Succession's Natalie Gold Breaks Down Rava's Big Episode 9 Decision
Sunday's new episode of Succession is the second-to-last episode of the series and the entire hour-plus is devoted to the day of Logan Roy's funeral. With the country slowly falling apart over the controversial election results, Logan's funeral is set in the middle of a storm of the Roys' creation. There are riots and protests, chaos in the streets, and a general unrest around the country, all because of the decisions made behind-the-scenes at ATN on the previous night. The unrest, as well as those decisions, let to an important choice from Rava, Kendall Roy's ex-wife and the mother of his children. WARNING: This article contains Succession spoilers...
With protests expected outside Logan's funeral, and the Roy family seen as the tip of the spear for Mencken's success, Rava is naturally scared for the safety of both her and her children. She makes the decision to skip Logan's funeral altogether and leave the city with the kids, taking them away from the chaos caused by their father.
Of course, this doesn't sit well with Kendall at all, and he believes everything he's doing will benefit his family. That's not at all how Rava sees it and, from the outside looking in, most would agree she's right. Natalie Gold, who plays Rava on Succession, spoke to Variety about her character's big decision in the penultimate episode.
"I was so shocked by her decision to not go to the funeral when I read [the script]. Not in a bad way. I just thought, 'Wow, that's bold,'" Gold said. "But I think now she seems more done than she ever has – and she's been pretty done. She's done being collateral damage, and I think we're really getting to see her terrified, maybe dealing with her own complicity and getting out of Dodge – and she's not going to show up for him. She's putting her kids [Sophie, played by Swayam Bhatia, and Iverson, played by Quentin Morales] and their safety first."
Gold went on to say that she agreed with Rava's decision, even though it was bound to cause some conflict between her and Kendall.
"I found it to be a shocking decision, but it was absolutely perfect and absolutely right," she explained. "I think Rava is obviously very conflicted. I don't think it's necessarily easy for her, and [the writers] write conflicting decisions so well. Was it the right call? Was it the wrong call? That's for other people to decide. And you know, he wasn't the fuzziest grandfather in the world. He was terrible to his grandkids. I mean, Brian would probably not love me saying that. But he hit his grandson in the face with a can. He was dismissive of them, dismissive of my parenting style. He was a terrible father to Kendall."
What did you think of Succession's second-to-last episode? Let us know in the comments!