#i s2g he knows when i want carbs

[luhalalusce]

sending vibes out in the universe so that maybe my dad telepathically picks up that I want his focaccia for dinner

[unproduciblesmackdown]

anyways my Musings on rian and winston’s dynamique in 5x06.......

first and foremost it’s truly wild that there wasn’t at least one more scene ft. either of them in this episode. that felt like Setup that like, i’m sure will be more Followed Through On in the next episode, but also really easily could’ve (and i think should’ve lol) been also followed up on in this episode......it really just doesn’t feel like yea we can just leave things at that for this week!! but we did

anyways like yeah @arabellaturner3 was saying how maybe winston wants to Impress rian here but natch it’s combining with some jealousy maybe, b/c even if [the glances] happened, rian was still meant by one person to Replace him and it’s probably not easy to drop any sense of like, comparing yourselves and feeling like you’re positioned like anything she can do is a Challenge or implicitly understood by others to be her being Better than you or whatever......a little weird to just be back in this quasirivalry territory after last week seemed to have that over with by the end of Day 1 lol, but still makes sense / understandable i Suppose........and really i think they could just enjoy talking math shit together truly if not for this lingering contention lmao.......

like i said winston silently looking over at rian for a moment before talking to her while looking at his computer is Funny and we love an implication of “i might be paying attention to you at a particular moment in which i’m also trying to act like i’m not really paying attention to you”......while rian’s just completely rolling with this lol no moment of giving him a Look like “what are you doing weirdo” or w/e

and this hardly seemed too heated or saturated w/ any genuine antipathy, just a bit of pettiness here, and while they’re indulging said pettiness they’re both exercising Some restraint about it all. like, seems like rian finds him fun to interact with still, and like this is akin to her calling him a douche last episode lmao where it was a little lingering + her looking at him, like that was also just her wanting to get a reaction out of him there. and she’s also sure like, deliberately prodding him a bit in this exchange lmao but also not exactly like either of them are out for blood here and willing to just escalate this w/o limit, more like they both want each other’s attention and want to interact and this isn’t really about winston thinking that what rian does is like, redundant / irrelevant / insignificant or whatever, or rian thinking that winston is in turn useless or incapable or whatever, like yeah they might wanna prove their mathematical / Ideas capability to each other b/c they Were just basically pitted as competitors five minutes ago (in 5x05 lol) but also it’s just like. seems like they’re both just needling each other a bit and the “argument” here is somewhat beside the point

b/c i mean, i’m sure Average Billions Viewers will continue to take [saying anything negative about winston] at face value as Factual / accurate, and while i guess winston brought up what he did for taylor last episode b/c that’s the only thing rian was present for, that’s probably the only thing billions viewers will remember either l o l. but even if he did only bring it Once, say, when he singlehandedly did the work of 50 phds apparently and crafted a market-crushing algorithm for taylor which allowed mase cap to exist in the first place and thus for mase carb to exist (not to mention how the nlp stuff he did paid off And also led fairly directly to mase carb, so) and like, that was Also when he thought he was working for taylor under axe cap and was alone in a semifurnished basement nigh the whole time, so that ability And willingness to do that kind of huge project to that caliber is like, yeah if that was still the only Especial Thing he’d done ever, it’d still be worth keeping him on truly lol. and like, something like that sure is Valuable and yet not Simple (i mean idk maybe his coding is really Elegant, who can say lmao)........but also i doubt rian was just truly like arguing about pasteurization and stuff b/c like, this isn’t either of them bringing their best epic debate skills here, they just kinda Want to elbow each other here and will maybe ramp up their own arguments a bit to do so...........but yeah the point is more about them like, not really wanting to leave each other alone vs what they might be saying in the course of doing so, though natch what they’re saying does seem to establish like this feeling of competition / rivalry, but even that is hardly that Unrestrained, rian’s still got this vibe of more messing with him than feeling any real animosity, while winston’s maybe not just filled with happiness here but also would probably be fine with it all if wendy hadn’t just been considering winston disposable and rian his replacement (and ostensibly taylor as well, which like, even w/ the Glance can’t be fun to have that be the idea that’s Out There rn)........and he’s hardly acting like he’s just outright seething either, just Also wanting to interact but also not exactly being thrilled with the fact that she’s supposedly the superior option here, and where yeah like maybe a mixture of “hey i’m also good at math :)” and “hey i’m also good at math >:(” lmao like, this is all a bit messy

i still sure wouldn’t call this Intense, Horrible, or Passionate lmao, aaand i guess 5x07 is the only thing which could change that, since 5x08 wasn’t even written, much less filmed........like, i’m guessing that the Simmering Tension set up here will be built on in the next episode, and idk, maybe they’ll be arguing harder, maybe they’ll be striving to show each other up, who knows, and yeah i’m still pretending my expectations are just “ep 7 will not leave us off on any kind of satisfactory point with these two and let’s say winston will only ever be engaged in one-sided pining” but i think we could get to kissing in just two scenes. or fuck it, even One scene, but two is more likely, and it’s reasonable to think they could have two scenes. and same as last week i guess there’s the worry that anything that happens could Really be a disaster which makes us regret these two having a dynamic of any kind at all lmao, but i think it could be a bit of A Hot Mess of this tension / rivalry bubbling over and still like, not be 100% unfortunate lol........this is billions, this situation is so far absolutely Not at all that bad

anyways yeah lol seems like they’re both just gently nudging each other for Attention even if it’s not heartwarming at this juncture.....it’s also sure not all that deeply bitter or caustic and it feels a lot closer to Messing With Each Other territory than it does like, fighting b/c they hate each other or anything.......dialed-back bickering that dies off after 12 seconds is not the most foreboding thing, and neither is the idea that these two get off to a messy start (and could continue to), but fingers crossed still..........that Developments of greater significance happen next episode and that they aren’t a nightmare. the low bar we have to have with this series i s2g. billions Please