Many comparable prestige dramas would build seasons at this stage around a new antagonist arriving to cause trouble for the Roys.does not lack for opponents outside the family circle, including this week’s introduction of Adrien Brody as swing-vote minority shareholder Josh Aronson. It’s not hard to imagine a version of this season where Josh swooped in, started causing chaos, and forced all the regulars to dance to his tune for a while.
The threat of Josh backing Sandy and Stewy’s hostile takeover bid is not an empty one, as we see by the episode’s end when he’s hugging Stewy while Kendall is on his way out. But its importance here is simply to create a circumstance where father and son will have to be in each other’s presence and act like they care. It’s all a show, which even Josh seems to recognize while he enjoys the leverage this moment has given him.