to telling him the world-altering moves he and his siblings are making will have real effects on people like his daughter. Then he finds out his sister betrayed him, and a different kind of personal feeling gets in the way, and he’s all in for Mencken.
Greg plays a part, too. He bumbled into having a drink with Matsson and learning he’s talking to Shiv. She threatens him, which motivates him to betray her and tell Ken what’s really going on.
Connor had a more amusing role with his 1% share of the voters, but it’s not unthinkable that he may have skewed the electoral votes. It’s funny and very depressing that a man who can afford to throw around $100 million for a vanity presidential campaign is also deluded enough to think he’ll be having “breakfast in Dubrovnik” as part of the new administration.
Tom, of course, is the one who made the call for Wisconsin and Arizona, after a cocaine-fueled meltdown over the dysfunctional touch screen and the immense pressure of making the call. The personal plays a part for him, too—the news of Shiv’s pregnancy probably influenced him toward calling the election for the Republican to get back at his Democratic wife. “Is this just another play?” he asks her about the pregnancy. These people also don’t know what they’re doing. Tom has no experience in election coverage whatsoever and was picked to run ATM in return for favors to the boss. None of the Roys also seem to know that much about election laws, and are powerful enough to hand-wave away what they see as minor concerns, like absentee ballots and recounts.
Logan is gone but still played a part—he hand-picked Mencken to run for president. This is how these people see the world: they have the power and the privilege to make literally world-altering decisions to serve their bottom line, with no concern for the rest of us. The reality belies the episode title “America Decides”—powerful people like the Roys are the ones who decide for America. It would play more as an amusing farce if we didn’t already live through election night 2016. (My eye started twitching when someone said “There goes the blue wall.”) By the way, is this taking place in 2020 or 2024?
This episode wasn’t entirely dark and there were a few moments of levity to be found, like that pollster getting wasabi in his eye, a sting exacerbated by Greg using lemon LaCroix as eye wash. “It’s not that lemony! It’s just a hint of lemon,” Greg defends himself, but it doesn’t seem comforting to the poor guy. Connor’s concession speech was funny, with him vilifying “that woman,” his VP who dropped out. It was a tantalizing little glimpse of a story you wish you’d heard in full.
Other than the brief flashes of humor, this episode of Succession was pure nihilism.
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