Lion in the Meadow (Succession)

"Lion in the Meadow" is the fourth episode of the third season of the HBO satirical comedy-drama television series Succession, and the 24th overall. It was written by Jon Brown and directed by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman, and aired on November 7, 2021.

The episode primarily follows Kendall and Logan reuniting to meet jointly with Josh Aaronson, a major Waystar shareholder concerned about their family feud.

At the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, Adrien Brody was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the episode.

Plot

Four days before the annual shareholder meeting, Kendall is informed by Waystar senior management that investor Josh Aaronson, who owns 4% of the company's shares, is losing trust in its leadership amid the family feud and DOJ investigation, and may join Sandy and Stewy. Josh requests that Kendall and Logan meet with him jointly; Kendall initially refuses, but is convinced to go by Frank, unaware that Logan is listening in.

Logan has Shiv direct ATN to be more critical in their coverage of the presidential administration, hoping it will pressure the White House into finally granting him legal and political favors. Shiv passes the order onto Tom, who has become mournfully fixated on the possibility of spending time in prison and feels emasculated taking orders from his wife. Shiv then meets with Connor, who has decided to push his presidential campaign four years down the road, and is seeking a role at the company in the interim to improve his perceived credibility.

Logan, meanwhile, presents Greg with a joint defense agreement with Waystar, offering that he use his existing leverage to negotiate a better position at the company. Tom visits Greg at his office to pressure him into siding with the company, but learns that Greg has already agreed to sign the agreement with Logan and is now seeking an executive position at the parks department.

In an attempt to discredit Kendall, Roman tracks down a formerly homeless man that he and Kendall convinced to tattoo Kendall's initials on his forehead years prior, but learns that the man has since had the tattoo removed. Roman and Hugo reach a $1 million settlement with the man to obtain photos of the tattoo, but Gerri talks Roman out of publicizing the pictures, given that he too was involved in the incident.

Kendall and Logan separately fly out to Josh's private island residence. Both remain pensive and standoffish; Josh decides that the three take a walk through the surrounding property. Josh informs them that their blood feud has already lost him $350 million, roughly 10 percent of his holdings. He attempts to talk Kendall down from his

Upon reaching the coastline, Logan gives a call to Shiv warning her not to overstep after hearing from Karl that she has become too assertive in her position at the company. Shiv, afraid of being undermined, decides to personally confront ATN anchor Mark Ravenhead after he refuses Tom's request to shift his editorial position on the President, and strongarms him into complying with Logan's orders.

Kendall and Logan sit down for lunch with Josh, who demands to know whether the family rift can be mended in time; Logan reassures him that it can, giving a speech praising Kendall and even suggesting that he is a worthy successor. However, on the walk back to the house, Logan and Kendall exchange threats, with the former revealing Greg's shift in allegiance and making it clear that Kendall will never lead Waystar. Logan begins to suffer the effects of heat exhaustion, but attempts to trudge on, refusing to be seen in a weakened state before Josh. Kendall neglects to help until Logan collapses, forcing Kendall and Josh to help him up. Kendall attempts to continue negotiating with Josh, but Josh asks him to focus on his father's wellbeing.

In his private jet, Logan receives a furious call from the President over ATN's critical coverage, which Logan promises to temper if the DOJ's Waystar investigation is relaxed. Kendall receives a call from Roman informing him that Josh has lost confidence in Waystar's leadership after witnessing Kendall and Logan's fractured relationship for himself. Moments later, Kendall sees Stewy arriving by helicopter to greet Josh.

Production

"Lion in the Meadow" was written by Jon Brown and directed by husband-and-wife team Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who also directed the second season's fourth episode, "Safe Room". The Guardian observed that the episode derives its title from Margaret Mahy's 1969 children's book A Lion in the Meadow.^[1]

A 90th-floor penthouse suite at 35 Hudson Yards was used as the location for Kendall's apartment, which is seen prominently in the episode after being briefly glimpsed in "The Disruption".^[6] According to executive producer Scott Ferguson, the production chose Hudson Yards – which has been frequently maligned by New York architecture critics for its perceived shallowness^[7][8] – because its "polished sheen" provided for an environment devoid of "deeper roots and personal history," which Ferguson said characterized most of the Roys' living spaces. He remarked, "There's a bland interchangeability that's pleasant and beautiful, but doesn't get deeply character-oriented." Carter noted that the Hudson Yards location eliminated the work of having to refit one of the various owner-occupied apartments that the series scouted elsewhere in Manhattan, and described the space chosen for the series as sufficiently "stripped of personality" to be an appropriate living space for Kendall.^[9]

Reception

Ratings

Upon airing, the episode was watched by 0.484 million viewers, with an 18-49 rating of 0.11.^[10]

Critical reception