Tailgate Party
- Episode aired May 7, 2023
- TV-MA
- 1h 1m
IMDb RATING
9.1/10
9.3K
YOUR RATING
Hoping to work the angles, Kendall and Roman ask Shiv to invite a campaign insider to Logan's pre-election day party.Hoping to work the angles, Kendall and Roman ask Shiv to invite a campaign insider to Logan's pre-election day party.Hoping to work the angles, Kendall and Roman ask Shiv to invite a campaign insider to Logan's pre-election day party.
Dagmara Dominczyk
- Karolina Novotney
- (credit only)
David Rasche
- Karl Muller
- (credit only)
Fisher Stevens
- Hugo Baker
- (credit only)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to Sarah Snook, series creator Jesse Armstrong was primarily influenced by Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in approaching the episode's Shiv-Tom material, drawing upon the premise of an unhappily married couple having to "maintain a good front" to guests at a party.
- Quotes
Tom Wambsgans: You are incapable of thinking about anybody other than yourself because your sense of who you are, Shiv, is that fuckin' thin!
Shiv Roy: Oh yeah, you read that in a book, Tom?
Tom Wambsgans: You're too fuckin' transparent to find in a book!
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards (2024)
Featured review
Let's clear the air
This could be one of the most interesting episodes yet, because it almost entirely takes place during a party. And because it is a party it gives us an excuse to have all the characters in the same spot at the same time. What is the worst that could happen?
What is immediately great is the unfolding of many plot threads that have been building since the beginning of the season. The whole Gojo acquisition is the main story arc that gets a twist. The deal and how it was presented was something that always felt fake and artificial, at least to me. However the show could always hide behind the excuse of its biting social commentary; see Musk or Zuckerberg, they're far from being business geniuses. They're basically winging it, yet they have enough goodwill and money that their failures are forgotten while their successes are amplified. Matsson is clearly of the same type, and until now the show was presenting him as the eccentric business genius that is always right, everybody wanted to agree with him. Yet I suspect the show will make him look even closer to Elisabeth Holmes and Sam Bankman-Fried. But in-universe you can see that characters are turning against him. Of course mainly for their own selfish reasons, but it replaces the Roy's not as victims waiting to be bought out, but as predators on the hunt. It is a change of dynamic and it will be interesting to see how it plays out, given Logan's absence.
All the other interpersonal relationships get redefined this episode; Roman vis-à-vis Gerri, Connor and the brothers, Shiv and Matsson and of course Shiv and Tom.
Tom Wambsgans has always been a favorite of mine. He might not be the most relatable, but he kinda worked as the moral orthogonal center of the show. He would essentially function as the straight man, the one who would be the audience surrogate. To react to the family's extravagant antics. Yet, the show never misses an opportunity to remind us that he is generally a goofball. He is not good at his job, nor charismatic, he is not particularly smart or cunning. He is just there. In addition, he seems to be more vain and status obsessed than the rest of them. Which makes him truly a pathetic character.
It was tension that was building up a while that got released in the conversation between them. Shiv's problem is that she could not manipulate herself out of her predicament; Tom's problem is that the thing that got him in power was betraying Shiv, it was the only thing he done competently and it went nowhere.
What is funny is that they both were the artisans of their own demise yet they started blaming each other.
It an episode that re-dealt everyone's hand. Yet, it could leas some of our beloved characters into some interesting unexpected journeys. Even this late in the series.
What is immediately great is the unfolding of many plot threads that have been building since the beginning of the season. The whole Gojo acquisition is the main story arc that gets a twist. The deal and how it was presented was something that always felt fake and artificial, at least to me. However the show could always hide behind the excuse of its biting social commentary; see Musk or Zuckerberg, they're far from being business geniuses. They're basically winging it, yet they have enough goodwill and money that their failures are forgotten while their successes are amplified. Matsson is clearly of the same type, and until now the show was presenting him as the eccentric business genius that is always right, everybody wanted to agree with him. Yet I suspect the show will make him look even closer to Elisabeth Holmes and Sam Bankman-Fried. But in-universe you can see that characters are turning against him. Of course mainly for their own selfish reasons, but it replaces the Roy's not as victims waiting to be bought out, but as predators on the hunt. It is a change of dynamic and it will be interesting to see how it plays out, given Logan's absence.
All the other interpersonal relationships get redefined this episode; Roman vis-à-vis Gerri, Connor and the brothers, Shiv and Matsson and of course Shiv and Tom.
Tom Wambsgans has always been a favorite of mine. He might not be the most relatable, but he kinda worked as the moral orthogonal center of the show. He would essentially function as the straight man, the one who would be the audience surrogate. To react to the family's extravagant antics. Yet, the show never misses an opportunity to remind us that he is generally a goofball. He is not good at his job, nor charismatic, he is not particularly smart or cunning. He is just there. In addition, he seems to be more vain and status obsessed than the rest of them. Which makes him truly a pathetic character.
It was tension that was building up a while that got released in the conversation between them. Shiv's problem is that she could not manipulate herself out of her predicament; Tom's problem is that the thing that got him in power was betraying Shiv, it was the only thing he done competently and it went nowhere.
What is funny is that they both were the artisans of their own demise yet they started blaming each other.
It an episode that re-dealt everyone's hand. Yet, it could leas some of our beloved characters into some interesting unexpected journeys. Even this late in the series.
helpful•162
- Criticalstaff
- May 13, 2023
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 1 minute
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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