As the powerful Roy family has now been divided, image-wise the family could use some help, as Stewey (Arian Moayed) so kindly points out. Never one to miss an opportunity, Logan (Brian Cox) calls for the whole family to come to Connor’s (Alan Ruck) place in the middle of nowhere for some good ole family therapy and photo ops. Everyone takes this how you would assume they would- not trusting their father motives. Sounds about right.
Kendall (Jeremy Strong) is not speaking with his father or Roman (Kiernan Culkin). Logan isn’t speaking to Shiv (Sarah Snook) because he believes she was in on the whole boardroom kerfuffle, but she wasn’t. And Logan’s attitude toward Shiv is a big catalyst for her actions this episode. She meets with a political opponent who wants her on board and also employs her ex, Nate (Ashley Zukerman). But this political figure isn’t just her current employer’s enemy, but also the enemy of her family and what they represent. By choosing this better job option, Shiv would be going against her family. Given who her father is and how he acts, not a bad call, honestly. What she does in the car with Nate after is a bad call though. Naughty, naughty Shiv. Logan finds out about the meeting and calls her out in front of everyone. So not only did Logan tank the initial attempt at therapy, now he’s purposely calling his own daughter a coward and traitor. Get that World’s Best Dad mug ready! It goes so bad, especially after saying that her fiance Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) was beneath her and she chose him on purpose because she didn’t want to be betrayed. And honestly, I think Shiv agrees. Tom is safe and sweet and nice. He isn’t conniving like Nate, whom she obviously is still attracted to but she knows what he’s like.
But Logan is really par for the course on best dad maneuvers since he is the one who made sure Kendall came across as a drug addict and failure in the news. Which wasn’t true but ends up pushing Kendall towards breaking his sobriety because everyone believes it. That is called a self-fulfilling prophesy. Kendall shows up at the therapy all sorts of high and drunk. Well, he’s still suing daddy and daddy’s gonna keep making him look like a druggie, which is now true again. Roman takes a pretty back seat in this episode. Though his conversations with Shiv about therapy were humorous. They’re both already in therapy, and I can only assume Kendall probably was too with his addiction. And Connor seems like the type to really embrace therapy, so really Logan is the one who needs it most but obviously truly believes he does everything in the best interest for his children, which is so clearly delusional, how do you deal with someone like that?
So in the end, Logan bails on therapy because it was nothing more than a photo-op anyway. Connor feels used and is still trying to get Willa (Justine Lupe) to settle down out there with him in the middle of nowhere (Don’t do it, Willa). Roman deals with Kendall and trying to make a Japanese deal happen. Shiv has made her personal choices for work and now will deal with the disappointed daddy fallout. Kendall is obviously pissed at his dad still and is no longer sober anymore. Well, every unhappy family is unhappy in their own way, right? Tolstoy sure knew what he was talking about. Moving forward, there’s still a wedding on the horizon though Shiv’s new work with Nate could complicate things. I doubt the family will find itself on a safe or friendly footing soon. Here’s a sneak peek at the drama behind this week’s episode! Tune in next Sunday evening for another dose of the family with the most!
