Lion in the Meadow (Succession)

Four days before the annual shareholder meeting, Kendall is informed by Waystar senior management that investor Josh Aaronson, who owns 4% of the company's shares, is losing trust in its leadership amid the family feud and DOJ investigation, and may join Sandy and Stewy. Josh requests that Kendall and Logan meet with him jointly; Kendall initially refuses, but is convinced to go by Frank, unaware that Logan is listening in.

Logan has Shiv direct ATN to be more critical in their coverage of the presidential administration, hoping it will pressure the White House into finally granting him legal and political favors. Shiv passes the order onto Tom, who has become mournfully fixated on the possibility of spending time in prison and feels emasculated taking orders from his wife. Shiv then meets with Connor, who has decided to push his presidential campaign four years down the road, and is seeking a role at the company in the interim to improve his perceived credibility.

Logan, meanwhile, presents Greg with a joint defense agreement with Waystar, offering that he use his existing leverage to negotiate a better position at the company. Tom visits Greg at his office to pressure him into siding with the company, but learns that Greg has already agreed to sign the agreement with Logan and is now seeking an executive position at the parks department.

In an attempt to discredit Kendall, Roman tracks down a formerly homeless man that he and Kendall convinced to tattoo Kendall's initials on his forehead years prior, but learns that the man has since had the tattoo removed. Roman and Hugo reach a $1 million settlement with the man to obtain photos of the tattoo, but Gerri talks Roman out of publicizing the pictures, given that he too was involved in the incident.

Kendall and Logan separately fly out to Josh's private island residence. Both remain pensive and standoffish; Josh decides that the three take a walk through the surrounding property. Josh informs them that their blood feud has already lost him $350 million, roughly 10 percent of his holdings. He attempts to talk Kendall down from his whistleblower campaign, arguing that father-son unity would restore company stability and unburden the shareholders, but Kendall becomes paranoid that Josh and Logan are attempting to sabotage him.

Upon reaching the coastline, Logan gives a call to Shiv warning her not to overstep after hearing from Karl that she has become too assertive in her position at the company. Shiv, afraid of being undermined, decides to personally confront ATN anchor Mark Ravenhead after he refuses Tom's request to shift his editorial position on the President, and strongarms him into complying with Logan's orders.

Kendall and Logan sit down for lunch with Josh, who demands to know whether the family rift can be mended in time; Logan reassures him that it can, giving a speech praising Kendall and even suggesting that he is a worthy successor. However, on the walk back to the house, Logan and Kendall exchange threats, with the former revealing Greg's shift in allegiance and making it clear that Kendall will never lead Waystar. Logan begins to suffer the effects of heat exhaustion, but attempts to trudge on, refusing to be seen in a weakened state before Josh. Kendall neglects to help until Logan collapses, forcing Kendall and Josh to help him up. Kendall attempts to continue negotiating with Josh, but Josh asks him to focus on his father's wellbeing.

In his private jet, Logan receives a furious call from the President over ATN's critical coverage, which Logan promises to temper if the DOJ's Waystar investigation is relaxed. Kendall receives a call from Roman informing him that Josh has lost confidence in Waystar's leadership after witnessing Kendall and Logan's fractured relationship for himself. Moments later, Kendall sees Stewy arriving by helicopter to greet Josh.

Adrien Brody guest stars in the episode as billionaire investor Josh Aaronson.

"Lion in the Meadow" was written by Jon Brown and directed by husband-and-wife team Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who also directed the second season's fourth episode, "Safe Room". The Guardian observed that the episode derives its title from Margaret Mahy's 1969 children's book A Lion in the Meadow.[1]

35 Hudson Yards was used as Kendall's apartment, seen prominently for the first time in the episode.

Adrien Brody guest stars in the episode as Josh Aaronson, an activist shareholder at Waystar RoyCo who brings Logan and Kendall together for the first time in the season. Brody, a fan of the series, was approached for the role by Succession executive producer Adam McKay while in talks to play Pat Riley in HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, which McKay executive produced. Brody did not name specific inspirations for the character, but stated, "it was an amalgamation of a number of people I've encountered. It bleeds into some very strong people that I've known—a personality that I've felt is both disarming and dangerous."[2] Brody provided certain input on the creation of the character during conversations with showrunner Jesse Armstrong, such as his costume choices: he stated, "He's someone, I think, who's in touch with his environs. I tried to add to that by [having] him dressed for the adventure." Brody described the character as "much more youthful and present in his position on this planet" than Kendall or Logan.[3]

• "Lion in the Meadow" at HBO
• "Lion in the Meadow" at IMDb