The Prestige TV Podcast - ‘Succession’ Season 4, Episode 5 Precap

Episode Date: April 21, 2023

Chris and Wos begin their conversation by dissecting the siblings' state of mind in the wake of Logan’s untimely death and Marcia’s icy return to the dramatic fold. After the break, they discuss the day-by-day time layout of the season, their favorite scenes from Episode 4, and the ‘Succession’-like scandals currently surrounding Fox News and Rupert Murdoch (14:00). Finally, they share what they’re looking out for in Episode 5 (20:34). Hosts: Chris Ryan and Wosny Lambre Producers: Chris Sutton and Kaya McMullen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You can listen to This Blue Up on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, and welcome to the Press TV. TV podcast. It's the Succession Precap with Big Waz and Chris Ryan and Marsha's back. Godzilla. My goodness. Oh, was, man. We got a good one to talk about in terms of, we'll talk a little bit about four. We'll get a little bit excited about five. It was, you know, every one of these episodes is a family reunion. They, unlike any show in the TV landscape, Succession does not skimp on episodic appearance fees. So if you're on Succession,

You're going to somehow be in every episode. I love that. And they found just about everybody damn near except for Logan to pop up in this one. What did you think of the episode? Again, another excellent episode. I think, as always, the show is constantly telling us what the show is about, what direction the show is going to go. Because I'm a devoted watch listener, I heard you talking to Andy and say that, yeah, I don't

need any more resets. I don't need any of the kids to go. back on what they're doing. I think they're setting it up to be like, it's basically a war of the Seven Kings. Everybody's going to have their fake-ass claim to this throne. Yeah. And the knives are, they're going to be coming out in short order, it feels like. Yeah. I mean, I think that the more I think about it, the less I think Shiv is fine with the way it's got. I mean, it's not like, I don't I think Shiv is going to take a six to eight months sabbatical from angling for power here. And it's like the question that's at the center of this show,

and I think especially louder now that Logan's gone, is like, what are they, what do they want? What do these kids want? I think it's obvious. It's just naked, power and influence. Because when Shiv is like about to throw up, because she's in theory again letting her two brothers, Roman and Ken be the sort of co-CEOs of this thing

And she almost throws up Because these guys are going to be the interim CEOs of this thing In what is ostensibly allegedly supposed to be a name only Right? Like for the time being like obviously she's super involved And they're supposed to lean on her You could see her physically reacting Immediately when

And I know we're going to talk about the scene with the C-suite cowboys, when Ken was like, oh, my name, it's right there. Look, it says Ken right there. Yeah. Like her face is immediately, she starts to be like,

okay, so, yeah, whatever. When she says, like, it feels like you have a heart on right now. You know, like, she definitely is like, you need to seem less desperate about this. Yeah, it's the desperation, but it's also just the naked ambition, right?

And part of it, And maybe this is me projecting onto Shiv, even though I think that's our jobs here. It feels like the reason she's downplaying it is because she doesn't have that kind of chip to play. She knows that it's ridiculous, but she also understands that if she were the one wearing the shoe, if the shoe was on her foot,

she would be doing the exact same thing. And that's why it's irritating her that Kendall keeps pointing to his name being on this paper, even though everybody explains and understands that it doesn't mean anything. It's not legally binding. It doesn't matter. It has no standing, which I think it's interesting why it's even introduced in the first place. The piece of paper is interesting.

The amount of credence, the siblings seem to lend the piece of paper is interesting. The fact that Kendall says to her, it sure's fucking shit doesn't say shiv. Oh, which is one of the best lines of the season so far. That cut you deep, boy. And obviously there's this moment where the C-suite folks, which we'll talk about, are like, well, we're ready to flush this down the toilet. You know what I mean? But I think that ultimately, so much of this show is also about theater.

And I've thought a lot about, like, what are these, what is, like, Waystar maker? What does ATN do? And obviously there's, like, all these Fox parallels. But I don't think that these people want to do anything. I don't think that they are very serious about like reinventing the media. Oh no. They don't want to make anything or work on anything or change anything or revolutionize anything or even reap the benefits from an idea that they had.

And that's why because of this like this death is the greatest opportunity that any of them are ever going to have in their lives. Yeah. And I think that's why Kendall is acting in the way that he does. His dad is no longer there to sabotage him. Yeah. And he's sort of trying to seize the moment. But whenever it's there explaining the things, whenever he talks about what he wants to do.

Yeah, me and the Sibs got, you know, we got these things cooking. What are these things? Right. Buying one magazine and newspaper empire and merging it with a conservative television network. It's like your startup situation, you guys do that, flung that into the toilet. Yeah. The second that you can, there is no thing. You guys have nothing cooking.

There is no grounding idea or. basis or unifying vision of what they want to do going forward. But he keeps saying that. And we know as an audience that it's not true. Yes. And then, you know, it'd be one thing if it wasn't true that they had, you know, some grand plan to, you know, start the next ringer. Sure.

Yeah. Like, you know, let's just say. I can definitely see Kendall being like sports, pop culture, the nexus between the two. Audio, video, online. Right. Because I'm talking to somebody who's been in that type of war room before. Let's just say they didn't even have all of that. But they had a sort of pact that they were going to do this together, see it through together, whatever this may become.

We know that that's not the case. They're already fractured. There is no more unity in what they're doing. It's obvious that Shiv is not on board with this, not in the slightest. And then, of course, at the end of the episode, where him and Roman decide together, no, we're not going to do that thing in the press where we call our dad senile

and he wasn't really doing much anyway, and it was really us. We're not going to stab our dead father in the back. Together, they come to that decision. And then what does Kendall do immediately ask? He asks unilaterally. So, like, the fissures are already there. Like, these guys are not together.

Yeah, and that can sometimes make the show a little hard to track because you're, basically watching something that where nothing is what it seems. So even these incredibly tender moments of swearing on your father's life essentially, it's just bullshit. It's just all in the moment. It's all subject to change. It's all like the wind could change in any given moment and we could change directions. Let's talk a little bit about some of the people that were around the siblings. Because I do want to get to Schiff's pregnancy and how you think that might affect things going for it, but Marsha comes back

for the first time this season, for the first time in a while and is immediately like obviously governing over this entire thing but is also, you know, quick to tell Kendall, like I was still friends with your father, like your father and I talk about all the time. Right, exactly.

What did you think of her return? It was like the first time I ever watched the Undertaker like come out of a casket and then immediately choke slam a guy. Like it was crazy. She is so, scary and icy. And the way that she can vacillate from pleasant to,

I will literally shove a knife down your throat. I'll kill you. Like her seamlessly, you know, going between those two modes was just, was breathtaking honestly. And the way she just cut Willow down and was like, look at you. Who would have guessed?

Who would have saw this for you? All of those, that time when I first met you, when you were nothing but a prostitute, essentially, is what she's trying to say. That was, and then of course, what she does to carry. That's up there to me with Logan, um, at the end of season one, basically, like Ken, you fucking kill the guy. And I know about it. And I saved you. Now get the hell out of it. And now you're my blood bag.

Exactly. Like, that's up there with that for me because it's just like, No, we packed your little stuff neatly in a bag, and you can get out of here. And then she's like, you know, she's dissing the subway. She's making comments. You can take the cab to the subway to your little apartment. New York City Square footage in apartments.

It was just, she was on 10. Do you think Carrie's the kind of person who would probably go, like, studio, but in the West Village, like, smaller place, better neighborhood? The bangs. Or are we talking, we're talking like she had to go all the way back to Brooklyn? The bangs definitely suggest, obviously, cooler than Gramercy. Uh-huh. Cooler than Union Square.

Not Murray Hill. Not Murray Hill. Absolutely not Bushwick. Yeah, yeah, West Village. I could even see her put... Fidei, maybe? Like a little bit of, like, so-ho. Maybe.

Even Fidei, no, I think it is West Village or East Village. Okay. It's like, we're in an artsier, cooler, way better restaurants than Fidei. Yeah. Way more stuff to do socially as far as culture and that kind of thing. But I imagine it's probably like Carrie just like has that apartment like from years ago, but it's like she's mostly been in and around the Logan Roy. 100%.

100%. She's been spending nights, you know, she has a pair of house slippers over there. She's been doing a thing in that crib. She gets some surprising comfort or attempted comfort from Roman. Is that just mommy issues? Is that just like every time he sees Or is that like I just have a thing for wounded animals And like whenever somebody is like discarded by this family

I feel a little bit sad about it I think it's just It's a legitimately fucked up moment And if you're outside of it You can recognize it like this woman was She was caretaking for my father Yeah You know like the kinds of things somebody would have to do

To be that near to him A man that age Like, you know, there might be times where he couldn't get up to do something. She was probably as well himself. Yeah, exactly. Like, this woman was his caretaker. That's what I took it as. What I think is interesting, though, about that is that Roman and Kendall and Chavon,

they can create an inner sanctum that can become untouchable whenever they so choose. Yes. But he doesn't choose to save her and bring her in. It's just like, oh, she's not going to. come with me, but damn, can she just be out here and not get sliced and diced to death? That's what I think is interesting, where it's just like, I'm not going to actually help you help you by like bringing you in, but damn, it still kind of hurts me to see you fend for yourself. There's a thread through Roman though that I think is like he wants things to be okay.

Like even in that room when they're discussing like the idea of him and Kendall becoming co-ce CEOs. And I don't really know, you know, let's just, we can just tease it out, like what the big difference would be if they were like let's just be C3Os like Shiv, Roman, Ken, the three kids. Do it like Rockefeller. Shane, Jerry's CEO.

He'll do this, she'll do that, he'll do this and we'll shepherd this through. I think it's like a pretty fatal mistake. It's also very good for television to like exclude Shiv, create that tension. But even in that moment, Roman is saying things like this feels really good.

Like this felt good. Like this is like, he just wants like warmth, even though he is the most like gloric, you know, like scabrous dude. He just wants like stability in a way. And maybe that's what he saw for Carrie. He was like, I just want her to be okay. Yeah, it feels like he just wants them to be an actual family, a functioning family within the business. Even if not within actual life itself, like all let's do Easter together with Kendall's kids who have been jettisoned to God knows where.

Yeah, I wonder if we'll get a comeback season for those Kendall's kids. Like, he wants them to feel familiar. What's his wife's name? We're ex-wife's name? Rava? I think so. It's Rava, yeah. I feel like she's like vaguely, like, sort of Middle Eastern.

Rava? Yeah. Maybe. We haven't really spent a ton of time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, he just, it feels like he just wants them to be like a family unit. Like, you know, the three musketeers, the bros, the sis is like, we're doing.

doing this as Sibbs as, you know, Ken keeps stupidly referring to them as. But, you know, there's just too much in the way of that. Snoring, gasping during sleep, feeling fatigue, ask your doctor about Zepbound, terseptite. The first and only FDA-approved prescription medicine for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, OSA, and adults with obesity. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, OSA, and obesity to improve their OSA.

Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection. Zetbound contains terseptitide and should not be used with other terseptite-containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pins or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it, or if you or someone in. your family had medullary thyroid cancer or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop, Zepbound, and call your

doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking Zep bound with a sulfonelioria or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsened kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-99 or visit setbound.lily.com. Have you enjoyed the compression of this season time-wise where like every episode is a day, essentially?

And it's day-to-day. Like, we've essentially gotten four back-to-back days in these episodes. Yeah, because it makes it feel like all of this stuff is super immediately. idiot and therefore the decisions are under insane duress. These people are not operating. They're not sleeping. No, they don't have clear minds. Like, they are being put through the ringer, pardon the pun.

And so, like, I love that aspect of it. It's very high pressure. It's almost like watching a playoff game. Yeah, and I like ascribing certain behaviors or certain instabilities because it's like, do they even know what time zone they're in? You know what I mean? because they've been in California. They basically flew through the night to New York

to have the karaoke situation in Connor's rehearsal and wedding. Their father passes away. Now it's the next day. They've assumed control of the company, but like it's shaky. Now they're at this wake. And I wonder if the season continues to do that. Is that what that was?

Well, I think it was the wake. It was also like a gathering. Yeah. I mean, like I don't know. Everybody who matters, like let's go see the people who are deeply grieving. And this is also a shadow board meeting. Yes. You know, like, it's going to be like Stewie.

Two for one special. Yeah. I said this to Andy, but Stewie being like, what's in it for me was just like my was the absolute home run hit. Yeah, that's, you know, if you pay attention to any kind of internet, like, sort of dialect, you know, that for me, that's like a thing. Yeah. On the internet. So Stewie being tapped into that is... Stuie's definitely paying for his blue check right now.

100. He didn't let it go. 100%. There's this absolutely amazing scene between Frank, Carl, Jerry, and Tom, where they're just hanging out outside. I think Caroline is there too. The fish taco scene. Yeah.

And I have watched that scene like 10 times now. just because not only like Jerry just being like, oh, are you sad, Tom? You're getting your melancholy everywhere. But Carl's like respectfully, this is what other people are going to say about you. I'm just going to tell you as a friend is I feel like we've reached really like a peak pinnacle of like people saying respectfully and then saying the foulish shit after that

or like without any disrespect intended. It's the way that I love how everybody understands. that the person that's hearing them talk knows that they have an agenda. Except Tom always tries to do his earnest Midwesterner thing. Right. Hey guys.

Yeah. Where Carolina's like, well, you know, realistically, Jerry, she did this and she did that. And it's like, you guys know I have an agenda,

but I'm not, I'm going to try, but not too hard to be like super earnest here. Like, I'm not saying this in some unbiased way. I'm clearly in the bag for Jerry here. Like I'm back in the Jerry.

She's like this makes sense. Yeah. The Jerry thing makes sense to me. Yeah. Right? Whereas Tom comes in and he's like, you know, if there's a ring and I throw my hat and it. Yeah.

And everybody's like, Tom. He's playing the social game and Survivor like eight episodes too late. You're so full of shit. Nobody believes that you're this earnest. But you know what? Let's play this game out with you. Let's let's do this right now so we can just put the kibosh on this. and yeah, just just cut them down like 40, 50 pegs.

Obviously, if things keep going as they are, we've got some Scars Guard coming up. We're getting a Scandinavia trip at some point because they're going to have to go kiss the ring and make this deal go through. Are you excited to see Lucas back in the mix? Always excited to see Lucas. Like I said, he just brings a weird ass unpredictable energy

to the show where like with our other characters. Like, so, we know Kendall is going to have a breakdown of some sort. The clock is ticking. At some point. Yeah. We know that Shiv is going to shift people behind the down. It's Draymond on the road in a playoff game.

It's coming at some point. We know what these guys are, these guys and gals are going to do. The C-suite cowboys, like everybody, we kind of know how they're going to operate. Madsen is so unpredictable. Yeah. And so that's what I think is exciting about him.

Is that energy of unpredictability and just like, what does he want? What are his actual motivations? Yeah, I think there's some of this stuff, if I have to be completely honest, is like, it's because it's a TV show. Like, why is you buying this thing? Like, what does it have? Like, are you buying cruise lines? Are you buying theme parks?

Are you buying... What a hell to Disney buy 21st Century Fox? Because they wanted to buy X-Men. You know what I mean? Like, because they wanted to buy, like, the studios and the TV revenue and all that stuff so that they could, but I don't know why, I don't know why Mattson wants to buy ATN. I'm sure we'll find it a little bit more. I wanted to ask you quickly though before we go, how much did you follow the Fox Dominion stuff? I followed it

enough to know that Fox was in trouble. Yeah. So there's been a bunch of like writing about Rupert Murdoch in the surrounding weeks just because he's obviously been in the news a lot with this trial and then it was reported after they settled that Rupert was going to be the second witness called, which it would have just been absolute musty TV. But did you see that Rupert told Jerry Hall that the way he delivered the news that they were going to get a divorce was he was like, Jerry, I'm sorry, I need a divorce. Like my lawyers in New York will be in touch with yours. And it was an email. Sheesh. But it's just like, isn't it funny when you find out like how close to life this actually is? Right.

I'm it's funny but I you know me Chris I'm not surprised I'm not surprised by the depravity of you know our overlords that that never

I'm never surprised by that look I'm not you know Pizza gate yeah you know what I'm saying I sit around thinking that these guys are doing stuff that cartoonish and ghoulish but like no but this is the show itself

is based on like 100% pretty solid anecdotes I don't really have any predictions for next week in terms of where things are going I think the thing that keep an eye closest on is the three to three sims which seems obvious but that is not a stable power sharing agreement. Let's just

walk the people through this they had this the C-suite Cowboys have their sort of powwow and everybody agrees we can't let the kids fuck this up their shitheads to a man they

all are in agreement like okay that can't be an option they find this this document that is of zero import right they're like I mean we should hand it over just because it's but it's not important and yet they share

it with the kids they even bring Greg in on it right and to me and I wrote this down in my little note here I was like that's a thirst trap that piece of paper that piece of paper they know they're going to incite a reaction out of especially Kendall

like he's going to be like oh I'm it's me I'm I'm motherfucking Rupert Burdock He was just five minutes ago he was like Me and my siblings are in a 50 50 50 Nobody's up nobody's down thing And as soon as I see my name on a piece of paper I'm ready to rock

And then that beautiful scene with him and Frank where Frank says to Kendall you're cooking right now you're looking good your life's going great why do you want to get involved in this no he says do you want to get involved in this? Knowing what the answer

is which is to say Kendall you are like it's another way of saying if you get involved in this you know it's going to ruin you that's all he's saying right there and everybody already knows this

and Kendall is diving ahead first into it. And to me, that's just a beautiful sort of divide and conquer tactic. It's like, Kendall's going to go nuts. These kids are going to

start backstabbing each other again. It feels like they did this on purpose. Yeah, I think, I mean, you could make an argument that the reason, first of all, there are no secrets on the show.

Logan dies. It's already getting leaked to the reporters before the plane has even landed. And you can make the argument that the existence of that piece of paper is not going to stay in that room.

Those three are not going to keep that secret. On top of that, if you want to go out to the press and be like, Logan left his last wishes, it was that Kendall Roy take over the company. He's decided to do that with his brother, Roman, with Shiv and consultation. Like, it's a good story to tell. That stuff seems to happen more off-screen, like the decision of why they bring the kids in and say, hey, here's this piece of paper. But I think you also have a really good point there.

It could entirely be to start a feeding frenzy and to start a complete, like, there's no other reason to bring Greg in. where it's like, Greg, you were, yeah, and go and now you go tell the New York Post all about it. Yeah, even you were mentioned, Greg. Like, you know, you're an important or probably most likely not important part of how Logan saw this company going into the future. Like that felt like pure sabotage to me.

Yeah, I think you're right. We can wrap it up there. We got a new episode of succession coming on Sunday. You can listen to recaps of it on the prestige TV pod and on the watch and then me and and was we'll be back with you next week. to Pre-CAPE episode six. Thanks for listening.