It's always hard to mix business with family. Tell that to Logan Roy, who found himself at the center of a no confidence vote against him orchastrated by his own son, no less. Families are complicated.
In a intriguing episode of the show, the pace which led to the vote was interesting, calculated and sometimes funny. I really loved this episode, it was the right amount of "oh my God, is this really going to happen?" and "I hope Logan doesn't kill Kendall". It was fascinating to watch how votes like this in companies like those work; it's basically high school, but you're dealing with billions of dollars.
It was also an interesting hour of the show because it involved everyone meeting in diners or having dinner or drinks with someone else. Shiv had drinks with Nate, her ex, who she resisted sleeping with while managing to offer him a job and getting a job offer herself. Tom and Greg settled the scandal after all, so they decided they had to get dinner in a pop-up restaurant that serves fish that's illegal to cook. Being rich is weird. Kendall, Roman, Frank and Gerri met at the diner at the beginning of the episode to discuss how to gather votes and how to run it. Kendall got invited to dinner by Logan and it got surprisingly sweet and it became the purest moment they have ever shared since the show started. Marcia technically invited him, she had "her own game going on" so she could not stay home with her husband. I like how the writers make the other characters take a step back in each episode and let them shine in others (Connor, what were you doing when Shiv called you?).
The last ten minutes of the show got things pretty heated, in a very elegant and frugal way. It was intense but in a modest way. There were tantrums and plenty of F-words and people backtracking their promises. Roman voted against the ousting of Logan from the company, so did Gerri. Two other key voters decided to abstain.
Kendall was stuck in traffic because he was coming back from Long Island, which he reached by helicopter. There was a lockdown of the New York air traffic due to a possible terror attack. While trying to get to the meeting, he called in and let his father know he was on board with him leaving. It was almost sad to see Kendall trying to state his reasons of his decisions but his father certainly did not care. For a man who makes the President wait on the phone for him, punishing his son for wanting him out of his own company is nothing.
Eventually, Kendall got fired, so did Frank, Logan's longtime partner and friend. I know I'm not supposed to repeat this every time, but I really do feel bad for Kendall. His father already hated him, now he will hate him even more. I'm sure Kendall did not think that his entire plan was going to backfire but I think his reaction to him being fired is comprehensible. He doesn't say anything, he keeps his head down and realizes that he has probably compromised his future inside the company and inside his family.
I particularly enjoyed how the script of the episode (by Susan Soon He Stanton) developed the actions and the interactions between the characters. There are scenes that seem to be cut off mid-action but it's all to make the expectations around the no confidence vote higher. The episode, directed by Andrij Parekh gives the perfect pace to the intense hour that the viewer has to enjoy. It was overall a great episode, the best so far, in my opinion.
Favorite line:
Tom (talking to Greg, at dinner): "Look, here's the thing about being rich, okay? It's f*****g great! Okay? It's like being a superhero, only better. You get to do what you want, the authorities can't really touch you, you get to wear a costume but it's designed by Armani but it doesn't make you look like a p***k".
