To paraphrase Lesley Gore, it's Tom Wambsgans party and he'll go to bed early if he wants to.
And who can blame him? It's the night before the election and he's considered a dead man walking in a room of 40 of the most powerful people in America.
Add in the fact that Kendall and Roman, hoping to work the angles, have invited Shiv's former flame to their soiree and it's a recipe for disaster.
We need to talk about that huge fallout between Tom and Shiv
"It's like, I love you but you kill me, and I kill you," Tom explains upon gifting Shiv a scorpion paper weight which does not land as expected.
It's a throwaway comment, but it foreshadows the devastating fight that finally erupts between the pair after months of tension and toxicity.
Not only has a jealous Tom spent the night watching Shiv talk to both Lukas Matsson and her ex, political strategist Nate Sofrelli, but she's been telling everyone Tom's about to get the chop.
What ensues is a game of verbal combat where no topic is off limits, from their marriage to Tom's social climbing ways to Shiv's fragile sense of self.
But it's Tom who lobs the harshest blow, telling Shiv she's "incapable of love", that she's not a good person and she shouldn't have children — not knowing she's already pregnant.
Shiv's only retort is to mention Logan, saying their estrangement, due to Tom's betrayal, meant she lost the final six months with her father.
"It's not my fault you didn't get his approval. I have given you endless approval and it doesn't fill you up because you are broken," Tom says.
"You don't deserve me, and you never did," Shiv replies.
We can't not talk about Kendall pulling a 'reverse Viking'
"Do I want to know what that means?" Frank asks when Kendall pulls him aside.
Last week we wondered if we had reached peak Kendall yet, and Episode 7: Tailgate Party proves he's only just getting started.
His latest scheme? Waystar buys GoJo thanks to Matsson's numbers being "funky."
"I don't think the GoJo deal is in the best interest of the shareholders," Kendall explains, before proposing his plan: "reverse Viking, we pillage their village. We eat Matsson's lunch. Bigger than Dad ever was."
But this was never in the best interest of shareholders — this is about Kendall.
"Roman and Shiv, I love them but I'm not in love with them. One hand, one crown. Are you with me?"
With just three episodes of the series remaining until it's all said and done, Kendall is setting himself up for a bloodbath.
Let's chat power rankings
The tables have well and truly turned, but it's still not clear who will come out on top come finale time.
Gerri
Roman better lawyer up because Gerri isn't coming back for 30 per cent, she's coming back for everything. She's out, she's done. She's demanding an eye-watering amount of money due to Roman firing her. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars. And if Gerri gets a whiff of anything undermining her within the next five years she promises to sue Roman for sexual harassment. She is a woman scorned and is our top power player this week.
Kendall
Our Waystar Jesus, still riding high off the back of promising shareholders' eternal life, pounces on the chance to knife Matsson after its revealed his subscriber numbers in India are hugely inflated. But in his bid to become "bigger than Dad" he might fly too close to the Sun. With just three episodes of the series remaining until it's all said and done, Kendall is setting himself up for a family bloodbath.
Frank
Frank has always been there, but this is one of the first times any of the Roy siblings have turned to him for an alliance. And it's smart — he's the Vice-chairman of Waystar, he's experienced and he worked alongside Logan for decades. If all the stars align and Kendall somehow pulls off this reverse GoJo acquisition and comes out victorious, Frank will be his right hand man.
Connor
Lady Gaga once said "there can be 100 people in a room and 99 of them don't believe in you but all it takes is one," which is just Connor and Willa to a tee. Despite the polls opening in 10 hours, Roman begged Connor to drop out of the election as his one per cent in a handful of states was throwing things off for his preferred presidential candidate, Jeryd Mencken. After Connor seriously contemplates taking up a cushy job in Oman, he sticks to his political dreams with Willa's support. Love wins!
Greg
Greg had one small goal for the evening and it was to get on Matsson's good side. After the GoJo CEO initially called him "Gary", which was far nicer than Oskar calling him a "hanger-on" and a "dingleberry," he ended the night by sharing a vape with the pair. Success! Greg also fired 100 people across three days, so he's thriving in his terrible-ness. Not bad for backwash at the bottom of the gene pool.
Roman
It was just fail after fail for Roman this week. Did he get Connor to drop out of the election? No. Did he get things smoothed over with Gerri? No. Her last words to him were "I could have gotten you there. But nope." Yikes. His one win is the fact he gets to speak at his father's funeral, saying "seems like no one wanted it, so I got it." But didn't Kendall offer to say the eulogy? One can't help but think that small slight was enough for Kendall to go behind his little brother's back.
Matsson
First of all, that costume design on this show continues to be impeccable because Matsson's gold velour bomber jacket was criminal. But he has bigger problems: the GoJo numbers are funky and it's enough for the Waystar board to pull out of the deal entirely. His response? "By next quarter the numbers will be real, probably." This was a complete own goal for our self-teaching AI, because Ken and Rome would never have discovered this if he didn't antagonise Ebba.
Tom
Tom's villain arc is about to get a reprise. For someone who spoke about how tired he was all night, it's telling that the final shot was Wambsgans staring up at the ceiling, plotting his next move. It's sure to be even more ruthless now that he's lost Shiv. But he still doesn't realise just how irreparable things have become between them thanks to Shiv still keeping her pregnancy a secret.
Shiv
Shiv is in danger and she knows it. She spiralled on the balcony with Tom when she realised she had nailed herself to Matsson's cross and his numbers aren't what they seem. He's a card trick and she knows she's been played. Her brothers have already squeezed her out, she has no idea about Kendall's plan to buy GoJo, and she's further away from Tom then ever. For someone who had so many options last week, it's a steep height to fall from.
Notes and observations
- Holly Cinnamon, one of the new communication staff in last week's episode, actually started on Succession as a stand in for Sarah Snook. She told Toronto Life that Snook was "so supportive" when she booked the role of Lana and made the transition from stand-in to principal cast.
- There are rumours floating around online that Succession's final episode will be titled With Open Eyes, which fits in perfectly with every season finale of the show is named after a line from this John Berryman poem.
- Creator Jesse Armstrong was asked at the season four premiere which episode would fans find most shocking, and he said episode eight... which is coming up next. This could have been to throw fans off the twist in episode three, but considering next week is the election, we better strap ourselves in.
