Editor’s note: (The following contains major spoilers for “Living+,” the sixth episode of “Heir” season four.)
(CNN) There was so much to love about the sixth episode of “Heir,” in so many terrifying ways, that it’s hard to decide where to begin. However, with “Game of Thrones” apologies, one of the Roy boys became power-hungry kings in the wake of their father’s death, but somehow managed to wrest victory from the jaws of failure, a very immortal image.
The episode started with a familiar face Logan Roy (They still pay Brian Cox(After all, why not?) Living+, a real estate brand, wanted to present its Investor Day with a posthumous video. Their soon-to-be owner Lucas Matson (Alexander Skarsgård, renewing his Emmy campaign) uses sister Shiva (Sarah Snook) as a back channel to vent his displeasure after the siblings’ contentious negotiations with Kendall. (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin).
As the “Success”-excessive scenes go, Madson strolls barefoot across the tarmac from one private jet to another, where he refers to Shiva as his “inner girl.”
Even after Matsson’s enriching bid to buy Waystar Royco, Kendall and Roman still try to undermine the deal and, remarkably, demonstrate their ability to fill their father’s shoes.
In one of the most obvious displays of that anger, Roman leaves for Hollywood, impulsively shoots the head of the company’s film studio (guest star Annabeth Gish) during a meeting, then snaps when Jerry (J. Smith-Cameron) tells him he can. Don’t do it.
“You gotta believe I’m as good as my daddy,” snapped Roman, to which Jerry said, “Tell me or believe me?”
While Roman wrestled with the apparent illusions of luxury, Kendall was making his own, capturing Living+ as a lifeline that would boost the company’s stock price and allow him to retain control over the company.
Gung ho about the idea, Kendall tried to make a last-minute presentation, complete with questionable spiral profit projections and a vision for a staged version of Living+ that couldn’t be fabricated in time.
Shiv questions Kendall’s “rabbit-brained plans”, leading Roman to back off from supporting the idea and everyone in the Waystar hierarchy to prepare for the worst, especially when Kendall incorporates footage of his late father during his stuttering opening.
Then, shockingly, the presentation actually went well, causing the Waystar brain trust to suddenly change their tune, and Kendall was delighted with a cleansing dip in the ocean that didn’t suffer from a lack of symbolism. It was as if he had washed away the stain of defeat and finally established himself as his own man.
Even that recap doesn’t really do the episode justice, which includes several smart moments, including Waystar’s conservative news division, the ATF, creating a toxic environment to attract talent to the movie studio. arose in the past During Rupert Murdoch’s leadership of Fox.
The writers continued to explore the complicated relationship between Shiv and Tom (Matthew Macfadyen).
Plus there was Jerry’s little throwaway line about Mattson, “Nobody cares about a genius weirdo,” which has plenty of recent real-world echoes, and “has put a price on his reputation.”
Where do the Roy boys and Mattson go from here? That remains to be seen, but there’s already plenty of genius in the buildup, with hourly “successor” awards only boosting the stock’s price.
HBO, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery.
