So some folks say Jess is out of character here. And that is validāI can totally see it. But I think thereās room for another interpretation here (as usual with Successionās writing!)
Letās rewind a little bit and see where these lines end up in the course of the scene (because that was my first question when I saw thisāāwhere does this happen?ā)
Kendall has made it clear (ānot going to let her upā) that theyāre having this talk whether she wants to or not. But Jess has already made her decision. Like so many other instances, Kendall is too late. The die is already cast. This relationship has reached the point of no return.
She presents her speech that sheās prepared, trying to navigate this with resolveāand to end on a good note. This is not a āfuck you, Iām quitting speech.ā
But what type of conversation does this end up being?
Kendall becomes increasingly desperate (all happening within an hour of his breakdown with Rava and the kids) but Jess is resolved. Throughout the course of their interaction, he tries different tactics, different appeals (access, liking one another, anger, truth; in this draft he specifically asks about Mencken twice and both times she chooses to not give him a true answer. He knows itās Mencken.)
He wants her to answer his questions (Juliana Canfield has said Jess is not the type to speak up about things but that sheās āstarting to pick up on [being feisty.]ā ā as she mentioned in the Vulture article right after America Decides premiered.
Sheās making a tough decision, but sheās still avoiding āgetting into itā while also not sugar coating and saying āitās not Mencken! Donāt worry!ā Sheās toeing the lineāand doing a fucking professional job of it.
Part of jessā job is give Kendall answers, especially when he pointedly asks her questions. But here we see her dodge them repeatedly, with half or vague answers or she chooses to not answer them outright (like when he asks āwhat exact roleā was she moving on to). Again, she doesnāt want to get into it, but sheās also not going to lie. She also now does not owe him answers.
Jess is navigating this extremely tough conversation because she does care about Kendall but sheās taking care of herself. (JC said on twitter:
Sheās being careful to not answer questions and she knows Kendall is starting to spiral (because she knows him really, really well.) sheās reading the room; he is not (or cannot).
So here we areāwe see him inquiring about whether she likes him (as he mentions he likes her three times) as a question in a long string of questions as he spirals and tries desperately to hang on to, as Jeremy Strong said, his āsafe spaceā that heās found with her. Heās doomed to lose her as his fights this mortal wound.
We also see her cite the āhard timeā as something of a general reason for her moving on. Because her answer to ādo you like meā is YES, but she knows she canāt say that now. If she does, heāll use it as a way to try to convince her, to draw out this awful conversation minutes before his fatherās funeral.
And he collapses into himself, throws his shades on to hide his emotions and lashes out at her for doing exactly what he asked her to that morning, which was tell him what the meeting was about š©.
Also, donāt mind the highlights. Theyāre for research purposes only š¤
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