HBO Max original series Succession ,season four episode two entitled “Rehearsal,” starts with Sarah Snook’s Shiv Roy as she talks with a woman that is offering a separate deal. From what the viewer sees, it can be considered a shady deal that may pay well, or it could end their company before it begins. The interesting part about this is how she only considers the deal due to her wanting to get back at her father. Deep down she feels betrayed by him as he helped her soon-to-be ex-husband get a great lawyer for their divorce. That is why she tries to bring it up with her siblings. Unfortunately, none of them are interested in the deal as they see it as getting greedy.
Additionally, the viewer sees, Brian Cox’s Logan Roy as he tries to show his employees that he is still in control. This is a result of how his kids ended up taking a deal away from them. In his mind, he knows that everyone has already heard about his kids taking his deal. Which is why he believes that with a powerful speech he will show his control. It can be assumed that the show he makes is in fact a power move for him. He wants to keep the power that he has held for years as the boss. This can be related to how he is of an old generation where men are supposed to be the ones in power. On occasion it would not bother him as he is a businessman and to him it is just business. However, this time it is different. It was not some one businessperson, it was his own kids. Deep down he will never admit that having his kids take his deal cut him deep to the core. For him it would mean that he is getting old and soon he will be replaced as well as forgotten.
At the end of the episode, Shiv and her siblings have a heart-to-talk with their father. It is here that the viewer sees, the different emotions that each sibling deals with. They all have been hurt by him in one way or another. Some of them have hate for the neglect growing up and even now that they are adults. Some have the need for his love as in their minds, they see that his company is the only thing he ever cared about since he spent more time there than with them. It can be assumed by the viewer that he only wants to talk to them because they may ruin a deal. In his mind, he does love his kids, it is just that his pride is what prevents him from expressing himself fully. Unfortunately, as things don’t go well, he once again lashes out at them which causes him to have more self-hatred. The surprising part about this is how he actually confirms what most of them always assumed. He does love them, however; he does not take them seriously, as he believes he knows more than they do when it comes to the deal.
Rating: 8.5/10