'Succession' Season 2 Episodes, Ranked

Image via HBO/Craig Blankenhorn

The One Where: The gang goes to Scotland; sand mites; L to the O-G

Kendall's "9PM in Dundee Freestyle" notwithstanding, this episode is just all over the place, packed to the brim with subplots that feel out of left-field (Kendall and the actress?) while advancing others, but sans the narrative focus that we were spoiled within certain mid-season episodes. (I do love both the writers and the actors "more with less" approach to backstory and emotions, especially with Logan. We learn so much about the mysterious rise of Logan Roy from the mere mention of "Rose" or the look on Brian Cox's face outside of his childhood home, and still so know so little.)  It's not bad of course—one might even say it's a necessary piece-mover at that, burdened with being memorable if not great to set-up better episodes in the homestretch. A blood sacrifice. —Frazier Tharpe

The One Where: Kendall, Roman and Shiv's mother bests Logan for the Worst Parent of All Time award.

Even at its "worst," Succession is still pretty insane. It's also wild when you realize that they went six episodes without really digging into what Kendall has been going through since the Season 1 finale. "Return" takes us back to the United Kingdom, with Logan Roy bringing Kendall along to talk to the family of the server who ended up dying (at the hands of Kendall, which they don't realize). Kendall's immediately struck, because duh, and being giving us a fly on the wall perspective of his grief/guilt/secret makes for one intense episode. Couple that with Shiv's continued dressing down by her father, along with Shiv and Roman trying to finesse their mother for Caroline for the upper hand, voting wise, further highlights how corrupt and vile this family dynamic is. With a show so full of memorable highlights, an episode like "Return" doesn't yield many profits, but does give us some more ammunition in understanding how Logan's children operate (and fail) in this most dire time. —khal

The One Where: The Roys take D.C. for a congressional hearing, minus Roman who gets taken hostage in Turkey.

"The Roys go to Washington," knowing what the family has done (and the skeletons that have been buried in the closet) sounds like a great hour(-ish) of television. And it is...mostly. Tom completely fumbling is a thing of beauty; for being so antsy off the rip, it's insane to see how quickly this putz is in over his head. Logan's off, considering how cocksure he was going into the hearing; it's truly Kendall who shines. He's taking no bullshit in front of Congress, and while not a clean victory, he lets it be known that the Roys don't bow down to anyone without a fight. The intensity of that moment is heightened by Roman's paranoia during a whole hostage situation while trying to secure a buyout in Turkey. We're rarely on the ground floor during these types of real-life occurrences, so seeing Roman—who has been trying to show and prove this season—have to deal with this kind of ordeal is intriguing.  —khal

The One Where: The gang goes to the Hamptons to decide the future of the company

"Dad's plan is better." In 2019, there are a number of ways to introduce a new season especially after the devastating brilliance of the Season 1 finale of Succession, "Nobody Is Ever Missing." No one figured Succession would revisit those events literal days after, bringing Kendall out of his (roughly) 48-hour fog to, after conspiring to take his father Logan out of the throne at Waystar, was whisked to a studio to deliver some company-mandated lines, putting up a front for the world while everything begins to crumble behind the scenes. Sweeping us back into the thick of it, Succession found a way to have the fam hit the Hamptons and really get to brass tacks regarding the future of the series. Logan's happy, but nto for long, as that crumbling empire needs to be reconstructed. It's the first time Logan's told Shiv that she's to take over the company after him, delivering one of the biggest arcs this season has. It feels surreal, and may well could be, but it's a firm direction for the season, a secret that we know ahead of time during the machinations at the top of Waystar throughout Season 2. —khal

The One Where: Kendall tells Shiv "it won't be me;" Kendall on the roof; an active shooter in Waystar; Hitler's dog

For a show that usually excels at showing over telling, the horrors of the Roy-managed news network ATN were often only whispered about in passing, so bonus points to this episode for finally taking us into the beast for an extended period via Tom handling a Richard Spencer-type news anchor's latest scandal. But who are we kidding? This hour belongs to Jeremy Strong, whose next few weeks are going to be spent choosing which episode he should send in as his official Emmy submission. Some unsolicited advice, Jer: it should be this one. The palpable anguish of Kendall Roy gently but oh so painfully butting his head against the newly installed glass panels on the roof he'd been escaping to and staring down off of like a suicidal escape hatch will be seared into my brain forever. —Frazier Tharpe

The One Where: Logan gets roasted out of $25 billion deal; the slap

Logan and Kendall going full thirst-bucket to cement the Pierce deal is such a nail-biter, all it's missing is the doomsday sounds of the 24 clock. That they fail, spectacularly and publicly, confirmed all bets were off for the back-half of the season. Also, that scene where the family all reads the article is a veritable orgy of rapid-fire one-liners and rapport. —Frazier Tharpe

The One Where: Kendall's dad tells him to

This one hit home for us media folks, but that's exactly why this show wins: the research is quietly impressive as hell. Everything about the way a Murdoch-type family would speak to each other and behave feels aggressively studied and dissected, and a one-off dipping into the intricacies of the media business, from Charbeat to KPIs is no different. A feel-bad tour de force, this, as the second episode in the season, was the early indicator that we were in for a truly special run. —Frazier Tharpe

The One Where: Shiv swipes her unlimited Hall Pass on one of Willa's actors; "Boar on the Floor"

These last three all have a credible shot at the CEO crown for best episode of the series. "Hunting," originally titled "Logan Goes Stalin" (before Jesse Armstrong and the team apparently decided to not over-think the episode titles and just go full banal, oh well) is certainly the show's darkest episode, a grim exploration of the toxic relationship to wealth and status everyone who isn't a Roy has with this life. Getting in (or next to) the 1% and staying there is a daily test of wills, dignity, and morality. But for the Toms and Franks of the world, pretending it isn't is better than not being there at all. —Frazier Tharpe

The One Where: Kendall gets his swag back

Poetic, Shakespearean, surprising, inevitable. Succession Season 2 is one of the best seasons of television. —Frazier Tharpe

The One Where: The Roys meet the Pierces

A great thing about serialized television is, once all of that plot buildup is sturdy and the table is set, there has to then be an episode that whips the cloth off. If the writers did their job right, then it'll come off without a hitch magician-style on their end, while everything comes crashing down magnificently for their characters. "Tern Haven" can't be considered the quintessential episode of Succession because so much of what's great about it is the context of watching the entire Roy family, even and especially Logan, squirm for the first time in maybe ever.  But that excruciating dinner scene that finds the nouveau-riche Roys squaring off against the blue-blood Pierces all while Brian Cox's dagger-eyes say a 1000 words with each reaction shot and the roving camera operators seamlessly zoom in one cringe-worthy exchange after another is everything the show does well in a microcosm. Right down to the actually-yell-out-'what-the-fuck' twist, in this case Shiv's usually cool resolve melting under daddy's withering glare. And sure, you couldn't show this episode cold to a non-believer to win them over, but that last scene—the one where King Logan touts his success as a group win with a toast as his entire family looks on miserably then absconds up an ivory staircase to his throne room, alone—is every theme the show explores, every logline you could possible write for it, in one moment. —Frazier Tharpe