Succession season 4, episode 8 recap ‘America Decides’

It’s election day on Succession and, just two weeks out from the all-important finale – tensions have finally exploded.

Succession season 4, episode 8 'America Decides'.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Succession season 4, episode 8 ‘America Decides’

When two powerful worlds collide – a US federal election and right-wing media company with vested interest in the result – what could possibly go wrong?

A lot, friends. A lot can go wrong. And a lot does go wrong. Until, it all goes right – that is, for the people with the power to make things go however the bloody hell they want it to. Democracy be damned.

It’s election day in Succession land, and it resembles all the real-life chaos a real-life election day has come to provide.

For ATN – Waystar’s right-wing broadcaster – it’s basically Christmas Day. But without any shred of joy or figgy pudding.

The touchscreen malfunctioning live on-air and cousin Greg pouring lemon water in an employee’s eyes are merely early teasers for the drama to come as America decides on the future leader of the free world.

But as we quickly discover, America isn’t the one calling the shots here.

Cousin Greg doing Cousin Greg things.

In this one episode alone, the emotionally-vulnerable Roman emerges as the monster player pulling the strings. While all signs were pointing to the eldest heir, Kendall, to be the one to follow in his late father’s corrupt footsteps, ‘America Decides’ primes baby Roy as the unlikely successor.

As we already know, Kendall and Roman want to squash the GoJo deal with Lukas Matsson that Logan was overseeing before his death in episode three. The brothers want to keep the company in the family. Shiv has her own motives (more on that later).

And election day is vital because whoever wins the presidency will dictate what happens with the acquisition deal. If Democratic candidate Daniel Jimenez comes up victorious, there’s not a foundation there to dictate Waystar’s fate.

But given Roman’s close relationship with alt-right candidate Jeryd Mencken, he has a vested interest in his victory – whether or not it’s accurate, doesn’t matter.

So, when a voting centre in Milwaukee holding hundreds and thousands of yet-to-be-counted ballots is set on fire by right-wing extremists, it’s the perfect opportunity for ATN to skew public opinion in its favour.

Amid all the business lingo that occupies much of this nailbiting episode, this situation brings us to the heart of what Succession is all about – complex relationships. This is where the dynamic trio of siblings comes undone.

Roman wants to fast track due process and dub it a Mencken presidency by prematurely calling the seats of Wisconsin and Arizona. He must first get the OK from his co-CEO, Kendall.

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Roman wants to prematurely call the election.

Kendall – who is conflicted between not wanting a fascist in power but also wanting to stop the GoJo deal – instructs Shiv to call her former lover Nate – a member of the Jimenez camp – to determine whether or not their team would assist in blocking Matsson from taking over Waystar. You know, before he exploits his power and does anything too dishonourable.

Shiv, whose been secretly conspiring against her brothers with Matsson, pretends to make the call, and lies to Kendall by telling him Jimenez’s team is “willing” to help Waystar block the acquisition.

But Kendall needs further assurance so he calls Nate himself – and just like that, the trust he held in his sister falls like a house of cards in seconds. After consulting Greg, he learns Shiv has made a deal for herself if Matsson were to ultimately take over their company.

Shiv has been caught, and Kendall immediately pulls the trigger and OK’s Roman’s call to formally announce Mencken’s win.

It gets lost in the sheer political furore of this episode, but Shiv also decides to tell Tom she’s pregnant with his baby. He thinks it’s some sort of game. It breaks Shiv, who begins to realise she is losing all of her Waystar allies.

Shiv loses all allies in Waystar’s camp.

A frantic Shiv begs her brothers to cast aside the betrayal and see the bigger picture. A picture that’s bigger than any of them. “This is about the future of our country,” she pleads.

A completely emotionless Roman spits, “No, I think it’s because you broke up with your boyfriend.”

As if things couldn’t get any more corrupt, Roman then instructs ATN’s poster boy Mark Ravenhead to spew misinformation about the ballots being burned by Democrats because they knew they were losing the election.

Roman is completely unfazed by the level of damage he’s done to democracy. His power trip is only validated when he gets a call from the new US president moments after his victory speech.

Roman is on one.

With just two episodes to go before Succession leaves our screens forever (cries), we’re primed for a showdown between Shiv and Matsson, and Roman and Kendall.

Shiv calls Matsson, who is gobsmacked by the craziness he’s seeing unfold on his TV.

“We’re gonna do a number on them. We’re gonna f**k them so hard. We’re gonna fix this,” Shiv says.

Next week, we have Logan’s funeral. Per my rhetorical question at the beginning of this article, what could go wrong?

Succession streams new episodes Mondays on BINGE