The Waystar sale and the Pierce deal have Logan on uneasy footing with his kids this week on Succession. But has he managed to pull someone back into the fold?

Logan decides to pay a surprise visit to the ATN studios, and Greg reports to Tom that Logan is walking the halls looming intimidatingly over the shoulders of ATN staffers: “It’s like Jaws, if everyone in Jaws worked for Jaws.” Once the sale to GoJo goes through, Tom warns, Logan will be there every day — and he doesn’t like what he sees. Plus, Kerry has made an anchor audition tape (yikes), but Logan claims it’s their decision if she should get on the air or not. (Yeah, right.) Meanwhile, Kendall, Roman and Shiv are having a bit of buyer’s remorse once they see how dull Pierce’s current programming is. (When Kendall pitches hard-hitting daily news updates on Africa, Shiv quips: “That sounds like Homework: The Show.”) Shiv is trying to line up a divorce lawyer, too, but all the best ones have already been conflicted out after meeting with Tom — a move Shiv recognizes is straight out of Logan’s playbook.

Kendall and Roman gleefully mock Kerry’s audition tape, which seems to be making the rounds for all the wrong reasons. Shiv is busy lining up a side deal, though, with Waystar shareholder Sandi Furness. Maybe they join forces and hold up the GoJo deal to squeeze a few more dollars out of Matsson? At ATN, Logan wants to give a speech to inspire the troops, and when Tom congratulates them for a 15 percent ratings increase, Logan points out that costs are up 40 percent. He makes it clear he’ll be spending more time there and urges them to show no mercy to their competition: “You’re f—king pirates!” He also catches Hugo and Gerri having a laugh at Kerry’s audition tape and reminds them: “I’m still here, you know. I haven’t gone.”

Shiv, Roman and Kendall try to take the Waystar helicopter into the city for Connor’s wedding rehearsal, but they’re told they don’t have approval — a middle finger from dear old Pop, it seems. They make their way into the city anyway and confer with Sandi and Stewy, who think there’s more money to be had if they vote no on the GoJo deal. Kendall and Roman wave them off… but Shiv is listening. And just as they’re walking into the rehearsal, Willa is walking out. (As Roman puts it: “There goes the bride.”) They find a drunk and despondent Connor inside, who tells them Willa said, “I can’t do this” and then bailed with her friends, and now he can’t get a hold of her. But he wants to go out and live it up, too. Like at a karaoke bar!

While Logan gripes about all the uneaten pizza in the ATN break room, he corners Tom again about Kerry’s potential as an anchor, and Tom admits she may need some more seasoning. He enlists Greg to break the bad news to Kerry, and Greg stammers his way through it, blaming it on a non-existent focus group: “The arms aren’t right. They’re a little un-TV.” Kerry is furious and vows to destroy Greg if she finds out there’s no focus group — but hey, he did it! Connor drags his siblings to a dive bar and gets in touch with the common man by ordering “a Belgian weiss beer, not Hoegaarden.” He’s tracking Willa’s phone, too, with Kendall offering: “We can monitor her dot together.” Kendall also gets an ominous call from Matsson, who’s already heard about the possible board shenanigans and about the pricey Pierce sale, too. “Don’t push me,” he warns, threatening to let the whole deal crumble.

Kendall gets some fresh numbers from Stewy, though, and starts to agree with Shiv that they could actually get more money out of this deal. Roman’s still reluctant — and he’s getting texts from Logan, too. He claims he only texted his dad on his birthday, but Kendall and Shiv feel betrayed; they all agreed to not talk to Logan until he apologizes. Roman’s also been in contact with Matsson and thinks he might actually walk if they try to renegotiate, but Shiv admits they “overcommitted on Pierce” and need every dollar they can get: “It’s what Dad would do in his prime.” Speaking of Dad, Logan hears his kids are considering blowing up the board vote and has to concede: “They have some juice here.” So when Connor drags them to a private karaoke room so he can sing a soppy ballad, he also tells them he told Logan what they were scheming about… and soon, Logan himself walks into their karaoke room, with Kerry in tow.

Logan starts off by saying he wanted them to be at his birthday party (Kendall: “Holy s—t, did Dad just say a feeling?”) and he knows they outbid him on Pierce just to pay him back. But he advises them to vote yes on the GoJo sale so they can all get a fresh start. Kerry tries to chime in, but Shiv cuts her off, bringing up her anchor audition: “Has he f—ked you on that?… Congrats on losing your betrayal cherry.” Logan offers a halfhearted “Sorry,” but that’s not good enough; Kendall demands a long list of apologies on behalf of everyone in the room. Logan tells Shiv he only offered Tom divorce advice that he would’ve offered her if she had asked, adding that if they ask Matsson for more money, he’ll walk: “I know that.” Shiv doesn’t believe him (“You’re a human f—king gaslight!”), and Kendall tells him he just wants to “make his own pile,” throwing Logan’s own words back at him. Logan finally gives up: “You’re such f—king dopes… I love you, but you’re not serious people.” He walks out briskly, complaining to Kerry about all the rats in the city on their way home.

Shiv and Kendall bask in the afterglow of “f—king Dad,” but Roman’s feelings are still mixed. Connor announces he’s been neglected all his life, so he doesn’t need love like they do (“You’re needy love sponges”), but when he goes home, Willa is in bed waiting for him, and he cuddles up next to her. Roman, meanwhile, sneaks off alone for a meeting with Logan, who tells him he’s pushing back the board vote and wants Roman to come see Matsson with him. (He’d have to miss Connor’s wedding, but he says sure.) “There’s a night of the long knives coming,” Logan declares, and he needs a “ruthless f—k” to help him reinvent ATN from the ground up. Pierce wouldn’t be a good fit for Roman, he notes: “Smart people know what they are.” He finally tells Roman, “I need you.” And that’s what Logan’s kids have been waiting to hear from him all along.

Got thoughts on this week’s Succession? Grab the karaoke mic and sing ’em out in the comments below.

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