A merger appears to be the only way forward. Normally, Logan would respond to such demands with the tried-and-tested “fuck off,” but Waystar has been backed into a corner: If the company misses out on GoJo, it could become the Blockbuster of media companies. Rather than stick to the original terms of the acquisition, Matsson now wants a merger of equals. Matsson understands that GoJo and its assets hold a lot of value-especially for a company like Waystar, which needs a leg up in the Streaming Wars-and that he can get more than the Roys are offering by maximizing his leverage against them. (Like IRL egomaniac Elon Musk, Matsson is apparently prone to tweeting inane things that have actual economic ramifications.) GoJo’s stock is soaring enough that Waystar might not be able to acquire the company at the originally agreed upon price.Īs Roman intuits from meeting with Matsson in person again in this episode, the guy isn’t just dicking around on Twitter. First, let’s add some context for Roman’s latest screwup: Despite having a productive, piss-fueled meeting at Kendall’s tragicomic birthday party, GoJo founder Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard) is sending out cryptic tweets that are boosting his company’s stock. And this week, Roman commits his biggest act of self-sabotage since that time a rocket literally exploded under his supervision in Season 1.

“This is just inner circle,” Roman “jokes” to Sandi and Stewy about his sister’s absence, further twisting the knife.īut on Succession, the Roy children never ride a wave of positive momentum for long-all it takes is one misstep for the tides to shift in another character’s favor. (See: being cool with goons spying on his niece and nephew to mess with Kendall.) Roman is in such good standing with Logan that, at the start of “Chiantishire,” Shiv doesn’t even bother to attend a company board meeting in person, which may as well be a waving of the white flag. Roman had proved himself to be a worthy candidate in his father’s eyes: He’s business savvy, knows how to talk to sociopathic presidential candidates and tech moguls, and there appears to be no line he isn’t willing to cross if it means getting a leg up on his siblings. Heading into the last two episodes of Succession’s third season-time sure flies when characters are constantly stabbing each other in the back-we had a breakaway front-runner in the race for the Waystar throne. Let’s continue with the eighth episode, “Chiantishire.” Each week, we’ll break down the biggest developments, track who’s leading the literal line of succession, and catalog each episode’s most savage burns, best Cousin Greg–isms, and more.

Television’s most miserable wealthy family is back to fight over control of Waystar Royco, and The Ringer will be following their scheming every step of the way.

House of cards season 4 episode 8