Safe Room (Succession)

"Safe Room" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American satirical comedy-drama television series Succession, and the 14th episode overall. It was written by Georgia Pritchett and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, and originally aired on HBO on September 1, 2019.

The episode charts several character threads: Logan and Kendall work to secure the acquisition of a rival media giant; Shiv is brought in to observe the daily operations of the company; Roman enters Waystar's management training program; Tom faces an internal controversy while overseeing the company's news channel, ATN; Connor and Willa attend the funeral of a board member with a problematic past; Kendall struggles with his mental health.

The episode introduces Holly Hunter in a recurring role as Rhea Jarrell, the CEO of Waystar's rival news conglomerate Pierce Global Media (PGM).

Kendall takes a trip to Waystar's rooftop, under surveillance from the security cameras. He makes a call to PGM's CEO, Rhea Jarrell, establishing contact ahead of their upcoming meeting. Shiv rides with Tom to her first day at Waystar. They are met with protests over ATN anchor Mark Ravenhead, who is under fire for his alleged support of Nazism. Logan discusses the issue at a board meeting, noting that it presents a problem for his acquisition of PGM, which leans left. He tasks Tom with scrutinizing Ravenhead to see if any of the accusations have merit.

Meanwhile, Connor and Willa attend the funeral of board member Mo, where Connor hopes to meet potential donors for his presidential campaign. Connor informs Willa that Mo's real name is in fact Lester; the nickname "Mo" is a play on the word "molester," which Lester was known to be. Michelle Pantsil is present at the funeral and presses Connor on his knowledge of Lester's past, but Willa helps Connor rewrite his eulogy into a series of generic statements to sabotage Pantsil's efforts at using any information against him.

Shiv and Gerri discuss Kendall's erratic behavior as of late, which includes shoplifting. Shiv remains perplexed as to why Kendall is suddenly so loyal to his father. Kendall, meanwhile, meets Rhea in the company parking lot and brings her upstairs to meet Logan privately. Rhea informs them that the Pierce family has no interest in selling their company. Meanwhile, Tom sits down with Ravenhead and receives strong indications that he is indeed a Nazi sympathizer; however, their meeting is cut short when a gunshot is heard in the building and everyone is ushered into safe rooms.

Logan, Shiv and Rhea are taken to a larger, more secure safe room than Tom and Greg, who are simply locked inside a random office space, much to Tom's chagrin. Kendall is brought in shortly afterwards, having visited the rooftop again. Logan and Kendall manage to sway Rhea into accepting a handsome offer of money to buy PGM. Greg, meanwhile, admits to Tom that he no longer wants to work at ATN, but suggests that they can continue working together as part of a "business open relationship." The comparison enrages Tom, who begins pelting Greg with water bottles, but the chaos dies down once the building's premises are deemed safe to reenter. Greg reveals to Tom that he kept copies of the cruise documents and blackmails him into giving him a promotion; Tom, impressed with Greg's audacity, gleefully agrees.

Roman, meanwhile, starts the company's six-week management training program, having been advised to do so by Gerri in order to earn his father's respect. However, he is bored by the training events and behaves disrespectfully while working as a character at one of the company parks. He soon befriends an eccentric co-trainee named Brian, and the two of them successfully come up with a pitch for a new ride at Waystar's parks. However, Roman is taken aside and informed of the possible shooting at the company building, and uses the situation as an excuse to skip the class rather than present his idea.