#i like tom i think mattmac is a fantastic actor and certain scenes like the beach scene in 2x10 made me sympathize with him deeply

[asilosmagdalena]

Perhaps all the other gendered violence in this episode made me see the Tom and Shiv staircase seen in a more negative light than intended, but idk how you can come away from it thinking Tom is soooo romantic and Shiv is evil for rejecting him.

Shiv is devastated by losing her father, and Tom heard her while she was sobbing trying to speak to Logan. He knows how vulnerable she is, and linked that back to how she was vulnerable when they first got together. He knows that there's turbulence in deciding to fill the CEO position and even though he may not know the extent of Shiv's brothers betraying her, he knows how important the position is to her.

Shiv is visibly upset and Tom comes up to her and talks to her about sex while she physically recoils. He argues with her when she tells him that was a long time ago and he says not really. At least twice this episode she shouted at him not to touch her.

Imo this isn't a case of 'Shiv rejecting kindness because she thinks she doesn't deserve it' it's Shiv knowing she's unable to trust anyone, even the people she was closest to. Tom betrayed her to get in good with Logan, and she's right to be suspicious of his motives considering the fact that Tom tried to cozy up to everyone else in this episode to secure his position. While technically not relevant as of this episode yet, a lot of people have seen the "You're a snake," and "It's not my fault you didn't get your dad's approval," teasers.

This isn't a #TOMISCANCELED post because their relationship is more complex than this one scene and lbr, every character would be canceled if we're taking it that seriously. But even though Tom doesn't know Shiv is pregnant and is horrified about it, even though Tom didn't use and humiliate Kerry, Tom isn't responsible for Roman and Kendall betraying Shiv, all of these acts of gendered trauma happened in this episode FOR A REASON.

I do think Succession can be interpreted in a lot of ways and maybe it's fair to come away from this scene less critically than I have right now but. The fact that the thesis for this season - this episode in particular seems to be that women will never escape misogyny - I feel like that's significant!