S03.E05: Retired Janitors of Idaho

[sadie]

I feel really stupid but can anyone explain what the “vote” is about? Are they voting the Roy’s out of owning the company, that doesn’t make sense? Or voting on who is CEO, but then who would the new CEO be? Can you really just postpone a huge stockholder vote like that? I thought public companies were governed by very strict rules? And the deal with Sandi gave him what, more shares? Huh? I may be too dumb too watch this show. 

[sugarbaker design]

I couldn't keep up with the funny lines tonight, from Roman's "Hercule Poirot of fucking piss" to Stewey's "belligerent zucchini", I was laughing my ass off.

Edited November 16, 2021 by sugarbaker design

[peachmangosteen]

34 minutes ago, sadie said:

I may be too dumb too watch this show. 

I definitely am, but I just watch it for the comedy so it's fine lol.

[TaraS1]

12 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

I think we saw the appeal of Tom in this ep when he took Logan to the bathroom and was the one person able to be caring without looking like he wanted to crawl out of his own skin. Shiv hinted that they got together when she was having her own breakdown.

I totally agree with this.  Tom seemed quite genuine in his concern for Logan, and gentle in the way he was taking care of him and speaking to him.  God help me, I think Tom has become my favorite character lol

2 hours ago, Lassus said:

Tom really seems like the kind of guy who thought it was amazing that now he could act like a weirdo jerk but probably really actually isn't.  This comes out a bit when he's refusing the threesome and having his yacht breakdown and knowing that Shiv isn't that great of a person and the cracks really show.  

I think that describes Tom pretty perfectly.  He can be awful, but likely really isn't.  I feel like something big is coming with him and Shiv/Logan/prison.

I really loved this episode, I thought it was definitely the best of the season and one of my favorites of the entire series.  I didn't completely understand all the machinations, but any episode where all the characters are together like that for the whole show makes me happy. 

And kudos to the director for the very subtle shift in focus to Gerri when Kendall was saying he'd given everything for the company lol

[Pestilentia]

2 hours ago, Lassus said:

Tom really seems like the kind of guy who thought it was amazing that now he could act like a weirdo jerk but probably really actually isn't. 

IMO Tom is no more than a asshole bully, and an exceedingly mean one at that.   

He takes absolute glee in cutting down everyone 'below' him in station- the absolutely scathing words he uses to threaten Greg for instance.  

Tom is one of those people who needs other people to feel small so that he can feel big.

[sugarbaker design]

26 minutes ago, TaraS1 said:

And kudos to the director for the very subtle shift in focus to Gerri when Kendall was saying he'd given everything for the company lol

Geri gives the best reaction shots, especially this one.  But by far, the best Geri reaction shot was the one during Kendall's rap performance.

[Ellaria]

33 minutes ago, Pestilentia said:

IMO Tom is no more than a asshole bully, and an exceedingly mean one at that.   

He takes absolute glee in cutting down everyone 'below' him in station- the absolutely scathing words he uses to threaten Greg for instance.  

Tom is one of those people who needs other people to feel small so that he can feel big.

Tom punches down...no question about that. He is cruel to people that he feels are below him. Roman is guilty of this as well. Because of that, I don't like Tom.

50 minutes ago, TaraS1 said:

I totally agree with this.  Tom seemed quite genuine in his concern for Logan, and gentle in the way he was taking care of him and speaking to him.  God help me, I think Tom has become my favorite character lol

I think that describes Tom pretty perfectly.  He can be awful, but likely really isn't.  I feel like something big is coming with him and Shiv/Logan/prison.

However, characters in this show are not one-dimensional. Tom is a bully but perhaps that's because he is constantly disregarded and treated as if he doesn't matter (largely by his wife). None of this is an excuse for his bullying, of course, but as the saying goes: "hurt people hurt people." 

I saw a different side to Tom in his interactions with Logan. Not only was he caring but he recognized immediately that he needed medical attention. In a show with lots of unlikeable characters - many of whom are in emotionally abusive relationships - I was glad to see a kinder side of Tom. I hope that he does something dramatic.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Ellaria Sand

[laurakaye]

26 minutes ago, TaraS1 said:

I totally agree with this.  Tom seemed quite genuine in his concern for Logan, and gentle in the way he was taking care of him and speaking to him.  God help me, I think Tom has become my favorite character lol

He can be so gentle and caring with Logan, and also with Shiv (sometimes) - and then he's a massive bullying jerk to Greg, and he can be that way to Shiv.  He is so hard to figure out.  After Logan snapped at Shiv, Tom asked Shiv if she wanted a hug and at first she resisted, but then she allowed Tom to hold her and she kind of hid her face in his chest.  I found that little scene very interesting.  And then there's Kendall who is off the charts delusional but then the camera gives us a close-up of his eyes, which are the saddest eyes I have ever seen, and it's like - wow, this guy is so broken.  They all are.

I cannot wait for whatever secrets Connor is getting ready to spill.  I always need more Alan Ruck on my screen, but especially on this show.

[aghst]

Roman is pretty awful.  Remember the pilot scene with the baseball game, him offering a million to that poor kid and then taunting him when he fell short.

Even Logan felt bad for the kid, gave him an expensive watch as compensation.

Turns out he was bullied as a kid by his siblings, has emotional/sexual problems.

But he's exactly the type of trust fund bro people hate and he leans into it.

Though he wasn't a complete asshole at the theme park training program.  He was willing to consider promoting his partner and then dropped it.

[aghst]

37 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

Geri gives the best reaction shots, especially this one.  But by far, the best Geri reaction shot was the one during Kendall's rap performance.

At first I thought the rap performance was cringe, a rich white boy appropriating hip hop.

But on repeated watching of that episode, got into it a little bit.

The crowd got into it as well.

I think Kendall was in on the joke too, didn't take himself too seriously, didn't think he was some serious rapper but it's more like someone doing a song parody or people at Karaoke Night, tongue firmly in cheek.  He was suppose to praise his father since the event was in his honor but decided to do it in a fun way rather than try to do a sentimental speech.

It was an expression of joy from him, a contrast from the morose sad sack he'd been for most of season 2.  Or maybe he's a bit manic-depressive and this was just one of the few moments of mania that season.

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by aghst

[iMonrey]

Quote

I feel really stupid but can anyone explain what the “vote” is about? Are they voting the Roy’s out of owning the company, that doesn’t make sense? Or voting on who is CEO, but then who would the new CEO be? Can you really just postpone a huge stockholder vote like that? I thought public companies were governed by very strict rules? And the deal with Sandi gave him what, more shares? Huh? I may be too dumb too watch this show. 

You and me both, but since no one has answered my initial question we're probably not alone in that.

From what I can gather, this was a normally scheduled annual shareholder's meeting. What hasn't been explained, as far as I know, is why the Roys needed to "settle" on a deal with Sandy. Was Sandy going to force a shareholders' vote for new leadership? Does he have that power? I know the last few episodes have been spent on the Roys trying to shore up to votes to retain power so obviously they anticipated such a vote and, I would think, so did the shareholders. 

But then, both Sandy/Sandi and the Roys were trying to reach a "settlement" before the vote. I think maybe the word "settlement" is what is throwing me because that's usually a term used when someone is suing someone else and the person bringing the lawsuit agrees to settle. As far as I know, Sandy was not suing the Roys.

Also, the original takeover attempt in Season 1 was done thru the board of directors. Someone made a motion to have a no-confidence vote against Logan. I'm not sure how it works with the shareholders, and who has the ability to initiate the same sort of vote, and whether the shareholders themselves get to choose leadership.

[sistermagpie]

18 minutes ago, aghst said:

Roman is pretty awful.  Remember the pilot scene with the baseball game, him offering a million to that poor kid and then taunting him when he fell short.

Even Logan felt bad for the kid, gave him an expensive watch as compensation.

I think one thing Tom and Roman have in common is there is something in there that likes people and wants people to like them. It's why Roman is good at schmoozing and can genuinely like somebody like the guy he met at the training program. And Tom, too, in moments like this is able to be human when helping another human in medical distress. But it also means that when they're awful, they can be awful in similar ways, hurting people with weird psychological bullying. Though Tom lashes out at Greg--I think Tom has more self-respect deep down than Roman, who explicitly wallows in his own self-disgust.

I suspect when Logan gave the kid something it was a bit more complicated than feeling bad for him, even. He might have identified with the kid and that earned some respect and an impulse to not want the kid focused on revenge.

 

12 minutes ago, aghst said:

At first I thought the rap performance was cringe, a rich white boy appropriating hip hop.

But on repeated watching of that episode, got into it a little bit.

The crowd got into it as well.

I think Kendall was in on the joke too, didn't take himself too seriously, didn't think he was some serious rapper but it's more like someone doing a song parody or people at Karaoke Night, tongue firmly in cheek.  He was suppose to praise his father since the event was in his honor but decided to do it in a fun way rather than try to do a sentimental speech.

I think Kendall genuinely likes rap and would love to be a rapper--but has no delusions that he is one. I think people on the show even talked about how the rap wasn't actually *bad*--it was the type of thing that would be done by a person who grew up rapping along with the songs he liked and knew how to do it. So tongue-in-cheek, but not in an "I look like an idiot" way. He wasn't looking to impress people with his rapping, but probably wanted them to laugh along with the parody and not be embarrassed by it.

 

[Dminches]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

You and me both, but since no one has answered my initial question we're probably not alone in that.

From what I can gather, this was a normally scheduled annual shareholder's meeting. What hasn't been explained, as far as I know, is why the Roys needed to "settle" on a deal with Sandy. Was Sandy going to force a shareholders' vote for new leadership? Does he have that power? I know the last few episodes have been spent on the Roys trying to shore up to votes to retain power so obviously they anticipated such a vote and, I would think, so did the shareholders. 

But then, both Sandy/Sandi and the Roys were trying to reach a "settlement" before the vote. I think maybe the word "settlement" is what is throwing me because that's usually a term used when someone is suing someone else and the person bringing the lawsuit agrees to settle. As far as I know, Sandy was not suing the Roys.

Also, the original takeover attempt in Season 1 was done thru the board of directors. Someone made a motion to have a no-confidence vote against Logan. I'm not sure how it works with the shareholders, and who has the ability to initiate the same sort of vote, and whether the shareholders themselves get to choose leadership.

My understanding is that the vote is for who controls the board seats which ultimately decides who controls the company.  The settlement between Sandy/Stu and Logan is that Logan will still have control of the board via his appointees while he gave up certain things to Sandy so they wouldn’t force a vote and potentially take control.

 

[smartymarty]

Quote

Tom really seems like the kind of guy who thought it was amazing that now he could act like a weirdo jerk but probably really actually isn't.  This comes out a bit when he's refusing the threesome and having his yacht breakdown and knowing that Shiv isn't that great of a person and the cracks really show.  

I mean, even Roman is sorta like this deeper inside with a smallish heart of gold.  He talks a really big game but is probably at least capable of decency, while Shiv, Kendall, and Connor are just completely amoral.

I think Tom actually was willing to hold Logan's "sceptre" if necessary, which shows how supportive he can be.

The Roy children do not know how to be nice. They remind me of a co-worker who would never let someone do him a favor, because then he'd owe them. The Roy children are too suspicious of everyone else, likely because, as others pointed out, their father is constantly hot and cold on them.

Also, how has nobody commented on the extreme hilarity of the security guard whisking away the "dead cat" that Logan thought he was sitting on??!!

[Bluesky]

13 minutes ago, smartymarty said:

Also, how has nobody commented on the extreme hilarity of the security guard whisking away the "dead cat" that Logan thought he was sitting on??!!

I actually witnessed a 90 year old going through what Logan was because of a UTI and imbalance of salt.  In real life it’s awful, not funny at all.  They actually did a good job “getting rid of the cat” instead of screaming there’s no cat.  
I thought his wife was back with him?  

[caitmcg]

58 minutes ago, Bluesky said:

I thought his wife was back with him?  

I think that was a public appearance of being with him (and the corporate support she could provide since she is a shareholder) that she was willing to do in exchange for a boatload of money and guarantees for her kids. But not an actual return to their marriage.

[BlackberryJam]

58 minutes ago, Bluesky said:

I actually witnessed a 90 year old going through what Logan was because of a UTI and imbalance of salt.  In real life it’s awful, not funny at all.  They actually did a good job “getting rid of the cat” instead of screaming there’s no cat.  
I thought his wife was back with him?  

I had a relative that went through an episode like that, delusional, visions, screaming at me to turn down up the air condition that he said was right beside me when there wasn't one, telling my sister we were late for her (very alive) son's funeral. It was horrible and emotionally gutwrenching. 

However, watching this happen with actors playing a big group of loathsome characters, I found it hilarious. Was that Colin with the paperbag of non-existent dead cat? Someone needs to gif that. I don't know who Colin is, or Carrie with the medicine for that matter, but it seems like Logan has a revolving door of semi-caregivers who masquerade as assistants and security.

At one point Logan called Shiv "Marcia" which was freaking her out. 

[smartymarty]

48 minutes ago, Bluesky said:

 In real life it’s awful, not funny at all.  They actually did a good job “getting rid of the cat” instead of screaming there’s no cat.  
I thought his wife was back with him?  

Yes, happened to my father too. I both found it funny and was glad that somebody knew to indulge his fear rather than try to correct him. (My husband also had a "hold his sceptre" dilemma helping my father in a restroom, which made me appreciate Tom's offer.)

Wife is back solely for PR reasons. Negotiated money from Logan in exchange for making it look like he's in a loving marriage.

[iMonrey]

Quote

My understanding is that the vote is for who controls the board seats which ultimately decides who controls the company.  The settlement between Sandy/Stu and Logan is that Logan will still have control of the board via his appointees while he gave up certain things to Sandy so they wouldn’t force a vote and potentially take control.

Yes but what initiates that vote? Can Sandy/Sandi or Stewie demand the shareholders vote for that? And then un-demand it once they've settled with the Roys? What is the shareholders' say in this? What if they still wanted to vote?

[BlackberryJam]

10 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Yes but what initiates that vote? Can Sandy/Sandi or Stewie demand the shareholders vote for that? And then un-demand it once they've settled with the Roys? What is the shareholders' say in this? What if they still wanted to vote?

The Roys own a big block of voting stock. Sandy/Stewie (with Josh) hold another block. The shareholder meeting is annual with a required vote. So neither of the big blocks had 51% to swing the vote their way. I believe if the Roys had Josh, that would put them to 51%, but Josh went with S/S, but that still didn't give S/S 51%.

The vote meant that all those other share holders, who probably own 14% or something total, are then needed to make either side hit 51% for control of the company.

Once the two big blocks reached an agreement, they overpowered the remaining shareholders and their votes become meaningless. 

[xaxat]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

From what I can gather, this was a normally scheduled annual shareholder's meeting. What hasn't been explained, as far as I know, is why the Roys needed to "settle" on a deal with Sandy. Was Sandy going to force a shareholders' vote for new leadership?

 

2 hours ago, Dminches said:

My understanding is that the vote is for who controls the board seats which ultimately decides who controls the company.  The settlement between Sandy/Stu and Logan is that Logan will still have control of the board via his appointees while he gave up certain things to Sandy so they wouldn’t force a vote and potentially take control.

That's the way I read it. Sandy/Stewy were threatening a credible  hostile takeover of  the company with the implied threat that they would install a board hostile to Roy management. No Roy CEO in the future, no "PJs", limits on executive compensation etc.

I thought watching Logan as a businessman (outside of the UTI) was fascinating this episode. He probably has always had a coalition of shareholders where he never had to worry about a challenge to his rule. So he could comfortably tell everyone to "Fuck Off!" without worrying about the consequences. That's no longer the case. He had no answer for Shiv when she asked what he would have done during the negotiations. 

I think Kendal is the big loser. His path to the throne of of Waystar/Royco was to be the broker of a deal that would leave the Roy family still in control and him on the inside with the decisive voting block.  He tried to broker a deal with Josh and failed and then he tried to make sure Logan wouldn't take the proxy battle to a vote and settle with Sandy and Stewy, but it was Shiv who got the deal done.

Edited November 16, 2021 by xaxat

[Ellaria]

9 minutes ago, xaxat said:

That's the way I read it. Sandy/Stewy were threatening a credible  hostile takeover of  the company with the implied threat that they would install a board hostile to Roy management. No Roy CEO in the future, no "PJs", limits on executive compensation etc…

…I think Kendal is the big loser. His path to the throne of of Waystar/Royco was to be the broker of a deal that would leave the Roy family still in control and him on the inside with the decisive voting block.  He tried to broker a deal with Josh and failed and then he tried to make sure Logan wouldn't take the proxy battle to a vote and settle with Sandy and Stewy, but it was Shiv who got the deal done.

Agree. They threatened a hostile takeover. We also know there was existing concern among the shareholders about the cruises scandal because of the call that Logan received in the S2 finale.

The one thing that wasn’t explained clearly - IMO - was how/why Sandy/Stewy backed off the veto demand to any other Roy becoming CEO in the future.

Kendall is the biggest loser by the end of the episode. He is overly confident in his ability to close a deal but never really assesses his “opponents” position. He is all bravado and catch phrases.

[sistermagpie]

7 minutes ago, Ellaria Sand said:

Kendall is the biggest loser by the end of the episode. He is overly confident in his ability to close a deal but never really assesses his “opponents” position. He is all bravado and catch phrases.

That goes for assessing the position of babysitters and rabbits as well. I so love the show for putting stuff like that in.

Thanks for the above explanation for what was going on with the vote. I, too, had no idea what was actually going on, but that explanation makes it very clear and logical Thanks!

I also have a friend who recently went through what might be a UTI-related incident like that. It was a bit jarring to see it on TV. But since we knew what it was and that he'd be fine--besides all these people being horrible and so bad at handling anything human--I had no trouble laughing at it or the dead cat. Also, it's another thing that brings things back to Logan since it was his decision to not tell anyone about the UTI, followed by his own failure to take his pills as prescribed that doomed him to that situation. Seems like he might be so used to relying on other people for that that he couldn't do it himself and was just wandering around talking about pills, which his bodyguard mistakenly thought was a request for Advil. Am I imagining it, or did Kendall say something once about managing Logan's medications?

[Haleth]

15 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

The vote meant that all those other share holders, who probably own 14% or something total, are then needed to make either side hit 51% for control of the company.

The retired janitors in Idaho could determine the fate of the Roys.

They are all, and I mean all a bunch of empty suits.  Not just the Roys, but Gerri, Frank, Karl... they are all so afraid of Logan they have zero agency.  A major corporation with no leaders except a half crazy, abusive old man.  I used to like Kendall, thought he was the only competent one, but this season is showing him to be lacking substance too.  Remember how George Bush was replaced by an asterisk in Doonesbury?  They are all asterisks.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Haleth

[Diapason Untuned]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

 I used to like Kendall, thought he was the only competent one, but this season is showing him to be lacking substance too.  Remember how George Bush was replaced by an asterisk in Doonesbury?  They are all asterisks.

Kendall can actually be a good businessman when he's not in his own way. The problem is that he's not part of the business right now. He's trying to finagle deals with and using his family like he still has access, but he doesn't and it shows.

Shiv on the other hand is wildly unqualified to succeed Logan (because she doesn't want to put in the work), but this episode showed that she might do better on a board seat where she doesn't have to focus on the day to day stuff.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Diapason Untuned

[tennisgurl]

The one time Shiv actually makes a decent choice and secures some power for herself on (kind of) her own merit, of course Logan gets all pissy with her, even slapping the Champaign out of her hand when she was trying to have a tiny victory lap. That's classic Logan, he just cant let anyone have the win except for him, especially any of his kids. Although even he can see that everyone is smelling blood in the water and the sharks are starting to swarm even if he cant admit that he is losing his edge. If he is that out of it just because he forgot to take his meds, its only a matter of time before he gets so bad that he wont be able to even pretend to be able to run the company, which I don't think he is even remotely ready for. He has built his whole empire in his name and his imagine and is too proud to even consider giving it up, even as it become inevitable. All of his kids are too neurotic and messy to run such a massive empire and the rest of his senior staff, while more competent then the kids, all live and die by his approval, he's built up his company to be so dependent on him that without him it will immediately crumble. I can really imagine him trying to take everyone and everything down with him if he ever is forced to step down, he's such a narcissist that he just cant imagine his company without him as the head. It makes his constant head games with his kids over who will be his heir even worse, he probably never expects any of them to really get the top title because he cant imagine anyone but himself with it. 

Which is especially bad now because Shiv actually made a good point when she asked Logan what he would have done if he had to make the choice about what to do, he didn't actually have an answer. He's used to being so powerful that he can just tell everyone he's opposed by to fuck off while his minions scramble to make it happen, but now, like when they were raided by the FBI, he has no idea what to do when telling people to fuck off or just saying he'll "figure it out" doesn't work. He just cant get away with that anymore and he cant admit it.

Oh Kendal. It really is rather sad, he isn't a bad businessman and has some decent ideas at times, but he's so hampered by his toxic combination of ego and insecurity that he just always falls apart the second he hits any kind of roadblock. 

Edited November 17, 2021 by tennisgurl

[CouchTater]

On 11/16/2021 at 10:59 AM, laurakaye said:

He can be so gentle and caring with Logan, and also with Shiv (sometimes) - and then he's a massive bullying jerk to Greg, and he can be that way to Shiv.  He is so hard to figure out.  After Logan snapped at Shiv, Tom asked Shiv if she wanted a hug and at first she resisted, but then she allowed Tom to hold her and she kind of hid her face in his chest.  I found that little scene very interesting.  And then there's Kendall who is off the charts delusional but then the camera gives us a close-up of his eyes, which are the saddest eyes I have ever seen, and it's like - wow, this guy is so broken.  They all are.

I cannot wait for whatever secrets Connor is getting ready to spill.  I always need more Alan Ruck on my screen, but especially on this show.

She put on a brave face immediately after Logan's outburst, so I was really surprised that Shiv allowed, and really leaned into, this embrace in a roomful of colleagues who already don't respect her.  She probably should have saved that intimate moment for home.

Logan is the worst.

[laurakaye]

Do super rich people actually refer to private jets as "PJs?"  Or was that just Roman being Roman?

I feel like so much of the dialogue in this show consists of someone rattling off a series of random words that don't necessarily go together while that person's underlings scramble to decipher the nonsense and do what they think they've been asked to do.  When Kendall was yelling about giving a rabbit a bagel, I was like - wait, who's Rabbit?  What does the bagel symbolize?  Until I figured out that there was a real rabbit.

I would survive exactly 30 seconds in the pressure-cooker world of the Roys before I was hiding under my desk rocking back and forth.

[Milburn Stone]

The vote...My understanding is Sandy/Sandi/Stewy are threatening to make an offer to shareholders that they can't refuse ("we'll buy your shares for 10% above the current share price, giving us control of the company"), and the only way the shareholders would vote *not* to accept that offer is if they thought they'd do better in the long term holding on to their Waystar Royco stock with the company remaining under Roy family management--which of course they'd be insane to think! An agreement between S/S/S and WR takes that decision off the table, and reassures the shareholders that the company will prosper under guidance from S/S/S.

[Dminches]

1 hour ago, Milburn Stone said:

The vote...My understanding is Sandy/Sandi/Stewy are threatening to make an offer to shareholders that they can't refuse ("we'll buy your shares for 10% above the current share price, giving us control of the company"), and the only way the shareholders would vote *not* to accept that offer is if they thought they'd do better in the long term holding on to their Waystar Royco stock with the company remaining under Roy family management--which of course they'd be insane to think! An agreement between S/S/S and WR takes that decision off the table, and reassures the shareholders that the company will prosper under guidance from S/S/S.

I don't think that is what they were doing.  They could always just buy up shares of the company regardless of who is in control.  Once they did that they could then exercise their voting rights to put their people in control of the board.  In addition, in order for S/S/S to buy up those shares they would have to raise more capital.  Most would not want to do that.

I think it is a simple as them saying to the shareholders that "the Roys have run the company into the ground and have pending lawsuits related to the cruise allegations.  We can 'right the ship' and turn the company around if you vote for our board of directors."

 

[Francie]

On 11/16/2021 at 1:17 PM, BlackberryJam said:

At one point Logan called Shiv "Marcia" which was freaking her out. 

Shiv as almost certainly flashing back to when her father, back in Season 1, when he was out of it from his stroke, moved her hand to his genitals. 

[TV Anonymous]

Does anybody at Waystar Royco know how to do business, or even what their businesses are to start? All we see is the characters talking in circles about stupid empty business jargons and nothing real. Nobody talks about numbers. Never. No P&L, no balance sheet, no market share. Nobody also talk about strategy. What they are, where they are, what they want to achieve, and how to achieve. 

[IslandGirl]

On 11/16/2021 at 7:44 AM, Pestilentia said:

IMO Tom is no more than a asshole bully, and an exceedingly mean one at that.   

He takes absolute glee in cutting down everyone 'below' him in station- the absolutely scathing words he uses to threaten Greg for instance.  

Tom is one of those people who needs other people to feel small so that he can feel big.

For me Tom swings wildly back & forth from the worst person of them all to the best. I think CousinGreg & Tom had the most potential to be decent human beings but got caught up with a rapacious bunch. Much like the frog who eventually gets boiled as the water temperature is turned up ever so gradually, Tom’s decency evaporates, but does manage to rear its lovely head now & then...

[Macbeth]

I think Covid really limited what the show could do this season.  To keep people safe- you have the same group of people hanging around each other.  

Instead of having a big dinner with the Pierce family - you have Logan and Kendall meeting with Adam Brody's character.

I wondered what they would do with the shareholders' meeting.  They pulled off Shiv's large meeting with the Waystar staff but this would be a different group of people.  They did a lot of smoke and mirror there.  And in the end Logan didn't even address the group.  Except for poor Frank, with relief from Gerri, nobody else addressed the shareholders. Whom we saw very little of.

This is a show that loves to take the cast on the road to new locales to meet new people.  And it's very hard to do that during Covid.