Argestes

Argestes
Season	2
Episode	6
Overall	16
Release date	September 15, 2019
Length	63 minutes
Director(s)	Matt Shakman
Writer(s)	Susan Soon He Stanton
Previous	"Tern Haven"
Next	"Return"

"Argestes" is the sixth episode of the second season of Succession and sixteenth episode of the series overall. It premiered on September 15, 2019 on HBO. It was written by Susan Soon He Stanton and directed by Matt Shakman.

Premise

As Logan looks to finalize a deal to buy the Pierce family's papers and TV stations at a media & banking retreat, a threat to the deal arises from an unexpected quarter. Tom worries about ATN's new slogan after learning some distressing news from Greg. Kendall, Shiv and Roman fail to see eye to eye on how to handle damage control ahead of a panel featuring the Roys.

Plot synopsis

Waiting inside the plane

The company's jet is suspended in the air and has been circling for an hour. They, along with many other billionaires are waiting to land at the same airport in Argestes for a world conference. Logan demands more, better information about the Pierce family settlement. Kendall agrees to go in and scold them.

Back in New York, Shiv, uninterested, is shadowing Frank for the day, yet slips away before he can stop her. She is passed by Karolina who brushes into Frank's office, informing him that the cruise ship stories are about to make headlines.

The Roys finally arrive at the conference and soon meet up with Tom and Greg Hirsch, who is excited to have possibly touched Bill Gates. Logan then spots Sandy Furness across the room and uses Tom and Greg as cover, avoiding having to talk to Sandy. They are interrupted as Colin ushers Logan, Gerri, and Kendall into another room. They are informed that a magazine has been tipped off about the cruise-line scandal and plans to publish an exposé within 36 to 48 hours. They get on a conference call with Shiv and begin discussing a course of action. Kendall suggests they go at them hard and fast, threatening legal action. Shiv thinks they should opt for a much less aggressive approach and cooperate with the magazine instead. Logan decides to go with Kendall's idea, and the two agree that all contracts with the Pierce family contracts must be wrapped up soon, rather than later. They also agree that they will need a "white knight" and Gerri suggests Roman, while Logan asks Shiv to fly down.

Problem with the speech

Greg runs through the rain to find Tom, who'd been enjoying a tour guide through the waterfalls. Greg informs him that the quote they wanted to use to address public-outcry over the cruise of “we're listening” was no longer a valid option, as it says in the contacts that Waystar Royco actually was listening. They debate on changing it to “we hear you” but think it may be equally as shady, legally.

Aware that the cruise-line story is about to hit the internet, Logan warns his wife Marcia that it may get nasty and she will hear some awful things in the media. She reassures him that she'll be with him no matter what, and knows who he truly is.

Roman setting up plans

Gerri finds Roman and tells him that he must secure a position with Eduard Asgarov, as things within the company seem rather uncertain now. Roman reluctantly agrees. That night, he follows Eduard into the bathroom and speaks with him. Eduard says he will comply, only if Waystar's media company will quietly propagate about his home country Azerbaijan and the city of Baku. Roman, again reluctantly, agrees. He later asks Gerri how legal or illegal that was of him, but she isn't too worried about it. Roman also proposes to Gerri that they work together more. He tells her that she is brilliant yet overlooked, and that she needs him to be her "loudmouth rockstar."

Logan wants to sign the Pierce family agreement and asks Rhea Jarrell what's taking so much time. She assures him that Nan is flying in for them to have private conversations with. They are both aware of the cruise ship scandal and wish to get the deal over and done with. Meanwhile, Kendall makes a quick visit with his old friend Stewy and tells him to distance himself from Waystar Royco, as something "big" will soon happen.

Shiv arrives that night and finds Tom flirting with others. She gives him more information about the cruise-line incident and Tom is worried they are going to scapegoat him. He says the trail started with Moe, Bill helped cover things up, and Tom was in charge for the last couple of months, even having Greg shred documents. Shiv reassures him that he will be fine.

When bad news breaks

Nan and Rhea finally arrive and have breakfast with Logan and Kendall. They subtly try to rush the agreement by informing the ladies of papers to be signed in the other room, but Nan persistently pushes it off. Unfortunately, Kendall finds out the story has broken, and the two quickly make their exits to do re-con. In a private room, Logan has the article printed and brought to him, while everyone scans it on their phone. The magazine thought they were being treated poorly, claiming the Roys were bullying them, and therefore decided to move the story up. The magazine claims Moe asked dancers for sex in order to keep their contracts renewed for the following year. One woman declined and was both fired and blacklisted from other events. Roman arrives and the kids get into a disagreement. They ask Shiv to be on the panel, but she declines. Gerri also declines, thinking it may send a bad message to have a lawyer speaking. Ultimately, they decide on Roman and Kendall.

Logan is informed that he's losing a lot of allies due to the article. Kendall bumps into Stewy, who has some harsh words for Kendall. Logan sits down to have lunch but vomits, possibly due to a combination of stress and altitude sickness, while Shiv and Gerri cover for him.

Shiv reluctantly meets with Rhea to discuss what's going on with the Pierce family, admitting that she wishes for the deal to go through. Rhea also convinces Shiv that she'd do well on the panel, and Shiv agrees.

Shiv wants in

Not long before presentation, Shiv arrives and tells her family that she wants to be on the panel. Everyone argues and they try to knock Roman off. Gerri shakes her head, indicating Roman fight to stay on. Logan eventually decides all three of them will go on the panel together. The siblings wait while Tom finishes up his speech, announcing the new slogan to be "We Hear For You." Greg is in the audience and claps for his friend.

All three are on stage, with Shiv and Kendall dominating the conversation. Roman says very little, all while Logan and Marcia are watching in the audience. Shiv acknowledges that while the allegations should be taken seriously, they also happened a lot time ago. Kendall states that the accusations are horrible and they will be dealing with them swiftly. Shiv then makes a joke about the company having "dinosaur" attitudes and values. After the conference, everyone begins fighting. Shiv is being cornered for her dinosaur comment, everyone agreeing that she was over the line. Roman makes another smart-aleck comment only to be struck in the face by his dad, knocking out a tooth. Kendall immediately stands up for his brother, yelling at his father to never do that again. Roman brushes it off by saying "it's just a tooth."

Breaking away from the deal

Their weekend concludes at a comedy roast special. The comedian sees Logan's family enter, and lays into them about the sexual assault allegations on the cruise-line. Nan Pierce is at the back of the room and immediately leaves. Logan follows her out with Rhea. He asks if everything is alright and if the deal is still good to go. Nan says the deal is off and fires Rhea as well, accusing her of working against them. Logan loses his temper and continues following Nan out to her car, yelling for her to come back.

Cast

Starring Brian Cox as Logan Roy Hiam Abbass as Marcia Roy Nicholas Braun as Greg Hirsch Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy Dagmara Domińczyk as Karolina Novotney Peter Friedman as Frank Vernon Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans Arian Moayed as Stewy Hosseini Alan Ruck as Connor Roy (credit only) J. Smith-Cameron as Gerri Kellman Sarah Snook as Shiv Roy Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy Rob Yang as Lawrence Yee

Recurring Holly Hunter as Rhea Jarrell Cherry Jones as Nan Pierce Danny Huston as Jamie Laird Fisher Stevens as Hugo Baker Larry Pine as Sandy Furness Scott Nicholson as Colin Babak Tafti as Eduard Asgarov Juliana Canfield as Jess Jordan Scott Nicholson as Colin Guest Nore Davis as Zell Simmons