Nobody Is Ever Missing

"**Nobody Is Ever Missing**" is the tenth and final episode of the first season of *Succession* and tenth of the series overall. It premiered on August 5, 2018 on HBO. It was written by Jesse Armstrong and directed by Mark Mylod.

## Premise

Amidst the revelry of Tom and Shiv's wedding, Logan and his team find themselves in defense mode as word of the Waystar takeover bid spreads. Kendall finds an escape outlet as the situation becomes supercharged, while Tom parlays his new wife's candor into the removal of an unwanted guest.

## Plot synopsis

Guests have arrived for Shiv and Tom's wedding and both families are gathered around to take photos. Shiv asks that Willa, Connor's younger girlfriend, be left out of the photos due to her reputation, but Connor insists, threatening to cause a scene if Shiv does not comply.

Kendall has quarantined himself with Stewy and Jess, his assistant, to prepare for the takeover. Jess realizes that she accidentally sent their final document to the wrong printer and everyone begins frantically searching for it. Someone knocks on the door and Kendall immediately berates them, unaware that it's his son, Iverson, who then runs off. Upon realizing, Kendall runs after him and apologies but Rava takes he and Sophie away.

Kendall is forced to inform of his father of the takeover. Logan grows furious and asks for an explanation behind this "bear hug," but Kendall freezes up and is promptly thrown out of the suite. Logan then becomes worried that he is unable to stop the takeover and confides in Marcia. Roman heads to the bathroom to watch the launch of his Japanese satellite via livestream. After it explodes on the launchpad, he immediately puts his phone away, ignoring the influx of calls and emails. Back in their private room, Stewy proposes that he and Kendall do some cocaine to calm their nerves.

Connor informs Willa that he plans to run for office, which prompts concern about the future of her play. Logan comes down to join everyone. One of the waiters asks if he would like more champagne but Logan declines, turns away, and champagne is accidentally poured down on his arm. He snaps and fires the young boy, demanding he be kicked out immediately. Colin has the boy sign an NDA with a cash settlement. Gerri confronts Roman about the explosion and he pretends to be oblivious of the incident. He then admits that he had the launch moved to today, thinking it would be a nice wedding gift for Shiv. Gerri begins going over any legal ramifications that this may cause, including "corporate manslaughter" if there are any casualties.

The formal reception starts, with everyone except Kendall at the front of the room beside the bride and groom. After Logan's speech, Gerri informs him that they have a plan to combat the takeover. Caroline, Roman, Tom, and Shiv give speeches as well. Logan then subtly migrates all his children into one room after having informed them of Kendall's takeover plan. The other siblings berate Kendall, and after a couple of minutes, Logan walks in. He has a quick exchange with his son before Kendall storms out and rejoins Stewy. Kendall persistently asks for more cocaine, but Stewy insists that he doesn't have any.

After Connor nonchalantly informs his siblings that he plans to run for president, Roman tries to talk him out of it. Gerri informs Roman that no one has died in Japan and only a few have serious injuries, which overjoys him.

Kendall and Greg run into each other while both are having a smoke on the balcony. Greg says that he's proud of Kendall and wishes him good luck, but Kendall is only concerned with finding cocaine. Greg says he doesn't have any and begins talking about the cruise-line scandal. He confesses that Tom had him destroy evidence regarding the mishaps, but he kept copies of significant documents. Kendall applauds this, and Greg points him in the direction of some guys who may have drugs.

Tom and Shiv sneak away from the reception to be alone in their suite. Shiv admits to her affair with Nate, as well as suggests that she may be better fit for a non-monogamous marriage. Tom is reluctant to the idea, but Shiv convinces him to try it. Back at the reception, Tom confronts Nate and kicks him out. He threatens him to stay away from Shiv and even demands he pour his wine back into the bottle before leaving. Nate, intimidated and a bit drunk, obeys Tom.

Outside, Kendall finds Andrew Dodds, the waiter his father fired earlier, smoking a joint. Kendall asks for some "powder," but Andrew reveals that he only has ketamine. However, Andrew says he knows a guy with cocaine not far away, but is too high to drive. Kendall decides to drive though he’s a rather inexperienced driver. At some point during the drive, Kendall is distracted while working work with the stick-shift and Andrew sees a deer ahead of them. He grabs for the wheel, causing the car to swerve and go off the side of the bridge into a pond. The car immediately sinks but Kendall is able to escape. He makes several attempts to save the kid before giving up. In shock, he begins walking through the rain away from the property. Once back to his room, he realizes that he's lost his key and breaks in. He showers off and changes clothes, then returns to the party as if nothing's happened. He greets and speaks with everyone individually.

The next morning at breakfast, Kendall is called into his father's library to speak about the accident. Kendall pretends to be ignorant regarding the situation, only having just been informed by Greg. Logan reveals that they found Kendall's key card near the site of the accident, though he and Marica suggest that maybe he stole it. Kendall agrees, though seemingly a bit nervous. Logan then asks for the others to leave so he can speak to Kendall privately. Logan admits that he knows the truth and Kendall begins to cry. He insists that Kendall drop out of his previous plan and go to rehab, as well as promises to have everything covered up. They both know that if the truth were to hit the media, Kendall’s life and career would be destroyed. Kendall obliges and cries in his father's arms.

## Cast

* Hiam Abbass as Marcia Roy
* Nicholas Braun as Greg Hirsch
* Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy
* Peter Friedman as Frank Vernon (credit only)
* Natalie Gold as Rava Roy
* Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans
* Alan Ruck as Connor Roy
* Sarah Snook as Shiv Roy
* Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy
* Rob Yang as Lawrence Yee (credit only)
* Justine Lupe as Willa Ferreyra
* Scott Nicholson as Colin
* Arian Moayed as Stewy Hosseini
* Juliana Canfield as Jess Jordan
* Ashley Zukerman as Nate Sofrelli
* Caitlin FitzGerald as Tabitha
* Harriet Walter as Caroline Collingwood

Guest* Darius Homayoun as Amir

## Quotes

* **Connor Roy:** But if you don't allow it, I'm gonna punch Tom in the face and I'm gonna rip my shirt open, I'm gonna take a fuckin' dump on the ground. I'm gonna go apesh\*t, because she's the woman I love.
* **Kendall Roy:** What, you don't think I can deliver it?
**Stewy Hosseini:** No, it's just, only 15% of men, when it comes to it, actually shoot an undefended enemy soldier.
**Kendall:** He shot first.

## Trivia

* The writers used Senator Ted Kennedy's car accident in 1969 as inspiration for Kendall's accident. Similarly, the final exchange between Kendall and Logan is reminiscent of Kennedy's own confession of the incident to his father.
* In an interview with Vox, Jeremy Strong revealed that the car crash scenes were filmed near four in the morning under freezing rain. He requested that they be shot in a single 10-minute session, as he believed it would be more dramatic that way.
* The episode won a Primetime Emmy Award for its writing.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Succession Ep 10: Nobody Is Ever Missing | Official Website for the HBO Series | HBO.com
2. ↑ Shows A-Z - succession on hbo | TheFutonCritic.com
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Succession*: Season 1, Episode 10: "**Nobody Is Ever Missing**"
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Succession | Official Website for the HBO Series | HBO.com
5. ↑ Shows A-Z - succession on hbo | TheFutonCritic.com
6. ↑ Succession: The Real-Life Tragedy That Inspired the Finale’s Twist | Vanity Fair
7. ↑ Succession’s season finale, explained by Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong - Vox
8. ↑ Emmy Winners 2019 — FULL LIST: Emmy Award Winners – TVLine

Cite error: `<ref>` tags exist for a group named "n", but no corresponding `<references group="n"/>` tag was found