Succession Page #4

Season #1 Episode #1

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Wha... I what?

I hear you bent for him

and he f***ed you.

Well, no, actually.

I know that you've read a lot of books

about business management

and this and that,

but you know what?

What?

Sometimes it is a big dick competition.

Okay. okay. So that's it?

So I should have shouted

at some guy, but I didn't.

So you've ripped up 18 months

of corporate strategy?

And you never lawyered the trust change.

I trusted my father.

That's a black mark?

It's an accumulation.

You left the room. The deal.

To come to my Dad's

f***ing birthday party

'cause we don't know

how many more there'll be!

Sorry.

So come on.

When will you be ready?

To step down?

I don't know.

Five?

Five years?

Ten?

Ten! Dad? Seriously!

It's my f***in' company.

Yeah, it is your f***ing

company, and you know what?

You're running it

into the f***ing ground.

You spend all your time on costs...

Where's the vision? You're off the beat.

Where's the growth? All our

graphs go down. All of them.

Is that why you're paying a billion

dollars for a gay little website?

It is not a f***ing website!

It's a portfolio of online

brands and digital video content

and it's part of an upstream

investment strategy

to save us, if you'll just let me.

Do you want to hit me, is that it?

Go on.

Go on.

Give it your best shot.

Dad, come on. What are you doing?

Are you gonna f***in' cry?

Kendall, are you f***in' crying?

You know, this has been floated already?

There's f***ing paps outside.

I'm getting asked for quotes.

F*** them.

Yeah, 'course, "f*** 'em."

Great, great media strategy, Dad.

Great business strategy.

- The world is changing...

- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, everything changes.

The studio was gonna tank

when I bought it,

everyone was gonna stay home

with video tapes.

But guess what? No! They wanna go out.

No one was gonna watch Network,

except you give it zing and they do.

You make your own reality.

And once you've done it, apparently,

everybody's of the opinion

it was all so f***ing obvious.

Lunch!

Come on. Find your places. Sit.

Please give me my seating plan.

This is confusing. Sorry.

She was drunk and sitting

in Gore Vidal's lap.

She's very funny.

- Your mom's very funny.

- Who's Gore Vidal?

She's the one, you know, with the hair,

and she usually wears the clothes?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Yeah, no, I remember your daughter.

Marcy. This was delicious. Thank you.

Oh, thank you.

Yeah, the whole day. Really thoughtful.

It's been great.

Thank you very much.

You're a suck-up.

I'm happy to have you.

"You are so swell,

Double Vote Power Mom!"

You know what? F*** you.

Yeah, if you'll excuse me...

Logan Roy.

Born in Dundee, Scotland,

80 years ago today,

raised in Quebec by an

uncle with a print shop

and a few advertising billboards

and an aunt with a herd of cattle.

Logan himself has made a decent way

for himself these past 60 years.

Fifth largest media conglomerate

in the world.

A pal to prime ministers,

a truth teller to presidents.

He's tough, he's wily,

but he's always true to his word.

I arrived to give him

legal advice 30 years ago,

and I never got out the door.

And since that day,

I'm proud to call him a friend.

So, let's raise a toast.

Logan Roy.

Logan Roy.

Thank you.

So, I think it's time to play the game.

We're playing the game?

Well, yes.

It's my birthday, so yes,

we're playing the game.

Do we have to play the game?

What's the game?

What's the game?

What's the game?

Nice day! You okay, Greg?

Sure. I'm not...

Is there room in there?

Hop in.

I'm sorry if it's a crush.

It's fine.

Oh, um, yeah,

I was just talking to my grandpa.

And he said happy birthday.

Did he?

Well, no, not technically,

but he's aware it's your birthday.

But it occurred to me, talking to him,

that him having his seat on

the holding company still,

from historically,

now, that must be suboptimal,

in some ways.

But if I could... if he was

willing to give his seat

to someone a bit more perspicacious,

someone who could learn the

ropes, running a theme park, say.

Running the parks?

Just a little guy. Learning, you know?

I mean, could that be...?

You scratch my back, I...

I'm not gonna say I could scratch yours.

It's be too considerable of a space.

But is there an angle there, perhaps?

So...

what're you thinking, son?

On the thing?

She's very smart.

She'd make good picks. Family first.

I'm sure. I'm sure.

But what's your cut?

Um... No.

No. God no, Dad. No, it's your firm.

Like, it's not what's in it for me.

But you know, like,

what is in it for me?

I'd love to get you back in.

Sure. No, sure.

It's just it was tough last time.

It was very tough

with Frank over me in LA.

Frank's very important to the firm.

Oh, no, sure. No, of course,

I understand that.

It's just I had a lot of ideas

at the studio.

As you know, I'm quite

an innovative thinker,

and I was met with a lot of resistance.

Is this still the film thing?

No... Oh, what, Robot Olympics?

No, Dad, it's not about

one fantastic idea.

It was a culture.

There were many of them.

What would be your dream outfit?

I wanna run the damn show. I do.

And until it opens up,

Chief Operating Officer.

But I guess...

I guess that's Frank, huh?

- Mm-hmm.

- Mm-hmm.

You okay?

Sure. You?

The boys are here!

Just right this way.

That was my first helicopter ride.

It was so crazy.

It goes so much faster than I thought.

Hey, it's good to see you.

Okay, let's get a glove.

Let's have a second.

What time is it?

- Toss it over here!

- Come on back, come on back.

Now that things are getting

shaken up, would you come inside?

Dad, I'm not just playing

with the politics.

Oh, no, of course. Politics.

Not to be crude about it, but politics

is what comes out the a**hole.

Wouldn't you rather be up front,

feeding the horse?

Well, Joyce, she's got

that Air Force One look.

So... to come back,

I'd want the top job.

And if that was difficult?

Overseeing everything outside

the US, parks and all.

What, like... Tom's boss?

Yeah. Stepping stones.

What's the rescue pup looking for?

He screwed up. Needs help.

He might fit in eventually to the parks.

Do you think Tom

can handle the competition?

Mr. Roy. All set.

There you go.

Hey.

So, just wanted to give this to you

in person just to say,

you know, happy birthday.

Hold that, will you?

So...

there we go.

It's just a Patek Philippe. So...

Yeah, it says "Patek Philippe."

Yeah. I know.

It's incredibly accurate.

Every time you look at it,

it tells you exactly how rich you are.

That's very funny.

Did you rehearse that?

No. Well, no. Yes. But...

okay. Yeah.

Here.

Okay, let's play ball.

So, what are you thinking?

We say no, all of us,

on the trust. Full block.

Stability. Stick to the plan.

I take over and we just...

You two, under me, co-presidents.

- Under you?

- Uh-huh.

But, you know, three.

The power of three?

Interesting.

- Can we think about it?

- Of course.

I thought about it. F*** you.

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