Roman Roy is becoming even more of a menace. A powerful one.
Succession got pretty wild this past Sunday, even by Succession standards. The plot centered around Kendall's birthday party, which was as over-the-top and douchey as you would have imagined.
SPOILERS BELOW!!!
Typical Shitshow
There were plenty of subplots, as usual. Greg continually asking for advice/a blessing to ask one of Kendall's assistants out on a date. Tom getting positive news in relation to his potential prison sentence, then feeling unfulfilled as he tried to celebrate his freedom (after trashing Greg's office). Logan hatching a plan to make a deal with the owner of a major streaming platform, one far superior to his own. Shiv getting mad and dancing...a lot. Roman being sent to negotiate said deal on Logan's behalf at Kendall's birthday party. Kendall getting a "CASH OUT AND FUCK OFF" birthday card. There's a lot. Part of what makes this show excellent.
Most importantly, a new element to Succession revealed itself late in "Too Much Birthday". The best Logan Roy impression to date, courtesy of his youngest and weirdest child, Roman.
"Bootleg Logan"
Many characters on Succession have done their best Logan at different times. It is usually because they are trying to impress Logan, take him down, or because the Big Boss is incapacitated in some way. It always ends the same: they fall short, and the master reasserts his dominance as soon as he can.
Something interesting happened in S3:E5, though ("Retired Janitors of Idaho"). While Logan is all loopy due to not taking his medication for a urinary tract infection, the POTUS calls the gang, eager to talk to Logan. He can't be put on the phone, obviously, so they need to find a suitable replacement. Gerri, in front of everyone, suggests Roman be the one to speak, even going so far as to call him the "Bootleg Logan".
Oh baby. That's important.
Just Like Dad Taught Me
Fast-forward to the climax of "Too Much Birthday", and we find Roman in a pivotal spot for the company; negotiating a potential mega-deal with an ultra-powerful tech CEO in Lukas Matsson (played by Alexander Skarsgard). His delivery is different, but the essence of what he says and how he sways Matsson proves he's a chip off the old block, or is at least trying to be. Their conversation culminates with Matsson taking a piss on Roman's phone, which is open to Waystar's slow-loading streaming platform. This was Roman's idea.
But wait, there's more!
Roman took a victory lap after his preliminary conversation with Lukas Matsson. That means he uncorked a shit-talking flurry of zingers on his siblings, mainly Shiv and Kendall, who he has now taken the lead against in the never-ending battle of "Who's the Next Logan?" Seriously, he flew off the top rope against these fools, even going so far as to push Kendall to the ground to further assert his dominance. You can almost see the realization in Kendall's eyes as he says "you're not a real person." He now has two Logans to deal with.
Pride Comes Before the Fall?
We don't know much about how Logan did business in his prime, save for a few stories here and there. If he can be this vicious in his 80s though, he probably could have and did act a bit like Roman as a younger man.
Time will tell if Roman's hold on the Logan 2.0 title will slip (it probably will, like always). But for now, he is very much the "Bootleg Logan", and he knows it. Everyone else? They can fuck off.
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