#(only time will tell if we get any true Trifecta Material.....god i'd sip that)

[unproduciblesmackdown]

and naturally i am Looking at this as the first shot/s of either of these characters for this season, like. yes prince is interacting with these Groups of employees & these are all of taylor’s named people right now but the former axe cappers weren’t striking the same pose all standing side by side working together doing the same bit......nbd this is the Introduction for the both of them, they are presented on this visually immediate “we are operating together” wavelength, i am fine

(also naturally i can only ever vacillate then ultimately return to the “shrug it’s 50/50 & i am strung along” zone, wherein it’s like, oh ha ha well i suppose we get that the quants are Amicable and will sometimes interact, and that’s all, except then even material like “f for winston being sacrificed for the cause of deflecting ‘oh hey actually when you think about it it’s more epic of taylor to Not be here, vs winston definitely being here, like a nerd, so how about diverting any displeasure for taylor’s absence into booing winston'” isn’t only like, well that’s not great for him, being used as an easy target(tm) and all, but then when i go “better try to just presume mutual riawin kissing interest isn’t in the plans” this same evidence is like, okay so why on earth have we had multiple instances where rian has been aware winston Likes her & her responses to this have only been [make sure he sticks around], [tell him not to press], [state outright you know he likes you but then go on a mental tangent & breathlessly share your personal hopes atm] like, while also being willing to dunk on him to his face & anyone else’s at any point, so as always i’m back at the point like, if her unfiltered response to the situation is, from the start and forever, “lmao god no of course it’s never gonna happen, i might throw up, b/c you’re winston” then Why Haven’t We Gotten That. she’ll call him a douche, needle him further when he’s all irritatedly jealous, say inherently hot things are unhot when he does it, nudge him under the bus here like “hey lol doesn’t winston suck? doesn’t he have to go the extra mile & a half to be worth sparing a glance?” to do what she can to mitigate the issue of [taylor’s absent & the boss isn’t thrilled], but she won’t tell him to forget it re: having this crush she’s been aware of from the start? that’s hard to believe, and what on earth are we doing out here if she’s not potentially leaving herself a door open for kissing. if the joke is that winston having a crush is a joke b/c it’s unilateral on his part & the other party is really just insulted / disgusted about it, why didn’t we get that Joke payoff in 5x05? why do we keep touching on “remember, winston likes her :)” again with no real payoff? why would it be funnier if it, inexplicably, takes ten episodes to get there? rian could matter of factly tell him to forget it, and we’ve seen her be matter of fact with him the whole time, it’s happening right in this photoset. even if it was like oh uh don’t wanna hurt his feelings, like, she’s out here willing to give him a Feelings Hurty, it’s happening right in this photoset, he reacts to these moments fairly openly rather than stoically, even if rian also doesn’t like go for his whole life, she doesn’t have to to tell him she’d never even think of kissing him also. and yet of course you never know with billions, it can veer off into totally unexpected things either way, you can only extrapolate so much, i cannot know where they will go with this either way. i have to accept the possibility of being hurt b/c i cannot let go of that stringing along by the riawin thread, why would i. that’s my own bit i’m doing out here. could even just end up going “??” if they do not have this Go Anywhere all season, for no reason, like okay exhausted & perplexed, explexed, perplausted. it’s billions, what else is new. this is our adventure. i would love for someone worthy to kiss winston right on the mouth.)

anyways the point is, imo, season finale leaving these two off standing next to each other, having some parallel reactions to things? season premiere introducing them standing next to each other, doing a parallel bit? We Simply Have A Quant Duo.