Vaulter (Succession)
Logan, Kendall, Roman, and Shiv watch Stewy's interview on the takeover attempt on the competing news network PGM, and decide to retaliate immediately.Kendall has a team covertly install Wi-Fi blockers in Vaulter's offices that night and returns in the morning to inform the company's entire staff of their termination.The fictional company Vaulter has several parallels to real-world online media startups, and numerous critics pointed out how it functioned as a parody of popular news websites and gossip blogs.These included a large neon sign bearing the company logo, framed photos of marijuana farms, and "unhinged headlines" like "Meet the World’s Richest People Trafficker (He’s a Surprisingly Nice Guy)."[1] Austen Goslin of Polygon compared Vaulter's attempted "pivot to video" to the real-life fad of video-based content that companies like Facebook, Vice, and Mashable once saw as a major profit generator.On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has a rating of 94% based on 18 reviews, with the critics' consensus stating, "Along with the disastrous downfall of a new media company, Jeremy Strong's performance as the downtrodden Kendall Roy takes "Vaulter" to the next level.Club gave the episode an A−, praising Kendall's character development and remarking on the "painful" parallels between the Vaulter storyline and the historically tense relationship between real-life news companies and unions, including The A.V.Colburn remarked that "as painful as it is to watch, [the episode] nevertheless reflects the ruthlessness of our monopolized economic climate, and continues the series’ exploration of how the pettiness and interpersonal drama of the 1% drips down to the working class and, in this instance, journalism.Cook-Wilson found numerous similarities between the shutdown of Vaulter and the downfall of real-world news companies after acquisition, which also included the controversial leadership of G/O Media under Jim Spanfeller.