Warning: SPOILERS for Succession season 3, episode 2
By the end of Succession season 3, episode 2, it's clear that Logan is moving to set Gerri up to fail, despite recently appointing her as his replacement CEO. Throughout the show so far, Gerri has been a stable presence at the heart of Waystar Royco, diligently working to right the ship after the turbulence of the first two seasons. However, despite her continued loyalty and recent promotion, it now seems like she may be next in Logan Roy's line of fire.
Succession season 3, episode 2 continues to follow the aftermath of Kendall Roy's explosive news conference and his subsequent plotting to remove his father from the company and take over himself. Over the course of the episode, he approaches all three of his siblings in an attempt to create an unbeatable alliance. However, after intense negotiations, Connor, Roman and Shiv all elect to back away and stay loyal to Logan. During the final few moments, Logan is seen getting into a car with Shiv, smiling fondly at her as he instructs her to keep an eye on Gerri from within a high-powered position at the company.
Given Shiv's clear interest in Kendall's initial offer, her closeness with Logan by the end of the episode may seem slightly surprising. However, it is strongly implied that, for all their conflict over the previous season, Logan still sees her as a valuable and trustworthy asset and, given Kendall Roy's betrayal, perhaps the most worthy successor to his media empire. This goes some of the way to explaining not only why Logan wants to bring her in, but why he is cautious about Gerri's position as stand-in CEO.
A key theme of Succession so far has been Logan Roy's desire to keep the business within the family, coupled with his reticence to actually relinquish control. Now, at the start of season 3, not only has he been forced to take a back seat thanks to the Cruises affair, but he has ceded the CEO-ship of Waystar to an outsider – thwarting both of his previous ambitions. This explains why, despite her loyalty, he is now feeling suddenly capricious towards Gerri (played by J. Smith-Cameron), even going so far as to snub her handshake as he arrives back on American soil. Instead, he opts to ride with Shiv, demonstrating clearly where his true loyalties lie.
Gerri's position as CEO is already less secure than it might seem. With the company in dire straights, the prospect of a federal investigation, and the mutiny of Kendall in the background, the job was always going to be a poisoned chalice. Having initially opted for Shiv, Logan may have come to the conclusion that, whoever is in charge during this period was going to become collateral damage. This might also explain why he has seemingly changed tac, offering Shiv the more ceremonial, yet still significant position of President within the company, priming her for a takeover in the post-Gerri era.
Logan is also under no illusions that Gerri herself is an ambitious and extremely able woman. If, as seems likely, judging by the end of the episode, his hope is that he can hand over the reins of Waystar to another member of the Roy family (despite his earlier rejection of Shiv and Roman), he understandably sees Gerri as a threat. Although circumstances necessitate that someone else takes over for the time being, it is clear that the situation is far from ideal. If Shiv is indeed the preferred candidate, Gerri now represents a substantial obstacle to Logan's ambitions. It's also possible that, given his dismissal of Shiv as CEO in the previous episode after her failure to secure a lawyer, Logan's cold treatment of Gerri is his way of showing Shiv how he truly feels. Either way, the conflict between the Roy family and the current CEO promises to make the rest of Succession season 3 as tense and exhilarating as ever.
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