{"id":5868,"date":"2021-10-18T04:04:34","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T02:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1389803"},"modified":"2021-10-18T04:26:09","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T02:26:09","slug":"succession-season-3-episode-1-recap-the-beast-from-the-east-coast","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/succession-season-3-episode-1-recap-the-beast-from-the-east-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Succession season 3 episode 1 recap: The Beast from the East (Coast)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Lauren Morris\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 18 October 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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It\u2019s been over two years since Succession<\/a>\u2018s near-perfect season two finale \u2013 which saw Logan Roy (Brian Cox) demand a \u201cblood sacrifice\u201d from a beholden Kendall (Jeremy Strong) after the leaking of WayStar RoyCo\u2019s misconduct allegations \u2013 and now fans are finally being treated to the fallout of Logan\u2019s scapegoat scheme blowing up in his face.<\/p>\n

After intense viewer speculation over who Logan would bully into taking the fall for him \u2013 (would it be Shiv \u2018The Chosen One\u2019 Roy or maybe Tom with \u201cGreg sprinkles\u201d?) \u2013 the sweary patriarch asked Kendall, still guilt-ridden over the waiter who drowned whilst finding him drugs, to drink from the poisoned chalice of corporate responsibility. Of course, Ken deviates from Logan\u2019s script at the press conference and drops a huge bomb \u2013 his father knew of the sexual misconduct allegations employees made within the company\u2019s cruises division and oversaw the legal settlements. Cue the dramatic theme music and the rolling credits.<\/p>\n

Season three opens with a familiar shot of a stoney-faced Logan staring out of his black helicopter and while this time he isn\u2019t slumped against the window in the midst of a hemorrhagic stroke (throwback to the show\u2019s very first episode), Shiv (Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Connor (Alan Ruck) are panicking around their father once again as chaos ensues around them.<\/p>\n

While Logan\u2019s troops are shuttled from helicopters to vans and then from hotel rooms onto private jets as they figure out where exactly they should be going, Kendall has locked himself in a toilet, where he\u2019s slumped in a bath while a perpetually-nervous Greg (Nicholas Braun) weakly threatens to break down the door. Just when we think Kendall\u2019s coup attempt has triggered another downward spiral, he emerges from the bathroom, calling for action stations and walking off with the confidence of a son who\u2019s determined to prove to his father that he is, in fact, \u201ca killer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\""Succession\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
HBO<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Unfortunately, he only has his assistant Jess (Juliana Canfield) and the hilariously clueless Greg by his side while trying to establish a game plan, tasking Greg with \u201ctaking his cultural temperature\u201d and monitoring social media despite his apparent ineptitude. \u201cThe Pope followed you. Oh no, is this the real\u2026? No, I don\u2019t think this is the Pope. It\u2019s a<\/em> Pope,\u201d Greg timidly tells a sunken-faced Kendall.<\/p>\n

Back at Logan HQ, L to the OG decides to give Kendall a call, offering him one last chance to retreat. When Kendall declines, his father tells him that he\u2019s\u00a0going to \u201cgrind his f***ing bones to make his bread\u201d with Kendall shooting back with: \u201cWell, I\u2019m gonna run up off the f***ing beanstalk.\u201d Disney may want to give Jesse Armstrong a swerve when choosing a writer for their next fairytale live-action remake.<\/p>

With the final peace offering out of the way, it\u2019s full steam ahead as Roman, Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) and Shiv argue over what their next play should be (Roman unsurprisingly wants to deny everything Kendall has said, paint him as a \u201cbitter f**k-up who needs psychiatric help\u201d and hope it all fades away, while Shiv and Gerri want to play it safe, call the Department of Justice and co-operate with the government) before Gerri calls the White House to gauge the President\u2019s opinion.<\/p>\n

Whilst trying to call members of his father\u2019s team and encourage defections, Kendall learns that his access to the Waystar office is being cancelled and sends his limo in the direction of his ex-wife Rava\u2019s (Natalie Gold) house. \u201cThis is like OJ, except if like OJ never killed anyone,\u201d Greg says excitedly, to which a slightly manic-looking Kendall replies: \u201cWho said I never killed anyone?\u201d (When the adrenaline high of trying to usurp his father finally wears off, I think we can expect to see Kendall hit rock bottom again, repeating his pattern of: attempting a Waystar take-over, being foiled by his father and sinking back into drug addiction as a result.)<\/p>\n

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HBO<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Worried by the White House\u2019s noncommittal response to whether the DoJ would investigate, Logan asks Shiv to sweet-talk high-profile lawyer Lisa Arthur (played by Sanaa Lathan) into representing him \u2013 however, she soon learns that Kendall has beaten them to it. Meanwhile, Logan makes plans to head to Sarajevo (which doesn\u2019t have an extradition treaty with the US) and orders Frank, Carl and Tom to get in touch with shareholders and drum up as much support as possible whilst deploying as many \u201cf***k offs\u201d as he possibly can.<\/p>\n

Of course, this wouldn\u2019t be Succession if Logan\u2019s position wasn\u2019t up for grabs at some point and while he\u2019s lawyering up and preparing for war, Logan drops the bombshell that he\u2019s willing to temporarily step back as CEO and it\u2019s between Shiv, Roman and Gerri for the WayStar crown. News that Logan is live-picking the new CEO inevitably makes it to the three nominees and they each begin their campaigns, with Shiv asking Tom to push her cause while Roman calls his father directly and makes a rather excruciatingly under-confident pitch, essentially saying pick me \u2013 but if you don\u2019t think I\u2019m ready, pick Gerri. \u201cIf for some reason it ain\u2019t Romy time, then maybe it\u2019s crony time,\u201d Roman says before Logan hangs up and unsurprisingly declares that he\u2019s out of the running.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Kendall is holed up in his ex-wife\u2019s flat, buzzing with excitement and over-confidence as public relations consultant Berry Schneider (Jihae Kim) swings by with an offer to work with him. Despite telling Rava that he did this for his family, the attention high is clearly going to his head. \u201cI think the headline needs to be: \u2018F**k the weather, we\u2019re changing the cultural climate,’\u201d he tells Berry during her strategy pitch, before interrupting her again to say that he wants his Twitter \u201cto be off the hook\u201d and to have some \u201cBojack guys\u201d make his tweets a bit cooler. Yikes.<\/p>\n

\""Succession"\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
HBO<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Over in a hotel room, Roman is trying (and failing) to seduce Gerri, as she tries to figure out just how clean Roman is when it comes to the Waystar scandals. Logan then rings and tells Gerri that she\u2019ll be the next CEO since Shiv blew it with Lisa. An unsurprising choice given that Logan wanted his temporary successor to be a woman with experience that he could essentially puppet, while Shiv is too inexperienced and Roman is a trigger-happy young man.<\/p>\n

Kendall then sits down with Lisa Arthur to work out how exactly he can take down his father without implicating himself or damaging the company, while Rava gets upset at Greg for opening a treasured bottle of her wine on the instruction of Kendall\u2019s girlfriend Naomi (Annabelle Dexter-Jones). Instead of apologising, Kendall gloats to Greg about being surrounded by \u201call these brilliant f**king women\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, news of Gerri\u2019s CEO appointment has leaked and Kendall rings to tell them that he\u2019s secured Lisa Arthur as his lawyer. Logan decides to go with his second option, Leo, before declaring: \u201cWe\u2019ll f**king beast them. We\u2019ll go full f**king beast!\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more about Succession:<\/strong><\/p>\n