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As the story progressed from the death of Logan Roy, fans could already expect that Succession is not going to slow down anytime soon. With the latest episode, quite cleverly titled Kill List, the series went back to its more comedic ways while dealing with one of the most pivotal plotlines in recent episodes -- the GoJo deal.
This deal was a large part of the third season's finale and has been consistently prevalent over the past few episodes, especially just before Logan Roy's (played by Brian Cox) death.
However, this episode finally saw the culmination of all the deals and all the questions regarding the takeover of Waystar in a strategized faceoff with Lucas Matsson (Alexandar Skarsgård) as the new CEBros, Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Kendall (Jeremy Strong) tried to drive forth their hollow vision for the company.
In what was perhaps one of the finest hours of Succession, this episode saw resilience, tactics, and betrayals as the Roy brothers were left almost useless and Shiv (Sarah Snook) stepped out of the shadows to leave her mark.
Succession season 4 episode 5: How did Matsson play the Roys?
Succession season 4 episode 5 sees the GoJo deal finally take shape as Matsson calls the siblings as to what he referres to as "village elders," comprising Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron), Karl (David Rasche), and others. In Norway's forest retreat, the deal starts to materialize, but Matsson offers a higher sum if he gets ATN along with the rest, something that the Roy siblings were not initially open to.
It is quite clear that Roman and Kendall are far from the steady businessman that their father was. And for someone with an impeccable eye for detail and sharp wit, like Mattson, this was quite easy to grasp.
After Roman and Kendall initially refused to play ball, he had a private conversation with Shiv, the more distant sibling currently, having been thrown out of the inner circle by the CEBros after their father's death. Matsson cleverly, and quite manipulatively, played the cards to get the board's sentiment, all this while letting some of his secrets out in the process.
This sequence is one of the defining ones of Succession, which often keeps the motivations under such tight wraps that it is hard to get who is playing whom. In this case, Shiv subconsciously wants revenge and a better position, while Matsson wants the entire deal and to humiliate the brothers after their fiery stance in the earlier discussion.
So, after Matsson understands that more money would ensure that he did not have to go through Roman and Kendall, rather it would render them useless, he plots with Shiv and makes a counteroffer, which is immediately grasped by the board.
This means that Succession, once again, pulled off a big twist from seemingly nowhere. It also means that the GoJo deal is finally done and dusted. Matsson bought the company, including ATN, for $192 billion, which was celebrated by the board as a huge win. It is, however, yet to be seen if this is indeed a win in the long run.
Anyhow, Kendall and Roman failed in their hollow quest once again. Succession season 4 episode 5 is now streaming on HBO Max.
