Whistleblowers, hostages and Congress! Oh my, the penultimate episode of Succession saw the Roy family putting out fires on every front. The second season has seen the uncertainty of the shareholder vote hanging over the family, while the hushed up illegal activities on Waystar Royco cruises has been circling underneath them like a patient shark.

In 'DC' Logan and various surrogates from the company are hauled up in front of Congress and instructed to respond with rehearsed bluster. Some (Kendall) are better than others (Tom), but by the episode's close it looks like another, "s**t show at the f**k factory", to use Logan-speak.

The closing line of the episode sees Logan telling Shiv with Shakespearian intensity, that it may be "time for a blood sacrifice". A cliffhanger which has us wondering, whom exactly is getting thrown under the bus, or in the case of the Roys, into the blades of the chopper.

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Tom Wambsgans

Shiv's husband is the most obvious fall guy for Logan to get behind, primarily because he did indeed organise destroying the shadow logs Congress are after. Tom might have married into the family, but Logan has never really seen him as a Roy. This, plus Shiv's lust for power this season means she might use him as collateral to getting the CEO role back on the table.

Given the show's penchant for a twist however, Tom is being set up a little too conveniently. Plus, is anyone going to believe a man who emailed, “You can’t make a Tomelette without breaking some Greggs,” 67 times in one evening is a criminal mastermind?

Kendall Roy

In 'Dundee' we saw Kendall dump a woman he was falling for because she said the word "awesome" twice in front of his father. It is therefore totally plausible that season two could end with Kendall begging his dad to let him take the hit. When being questioned by Senator Eavis, Logan was quick to deflect onto his son, perhaps a sign of what is to come, or, a moment meant to lead us to that assumption.

So far the show has been this tightly choreographed dance between Kendall and his father, both vying for power and control of each other. Kendall owes his father for covering for the car accident in England, and is still making amends for betraying him with the company twice. His time may well be up.

HBO

Roman Roy

Roman found himself in a surprise hostage situation this week while trying to sell the company to an Azerbaijani sovereign wealth fund. It looks like he succeeded in the deal but was ushered off by armed men, which only looked marginally less fun than being hauled over the coals by Congress. Roman's involvement in Waystar has been fleeting, only briefly taking on COO role before having to defer to Frank. It would be hard to push that he was the mastermind behind covering up the cruise scandal, but it could be packaged up as the idiot son trying to help his dad.

Logan has been masterful at manipulating Roman: sending him off to management training, coercing him into getting his mother's shareholder vote, and pushing him to butter up investors. Is this the latest favour he'll spin as something that just needs doing?

Shiv Roy

"Family Siobhan!" Logan raged at the betrayal he'd set up for her to commit in 'Return', as though the Roy spawn who has sacrificed the most for Waystar needed reminding. Shiv's distance from the company to those outside the family means she's unlikely to be a believable scapegoat, and yet, could that be exactly the reasoning for choosing her?

In any case, it would be extremely Machiavellian to tell the blood sacrifice themselves that it is "time for a blood sacrifice", but honestly, who knows with Logan Roy? Shiv is unlikely to play ball however, given that taking the hit would surely wipe out her chances of being her father's successor.

HBO

Gerri Killman

Why do I feel like Gerri is about to get screwed by the Roy family? The scene where they all agreed that the "buck stops with Bill" felt like the inner circle were slowly throwing those outside the family overboard.

Gerri's longterm standing in the company means she could very plausibly have been involved in the cover-up, but there's nothing satisfying or intriguing about her taking the hit. If anything, it's too grimly plausible that one of the few senior women at the company would have to atone for the sins of a man nicknamed "Mo-lester".

Cousin Greg

An outsider who's also just inside the family, cousin Greg is the most slippery character on the whole show. Is he planning to use the stolen documents and recordings to bring down the Roys? Why can he not resist Logan's offer of sticking with "Uncle Fun over Grandpa Grumps" if he really does hate them all?

He was named directly in the hearing when Senator Eavis reveals it was Greg Hirsch who checked out the now-missing shadow logs. If Greg gets thrown to the wolves - he's only recently joined the pack after all - will he squeal like a boar on the floor and take the company down with him?

HBO

Logan Roy

The preview for the finale sees the whole family on a boat, where no good things happen for Roys. Logan tells the family, "I need one meaningful skull to wave" over a group breakfast, setting the group off into tense tête-à-têtes over who might sacrifice themselves. Revealingly, a Skype call related to the shareholder meeting shows someone telling Logan, “We feel that it should be you,” which suggests the big man himself is in the firing line.

But, really, can you see Logan responding with anything but, "Oh f**k off!"

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