Nobody Is Ever Missing

"Nobody Is Ever Missing" is the tenth and final episode of the first season of the HBO drama series Succession. The episode, which premiered on August 5, 2018, was written by Jesse Armstrong and directed by Mark Mylod. The episode takes place at Shiv and Tom's wedding, and each Roy child has a subplot: Kendall presents his father with a hostile takeover of Waystar RoyCo; the satellite launch overseen by Roman explodes in Japan; Connor announces his decision to run for President; Shiv admits to Tom that she had an affair. After a drug relapse, Kendall gets into a car accident while on the way to buy drugs, which kills the only other passenger in the car. Logan offers to cover up the accident if Kendall drops the bear hug.[2]

"Nobody Is Ever Missing"
Succession episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 10
Directed byMark Mylod
Written byJesse Armstrong
Original air dateAugust 5, 2018 (2018-08-05)
Running time66 minutes
AwardsPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series[1]
Guest appearance(s)

Series creator Jesse Armstrong received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the episode.[1]

Plot

The Roy family are at Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Shiv's (Sarah Snook) wedding at a castle in England, posing for photographs.[3] Stewy (Arian Moayed) and Kendall (Jeremy Strong) meet to print documents that describe a bear hug, a proposal to buy Waystar Royco for $140 a share. Kendall delivers the document to Logan (Brian Cox), who angrily refuses to accept the document and throws it in the toilet. After Kendall leaves, Logan removes the document from the toilet.

At a post-wedding ceremony cocktail hour, Roman (Kieran Culkin) goes to an unoccupied bathroom where he watches a livestream of the satellite whose launch he managed taking place in Japan. The satellite explodes on the launchpad. In a lounge, Kendall relapses when he and Stewy snort cocaine.

Connor (Alan Ruck) tells his girlfriend, Willa (Justine Lupe), that he has decided he would like to run for President. Nearby, Roman lies to his mother (Harriet Walter) and girlfriend (Caitlin FitzGerald) about how the satellite launch went. When Logan confronts Kendall about the bear hug, a waiter spills champagne on him. Logan yells at the waiter and demands that he be fired. Geri (J. Smith-Cameron) asks Roman about the launch and Roman lies about having heard the news.

The Roy children gather in an empty lounge to confront Kendall about the proposal. Logan comes into the room; Kendall defends his decision, and they trade insults.

Connor and Roman discuss Connor's planned presidential run at the wedding reception, which will be a campaign against “usury and onanism.” Geri informs Roman that no one died during the launch.

Greg (Nicholas Braun) congratulates Kendall on the proposal. Greg says he made copies of key documents related to the Cruise division's sexual-assault scandal coverup and that "anyone would be wise to keep me in a good role."

Tom and Shiv enter their bedroom. Shiv admits to Tom that she had an affair with Nate. Shiv agrees Tom can remove Nate (Ashley Zukerman) from the wedding. Crying, Shiv says she does not want to practice monogamy.

Kendall is driving with the waiter (Tom Morley) who Logan had fired to go buy cocaine. Kendall swerves to avoid a deer and drives the car into a pond. He manages to escape the submerged vehicle but the waiter does not. Kendall sneaks back into the guest entrance. After washing himself, he puts on a clean suit and re-enters the reception.

The next morning at brunch, Greg tells Kendall that the caterer who was fired was in a car accident and died. After summoning him to a meeting, Logan tells Kendall he knows he was involved in the accident. Logan says he will cover it up if Kendall cancels the hostile takeover and go to rehab. Crying, Kendall hugs his father.[4]

Production

The writers used Senator Ted Kennedy's car accident in 1969 at Chappaquiddick as inspiration for Kendall's accident.[3]

Broadcast

"Nobody Is Ever Missing" premiered on HBO on August 5, 2018 and ran 66 minutes. The episode's total viewership was 0.730 million in the 18-49 demographic.[5]

Critical reception

The episode received critical acclaim. Karen Han wrote in a review for Vox, “It’s that refusal to fall into a strictly black-and-white matrix that ultimately makes the Succession finale so affecting, and so difficult to watch. The balance between comedy and tragedy finally tips, crashing into the latter category, and it’s a testament to the series that it all comes together."[4] Writing for Forbes, Carolyn Lipka stated, "When people call Succession a satire it does the show a disservice—this is a tried and true Shakespearean drama about the ways in which absolute power rots you from the inside."[6]

For the episode, creator Jesse Armstrong received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series in 2019.[1]

References
  1. "Emmys: Jesse Armstrong Wins Best Writing for 'Succession'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  2. Rothkopf, Joanna (2018-08-06). "Number One Boys and the Old Dads Who Love Them". Esquire. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  3. Miller, Julie. "Succession: The Real-Life Tragedy That Inspired the Finale's Twist". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  4. Han, Karen (2018-08-05). "How HBO's Succession pulled off its brutal finale". Vox. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  5. "Succession TV Show on HBO: Ratings (Cancel or Season 2?)". canceled + renewed TV shows - TV Series Finale. 2018-08-07. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  6. Lipka, Carolyn. "'Succession' Recap: A Wedding And Two Funerals". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
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