The latest episode of Succession season 4, “Kill List,” featured the long-awaited meeting with Matsson. Will the Roy siblings be able to close the deal their father brokered before his death? Let’s break down everything that happened in this week’s episode.
As was hinted in the previous episode, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) has taken the infamous paper that supposedly contained his father’s wishes to heart. He’s listening to rap music when he arrives at the WaystarRoyco building, throwing out orders like he’s the sole CEO when he’s actually the co-CEO.
Imagine Ken’s surprise when he discovers that Roman (Kieran Culkin) is already there, in a meeting with his people, and Shiv (Sarah Snook) is there, too. They all get a call that Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard) wants to meet with the whole team, not just the siblings. That means everyone — Greg (Nicholas Braun) and Tom (Matthew Mcfadyen) included — are on their way to the GoJo retreat. (Not surprisingly, Greg gets put in his place almost instantly for acting like he’s going on vacation)
On the plane, Shiv points out that the coverage on their father’s death seems to be focusing on how he hasn’t actually been running the company for a long time. Ken tells Hugo (Fisher Stevens) to keep an eye on it, but in reality Ken was the one to have Hugo start planting those stories. Ken and Roman tell Shiv they need to focus on prep for the meeting, giving her a glimpse of what things will be like now that her brothers are co-CEOs.
Elsewhere on the plane, the other half of the leadership team is gathered. Someone points at GoJo’s track record for firing people after taking control of new companies and there’s word of a kill list. Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) says that they’re all European and they’re “soft,” and that they will be no match for them because they were raised by wolves, namely, Logan Roy.
Once they land, they all get settled at the retreat. The division heads are sent to lunch while the negotiating team heads to a meeting with Matsson.
On the gondola ride, Rom gets a call from Connor (Alan Ruck), who is at the funeral home and is upset that Marcia (Hiam Abbass) has been there and wants Logan to be buried in a kilt. He wants their blessing to take control of the situation.
At the brunch, the Waystar team tries to sniff out their GoJo competition, purposefully goading them into thinking that they’re not as great as they think they are. While they’re preying on the GoJo team, the negotiation team arrives at the meeting with Matsson, who only wants to talk with Kendall and Roman.
Matsson gets right to the point. He wants the deal but he knows the company has taken a hit after losing Logan, so he wants to offer a new deal of $187 billion but it would include ATN. ATN was their father’s legacy and not part of the original deal, so the brothers balk at the offer. As they leave, they run the number by the rest of the negotiation team, who are happy to learn that there’s still a deal on the table.
As they go off in search of Shiv, Ken and Roman ponder the deal. It’s a good deal, but they want to keep ATN. When they find Shiv and give her the news, she points out that they don’t really need ATN if they already have PGN, so why not just unload it?
Later, both groups are at lunch. Greg tries to pry information from Kendall and Shiv while Tom tries to have a chat with Matsson and his Scandinavian friends. When the Roy siblings join in, Matsson asks about a counter offer. He notices Shiv and gives her a smile.
Kendall asks Roman if they should try to tank the deal on purpose so that they can retain the company and take it to the next level themselves. Roman isn’t sure about it, but Kendall seems to think it’s a great idea. While they’re plotting, Shiv meets Matsson’s director of communications. There’s a weird vibe with her.
That night, Matsson meets Shiv for a secret meeting and he reveals he has a PR nightmare on his hands because he’s dated his comm director and sent her his blood. Shiv listens and offers him some PR advice, to which Matsson says Shiv is like her father. He asks if the deal is still on and she says it is, but that if he wants ATN he needs to bump his number.
Kendall has Greg plant a story with the media about the talks falling apart. He’s putting his plan into play. As they take a gondola to meet Matsson, Roman gets a photo of Logan’s body from Connor and it makes him upset. Now rattled, they enter the mountaintop meeting with Matsson and propose not doing a deal. Roman unloads on Matsson and blames him for Logan’s death. He calls Matsson names and says he’ll deny it and say it was a negotiation tactic. When Matsson gleefully points out that Roman tanked the deal, Roman doesn’t care while Kendall has a thoughtful expression.
On the plane home, Frank (Peter Friedman) gets a call from Matsson. New deal is on the table: $192 billion. The team rejoices while Kendall and Roman are shocked. Shiv gets a call from Matsoon, who wants a picture of her brothers’ faces. She sends it to him with a smile. Meanwhile, Gerri gets a copy of the tentative kill list and they’re all on it save for herself, Karolina (Dagmara Domińczyk) and Tom. Shiv smiles.
Succession season 4 airs Sunday nights on HBO and streaming on HBO Max.
