"This Is Not for Tears"
"I need one, meaningful skull to wave. If the shareholders' meeting were tomorrow, we lose. I need to persuade a couple of big figures. So, anyone like to say anything? I'll take care of whoever it is. No one will be forgotten."
— Logan
The Roys and entourage spend a few days on their superyacht in their Mediterranean deciding who will be the "blood sacrifice" for the cruises scandal. Roman, Laird, and Karl return from Turkey; while Laird pushes the deal, Roman and Karl agree that it is unreliable and Logan sides with them. Because he can't take his company private, Logan and Kendall visit Stewy in Greece for one last plea to cancel the bear hug, but Stewy declines. Tom admits to Shiv that he is unhappy in their relationship.
The guests all start pointing fingers at who they could offer up, with Tom in particular being floated. In private, Shiv asks Logan not to sacrifice Tom. Logan chooses Kendall, who agrees and departs, Greg in tow. But at the press conference, Kendall instead lays all the blame for the cruise crimes cover-up on Logan and claims that he has proof — Greg's documents. Logan smiles enigmatically while watching the broadcast.
Tropes:
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Apparent during Kendall, Roman, and Shiv's reunion aboard the superyacht, and especially between Kendall and Roman after the Fall Guy is determined.
- Chekhov's Gun: The surviving documents Greg had taken from the pile Tom was about to burn in a previous episode come into play here — he gave them to Kendall, who uses them to eviscerate his father on live TV.
- Tom fires another one: his resentment at Shiv imposing an open marriage on their very wedding night.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Karolina can only react with "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" after Kendall's falls off the script during the press conference and lays the blame of the cruise crimes coverup directly on Logan himself.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: A given value of "good," anyway. Logan seems flabbergasted when Kendall cites the death of Andrew Dodds as reason enough for him to fall, and attempts to soothe his son's conscience with the same dehumanising "NRPI" rhetoric that's mired the company in scandal. It's left ambiguous as to whether this revealing exchange inspired Kendall to turn against Logan and declare him chiefly responsible for the corruption at Waystar, or if it wasn't so much a realignment of his moral compass as a last ditch effort to prove his worth that prompted this most audacious rebellion against Logan.
- Fall Guy: The plot of the episode is deciding which high-positioned character should take the fall for the cruises scandal. Logan draws up a shortlist of the top level associates he's willing to sacrifice (including Gerri and poor, chronically lorn Frank), only to discover the shareholders want him to fall on the sword. He reflects on the bitter irony that he, the one old mogul with a halfway prudish upbringing, might have to go down for sexual crimes.
- Foreshadowing: Logan is conspicuously scrutinous of Kendall several times throughout the episode, implying his designation as the Fall Guy was more premeditated than was apparent to Shiv.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: Alluded to when discussing the dynamics of their potential threesome — Tom suggests watching the woman and Shiv go at it, and that it probably could be hot. On Tom's part, it's obfuscation; Shiv actually seems into the idea.
- He's Back!: After toiling beneath Logan's bootheel for a season, Kendall finally musters the nerve to turn against his father.
- Love Is a Weakness: Shiv admits that she can't choose between her husband and her brothers to sacrifice, and had earlier begged Logan not to make Tom take the fall. Logan gently admits that a CEO must be the person who can make those tough choices.
- Love Martyr: Kendall goes into delusional territory, pathetically stammering to Naomi that his dad does love him, it's just the wrong kind of love expression. Even the press conference is played by Strong as finally choosing violence to get his dad's attention.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": All the Roy siblings can only look on in horror as they watch Kendall betray Logan on live television.
- Reviews Are the Gospel: In-Universe — Willa's play gets negative reviews, which she interprets as it being terrible. Connor is also upset as it means it drains him financially instead of making him money.
- So Proud of You: Implied to be the reason Logan smiles at Kendall's press conference even though Kendall threw him under the bus — he's finally exhibiting the 'killer' instinct Logan so desires.
- A Threesome Is Hot: Subverted. Shiv tries to arrange a threesome for Tom on the yacht. He acts excited by the idea, but given the context — it's implied she's trying to assuage her guilt of sleeping with other men by getting him sexually involved with another woman, and there's uncomfortable subtext in her coercing an employee into sex given that the family is dealing with the fallout of a sex scandal involving cruise ship employees — it comes off as more than a little creepy. In the end, however, it's revealed that he actually isn't interested in it and would rather have her "watch them from the bathroom."
- Unperson: Logan regards the late Andrew Dodd (the waiter that Kendall unwittingly killed) as nothing more than an "NRPI" ("No real person involved"), just like the victims in the cruise coverups.
- Villain Respect: After Kendall betrays his father on live television, Logan reacts with a faint smile, as his son has finally proven himself a "killer."
- Wealthy Yacht Owner: The billionaire Roys have an extremely luxurious yacht, which is the setting of this episode.
