S2E2 · Vaulter

Logan, Kendall, Roman, and Shiv watch Stewy's interview on the takeover attempt on the competing news network PGM, and decide to retaliate immediately. Logan tasks Kendall and Roman with scrutinizing Vaulter, which is becoming a financial sink for Waystar. Senator Eavis tells Shiv he plans to name her his Chief of Staff if elected president. Shiv meets Logan to discuss his offer to run the company, but Logan suggests that it would take three years for Shiv to fully integrate into her role as CEO.

The next day, Kendall and Roman visit Vaulter's offices and inform Lawrence that they will be performing a routine check of Vaulter's performance for Logan. Lawrence attempts to stall Kendall's efforts by burying him in paperwork, while Roman takes several Vaulter employees out for drinks in an attempt to extract more valuable information from them.

The next day, Tom, who has been promoted to Chair of Global Broadcast News at ATN, meets the network's head Cyd Peach, who immediately bristles at his disdain for ATN's audience and dismisses him as another bureaucrat. Determined to make his own impact, Tom tasks Greg with rooting out inefficiencies at the network, despite Greg's discomfort with working at ATN.

Logan hears Kendall and Roman's assessment of Vaulter's performance. Kendall wants Waystar to keep the acquisition, but Roman reports having learned from intoxicated employees that Vaulter's readership is failing and that its staff wants to unionize. Logan sides with Roman and tasks Kendall with shutting down Vaulter and merging its intellectual property into Waystar's assets. Kendall reluctantly obliges.

Connor and Willa host a party celebrating their return to New York, which doubles as a canvassing event for Connor's presidential bid. While there, Greg suggests to Tom that they digitize ATN's operations; Tom takes it as an opportunity to fire employees. Shiv brings Tom back to their apartment to inform him that Logan has offered her the company. Tom expresses support but worries that the offer jeopardizes his own planned inheritance of the company; Shiv assures him the offer is likely spurious.

The next morning, Kendall confronts Lawrence about his dishonesty regarding Vaulter's performance, and attempts to talk the site's employees out of unionizing, telling Lawrence that he can convince Logan to retain the company.

Shiv and Tom have dinner with Roman and Tabitha, where Tom is roundly mocked. Shiv privately tells Roman not to consider Tom a threat. Afterwards, Shiv consults Tom's advice on how to navigate her conflicting loyalties between Eavis and Logan, both of whom have offered her significant opportunities. Tom warns her that Logan may be toying with her and suggests proceeding cautiously rather than taking his offer at face value.

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, revealing his earlier assurances to have been false. Lawrence is nonplussed and demands to know why Kendall is suddenly turning against him; Kendall flatly answers that he is doing so on his father's orders. That night, he copes by throwing a party in a temporary apartment he has gifted to Greg.

The next morning, Logan brings in Kendall to work alongside him full-time to help navigate the proxy battle against Stewy and Sandy. Shiv provokes Eavis into firing her from his campaign, then calls Logan to tell him she is ready to begin working for Waystar. That evening, Kendall shoplifts from a convenience store.