There was always going to be this emptiness in our characters’ chests when things ended. That fate was written in the stars. Succession’s world was headed to its decimation, and no one can deny that they did not see it coming.
Episode 7 of Succession confirms the worst of fears – both for the GoJo deal and the Roy family and the complex relationships in its maelstrom of corporate devilry and family dysfunction. The HBO show has remained true to the brand of cinema promised to us from season 1. We break down the entire episode for you in this recap and ending explainer for Succession’s episode 7, titled “Tailgate Party.”
Succession (Season 4), Episode 7 Recap:
Tailgate Party
From the looks of it, Tom and Shiv are back. They renewed the romantic spark in the last episode, and here we are. Shiv, of course, is keeping her options open, as we have seen on numerous occasions. Nate, Matsson, Tom – the list of men lining up for her is quite strong. Anyway, it is election eve in episode 7 of Succession. The results will have a huge bearing on Waystar as ATN has squarely sided with Jeryd Mencken. They’re hosting a party at their house, announcing to the public the marriage is fine.
Who is going to speak at Logan’s funeral?
Kendall meets with Rava, his ex-wife, who tells him that Sophie, their daughter, is running into problems at school. Due to ATN’s Mencken support, Sophie doesn’t want to go to school anymore. Kendall gets intensely distressed and starts harassing Rava with questions. She gets defensive, and they have a small argument before she walks away. Roman wants “extra dirt” on Matsson as he has still not given up on squashing the deal. He meets Connor, Kendall, and Shiv for lunch.
Connor has been looking after Logan’s funeral preparations. He has formed a “Committee” to this effect, and all the siblings are a part of it. Kendall and Roman inform Shiv that they are calling Nate, her ex-boyfriend, to the Tailgate party just in case they need a Plan B to push Matsson out of the deal. Nate represents a regulatory avenue that the brothers can pursue to threaten the GoJo founder. He is Gil Jimenez, the other prime presidential candidate against Mencken, tech and trade advisor. When they leave, Shiv sneakily calls Matsson to inform him of the next move by the brothers. Earlier, he had indicated he wouldn’t be coming to the party. But Shiv asks Matsson to be present to thwart the plan.
Who will be the extra guests at the Tailgate Party?
Andy and Greg inform a slew of ATN employees that they’re being let go. Greg instantly reminds those who have seen The Office of Gabe (Zach Woods) who had this dynamic with Joanne. Greg has been put to the sword by Tom on plenty of occasions in this season. Tom once again asks him to do the hard thing and announce the letting go to the employees. Shiv informs Tom of the “extra guests” they will have to accommodate at the party. But he is less than pleased.
The guests start flowing in, and the party is in full flow. At the same time, there is underlying tension about the polling. Tom is tensed, and he confides in Greg about his predicament. He asks Greg to “sweeten his bed” with Matsson as well. Roman gets bad news from Mencken’s team—their internals point to an even worse showing at the polls. Towing Mencken’s line unapologetically and brazenly can come back to bite them in the behind severely. They decide to be by his side for now and help him with more visibility in some key States.
Roman grabs ahold of Connor and updates him about Mencken. To make sure Jeryd does not drop out of the running just 10 hours before polling, he asks Connor to ask his voters to support Jeryd. Connor is flabbergasted and denies the request. Roman follows it up with an offer to send Connor to Mogadishu in Somalia. Also, the decision to fire Gerri was not reversed; as it stands, she is a nemesis for the brothers. Kendall addresses the gathering and makes a meaningful toast to Logan and the times ahead. As he announces a minute’s silence to honor Logan’s legacy – and we definitely saw it coming as soon as they went silent – Matsson and his Swedish talking friends loudly barge in.
How does Kendall try to gain the upper hand on Matsson at the party?
Kendall is surprised but doesn’t show it. Shiv acts innocent in front of both of them. In fact, she is tasked to keep Matsson restrained. Matsson irreverently brings up Tom and Shiv’s divorce and calls Greg “Gary.” Shiv tells him about talking to Nate and then Valery to make sure “the ground is prepared.” Connor pushes back on the Mogadishu offer and discusses more options with Roman. Slovenia and Slovakia are the other options. Oman is the potential middle ground, and it might still work out.
Kendall is apprehensive seeing Matsson talking to Nate. Shiv is there too, and Matsson gets quite brazen in insulting her brothers in front of him. He also indicates Tom will be let go. Ken talks to Nate in private. Shockingly, he offers to be Jeryd’s mouthpiece, but only if the GoJo deal is canceled. He also fills Nate with negative connotations about the deal. Shiv asks Matsson in a room about her end of the bargain. “I’m hot shit, and I am ready to go,” is what Shiv has to say about herself. She asks for a significant position in the new entity for herself but, interestingly, not Tom. Her straightforwardness flusters Matsson and seems a little bitter.
What triggers and confirms Tom’s underlying, transient “hatred” for Shiv?
Tom gets shaky when a guest tells him, “I heard you might be headed elsewhere.” Roman’s guy pulls Ebba from Matsson’s locker, and they immediately tell Nate about it. But Nate takes off and says them seen together isn’t a good look. Willa isn’t too impressed with Connor’s plan for Oman. Matsson, Ebba, and Andreas are sitting around when Greg comes over. Andreas is immediately repulsed, but Matsson asks him to be cordial. He tries to joke about firing Ebba, but she is annoyed and takes a breather. Ken and Roman sense an opportunity and follow her.
Succession (Season 4), Episode 7 Ending, Explained:
What explosive revelations does Ebba have about GoJo’s numbers?
Ebba says Matsson marketed someone else’s tech, kind of like Steve Jobs. He isn’t a coder himself, and he doesn’t appreciate the teamwork others do around him. She surprisingly says “her situation with Matsson” is the “least of his worries.” She mentions India as his biggest problem, but the brothers do not know much about it. Matsson is fidgeting around with numbers from the South East Asian region, indicating an underlying fraudulent situation. Shiv is shocked to know about it, and this might turn her head about the deal.
Shiv immediately confronts Matsson about it. He awkwardly confesses an error in the algo has led them to overstate their numbers by a significant error; like they would be alright if “there were two Indias.” This ship is going down! Matsson feels the deal with Waystar can suppress the issue, and they need to get it done quickly. Roman approaches Gerri to apologize. She is quite angry, just as Frank said earlier at the party. She threatens Roman against steering away from her bullet point vision for the company, or else she will sue. Roman is indignant with guilt for not making the right decisions.
Who is the real winner of the night?
Roman approaches Connor, who has a change of heart due to Willa. He is staying in the race. Roman, fresh off the Gerri confrontation, get rude and obnoxious with Connor. Matsson is sitting right behind them and mocks New York. Kendall is there, too, and they get into a feisty, friendly debate about the numbers. The showdown gets serious and intense as the minutes tick by. And ugly. The Swedes leave, and Tom, too, wants to go to bed for the big day. Shiv asks him to stay by undermining him, and he gets defensive.
Shiv follows Tom and confesses her anxiety about her predicament. He brings up how Shiv has gone around the room and joked about Tom getting fired. They say some really complex and ugly truths about each other. Just as things were looking good, they are back to square one. Tom brings up all the things we have been wondering about Shiv since season 1. It is an act of courage and something Shiv needed to hear. She says her piece, and it is quite refreshing to see this honesty being said out loud. The big takeaway is Shiv blaming Tom for “taking away” Logan from her because Tom wanted to suck up to him.
Kendall tells Frank about the India numbers. “What if Waystar acquires GoJo?” The most explosive idea in this episode, and there have been many. Succession is royally the greatest show of our times! Tom sends away the party, saying it is “bedtime for Bonzo.” The ending of episode 7 of Succession confirms major plans for the GoJo deal. That remains the most significant development in this episode, as opposed to all the untangling of the fraught, complex relationships in the Roy family.
This episode was all about ugly truths and confrontation with reality. Everyone got to say their piece, and the niceness officially ended. We are going down an emotional wormhole that has sucked out all joy from the show. There was never any, but the possibility of it always remained plausible. Now, though, it seems to have vanished into thin air. This is the final nail in the coffin for family dysfunction, and Logan perhaps wouldn’t be too proud of what is unraveling here. The answer to the above question – no one. In the show, at least. The viewers can’t get enough of this scintillating madness, though. We say bring it on!
