The Munsters

"**The Munsters**" is the first episode of the fourth season of *Succession* and thirtieth of the series overall. It premiered on March 25, 2023 on HBO. It was written by Jesse Armstrong and directed by Mark Mylod.

## Premise

As Kendall, Shiv, and Roman hone their pitch for potential investors in LA, a call from Tom shifts the siblings' focus towards one of their dad's long-coveted companies. Back in NY, Greg's uninvited plus-one raises questions at Logan's birthday party, Connor considers throwing a gargantuan sum at his campaign, and Tom seeks assurances from Logan.

## Plot synopsis

The Roy siblings are in Los Angeles preparing for the launch of their media brand "The Hundred", following being shut out of the GoJo deal by their father. Shiv arrives a bit late claiming to have been in traffic and taking business calls, while Roman and Kendall accuse her of talking to the Jiminez transition team. Shiv declines, but admits that they had "talked about talking," and that she feels she must weigh all her options. Shiv reassures him that she is still on their side.

Meanwhile, Logan is celebrating his birthday at his home back in New York, 48 hours prior to the GoJo acquisition. Greg arrives with a questionable date and is cornered by Kerry.

Back in LA, Shiv steps out of a meeting to take a call from Tom, with whom she's in the process of divorce, who informs her that he went to dinner with Naomi Pierce the night before. Shiv, obviously a bit angry, tells him that it's fine for the two to date. When Shiv asks why exactly he met with her, Tom hangs up on her. The siblings then conclude that Logan must be attempting to buy PGM once again.

At Logan's birthday party, Connor, whose campaign polls have recently hit 1 percent, is the only child of Logan's present. Tom then informs Logan that the Pierce family is interested in a deal, as well as asks if his position at Waystar would be secured even if he and Shiv divorce. While Kendall and Shiv immediately agree to abandon The Hundred and make a rival bid, Roman disapproves of the idea, saying that they are too focused on their personal griefs with Logan and Tom respectively. They all eventually agree to make an offer to the Pierces. Tom mocks Greg about his date, and Logan grows frustrated and decides to leave the party and have dinner with his body-man Colin, who he calls his best pal. There, he contemplates the economic value of people, morality, and the possibility of an afterlife.

Kerry calls the siblings and asks if they would consider giving him a call, to which they confidently decline. Connor asks Willa to consider having a more grandiose wedding, as it would be good press for him, but she is hesitant. While Logan is out of the home, Greg has a sexual encounter with his date. Tom informs him that there are cameras in every room and he must talk to Logan about it, considering he's just accidentally made him a sex tape. Logan is informed that someone has proposed a rival bid, rushes home and demands to know who's behind it. Frank discovers that kids are with the Pierces, and he and Gerri recruit Karl to relay the news to Logan. Greg then speaks to Logan about the incident, and Logan has Colin remove his date from the party as well as search her phone.

In California, the siblings have arrived at Nan's estate and are greeted by Naomi. Nan claims to be indecisive about whose offer to take, being that she has distaste for Logan but he's made a very good offer, and PGM is desperate for the money. Roman realizes that she is angling for the siblings to make a better offer than Logan and they go outside to deliberate. On the phone, Logan lowballs the Pierces with a $6 billion offer, and the siblings, meanwhile, offer $8 billion, but Nan wants more. Shiv then calls Tom and coerces him into revealing that Logan's ceiling price is $12 billion, the same as theirs. The siblings decide to offer an irresistible $10 billion, and Nan accepts, leaving Logan defeated.

That night, Shiv returns to her apartment in New York to retrieve some clothes, and is surprised to see that Tom still sleeps there. Though the two are seemingly very distant, Tom still wishes to discuss what went wrong in their marriage before they divorce. Shiv, however, prefers going through the divorce as painlessly as possible and Tom complies. The two then lay beside each other and hold hands, agreeing that, referring to the marriage, they "gave it a go." Meanwhile, Logan watches ATN's nightly broadcast alone, and then calls Cyd and scolds her for the quality of its content.

### Notes

1. ↑ This episode takes place six months after the season 3 finale.

## Cast

* Nicholas Braun as Greg Hirsch
* Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy
* Dagmara Domińczyk as Karolina Novotney (credit only)
* Peter Friedman as Frank Vernon
* Justine Lupe as Willa Ferreyra
* Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans
* David Rasche as Karl
* Alan Ruck as Connor Roy
* J. Smith-Cameron as Gerri Kellman
* Sarah Snook as Shiv Roy
* Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy
* Fisher Stevens as Hugo Baker (credit only)
* Jeannie Berlin as Cyd Peach
* Zoë Winters as Kerry
* Scott Nicholson as Colin
* Annabelle Dexter-Jones as Naomi Pierce
* Juliana Canfield as Jess Jordan
* Patch Darragh as Ray Kennedy
* Kevin Changaris as Tellis

Guest* Francesca Root-Dodson as Bridget

## Quotes

* **Tom Wambsgans:** So I hear you've made an enormous faux pas and everyone's laughing up their sleeves about your date.
**Greg Hirsch:** What? Why?
**Tom:** Why? Because she brought a ludicrously capacious bag. What's even in there, huh? Flat shoes for the subway? Her lunch pail? I mean, Greg, it's monstrous. it's gargantuan. You could take it camping. You could slide it across the floor after a bank job.
* **Roman Roy (on the phone):** Why, hello, Kerry, and how are we today?
**Kerry:** Yeah, hi. Can you-- can you hear me? The line is a little bit...
**Roman:** Uh, yeah, sorta. Can you hear me?
**Shiv Roy:** Tell her you'd be able to hear her better if she took dad's cock out of her mouth.
**Kerry:** What's that?
**Roman:** Uh, that was my sister saying that we would hear you better if you took dad's cock out of your mouth.
* **Shiv Roy:** I'm getting a divorce.
**Nan Pierce:** Oh, okay. I'm sorry to hear that.
**Roman Roy:** Yeah, it's a sad, sad day when love dies.

## Trivia

* The episode's title refers to the 1960s sitcom of the same name, which follows a family of benign monsters.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Succession Ep 1: The Munsters | Official Website for the HBO Series | HBO.com
2. ↑ Shows A-Z - succession on hbo | TheFutonCritic.com
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Succession*: Season 4, Episode 1: "**The Munsters**"
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. ↑ The Munsters - Wikipedia