Succession season 4 episode 6: Shiv is making movies

Sarah Snook as Shiv Roy in the "Living+" episode of Succession season 4
Sarah Snook in Succession (Image credit: David Russell/HBO)

NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Succession season 4 episode 6, "Living+."

This week's episode begins with Logan Roy (Brian Cox) recording a segment about a new real estate brand, Living+, meant to bring the cruise ship concept to land. Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and his team watch the recording, which includes harsh treatment of the production team, all losers like his kids, he says. "Good to see you, Dad," Kendall says.

Shiv (Sarah Snook), meanwhile, has a face-to-face with Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard), when their private jets are parked right next to each other on the tarmac. He wants to know about Investor Day and the rollout of Living+, wondering why would they announce it when he's just going to kill it? When deal goes through, he's hoping she'll be there for him on the inside, saying it could be a big "value." Before he leaves, he tells her that her brothers went off on him in a totally unprofessional way on the mountaintop, something Kendall and Roman never told her.

Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Kendall arrive at the Los Angeles arm of WaystarRoyco. The whole team is there, including Shiv and Tom (Matthew Mcfadyen). Shiv looks on in wonder as her brothers try to spin Matsson as having a meltdown on top of the mountain. To their surprise, no one seems to think it's a problem because he's an eccentric genius. After the meeting, Shiv expresses her frustration about being kept in the dark, leading her brothers to hug her as an apology. They can't fool her. She knows they're trying to stop the deal and they can't deny it.

Roman leaves for a meeting with the studio head. He tells her they’re ready to dump a load of money into the studio but they need to fix their mess of a blockbuster and get back into making hits. She's concerned, however, because ATN is way too far-right for their left-leaning Hollywood crowd. Roman's not willing to bend, so he fires her. She's shocked, but Roman stands his ground. 

Kendall is getting into the presentation, saying he wants the stage to have a certain look for the meeting (a house, clouds and signage) and he won't allow them to say no even though the presentation is in less than 24 hours. Roman arrives and promises to fill his brother in on the news from his meeting, so for now Kendall has no idea that Roman fired the studio head. 

Later that night, Shiv connects with Tom at the Investors reception party, where she teases him about the type of woman he's hoping to meet. In reality, he wants to offer her an apology for messing things up. They play the "bitey" game, where they bite each other's arm until someone can’t take it. When she teases him, he bites harder and in a weird way it brings them closer. 

Kendall pitches an idea that they can chase Matsson out if they make it sound like the growth from Living+ will be more than investors can imagine. The plan is to push the "longevity program" aspect of the idea, meant to help people live longer. Even though they don't have the numbers, Kendall isn’t worried. He sends Greg (Nicholas Braun) to get a job done for him while he and Roman sit and ponder how ridiculous death is, because it's very "one size fits all."

Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) pulls Roman out of his meeting and demands to know what happened with the studio executive because firing her could cause a giant mess for the company. Gerri doesn't hold back, telling Roman he's not his father. Roman isn't having it. He tells her that she's being disrespectful. She starts to see his plan to torpedo the deal, and tells him not to do it. He ends up firing her, too.

Roman finally reveals that he fired the studio executive and Gerri, and though he’s initially skeptical of the idea, Kendall thinks it's "a baller move." He likes that they're shaking things up. 

Tom and Shiv are getting dressed when she gets a call from Matsson. She decides to let him in on her connection to Matsson, and since Tom is all-in on the deal with Matsson she believes she can trust him to know what she's up to. He praises her for keeping her options open, which she teases him for because of his earlier betrayal. But Tom says that he wants her back. He admits he always wanted the lifestyle and was afraid he would be on the outside because of Shiv's relationship with her dad. He doesn't need anything, but he wants her. She says she'd follow him anywhere for love, then laughs.

Greg tries to channel his late uncle by trying to force the video editor to change Logan's words, but given that Logan never spoke the words the editor points out that Greg's request is impossible. However, Greg isn't taking no for an answer; this is Hollywood and they can make it happen, and it needs to happen because Greg wants to win favor with his cousins so he needs this to work. 

Meanwhile, Kendall is still working on the presentation and tweaking the language so it's just right. He wants to adjust the numbers despite his advisor's protest that you can't just tweak the Living+ numbers and make them more appealing for the investors. But again, Kendall isn't taking no for an answer. He pushes and pushes until he gets his way, making his advisor squirm in his seat. 

Shiv tells Roman she’s worried about how big the numbers are. They’re both out of control and she thinks they should cancel the meeting. She reminds him that Kendall could say anything while on stage and then Roman would be left holding the pieces. 

As Kendall continues to tweak the numbers again, Roman tells his brother they should postpone this meeting, which shuts Kendall down. Roman is worried and maybe they need to take some time. Even Karl (David Rasche) warns Kendall, but the co-CEO plows ahead.

Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong in Succession

Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong in Succession (Image credit: David Russell/HBO)

Kendall walks out on stage and looks to the screen and Logan appears so that they can have a back and forth discussion while everyone from Shiv and Roman to Gerri, Karl and Frank (Peter Friedman) shake their heads in exasperation. 

From there, Kendall introduces Living+, real estate communities that ensure a respectful, crime-free life. The communities will be tied into every aspect of the WaystarRoyco brand. From film to news to lifestyle, it’s all tied together. He finishes with the bit about making it last forever, and the goal is that the brand's links to life extension therapies will be made available to everyone. 

Matsson calls Shiv and says he doesn’t like it. But there’s not much she can do. This train has left the station. 

When Kendall gets to the point about earnings growth, the dreaded numbers everyone has been talking about, Kendall calls upon his father once again. Video Logan says they could double the earnings. (Shiv says it isn't cool, to which Greg says it's very well edited…) Kendall finishes by saying he’d do anything for another year with his dad.

Backstage, the team sees Matsson tweeted a very unfavorable response just as Kendall is about to take questions from the audience. Naturally, the first question is about the tweet, so Kendall is forced to do a tap dance around the issue. He says a lot but never actually says much about it. He introduces Tom and gets off stage quickly. 

Kendall gets applause from his team. The initial response to Kendall's presentation is positive, to the extent that Matsson deletes his tweet. Roman, meanwhile, seems dejected that he backed out and is missing on the glory. Later, Kendall is at the beach, walking along the water. He peels off his shirt and gets into the water, floating on his back. 

Succession airs Sundays at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT on HBO and streaming on HBO Max.

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Sarabeth Pollock
Editorial Content Producer

 

Sarabeth joined the What to Watch team in May 2022. An avid TV and movie fan, her perennial favorites are The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, true crime documentaries on Netflix and anything from Passionflix. You’ve Got Mail, Ocean's Eleven and Signs are movies that she can watch all day long. She's also a huge baseball fan, and hockey is a new favorite.  

When she's not working, Sarabeth hosts the My Nights Are Booked Podcast and a blog dedicated to books and interviews with authors and actors. She also published her first novel, Once Upon an Interview, in 2022.