Nobody died in season 2, but there’s still a lot of carnage left at Waystar Royco.
Are Tom and Shiv on their way out?
Is Logan a true psychopath?
Peter Kramer/HBO; Paul Archuleta/Getty Images
We asked an expert.
Warning: This article contains major plot details from the season 2 finale ofSuccession.
Which relationship would you bet your life on inseason 3?
Peter Kramer/HBO
And who will be left alone like Cousin Greg?
Drew Pinsky, instead.
“These are very sick people.
Kieran Culkin and J. Smith-Cameron in ‘Succession’.Peter Kramer/HBO
All of them,” Pinsky prefaced right away over the phone with EW.
He now hosts the podcastDr.
Drew After Darkwhere he often talks to celebrities about their relationships.
Colin Hutton/HBO
Here’s how it’s going to work.
Oh, and Tom wants a threesome only if the third watches from the bathroom’s keyhole.
Does that spell the end of their marriage?
Zach Dilgard/HBO
“[Shiv] is what’s called a pro-social psychopath,” Pinsky tells EW.
“Meaning, when she was in the politically-active arena, she was trying to make positive change.
These people can have high degrees of moral compasses but still don’t feel anything.
HBO
I think her dad recognizes that in her.
Her relationship with Tom is a perfect example of how that’s expressed.”
If that’s true, do we really see Shiv’s emotional side during the cove scene?
“Maybe, but who knows.
With psychopaths, they’re just behaving in a way they think they should behave,” Pinsky says.
“They’re not really having an emotion.
It’s just another part of the manipulation.”
Shiv “may not be as bad as I’m thinking, but she might be even worse.
I think she’s like her dad.
It tends to be a genetic thing, right?
It’s inherited.”
Tom being with Shiv was baffling even before their marriage in season 1.
What does Shiv see in Tom that makes him a key piece in her puzzle?
Pinsky has an idea.
“Tom in a way is like [Logan’s wife] Marcia,” he says.
What’s important is other things."
Chances of staying together next season: 9 out of 10 rocks thatTom maybe loves more than Shiv.
I just don’t see it.
He gets too much out of it.
He’s too vulnerable if he leaves.
He’s made a deal with the devil more than Marcia.
Remember, Greg knows that he knew about the papers.
And now Kendall has those papers.
There’s a lot of intrigue here.
He’s in deep.
He feels bad about what Shiv is doing.
It doesn’t make him feel good.
But I don’t think he really cares."
There’s a trust there that goes beyond Roman getting hot when Gerri berates him.
“Roman is anti-social, oppositionally defiant and probably a drug addict too.
He clearly has some very serious sexual hangups let’s just say.”
Now, what Pinsky said next hit us like a truck.
Is Gerri secretly the ultimate mastermind?
But you still have to ask yourself, what’s she doing there?
Why is she doing this?
Whoa, is Gerri using Roman just to have someone keep her at Waystar?
Chances of staying together next season:8 out of 10Greg sprinkles.
We don’t know who “she” is, but it feels likely he means Marcia.
“Here’s the deal: Logan is a true psychopath,” Pinsky says matter-of-factly.
“Not a sociopath, a psychopath.
He doesn’t have real feelings.
Other people don’t exist to him, not emotionally.
So why would a woman get involved with that?
Excitement and fun.”
Oh, what fun it is to clean up someone else’s feces!
“I have to wonder what that was.
A severe co-dependency that he could manipulate?
Probably something like that.
And what he’s capable of.
She’s sort of on her way out unless it serves her needs.
She also has to be a sort of mercenary to be involved with him at all.”
Chances of staying together next season:5 out of 10 pieces of lavender thatStewy can sniffduring an important business meeting.
Everybody has too much to gain from keeping it together."
Connor pleads with Logan for a small donation of 100 million dollars.
“[Connor] loves her.
He’s a narcissist, but he’s immature,” Pinsky says.
“He has magical ways of thinking.
He’s grandiose about being president.
He’s in love with her.
She’ll happily go along with it especially if he’s going to fund her plays.”
As for Willa: “It’s clear she’s had sort of an assful of him.
She’s done with him and frustrated.
He’s not even a little boy.
He’s a man-boy.
She’s not the brightest bulb in the pack.
God bless her still willing to make the most of this relationship.”
Dr. Drew’s dish:“They both live in this little immature fantasy world.
They could easily fall apart if she finds a shinier object.
He could fall apart when she leaves.”
Naomi tells Kendall that Logan only likes him because he’s broken.
So is Naomi back in, or all the way out?
“They’re now [drug] using buddies who are using secretly and pretending to be sober.
Which is the worst way to be,” Pinsky says.
“They develop shame.
They hide more things.
The disease of addiction starts progressing.
This ends in a bad place.
Someone is going to overdose or end up in a hospital.
Given Kendall’s now high-profile position, it totally will ruin that.
Is Kendall’s decision to turn on his dad a plus or a minus for Naomi?
“Kendall is a very manipulative drug addict,” Pinsky says.
That moment kind of flew by fast, but it was played in a very vivid way.
That may have been Kendall’s last straw.
Dr. Drew’s dish:“Very unlikely.
This is going to blow up in some way.”
A final note from Pinsky: “None of these are necessarily terminally apart.
They could find ways back together.
Just like teenagers do, they’ll break up again.
You know what I mean?”
