Not enough cruel witticisms in this final ep.

LOL at Mattson "I don't need a partner, I need a front man." Tom "Sure, I can do that."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So now Shiv has no ownership and is married to a man who hates her and is her boss. Fun

I hate this ending for Shiv, it makes her the worst of the siblings.

No, she was the only rational one. Kendall was not a good pick and she knew it. In her best interest to get her billions out of the deal rather than enable the company's going under on K's watch. She and Tom won't last, too much deep-seated resentment on both sides. I always thought he really loved her, despite everything, but don't think he does any longer. And his newfound power will go to his head, part of the new reality that he no longer needs any Roys. But they'll have the baby together and hang in there for a bit longer, for its sake.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shiv sold out and is becoming her mom.

I don’t see this. She didn’t vote yes to the deal so that she could be taken care of by Tom. She’s a billionaire on her own and does not need Tom’s money, even his CEO money. After the GoJo deal, she’s even richer because Matsson is giving them above market price for shares.

I think she really just realized/remembered that Kendall would be a train wreck as CEO, plus started thinking about her baby and whatever semblance of family she has. She What would she gain, really, with Kendall as CEO? Spiting Tom (father of her child) and Matsson. But nothing really for her. She made a rational choice after toying with making an emotional choice. But there really are not a lot of Caroline parallels.

Shiv voted in her own self-interest. She saw/knew Kendall couldn't cut it and would also cut her out, and she knows Tom will always take her back.

Agree, she wanted to be loyal to her siblings but in the end realized Kendall was not cut out for the top job. Also agree it was a rational choice. Had it been emotional she would have stuck with her siblings, partly out of spite toward Matsson for screwing her over. Hard to feel remotely sorry for any of them given they'll be unfathomably rich from this deal. Love Roman's "we're nothing, we're bs" echoing Logan's "I love you but you're not serious people." As cruel as he was, he had sharp instincts and knew, sadly, none of them had what it took to be his successor. Still not sold on Tom for the top job though.

Anonymous wrote:I like the idea of Tom as the embodiment of the American Dream in 2023. He went from middle class to 1% and all he had to do was:

- marry a billionaire heiress
- kiss butt in her dad’s company for a while
- demonstrate a willingness to be a shameless yes man
- betray his wife, twice

Logan was the old American dream (immigrant with nothing rises to the top through sheer grit, greed, and bullying). Tom’s the new version, the weasel back door dream.

You forgot remain in a marriage where they both detest one another.

I like the idea of Tom as the embodiment of the American Dream in 2023. He went from middle class to 1% and all he had to do was:

- marry a billionaire heiress
- kiss butt in her dad’s company for a while
- demonstrate a willingness to be a shameless yes man
- betray his wife, twice

Logan was the old American dream (immigrant with nothing rises to the top through sheer grit, greed, and bullying). Tom’s the new version, the weasel back door dream.

Mattson is the most odious character.

Give Nicholas Britell all the awards. Series MVP!

Anonymous wrote:So now Shiv has no ownership and is married to a man who hates her and is her boss. Fun

I hate this ending for Shiv, it makes her the worst of the siblings.

Fantastic finale. Finally, a thrilling episode! The whole Barbados kitchen scene was delightful. I love seeing the siblings enjoying one another. Sad to think they probably won’t be doing that again any time soon. Then again, I feel somewhat hopeful about this ending. Maybe without Waystar in their lives, they actually will become somewhat of a family again. Maybe Kendall will get a grip and focus on his kids. Maybe Shiv will actually be a decent mother. Not sure what lies ahead for Roman…

Some of my favorite lines/moments:

Joan of Waystar

Candy Kitchen in Bridgehampton

Oh! What a mighty bounty! Mummy with this pair of sprouting potatoes, zero-percent milk, and wartime pickle, you do spoil us so!

Shiv spitting into the meal fit for a king.

Shiv and Roman mocking Connor’s word salads.

Collin may well be working for Kendall, but there is no way he’s loyal to him the way he was to Logan. He looks like he can barely stomach Kendall - but hey, it’s a paycheck.

Kendall plays this role so, so well. He is just the saddest, most lost person - next to Roman, of course. Just heartbreakingly broken people.

I loved the ending. Jeremy String plays sad so well. Kendall was THIS CLOSE so many times, but it would have been terrible storytelling if he’d actually gotten it. I didn’t guess it was Tom but it was so obvious all along when you look back. I guess Mattson was the most brilliant even though he seemed like kind of a dumb asshat. I was glad they used more real, understandable language this episode and fewer of those mean jabs and that spoken staccato. Even Roman spoke like a person.

I loved the choral version of the theme music in the credits.

I liked the ending. Tom is the only one who has consistently worked his butt off for the company. He has the experience. He deserved it.

I want to know how long Shiv knew she was going to vote yes. Did she delay telling Ken so he wouldn’t have time to line up other votes? Or was it a last minute decision?

I did feel bad for Kendall but then, he will sulk for a week and then realize he’s a billionaire and can do whatever the heck he wants. He will be fine, or as fine as any of these people can be.

This past week, as I thought about the finale, I realized that none of the kids could be the Successor. They were all too fundamentally flawed & incompetent. Shiv was right. Kendall would have been a disaster. It had to be Tom or someone else. The podcast is interesting, as Jeremy Strong says that Frank had said, when he walked back into the boardroom, “You don’t have it. You never had it.” (This wasn’t in the Final Cut) and that’s when Kendall realizes that the idea that he could be CEO was always a fantasy.

Having worked in the corporate and political worlds, I have to say their technical advisors have (mostly) done a great job. The whole counting votes, meeting and aftermath rang very true (in the compressed context of a 90 minute episode). I loved Frank and Karl discussing staying on and cutting Tom’s throat. That is so real (the old guard resenting & undercutting the younger phenom that’s risen above them). And I loved that Tom knew it.

Another interesting thing in the podcast is Jeremy Strong saying they filmed an ending with Kendall climbing over the fence to jump and being stopped by Colin. They went with the even more ambiguous ending, but it was fascinating how they still made it clear that Kendall may be suicidal, but Colin is watching over him.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shiv sold out and is becoming her mom.

I don’t see this. She didn’t vote yes to the deal so that she could be taken care of by Tom. She’s a billionaire on her own and does not need Tom’s money, even his CEO money. After the GoJo deal, she’s even richer because Matsson is giving them above market price for shares.

I think she really just realized/remembered that Kendall would be a train wreck as CEO, plus started thinking about her baby and whatever semblance of family she has. She What would she gain, really, with Kendall as CEO? Spiting Tom (father of her child) and Matsson. But nothing really for her. She made a rational choice after toying with making an emotional choice. But there really are not a lot of Caroline parallels.

Shiv voted in her own self-interest. She saw/knew Kendall couldn't cut it and would also cut her out, and she knows Tom will always take her back.

+1. And you could say that self-interested choice is what Caroline would do, but you’d be forgetting it’s also what Logan would do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shiv sold out and is becoming her mom.

I don’t see this. She didn’t vote yes to the deal so that she could be taken care of by Tom. She’s a billionaire on her own and does not need Tom’s money, even his CEO money. After the GoJo deal, she’s even richer because Matsson is giving them above market price for shares.

I think she really just realized/remembered that Kendall would be a train wreck as CEO, plus started thinking about her baby and whatever semblance of family she has. She What would she gain, really, with Kendall as CEO? Spiting Tom (father of her child) and Matsson. But nothing really for her. She made a rational choice after toying with making an emotional choice. But there really are not a lot of Caroline parallels.

Shiv voted in her own self-interest. She saw/knew Kendall couldn't cut it and would also cut her out, and she knows Tom will always take her back.