Succession season 4 episode 7 recap – GoJo exposed

Our Verdict

Tailgate Party is an emotionally devastating episode that shed new light on GoJo and the future winner of Succession.

We are nearing the end of Succession, folks, with only three episodes of season 4 left in the hit TV series. But despite how close we are to the finale, the latest Roy family outing hasn’t shied away from throwing us some fresh curve balls. In the new episode, we see some business secrets come to light and relationships reach their boiling point. Warning spoilers ahead!

Succession season 4, episode 7 – titled Tailgate Party– follows Kendall’s ongoing war with Lukas Matsson. Ever since Succession season 4 episode 5, Kendall has been against the GoJo deal to buy Waystar and has tried to prevent the buyout in any way he can. In the last episode, we saw him try to raise Waystar’s value with the new real estate venture Living Plus, and now the ‘temporary’ CEO is trying to push GoJo out by getting lobbyists involved.

That’s right; politics are back in the Succession fold. Succession season 4 episode 7 takes place during the annual Roy family election’ tailgate party’. It is a shindig where some of the most powerful people in the US gather to watch the upcoming election results. And, now, the event is Kendall’s newest battleground for company control.

Kendall lets Roman and Shiv into his plan to use their dead dad’s political party as an opportunity to try and get legislation passed that would hurt the tech industry that GoJo relies on. It is a cunning plan to try and make Lukas less appealing to the Waystar shareholders, and Kendall even contacts Shiv’s old flame Nate Sofrelli to try and get the job done.

Yep, you read right, Nate—the same Nate who almost broke up Shiv and Tom’s relationship in Succession season 2. Needless to say, his presence is a bit awkward as Tom and Shiv are trying to reconcile and have actually agreed to host the party together as well – yikes. To make matters even worse, Shiv is still playing double agent with Matsson and tells the GoJo CEO about her brothers’ plans.

So as you can imagine, Succession season 4 episode 7 is pure dramatic carnage as Matsson crashes the party, Kendall scampers to crush GoJo, and Tom and Shiv have a massive blowout. In fact, in this latest episode, every Succession character reaches some sort of turning point. And it is an hour of glorious TV. As the party kicks off, we soon learn how Lukas Matsson is just as bad as the Roy family and actually has shady numbers that could put the deal in jeopardy – without Kendall’s interference.

GoJo’s subscriber numbers in India are massively inflated – and when we say massively, we mean like doubled. So yeah, Shiv may have tied herself to a dead horse with a habit of sending blood to his employees…not the best situation, is it? But at least Kendall has something to look forward to since his attempt to convince Nate about the legislation was a massive flop.

Basically, the battle for Waystar is actually in Kendall’s favour (for once), and it is exciting to see if he will come out as top dog. While Kendall and GoJo were the main focus of Succession season 4 episode 7, the new entry was also packed with future plot setups and hard-hitting emotional performances. Firstly, the election party reminded us all about the existence of the racist and sexist presidential candidate Mark Ravenhead – who is being backed by ATN and Roman.

Kendall’s own adoptive daughter Sophie has been attacked by Ravenhead’s followers, so expect some future conflict between the Roy brothers soon. The new episode also gave us a seemingly final answer to Tom and Shiv’s relationship, which has been up in the air all season.

Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen give one of their best performances as we see Shiv and Tom go through their most heart-breaking and brutally honest breakups. The two basically confront each other with their flaws, ending with Tom implying that Shiv wouldn’t have been a good mother and Shiv telling him that he is basically nothing in her eyes. It is a sobering moment and one of the most candid we have seen from the two.

Succession season 4 episode 7 was a whirlwind of emotions, and its developments moved at lightning speed. From GoJo to the election results, there is plenty to look forward to for Succession season 4 episode 8. But one thing is becoming clearer with every new entry – Kendall Roy is a serious player, and the Waystar media empire is looking like it will be completely in his hands soon.

Succession season 4 is available to watch on HBO Max in the US and on the streaming service NOW TV in the UK. For more Waystar fun, here are our guides on all the Succession episodes ranked and who is in the Succession cast list.

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