Kendall may have briefly put Matsson and GoJo in check, but ultimately, Waystar’s fate is in the hands of the public markets. The question now is: Will it blow up? Regardless of what this episode wants you to think, it’s hard not to imagine such a ludicrous scheme backfiring in spectacular fashion. “You could say anything.” (Kendall has clearly been watching “rise and fall” documentaries about Theranos and stopping during the “rise” part.) In any case, Kendall manages to overcome a shaky start to his Living+ demo and walks back into the Waystar war room with news of the company’s “meme stock frothing” and “positive snaps” coming from Bloomberg. “It’s enough to make you lose your faith in capitalism,” Kendall chuckles to Roman after telling him he’s inflated Living+ projections in Colorado. There’s no denying the flawed logic in Kendall’s Living+ presentation, but, as he pointed out in perhaps the most astute observation he’s ever made, logic doesn’t matter in the world of tech product launches-only vibes. There’s a lot of TV out there. We want to help: Every week, we’ll tell you the best and most urgent shows to stream so you can stay on top of the ever-expanding heap of Peak TV. And the deciding factors in that increasingly complicated question are the Waystar shareholders. Could the pitch create the effect Kendall wants? So far, signs miraculously point to … yes? This is a striking contrast that makes it difficult to determine which of these two CEOs-er, co-CEO, in Kendall’s case-is really in control. Is it objectively a good idea to promise customers eternal life? Definitely not. The fundamental premise of “Living+” is that Kendall Roy is taking an enormous gamble: He’s pitching a product most would agree is unnecessary at best, and straight-up fraudulent at worst, with the hopes of driving up Waystar’s stock and pricing out Lukas Matsson. Even after Logan made a deal with GoJo (and screwed over his kids), it’s still safe to say everything is in disarray-and to steal a line from another HBO series, chaos can be a ladder. So, as we did last season, every week during Succession ’s fourth and final installment, The Ringer will check in on how the hierarchy at Waystar Royco shifts with each passing episode. Succession is all about power-who has the most, who can wield it the best, and who is disastrously blinded by it.
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