This part of the Success It might be one of the hardest — if not the hardest — to watch. The parallels between the “American Decision” and the 2020 election are eerie, and ultimately reflect the version of America we’ll be living in if the results don’t swing differently on the fateful election day of November 2020.
Although there are only two candidates Really In the running – Democrat Daniel Jimenez (Elliot Villar) and Republican Jerryd Menken (Justin Kirk) – are the most popular presidential wannabe Connor Roy (Alan Rook). Roman’s (Kieran Culkin) job was to get Connor off the map, but he couldn’t blame his brother’s stubbornness. “I’m so excited,” Connor told Willa before the polls began to close. “It makes everything more fun.”
It wasn’t enough to offer Connor a state post in place of Oman to get out of the election—until Connor started losing state after state. Then Connor is drawn to Roman without missing a beat, begging him for a new place in a small country, and uttering his request in a strange play on rhyme: “Plan a little coup in old Peru. Put me in the van to Kazakhstan. Couldn’t I be our cheerleader in Uruguay?” Don’t shock anyone, these lyrics don’t work. Connor was unopposed as ambassador to Slovenia, a country with a smaller population than Houston.
As Connor rolls through his fallen castle, all at Success cast is trying to swing the election near the Wistar Royco offices. Roman vows to block GoJo’s deal with Matson (Alexander Skarsgård), a staunch advocate of white supremacist/fascist candidate Mencken, further cementing Roman and Kendall’s (Jeremy Strong) place on the Wistar totem pole. While Shiv (Sarah Snook) has a secret deal with Mattson, she’s more wary of Mencken’s winning streak. Yes, a win for Jimenez would help Mattson, but really, she’s more focused on the state of the country.
Nicholas Brown and Matthew Macfadyen.
Macal Poly/HBO
It’s the big night for ATN Flex Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Greg (Nicholas Browne), who start their night off with an awkward cocktail party and a bit of “Greg” (ie running silly errands). Ah, yes—it’s always comforting to know that those in power are throwing tantrums at Bodega Sushi on election night. God bless America.
After Shiv learns that Greg has been hitting it off with Mattson and his crew, she’s wary of her brothers finding out about her affiliation with their enemy. Instead of stooping to Greg’s level, in another scene, she literally hangs up on Greg just as he begins to blurt out election information for her team—Shiv turns to Tom. Maybe Tom knows about the little deal. Shiv apologizes for the explosion in last week’s episode, but Tom rejects her apology. When Shiv asks for some mercy – her father is just dead! – Tom refused and refused and refused until Shiv was torn. Her last choice: announce the pregnancy. The baby is Tom’s.
“Is that even true?” Tom almost immediately. “Or is it a new position or tactic?”
After such a hurtful comment, it’s safe to say that Shiv is done with Tom forever. Or, at least, she should be.
So, desperate to clean up her Matson mess, Shiv turns to Plan C, which is to reason with Greg. As the election heats up, Kopi pulls him into the room. Her first confrontation was “Gregory, do you find me attractive?” It made me jump. She says, which probably hurts more than a knife to Greg’s chest.
“I don’t think about things like that,” Greg replied. (This is a Greg Hall of Fame quote, to “If it needs to be said. It is what it is. It is what it is.” Spell-check always has a field day when I write down Greg’s grammatically awful quotes.)
Although it sounds like a fraternal relationship – and Shiv may be interested in Greg because his friend Tom also slept with her – Shiv is playing on something more metaphorical here. “I’m telling you I’m going to kill you if you try to be mad,” he told Greg. Once again, Greg finds some power in Waystar. Who should I issue the shipping documents to? Kendall. To whom will this rumor come out? Well, Tom, who forced Greg to sip coffee and non-bodega sushi all night, isn’t leaving.
More on that later, because as this happens, election night’s biggest news begins to bubble up in Milwaukee. Unexplained protesters set fire to some large ballot boxes in the crucial district. Because Milwaukee traditionally swings Democratic, most of the media and almost everyone at ATN (except Roman) blamed Mencken’s supporters, who probably blew the votes to make sure Wisconsin was called for the Republican candidate. But Roman, who is hell-bent on getting his bosom buddy into the Oval Office, forces Tom to give up his empire to Mencken.
When a few more states swing red, ATN should then call for Mencken’s election. When Shiv and Roman do everything but have a screaming match about what the network should do, Kendall is level-headed and expresses his concern about naming Mencken president. His adopted son is being bullied at school. Mencken counts white supremacy among his supporters, whose victory emboldens bullies. Shiv spins a web of lies to stop Kendall from giving the go-ahead to announce Mencken as president. When Greg finally informs Kendall of Shiv’s secret alliance with Mattson, the CEO sides with his brother and tells Tom to call the race.
ATN deemed Mencken the winner, gave a speech about creating a more “pure” America, and the night was over. Kendall thinks he’s in control, but when Roman’s phone rings with a call from the new president; Now he realizes that he has lost his power. On Pierce Global News and other networks, the race hadn’t been called yet — instead, the chyrons accused Tom of calling the race too early before the Milwaukeeans had a chance to overturn it. By the end of the episode, the race had not been officially called, meaning ATN may have completely lost credibility as an American news source.
As we head into the final two episodes, this is a terrifying turning point. Success. Mencken’s supporters, who sound more like Trump supporters, are expecting to riot if their candidate does not secure victory. Perhaps, he didn’t actually win. But ATN called the contest and those who sided with Minken believe the network reported the truth. Everyone except Roman, a little right-wing incel, is too afraid to speak up at ATN.
While this may be reminiscent of the 2020 election (we’ll hear a few chants of “Stop the countdown!”) and the following January 6, the show may be more cautious than looking back at American events. Just days ago, Trump appeared in a town hall on CNN. The network exploded later After the Trump event, to set up a popular election rejection platform. This CNN controversy feels awfully like this episode of “America Decides.” Success, ATN interviewed a group of Mencken fans who had no dissenting views. As we move into the 2024 election, we will keep this episode and its many consequences in our pockets.
Staying with Royce
Although they are not in the main plot, we still want to highlight the hottest burns and the sweetest moments. Success. From this section are:
-When Shiv and Kendall try to convince Tom that he should cover the Milwaukee Sound on ATN, he gets upset and hands the phone to Greg. “We’re not talking to Greg,” Shiv said. She hung up on him before a second “Um” entered his mouth.
– Shiv apologizes to Tom, blaming her father’s death for her cruelty. Tom isn’t buying it. “You killed him too,” he tells her, prompting more tears. “sort of.” Tom, relax!
– Roman and Shiv exchange a lot of digs in this episode. There’s no way I’m appreciating any of Roman’s childish angst – I spent most of the episode wishing he’d shut it up. Hell Up So I’m giving Shiv a point for this one: “This is a grown-up table. Be serious,” she says, echoing her father.
– While Shiv tries to silence Roman, Tom tries to show that his wife is worthless. He says, “Shiv, you can’t shut up.” That won’t work. Kendall came to his defense, describing the night’s noise and fury: “You see, Tom.”
Keep up the obsession! Sign up for The daily beast is worried newspaper And follow us. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram And Tiktok.
[ad_2]