As for Roman, he struggles with the interpersonal part of the charge. He has a penchant for empowering and firing, so he thinks that everyone he deals with at Waystar should take his money and do what he wants. At a meeting with ATN executives, he was first distressed at her condolences — “Rejected!” increase. Roman’s first reaction is to troll by making defamatory comments about the “incredibly evolved and ruthlessly segregated” community of Los Angeles. I decided that
When Geli learns what Roman has done, he tries to play the leader again, warning him that he is a “weak monarch in a dangerous void”, stating that “money can’t win”. He retorts that she is disrespectful and adds, “I want you to believe that I am as good as her father.”She replies, “Do you say that or believe it?” So he fires her too. (“Shall we start doing the paperwork? Do you want to do it yourself, or do you want someone to be a little smarter?”)
Knowing he’s overstepped, Roman turns to Kendall in hopes that his brother will play the good cop and clean up the bad cop mess. But Kendall is thrilled they’ve made their own mark on his Waystar, and thinks these two dismissals of him could make an impression on the market. (“Some say these young Turks might have what it takes to turn things around,” he says, imagining what business pundits would write.) And finally an adult intervenes and fixes everything.
Kendall is in full Icarus mode throughout this episode, so that’s also a reasonable assumption. In “Succession”, few things are more fun than Kendall quickly tossing out big ideas and hot business terms in a boss groove. Shiv is the type of boss who hates making decisions and makes fun of other people’s ideas, Roman is the type of boss who doesn’t like dealing with people who don’t say yes, while Kendall is a hands-on type of boss. The boss and the team are as excited as he is to make a big swing.
On this day, Kendall is looking to boost the market potential of Living+, calling it a “price rocket.” Talking around Waystar accountant Pete (John Quilty), Kendall tries to get him to work some magic with a spreadsheet. (“Numbers aren’t just numbers. They’re numbers,” tweets Pete.) Kendall laughed at the moment of clarity, as Gambit resulted in a prospectus promising very high returns. . Your belief in capitalism. ’ He is then brought back to Earth by Frank. Frank threatens that he will blow the whistle if Kendall asks him to help with the scam.
