Succession Review: The Summer Palace (Season 2 Episode 1)

The cutthroat world of family business comes screeching back as Kendall Roy returns under the fold on Succession Season 2 Episode 1, “The Summer Palace.”

There’s a sense of the Roy family being backed into a corner, fighting to gain back its dominance after Kendall tried to brute force control of the company. The episode carefully eases us back in, allowing a calm before the proverbial storm of viciousness.

We are immediately in Kendall’s headspace as he barely copes with the events of last season and the death he caused. He’s being trotted out on display to help the family and the business while he’s shut down, becoming the family punching bag.

Kendall is like a shell throughout, holding the door for subordinates and taking any and all brunt thrown his way, even apologizing as it happens. He is the family prop now, Jeremy Strong playing each scene with heartbreaking hollowness. He travels through the episode like a ghost haunting each lavish location.

It’s a difficult thing to do, making someone who has everything a tragic figure, but Succession allows the time to establish Kendall as unable to stretch beyond his father’s shadow. Now that Logan completely owns his soul for the manslaughter cover-up, he’s nothing more than his father’s shadow now.

But there are signs of a pulse.

As Kendall starts to rattle off the threats of battle ahead to his new adversaries, including old friend Stewy, it’s almost like he is starting to wake from his comatose state. It is the fire starting to return, at least in a minuscule form, as he lays out the pain the empire at his back can cause.

But Kendall’s mess goes past his own demons, as Logan looks to secure the business back under his own tent. The aftermath of screwing over his own family and messing up Siobhan’s wedding leaves a sour disposition toward him (though, there always is).

Logan offering the business to Siobhan comes out of left field, the way it is talked about after in front of the rest of the family making it feel like a temporary means of keeping her under the tent while the real plan plays out. That’s the thing about Logan Roy: you’ll never know what his true intentions are. The first season begins with Kendall certain he will be named; now, it appears, it’s Shiv’s turn.

It’s the pitfalls of every character being cutthroat and out for themselves: you’ll never know what’s genuine and what’s a play. Another key example of this is Roman not believing Shiv’s kind words on their walk; everyone is projecting their awfulness onto others, not able to believe in simply saying nice things to each other.

The writing and the insults are as vicious and biting as ever, an endless barrage of anger and aggression that somehow becomes endearing and a window into each character’s soul. There’s something poetic about how they describe one another, none so poetic as Logan Roy’s description of the smell in the house.

The family themselves remain largely unchanged (barely any time has passed, after all), as cruel as ever and never better because of it. There is the air of falsehood in their judgment now, though, after the first season exposed a number of their weaknesses (to us, at least).

The show continues to be a wonderful mixture of comedy and drama, dripping with satire. The scene of the family’s arrival to the mansion is full of bustle and elegance, setting up to the punchline of seeing all of the extravagant food tossed away simply because of a dead animal smell. It’s this horrid glimpse into the lifestyle of excess, able to toss away lobsters and caviar like it’s nothing.

There is a new level of maturity to “The Summer Palace,” continuing the tone set by Succession Season 1 Episode 10, “Nobody is Ever Missing.” It’s all fun and games until a life is lost. A particular shot of Kendall being driven through the vast countryside away from his getaway retreat while Nicholas Britell’s brilliant score plays out, that strikes a weight onto the heart, a sense of impending collapse ahead.

Succession Season 2 Episode 1, “The Summer Palace,” continues to be a shining example that horrible people being horrible to each other is strangely compelling. Framing the episode around Kendall’s hard return makes for a deep human angle, and I can’t help but wonder if he will use his lessened stature to either redeem himself or burn it all down from the inside.

One thing is for sure: Succession is back, and it’s even stronger.

A stray thought on the episode:

• Cousin Greg watch: buying coke from a guy in the park is not quite the same as having connections, but it’s the thought that counts. His questions of returning it, as though it’s returnable, is only something Greg would think.

 

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Succession airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.

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