If you thought that was Roman “shrugging” her off, you’re extremely bad at interpreting what you’re watching. They spoonfed you the next scene where Roman flips out at Connor in a forlorn and failed attempt to find someone he can browbeat.

Kendall is trying to cast WS as the powerful, sensible elder statesman company compared to the “run by a deviant sex-pest loony,” Gojo. If he did want a sex-scandal, he’d be better off siding with Geri than his brother

I’m amused that you think Roman has evidence that Geri “solicited” anything. Certainly not in the text we saw, where it was clearly sent to offend her.

That’s why Geri emphasized that she had retained “image management”. Like, it was right there in the conversation.

Geri being Geri, she didn’t use them until she’d retained outside counsel and PR. Smart lady. 

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans! And I really liked him in that.

Another element I thought was interesting is that this episode really got at what primarily drives each of the Roys. Shiv is driven by self-interest and Kendall by an intense desire for adulation/respect. And, sadly, Roman by his desperate desire for his father’s love and approval.

I think you have an over-generous view of Kendall’s planning abilities. I think his “plan” is to “do whatever it takes to blow up the deal … PROFIT!”

This might have been a me-problem, but I had a hard time telling at the end whether they actually believe Kendall earned a win or whether they were pretending for his ego (both?).

It reminded me of Holmes too in that it’s a financially empty gesture that never can address the real problem. Gerri stated it already. Tech is going to win. So inventing a fake tech to temporarily goose the stock price only prolongs WS’s slow descent. Dooming them to be purchased later for less. 

Didn’t this problem already come up in Finding Nemo? Pixar talked about how fish aren’t visually suited to emote, so they drew them with a sort of blend of piscine and mammalian faces. Seems like Disney should have knows this would be an issue from the start. 

Except the Roy family isn’t obsessed with wealth. If they were, the kids would have long ago cut bait. The Roy family is obsessed with power and prestige, of which wealth is a necessary element. 

Well and also I feel like people don’t get what a lot of the talk with Matsson was about. He was saving, “Are you and the other WS women Cool Girls or are you like Ebba?” It’s the dark bookend to Gerri’s speech. Because the women at WS (and Shiv) have been trained to/are willing to play the cool girl to an abusive…

I think it’s a play but Matsson isn’t as good at playing women as men. He falls back on inappropriate jokes and line-crossing to try to shake them up and put them in their place. But Shiv (and his Comms employee) have had a lifetime of being put in their place that way, so it’s not entirely effective.

I mean, she held drinks in her hands and put them to her mouth. They very pointedly never got emptied though. Just like she takes the coke and toys with it in her hands without using it. She’s pretending. 

Kendall didn’t “lose”. Yet. Offering more money essentially in front of everyone (rather than as he had been doing privately) forces Kendall and Roman to take the offer to the Board. So that was Mattsen’s next move. But Kendall and Roman already tipped their hand. Even after the money is ostensibly offered and…

I mean, yeah, the takeaway is that Shiv and Tom have a toxic relationship where they like hurting each other juuuuust enough. But they have too little selfcontrol so it all ends up messed up.

Wasn’t it an obvious nod to the fact that Shiv is playing the Cool Girl for him? Topped off with the “send me a picture of their faces” play on the idea of sending nudes. And I actually think that she did earn a kind of win, but it was the kind of “win” you get from Logan. The win of being his creature but maybe…

Shiv effectively playing the Cool Girl was satisfying in how it shows the emptiness of Alpha Male posturing in some contexts. Matteson can easily dominate Kendall and Roman, but he’s got a blindspot where even semi-competent women are concerned. It’s interesting.

It seemed pretty obvious that she was carefully appearing to consume those things without doing so. Her glasses never get empty, she handled the coke but never uses it…