Doing a rewatch and it’s crazy how much didn’t effect me because I didn’t believe it was actually real until like the 22:40 mark. I posted above (during the airing) around that same time and nothing prior to that moment hit me. I kept waiting for the “punchline”. I have a newfound respect for this episode now.

yeah it was somewhat clever how they did it, not really showing it. really put the audience in roman's shoes of cope, thinking it's a test or something, etc. this isn't happening, this is tv, he'll miraculously be revived. he's indestructible. was reminiscent of the major event towards the end of s1 in game of thrones. unpossible

edit: plus the use of tom's natural inclination to meaninglessly filibuster everything, in this case being incredibly unhelpful instead of just pointless/annoying, really great stuff lol

will check when i eventually rewatch, but don't think i accepted it until about when they called it in the show

Yep. Always surprised at how much talk there is of “winning.” The only one of the adult kids who stands a chance at being non-miserable at the end is Connor. He’s got his very real baggage too, but it seems to pale by comparison.

Are they going to reintroduce Marcia at some point or is she done for?

100% she comes back at least once. She’s gonna go to battle with the siblings and it should be stunning lol

an early plot point was trying to get her in on the trust and with voting shares etc

that and fact that they are still married should require some appearances from her otherwise just really lazy writing

and i can't get over how well they structure the conversations among the employees, especially when that woman and frank being so polite about excluding her from any further involvement

really love how they are letting it play out like exactly like when a medieval ruler died and all his advisors would then try to play a large role in transition to secure a future under the heir

Win isn't the right word because all these people are destined to remain miserable. But somebody has to end up in charge of Waystar Royco. I can't see it being a family member but I could see some combination of Gerri, Stewy, and others working together to knife the whole family.

And yeah, Karl had the MVP quote imo.

Which characters on the show deliver the biggest bang for the buck on a per line basis?

I would say:

10-Shiv
9-Stewy
8-Logan
7-Marcia
6-Roman
5-Gerri
4-Greg
3-Tom

And my surprise top two are:

The dialogue for Caroline is amazing. Literally 95% of what she says is just ripping apart her own kids in this reserved catty English proper style.

100% agree

I think it’s Stewy by far with Caroline second.

The scene between the two of them comes to kind where they first meet and she asks him how long he thinks Shiv’s marriage will last and he replies with “Well…forever. Or until Shiv goes away for the weekend, whichever comes first.” He just walks away and you could tell she was turned on.

In retrospect, I definitely did not rank Stewy high enough, but I still wouldn't put him first.

last few episodes its been Karl and not even close. for the show run its proly been Stewy bc thats kinda his whole purpose. but gloves off Karl is a treasure.

Loved this week's episode.

I suppose that Shiv being pregnant offered a reason for "how can Tom even keep being a relevant character on this show now?"

Christ so much if that was soooo damn awkward…. Lol

Yes and also explains very nicely my criticism of her body for this season.

Also looks like I was right about it being Ken but Ken being the one to potentially risk the deal because he still has an axe to grind with his father (the last scene). And you wonder whether Shiv is right whether Ken did have his name crossed out and not underlined and if it wasn't for Logan's messy work in crossing his name out would he be in that position and would it be instead Roman and Shiv (I think Roman now was always going to be in the two to be in charge - it was just a matter of whether it was with Ken or Shiv).

Also whoever suggested that Marcia would return to being a critical character was on the mark. I thought it was pretty harsh not to let Logan's mistress upstairs to get her things though.

Finally a Karl episode. Dude crushed this week.

“I’m half in on a Greek Island with my brother in-law.”

Solid ep. Sets the table for some big conflicts later.

Tom going around to each kid in turn and trying to cozy up with them is the best storyline to me - who’s he gonna get with in the end?? Also his description of getting with Shiv for the first time was amazingly cringe. “I kept repeating- do you like this?” Can totally picture him doing that haha

I still don’t get if Kendall actually wants the deal to go through or would rather be king of the ashes etc.

Karl telling Tom exactly what he is was awesome

Who would underline a name anyways? Doesnt add up.

Put me on team Ken had his name crossed out

Lol Greg claiming no. 2 was hilarious.

I wasn’t confident in Ken as CEO, but that last scene with Hugo sold me. Ken will do what it takes, just like Logan would.

Well it will probably be team Shiv - the kid ties him in with Shiv and they look to undermine team Ken/Roman.

Haha - yeah after the question mark that was put against his name on the paper

Fantastic episode. Was a bit worried with Logan gone that it might flail a bit but they nailed it. Tom getting shutdown plus Greg as number two was great, as was the discussion about the paper being flushed down the toilet.

I wonder if the next episode is right back at the wake? They said the presidential candidate was going to come. Could set up the end of the season as Shiv not being in favour of Waystar supporting him

Don't forget, pretty sure Marcia and her kid are the only two people left who knows that Kendall killed the waiter. Could come up in the future.

Also, did they say "we don't want the princess to **** this up" as in Shiv was actually the name Logan had in pencil? And they changed it to Kendall? Part was confusing.