Succession Theory: Gerri's Threat From S4E7 Will Be Roman's Ultimate Downfall

Contains spoilers for Succession Season 4, Episode 7 — "Tailgate Party"

With their formidable father Logan (Brian Cox) out of the picture, the Roy kids freely make a mess of things at Waystar Royco through a bizarre presentation, half-baked schemes, and more than one wrongful termination. Additionally, their massive GoJo deal with the offbeat techie Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) was recently revealed to be hollow and no longer viable for the future success of the company. However, they may have even more trouble heading their way based on Gerri's (J. Smith-Cameron) legal threat, which is poised to sink Roman (Kieran Culkin) for his crude sexual behavior.

In "Succession," Gerri has endured an absurd amount of emotional abuse as a reward for her unfailing competence and loyalty. She miraculously outmaneuvered problem after problem (specifically the notorious cruises scandal), all while keeping her composure under the tyrannical Logan. Gerri even put up with Roman's inappropriate behavior including a lewd photo of his genitals. In one infamous instance, the photo accidentally got sent to his father instead of Gerri, which led to Logan cruelly tasking Roman with firing Gerri (for the first time). Luckily, the instance didn't stick after the towering patriarch's sudden death, giving Gerri a second chance at Waystar Royco.

In Season 4, Episode 6, "Living+," Roman fires Gerri for good and even adds the emotional punch of claiming she isn't good at her job. In the latest episode, he tries to talk to her at the pre-election party where she unveils her plans for litigation to protect her reputation. This poises her as an extremely powerful force over Waystar Royco and even puts her in a position to take down Roman entirely.

Gerri's legal move is the perfect power play to keep her away from Waystar Royco while also making them pay for their mistreatment of her. She ultimately threatens to expose the photos Roman sent to her as well as the other misdeeds at the company if they don't comply with all of her instructions. This probably also includes disclosing all the nasty little details she helped hide in the cruises' case that almost landed Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) in federal prison. Gerri even orders Roman not to mess with her professional image in addition to demanding hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation. 

Her decision further highlights the awkward emotional baggage between her and Roman, especially the hurtful jab about her job performance. It also mirrors his obsessive reaction in replaying the video edit of Logan in Episode 6, where he showed his true guilt about firing Gerri. These conflicting feelings will almost certainly boil to the surface during the intense legal showdown.

Gerri's situation is even paralleled by Matsson's head of communications Ebba (Eili Harboe), who the eccentric billionaire harassed and grossly mailed his blood to. So far, Ebba hasn't had any leverage to use but her inside knowledge of GoJo's falsely inflated subscriber numbers instantly made her a notable player in "Succession's" turbulent chess game. She lets the secret slip and the Roys soon realize they don't hold nearly as much power as they think, making them vulnerable and ripe for the picking, just in time for Gerri's crippling lawsuit.