Editor's Note: The below contains full spoilers for Succession Season 4, Episode 8.Greg "The Egg" Hirsch (Nicholas Braun) has just outplayed and outmatched one of the most devious characters in Succession Season 4. Episode 8 of the acclaimed show's final season largely focuses on the historic presidential election that could change the fate of the country and Waystar Royco. It's filled with plenty of tense confrontations, such as Shiv (Sarah Snook) defiantly telling Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) that she's pregnant and Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) debating the ethics of calling an election early. However, the most significant confrontation of the episode happens between Greg and Shiv, and it proves to be a critical moment that shifts the power dynamics of both members of the company.
Shiv Learns Greg Has Dirt on Her in Her Confrontation with Tom
It's complete madness at Waystar Royco's headquarters on election night, with various higher-ups making risky and somewhat irresponsible decisions on how to run things. While co-CEOs Kendall and Roman are watching the madness unfold from above, Tom Wambsgans is the one really running the show, having conniption fits over something as mild as a faulty touch screen. While all this madness is going down, Shiv pulls Tom aside so the estranged couple can have a conversation.
Shiv opens things by stating that she's sorry for the conversation they had the night before, referencing the shouting match they had on the balcony in the previous episode. Just when Shiv's apology seems sincere, she passive-aggressively asks Tom to apologize himself for any transgressions he may have caused. Tom rejects this notion, leading to yet another shouting match that gets very personal very fast. Shiv tries to once again use the passing of her father, Logan Roy (Brian Cox), as an argument point, but that technique isn't working on Tom. The estranged husband hits Shiv with a critical blow by stating the obvious — Shiv hated Logan, despite what she claims. The heavy hit leads Shiv to counterattack with the bombshell news that she's pregnant, leaving Tom to think about the future of their unborn child. Tom also lets slip during this confrontation that Greg told him about Shiv's secret partnership with Gojo owner Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård). Knowing that her plans may be in jeopardy, Shiv realizes that she needs to have a conversation with Greg the Egg.
Shiv Tries (and Fails) to Intimidate Greg
Shortly after her difficult talk with Tom, Shiv brings Greg aside to have what she thinks will be a much easier conversation. She's consistently shown disdain for her cousin, ignoring him at best and admonishing him at worst, so this is the first time in the season (and one of the few times in the entire show) that they've had a one-on-one conversation. Shiv starts by asking Greg what he knows about her confidential partnership with Matsson. Greg responds by saying that he and the Swedish tech guru just had a couple of drinks the night before and simply hung out. Things get real weird real quickly when Shiv asks completely out of the blue if Greg finds her attractive. Greg, of course, tells her no, only for Shiv to take a page out of Eric Cartman's insult handbook and say he should at least find her attractive if he plans on fucking her.
It's a not-so-subtle way of telling Greg not to squeal about what he knows, and Shiv even goes as far as to say she'll kill him if he dares to do such a thing. This intimidation strategy might have worked if this was the naive Greg from Season 1. However, as he now has far more experience and a tepid friendship and loyalty to Tom, Shiv's idle threats do little to sway Greg from revealing the information he has. Instead of being threatened, Greg feels emboldened by Shiv's false sense of security and even goes as far as to ask for a bribe from her to keep him quiet. Shiv says she won't rip his intestines out if he keeps quiet. That's a threat she'll go on to regret just a few hours later.
Greg Becomes the Judas to Tom's Pontius Pilate When He Spills the Beans to Kendall
Two sides are at war over the ongoing election in the Waystar Royco war room. Roman, partly thanks to his partnership with the Conservative candidate Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk), thinks they should call the election for him. Shiv thinks this outcome is reckless and would lead to the worst state for the company and for the country. Then there is Kendall, who is torn between the two sides mainly because of how it will affect his children. Shiv almost convinces Kendall not to back Mencken's victory, but that all gets thrown to the wayside when Kendall finds out she hasn't been talking to her political contacts and has an aside with Greg.
We don't hear what the two discuss, but Greg's reaction says it all. As Kendall comes back into the boardroom, we see Shiv stare at Greg through the glass wall. Greg stares back and gives a very sarcastic shrug and an even more sarcastic smile as he gleefully waltzes away from the explosion that is about to take place. An explosion it is indeed, as Kendall pounces on Shiv with the realization that she has been working with Matsson this entire time. Roman almost immediately jumps on this as the two brothers interrogate their sister and dismiss her.
That's not before they bring Tom back in so they can definitively call the election for Mencken, with Kendall now fully on his brother's side. Shiv tries in vain to stop this from happening, even calling her likely soon-to-be ex-husband Pontius Pilate. The Biblical reference seems appropriate for such a profound betrayal, and one that makes Greg the Judas of such a scenario with his historic betrayal of one of Waystar Royco's biggest names. For the longest time, Shiv was seen as the most devious character in the series. However, she has proven time and time again that she overplays her hands and underestimates specific individuals. She will rue the day that she underestimated Greg "The Egg" Hirsch.
The first eight episodes of Succession Season 4 are available to stream on HBO Max.