Succession: The Roy children head to Norway to try and close the Waystar Royco merger

The Roy children – still grappling with the massive loss of their father Logan Roy (Brian Cox) – try to solidify a deal with Lukas Mattson (Alexander Skarsgard) in the fifth episode of Succession’s fourth and final season.

Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv (Sarah Snook) all make the journey to Sweden to meet with Mattson and try to finalize the merger.

The merger has been in the works for quite some time, though it was revealed that the Waystar Royco stock price dropped significantly after Logan’s surprising death in the third episode of the fourth and final season.

Sunday night’s episode – entitled Kill List – comes on the heels of the Waystar Royco board voting Kendall and Roman as the temporary CEOs, which didn’t sit too well with Shiv though her brothers insisted she will still be an integral part of the firm.

The preview for Sunday’s episode also featured a scene with Greg (Nicholas Braun) revealing there is a ‘kill list’ of employees that will be let go… which was revealed in full by the end of the episode… when a tentative deal seems to have been reached.

The episode begins with Kendall checking his phone while being driven through the city, listening to rap music on the way.

He gets out of the car and walks down the street, checking his watch, before walking into the Waystar building.

Kendall tells Hugo (Fisher Stevens) that he is just checking in before getting on his plane to Norway.

He walks in and glances at his father’s empty office, when everyone starts applauding for him before meeting up with Roman and their team.

Karl (David Rasche) and Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) come to check in as Kendall thinks they can squeeze an extra $3 or $4 a share from Matsson.

Matsson texts everyone and gives them a list of people he wants to come on the trip, which surprises everyone but they all agree, as the title sequence begins.

Greg meets up with Tom at the airport, as Greg wonders why they’re heading to Norway, not Sweden.

Tom tells him that GoJo’s annual retreat is in Norway – and not Sweden where Matsson is from – as Tom says he can’t wait to see what ‘hotties’ they have in Norway.

Greg is told by basically everyone to be respectful because this is important leading into the merger.

They are all on the plane when Shiv wonders why there are so many hit pieces about their father that imply his children were really pulling the strings – which Kendall secretly told Hugo to do.

Kendall tells Hugo to stop any leaks as soon as possible. 

Kendall and Roman joke that they could ‘slit Tom’s throat’ to make her feel better but she laughs it off.

The rest of the team reveals what GoJo has done with other companies they’ve acquired as they’re all worried about their jobs.

Gerri tries to make them feel better, stating, ‘Hey, come on, guys, listen. Sure, they’re young and they’re fit, but they’re European, they’re soft. Hammocked in their social security safety nets. Sick on vacation mania and free health care. They may think they’re Vikings, but we’ve been raised by wolves. Exposed to a pathogen that goes by the name Logan Roy. And they have no idea what’s coming to them.’

After landing, Kendall tells his siblings that he’s nervous about the deal but Shiv says every dollar that they squeeze will make them stronger when they launch Pierce-ATN. 

They all get situated in their rooms when Kendall calls Roman and complain about their rooms.

They are on a gondola on the way to the meeting with Matsson when Karl wants to go over the plan some more.

Shiv offers an old Mike Tyson quote – ‘Well, yeah, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’

Karl says their dad would start with a joke but Kendall gets right to the point, offering less than 144. 

He adds they are, ‘Aiming for 147, hoping for 148,’ but they would, ‘settle for 145, 146.’

They get a call from Connor (Alan Ruck) who reveals that Marcia has been in and she wants to put Logan in a kilt for his funeral. 

Matsson jokes that they brought the ‘whole crew’ and wonders if they are trying to ‘outmaneuver’ him since he’s solo… but he insists he’s joking.

Roman congrats Lukas on his football team winning as they try to get into the deal but Kendall and Roman start awkwardly.

Roman says they liked their offer but he doesn’t think it reflects their, ‘full valuation of what you’re purchasing.’

Lukas said their stock dropped 20 percent on Friday, but Kendall says it gained back 10 percent on Monday. 

The kids insist that their father would not be a part of the business going forward even before his death.

‘I still feel like I’m going to the checkout during a sale and getting asked to pay more,’ Lukas says.

He jokes that he wants to buy their ‘whole operation’ for one dollar, insisting that he’s joking… before dropping another bombshell: he wants ATN now… which had previously been carved out of the original deal.

Lukas says, ‘187 per share. Fifty-fifty cash stock… For the whole thing,’ which stuns Kendall and Roman.

They say they want to talk about it with everyone else and they run the deal past Karl and Gerri and Frank and they’re all pleased since they offer is much higher, even with ATN folded back in.

Kendall and Roman meet up with Shiv who says she heard a rumor that, ‘ATN has an open line to Jeryd Mencken’s campaign team and they’re just dialed in on editorial morning conference.’

Kendall and Roman say they haven’t heard that as they tell Shiv that Matsson wants ATN folded back into the deal. 

‘Sure, fine, get rid of it. It’s a toxic asset,’ Shiv says but Roman adds, ‘It’s also Dad’s pride and joy, he died trying to keep? 

Shiv adds, ‘Yeah, well, let’s just keep one of his old sweaters. Less racist. You know, there’s leverage in not looking too thirsty.’

They ponder whether they can survive without their dad as Kendall and Roman say they have done a good job since the stock price has stabilized and the markets seem to like them.

They all wonder if their father would do this deal or not as they all meet for lunch with Matsson and his team.

Greg tells Tom he’s heard on good authority that there is a ‘kill list’ that is ‘evolving’ but there are ‘eight or nine names.’

Matsson says he is waiting for their counter as Roman says they want to figure out a deal that won’t include ATN.

Matsson says they don’t want ATN but they insist they want it still and Lukas says he’s, ‘been talking to Oskar, and we see a way back.’ 

Kendall says, ‘You see a way back for our… phenomenally lucrative and influential news operation? You gonna save that?’

Kendall says they are concerned about Matsson’s vision’ and since their deal is half stock it could decrease the value. 

‘I would fold it in. Fat pipe that shit. Make it more Bloomberg grey. You know? Simple, cheap, huge. IKEA’d to f**k,’ Matsson says.

Kendall says he doesn’t think Matsson understands what he’s buying and that’s why there is a disconnect on the value. 

Kendall says their company is a ‘trusted brand,’ but Matsson disagrees, saying, ‘It’s a parts shop. Good parts, yes. Bad brand,’ but Kendall adds, ‘Gotta say, I just think fundamentally you’re wrong.’

‘Yeah, well, I don’t care what you think. You’re a tribute band,’ Matsson says as Shiv asks if they’re all OK, and Matsson says they are OK and he’s, ‘just trying to make you f***ing rich.’

Matsson comes up to Shiv and asks if the deal is there and she says it’s, ‘Potentially there.’

Kendall and Roman talk by themselves, as Kendall says he wants to tank the whole deal because he thinks Matsson would be bad for the brand their father created.

Kendall adds, ‘I think we’re good at it. And I don’t want to stop. I mean, do you?’ as Roman says, ‘Well, everyone wants the deal. It’s Dad’s deal,’ but Kendall says, ‘He’s a bad fit. He doesn’t get the company and I think he’s gonna f**k it. We’ve seen him up close and he’s a card trick and he’s gonna destroy everything Dad built.’

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Roman asks if they want to go over it with Shiv but they wonder what their father would do if he was there.

‘Whatever the f**k he wanted, right?’ Kendall says but Roman says they have to make Matsson walk and make him think it’s his call.

Roman adds, ‘I mean, if the Old Guard smells that we’re getting smart, they’re gonna shit their beans, go crying to the board, and we’re f***ing toast.’

Kendall says, ‘Oh, yeah. Sure. It’s a fucking tightrope walk on a straight razor. Five-hundred-foot reputational drop,’ but Roman wonders why that is making him smile.

Roman agrees to tank the deal with Kendall, but meanwhile, Shiv is hanging out with Matsson. 

Lukas says he finds it hard to ‘see the angles on people’ and he doesn’t have, ‘very good boundaries.’ 

He asks what she thinks of Ebba, her head of communication, saying he was seeing Ebba and he said he sent her some of his blood… a half-liter frozen blood brick.

He added he kept doing it repeatedly and he knew it was a joke but it became not a joke, asking Shiv what to do.

‘I don’t know who you got advising you on this, but whatever they’re telling you, you gotta 10x it. ‘Cause people, you know, people don’t know you, and if this acquisition goes through, US media are gonna be all over you. So if you’re the creepy stalker guy who sits in the dark writing code, dripping into an IV bag, and harassing his direct reports, it’s… It’s gonna have an economic impact,’ Shiv says.

She tells him to, ‘Stop sending people your blood. Uh, and then, you know, like catch and kill maybe? Or just have like a really open meeting. Don’t fire her.’

She tells him she can give him some ‘informal advice’ and even bring Gerri in and Matsson says he likes her, she can take a joke and she’s not ‘judgy.’  

Kendall and Roman pull Greg in that night, telling him that someone will call him on this new line, telling him to tell the journalist the truth that, ‘nobody’s getting along, the two cultures don’t mesh and the deal vibes are bad.’  

Greg adds, ‘Sour the vibes to give us juice in the room,’ as Kendall admits, ‘Yeah, something like that.

The next morning Shiv asks if they have seen the new pieces about the rumors that Greg leaked.

Kendall and Roman talk to Shiv and Karl and Frank and Gerri, adding they want to, ‘retain ATN and we’ll bite at 146.’

Kendall adds, ‘Or he takes ATN, but we need a crazy premium,’ they all agree and go talk to Matsson.

Meanwhile, Shiv and Tom get into a bit of a spat as he wonders what she did with Matsson last night.

Roman gets another text from Connor dealing with the funeral as Kendall and Roman go back to talk to Matsson… who rightly thinks they are trying to tank the deal.

‘Are you scooby-dooing me here? Is that where you went? Hanna-barbera f***ing business school? You’re telling me the theme parks are haunted and your big movie is s****y? Are you tanking the deal?’ Matsson asks.

They insist they’re not tanking the deal, and they’re just being open with him, adding they think, ‘there needs to be more value for the board to get conviction on this.’

Kendall thinks they need to ‘slow things down a little’ because the deal is a ‘behemoth’ as Roman adds the ‘election is coming up and there will be the transition of power to think about.

Matsson adds, ‘Yeah, I preferred doing this with your dad. I mean, he was a prick, but at least he knew what he wanted.’

This angers Roman who insists, ‘Our dad was not a prick, okay?’ Lukas adds, ‘All right, sure. But he was.’

Matsson says their father would be, ’embarrassed if he saw you two now, his two big boys playing Scooby-Doos. Am I gonna have to go around you? Talk directly to the board? Talk to the old ones?’

This sets Roman off, as he storms up to him and asks, ‘Hey, I was just thinking. Do you remember when you asked me when my dad was gonna die?’

Matsson insists that was a joke but Roman adds, ‘You really couldn’t push this a week, could you? You just couldn’t like– There was no part of you that could just be like, “Hey, let’s reschedule and move this ’cause, you know, their dad just died and, you know.”‘

Roman adds, ‘I mean, my sister’s kinda… she’s f***ed up about it, and my brother’s a mess, and I’m f***ing– I’m gone. I’m like I’m on the f***ing… I’m dead. It’s over for me. It’s okay, it’s fine. But you just drag us out here, you inhuman f***ing dogman.’

Roman adds, ‘You f***ing killed him too. You’re the one who did it. You just– And you did. You drained the life out of him. You dragged this thing out for six f***ing months, and then you bring us out here now. You couldn’t wait like a few days. You actually couldn’t do that for us. No idea, huh?’

Roman then drops the bombshell, stating, ‘Yeah, shut the f**k up, man. We’re not selling to you. Okay? We’re not doing that. We are gonna grind you down, man. We are sand in the gears. Every e-mail is gonna take like six months. We’re all gonna spend hundreds of millions of dollars, and in the end, you’re gonna get f***ing bored and move on. It’s not happening, okay?’

Matsson asks, ‘Really?’ Roman responds, ‘Yeah. Yeah, I f***ing hate you. And if you tell the board I said any of this, I’m just gonna say it was a negotiating tactic, and you know what? Maybe it is. But it’s not. So f**k you.’

Matsson adds, ‘Oh, wait, wait, wait. You just f***ed yourself.,’ asking Kendall if he heard his little brother said.

Matsson leaves as Kendall tells Roman, ‘It wasn’t the plan, but maybe it plays,’ but Roman wonders, ‘You know, if a deal collapses in the woods and no one hears it, is it an SEC violation?’

The whole team is back on their private planes when Frank gets a call from Matsson, passing a message to them. 

‘Revised offer. 192,’ Frank says, a $5 per share bump from the previous offer, which excites everyone… seemingly except Kendall and Roman.

They all congratulate Kendall and Roman for getting more value for the company, as Kendall says, ‘Let’s run the numbers and take it to the board.’

An excited Karl says, ‘We came, we saw, we pillaged. We raided the Vikings,’ while Shiv tells Tom there is a deal where Matsson takes ATN, which Tom has mixed feelings about as the head of ATN.

‘ Oh, come on, Tom, you can be happy. It’s, you know, it’s The Great Escape,’ Shiv says, but Tom cryptically says, ‘Well, we’ll see.’

Shiv adds, ‘Yeah. Cyd’s getting too close to Mencken. Yeah, she’s really just… She’s just a little bit power-crazed post-dad, so she’s gotta go.’

Shiv keeps messing with Tom, asking if he wants to get dinner when they get back, when she gets a call from Lukas.

‘Could you send me a photo of their faces?’ Matsson asks, which Shiv agrees, taking a snap of them both fairly downtrodden, especially after seemingly closing a massive deal.

Meanwhile, Kendall’s assistant Jess (Juliana Canfield) has gotten an, ‘early draft’ of the aforementioned ‘kill list.’ 

Karolina says it’s an, ‘early draft’ of ‘Gojo finance list of potential severance costs,’ adding, ‘It’s highly provisional. It’s caveated, subject to change. It would just be an interpretation.’

Gerri starts reading off the names, which include Ray, Mark, Hugo, Frank and Karl, though Karolina and Tom are not on the kill list.

Shiv toasts to her brothers, congratulating them as they all drink champagne together… while Shiv hides a sly smile from her brothers as the episode comes to an end. 

While, for a majority of the series, the Roy children have been at odds with each other, the last few episodes of Season 3 found them finally joining forces to stop their father Logan from selling off the family’s media conglomerate.

Little did they know that family black sheep Tom Wambsgans (Matthew McFadyen) betrayed his own wife Shiv and gave Logan a heads up on what they were doing, giving him enough to remove their power to block the impending sale.

The final shots of Season 3 seemed to indicate that Shiv realized her husband betrayed her, though it’s unclear how that will play out in Season 4.

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong first confirmed that Season 4 will be the end of the show in a wide-ranging interview with The New Yorker, where he was asked why he decided to confirm the final season before it debuted.

‘One, we could have said it as soon as I sort of decided, almost when we were writing it, which I think would be weird and perverse,’ Armstrong began.

‘We could have said it at the end of the season. I quite like that idea, creatively, because then the audience is just able to enjoy everything as it comes, without trying to figure things out, or perceiving things in a certain way once they know it’s the final season,’ he added.

‘But, also, the countervailing thought is that we don’t hide the ball very much on the show. I feel a responsibility to the viewership, and I personally wouldn’t like the feeling of, “Oh, that’s it, guys. That was the end.” I wouldn’t like that in a show. I think I would like to know it is coming to an end,’ he clarified.

He added, ‘And, also, there’s a bunch of prosaic things, like it might be weird for me and the cast as we do interviews. It’s pretty definitively the end, so then it just might be uncomfortable having to sort of dissemble like a politician for ages about it. Hopefully, the show is against bulls**t, and I wouldn’t like to be bulls****ing anyone when I was talking about it.’