endgameinthenorth - Tumblr blog

[endgameinthenorth]

What was it all even for. Any of it. All of it? I'm really revaluating the series as a whole at this point. Ted trying so hard not to be like his dad that now he's just a dad? Can't even go to his best friend's wedding because his son has a soccer game? It kills me. He's clearly not happy at the end and may circle back to ending up just like his father. I'd really wanted to see Ted have some development after opening up last season in the funeral episode (which was a gut punch), but it feels nothing really progressed. He's just stuck at one extreme or the other.

Bleak.

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The longer I sit with the ending of Ted Lasso the less indifferent I become and the more I dislike it.

They didn't have to win but I'd have liked to have seen it and the fallout. Ted didn't have to stay but I'd have liked to see him articulate why — why not keep making millions and move his kid to another country? Seems sensible to me. But oh no... He needed to fulfill some other narrative purpose that was never properly explained. Instead it looks like he's shut everyone out of his life and entirely focused on his kid, right down to the ending music not sounding upbeat when it zooms in on him. What even was that. In mean, where is Ted at Beard's wedding? According to an AMA, Henry's soccer game is more important. That isn't being "mature" ... that's being detached and missing the most important day of your best friend's life while living your life through your kid to an unhealthy extent.

The complete disconnect from emotions is startling. Where is the dialogue that moves you? Most of it is replaced with a few gags. Then there's Trent getting shut out cold of any meaningful character development; he writes a whole book calling it the Ted Lasso Way and just gets a little note from Ted saying it was never about him (when the whole show has shown Ted's effect on other people)?! So basically calling his book bullshit. Nice.

So many parallels and potential wasted everywhere I look. No pairing had to end up on top but I'd have liked them to not all end with such a harsh slap in the face, it felt like like the writers were trying to ~SuBVeRt ExPeCtAtIoNs~ with no real logical thought processes and fly in the face of the emotional impact and character connections that made the show what it is.

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So I made another video edit to Taylor Swift. This time it's Treacherous. 💁‍♀️ Enjoy?

Spoilers for the entire series.

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Tom and Shiv business relationship moving forward imo, with marriage being part of that front. Shiv doesn't like to admit defeat and Tom needs a beard. That weak hand touching despite Shiv voting Tom through was like next level dead bedroom.

Tom and Greg bathroom scene I was shaking. I honest to god thought we'd get some angry Judas kiss. Matsson even called Greg Judas for God's sake.

The should have gone there, but like with Kendall and Stewy, they talk around it. Stewy says he's into weird sex and Kendall says Stewy kisses guys on molly and then Shiv's look?! All in one scene?!?! Excuse me while I scream!! The general audience? It's all words, forgotten without being explicitly seen on screen.

I have a lot of thoughts on how things should have properly played out, Tom and Greg have been one of the most endeared and talked about potential will they/won't they queer coded relationships in, maybe, almost ever... as representation in a show that isn't just about gay people and that aren't explicitly queer from near the get go, it would have been amazing. But we don't get nice things.

The ending for tomgreg?

Tom always knew Greg was a piece of shit. Despite their charged punch out in the bathroom he still wants him.

Tom claimed Greg as an "item" he wanted. That is just. I do love it, but it's subtle. As stated earlier he may need to "castrate" his pay, but he will be able to keep him. That was very important to Tom. I'm disappointed again at the callbacks to Nero's castration of Sporus but it's never explicitly stated, would have been so easy for either of them to actually draw the connection again by calling the other Nero/Sporus at the end of the series but the wider audience will simply never make the connection.

I want the next level CEO Tom and Greg fics, and more of Matsson calling them both sexy.

The show maybe could just continue without Kendall and Roman and I'd be fine, almost felt it set up with the old guard discussion on the moves to come...

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WE'RE GOING TO BE OK

YOU'RE GOING TO BE CASTRATED ON PAY BUT I THINK I CAN KEEP YOU

LIKE THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO TOM ATM??

...or whatever that line was. Hello Nero and Sporus callback.

OMG.

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So we still have a potential Shiv, Tom and Greg outdoor meal scene + a Tom and Greg art gallery scene that features gay art gallery dudes? Will these things happen?

What are the disgusting brothers? Is this the extent of it being addressed?

Greg's gay dad? Any meaning, at all?

Will Greg's mother ever have another speaking scene?

Will Tom ever sleep?

"And there will always be a thousand reasons not to, to not act. But he was never one of those." — Greg, take this to heart and act out your gay fantasies with Tom. ❤️

*looks at the remaining time in the series* I am not getting closure...

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Tom can’t let anybody in, even for a second, or he might die

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Tom and Greg are back being Tom and Greg front and centre. Greg is being the Greg I envisioned this season wanting to keep Tom for himself and happily screwing over Shiv. And him wanting to "strategize" with Tom. Can that please go somewhere fun? ❤️

But where is Tom next episode? Has he crashed and slept in, missing a funeral?

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Tom ends up with a gob of wasabi in his mouth after telling Greg to make sure he doesn't have any in his order. He breaths out the initial shock of it then proceeds to french kiss Greg as punishment. Greg doesn't mind the wasabi or the kiss.

Then the scene cuts and everyone's asking why there's so much improv.

Matt's just out there doing God's work. Naturally they run with it because it gives the writers so much last minute inspiration. They reshoot the entire season to recontextualize around this pivotal scene.

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In the mini review of episode 8 (spoilers-ish?) It says two interesting things to me.

Episode 8 of “Succession,” Season 4 is one you’d better pay close attention to, like turn off the phones and feed the dog.

Odd choice of words? We all know Greg is "the dog" in the series.

And then there’s Tom and Greg. Tom is lost in a flailing career and a deteriorating marriage. Greg, always considered a numbskull by his cousins, is starting to show signs of a unexpected horse on the outside of the track suddenly gaining speed.

Will these two plot points intersect. Please.

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Between repeatedly saying how tired he was, not sleeping at night, and stills from the next episode of all the energy drinks they've got going on - Tom's going to be waging psychological warfare... on himself.

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I see Connor mentioning to Tom on the phone about Schrödinger’s Cat the next episode... And he's probably talking about the polling numbers but then I got to thinking about it and how it could apply to Tom and Greg. Both perhaps, on their relationship needing to be so explicitly seen to be believed (maybe that box will be opened in episode 8) or even on the statement of bisexuals (they don't exist to most people because everything is always so heteronormative; Tom and Greg have been with women in some capacity so, they're straight).

Maybe the next episode will actually be shocking. Relationship-wise.

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What is your biggest hope or dream for Greg?

It's hard to talk about that because I kind of know where [season 4] goes, so I don’t have a good answer without lying ...

What does it mean? Nicholas can have hopes or dreams for Greg outside of what happens in season 4, this interview was before they knew the series was ending... so contractually he didn't have to spoil anything. Unless what if his biggest hope for the character actually happens this season... what then. 👀

So far the trajectory doesn't look great.

Last season Greg he wanted his own "Greg" (despite this season he seemingly was more worried about Tom having multiple other "Greg's" in his place). Maybe he really just wants Tom. I hope he gets power over Tom next episode and I hope it causes a crazy implosion because as Shiv said, Tom's masochistic.

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SPOILERS FROM FILMING OF FUTURE EPISODES. Maybe?

Shipping rose colored spectacles (mostly) off...

After giving it some more thought, Greg probably will be told to fire Tom. From what I remember from chatter during filming — I can't recall where I read this — there's a scene with Kendall asking Greg something and after some indecision he runs out after Kendall and agrees. The person reporting on it only had a general gist of the scene.

Maybe Shiv reveals her fight with Tom or that she's pregnant to her siblings and Kendall takes a page from Roman and decides to drop Tom ASAP and asks Greg to do it. Just recently it was revealed that the pregnancy was written into the plot when they had already filmed multiple scenes, it really doesn't bode well for the overall thought process behind Shiv's pregnancy this season and I wonder if it will actually be revealed to Tom or have any significance to the end of the character arcs. It's coming off as sloppy writing atm.

But back to Tom, him being fired would explain Matthew's reported absence in filming at Logan's funeral if he's just been kicked to the curb by the entire family and/or stages some kind of last minute ATN coup (I could see Greg firing him pushing him over the edge).

BUT. What then.

Is it really all to just complete some evil!Greg arc? and maybe somehow subsequently bring down the company? After three seasons of build up is their plot going to be dropped after finally aligning together at the end of last season and having no proper scenes together before the show ends? That would be, not even from a shipping perspective, after having lost their entire momentum, poorly executed.

NB did say to believe in Greg, and even Greg in episode 7 didn't like being painted as a bad guy in firing people... But I lost a lot of faith in Tom and Greg going canon when I found out there was only this one season left, I really thought season 4 would wrap up Tom and Shiv's divorce — as it is — and we needed a season 5 to properly delve into Tom and Greg and what they have going on.

The fact that we're not getting that fifth season had really dashed my hopes until season four opened on the Disgusting Brothers. I do think we have a chance still because of that plot line being enacted behind the scenes prior to the season airing. It feels like something that was added in for a purpose and will need to be addressed during the weeklong timeframe in the show.

In my mind we either are having a crazy sex scene between them in episode 8 when the Disgusting Brothers gets hashed out during all the election/firing chaos, and/or we are having an open ended relationship by the end of the series that may never even bother touching on all the prior build up in the series.

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Maybe we'll get a scene where Tom flips out on Greg at him hypothetically firing Tom, similar to his flip out at Greg having everything gamed out with parks when he meanwhile was going to prison. But, Greg tells him he could never do that to Tom.

Tom stares incredulously at Greg and is like "stfu Greg, you don't care about firing people." And Greg's all, "Yeah. I don't, but. I do care about you."

And all Tom wants is for someone to fucking care.

All Tom's ever had to do is throw a tantrum for Greg to flip back to Tom.

In this essay I will —

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When Tom was texting Shiv about their sex the night before and Shiv apologies if she broke his dick ... He responded he was still rock hard. And, maybe it's nothing, but he's in a room with Greg, and Greg's about to fire a bunch of people that they've likely just finished strategizing on how to proceed with on said firing. They also showed as part of the previous episode scenes ending on Tom saying he finds strategizing sexy. Hmm.

The Tom and Shiv blowout felt somewhat forced imo going in the direction of motherhood when Tom doesn't know she's pregnant yet. The whole baby thing hanging over the entire series is just so... I don't know, not Succession style?

The end with Tom — the last time we saw Tom staring up in contemplation at night he called Greg. Seems that didn't happen. But, he may be re-evaluating his life much like he was back then and choosing sides.

Episode 8 is maybe the "shocking" episode. What's left to be shocking...? With the entire lack of Tom and Greg focus, at this point any interaction between them would certainly be shocking.

Psst, next episode says "on election night Tom tries to manage an increasingly chaotic news room" ... Might require some "silent sex" with Greg in the office to get him through it. 😉

So anyway. Hoping next episode Tom can just get over Shiv and actually have some genuine "Disgusting Brothers" scenes. We were told we'd find out more on this and they're realllllly dragging it out for that additional info, and for that matter any Tom and Greg scene. I feel it has to be intentional.

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i really don’t want to get my tomgreg hopes up, but i read the caption and now i can’t help it