when i first watched the scene where tom kisses greg on the forehead i thought he was going for the lips and in that split second a genuine wave of horror and disgust washed through me .... i (a gay person) experienced, for the first time in my life, the sensation of being homophobic, and i can't say it wasnt a little bit exhilarating
No because whoever wrote the line " I'd castrate you and marry you in a heartbeat" absolutely knows what they're doing and I just personally need to give them a hug
What separates the Tom/Greg minion relationship from the Logan/Tom relationship is the bromance aspect. And with the on/off Shiv relationship, I love the idea of the three of them evetually being this little sort of family. (Remember that Shiv was who Greg backed in his first test (Shiv v. Roman, about bringing docs and a sweater to the hospital in early season 1.) The combination of "Ride or Die, unless I have to destroy you, but even then on some level we're still Ride or Die" just never gets old for me.
I love these two in scenes together. It's like a totally dysfunctional, abusive business relationship and yet endearing friendship at times and hilarious all at the same time. Tom cracks me up and then in his scenes with Shiv you can totally see why he treats Greg the way he does because he feels powerless in his marriage.
I don’t think just saying Tom feels powerless in his marriage really covers it. Tom is ambitious and driven. He is wound up so tight. Does he even love Shiv? I doubt it; it’s way more likely he threw everything into seducing her to get closer to Logan and Waystar and billions of dollars. So he is constantly looking for any little edge he can get, and cutting anyone who gets in his way. And in that world, everyone around him is doing the same thing. It’s incredibly stressful and he’s seemingly on the edge of insanity at all times. But with Greg, Tom saw a bit of himself, but in a kind of hapless, nonthreatening form. He saw someone he could trust, in a way, and that’s not something he has with anyone else (including Shiv). So in this scene Tom feels like he’s losing control of the one relationship that he felt any degree of certainty about.
I think Tom loved Shiv, at least he did before the end of it all. I don't really understand the reading that he seduced Shiv to get to Waystar-Royco, a lot of his decisions and reactions wrt their relationship don't make any sense if you assume he's just being a complete cynic. Why would he be so hurt by Shiv saying she didn't love him? Why would he just come out and tell her, "I like money, I like nice things" if he wanted to dupe her? It just isn't a reading that fits his character. Him getting the CEO position at the end isn't supposed to be some great victory for him. The actual Successor, Lukas, just grabbed a random drone who wouldn't make a fuss, and Tom fit the bill. It was established earlier that none of the people doing the corporate work had any respect for him, so seeing them all line up to glaze him at the end rings completely hollow, as it was intended to. The reason he keeps Greg around isn't because he's particularly useful as a corporate asset, it's because he earnestly cares about him. That, and bullying Greg is good stress relief.
@@wildoesthings a really, REALLY dark sitcom. The interplay on: "It's a big book." "is it a good book?" "Yeah, it's a decent book." is Spinal Tap/ UK Office level amazing....ly awkward
It all clicked when I saw that Will Ferrel is an executive producer. It's mixing sitcom tropes with this very raw drama and when you take the pieces apart you can sorta see the influences.
No but really that little split second piece of dialogue when Greg tells Tom he just got paid and Tom is genuinely proud of him and happy for him with the "atta boy!" is too cute.
tom: pals? yes? would you kiss me 0.0 if i asked you to? if i told you to? tom (internally): i'm doing great. this is a completely normal way to speak to someone i just met.
the moment that changed everything for me was 2:31 - because i was FULLY expecting Tom to not have the napkin over his face and start to openly mock Greg for falling for it, but he did it too!
it's the most innocuous line but well, cool- i actually uhh i finally got paid yeah looks like theyre not paying the light bill here but um but i actually got paid and i was thinking about maybe going to have you ever visited the uh the california pizza kitchen it's pretty delicious, tom they make a cajun chicken linguine just how i like it that's pretty much my favorite piece of spoken word of the contemporary era
I don't know yet what it is either, but this scene melts my heart everytime. I feel more alive and at peace with my existence as a whole when I see his face saying these lines.
When you think about it, Greg really has been working from a very low position. Stealing cookies from the office to be able to eat. Finally getting paid wanting to go get a pizza. I honestly think that kind of journey holds him in higher regard with Logan than any of the children. Sure, he didn't have it as tough as Logan, but he has fought hard. And at this point of season 4 we will see some more malevolent sides of him I think.
@@B3astMass Well he was asking if people were talking about him, then he tried to secure a job while Logan was in critical condition in the hospital and the family was worried. It comes across as rude and self-centered. Sure, the audience knows that Greg is broke and desperate, but Tom doesn't know that.
I‘ve heard about this ship before I started watching the show (am in the midst of season 2 now) and I remember getting more curious as to what made people ship them during season 1 because I didn’t see the appeal back then (I do now!) so I just literally typed „Succession Tom and Greg“ into the google search bar and got *tons* of results of *actual serious journalists* writing analytical articles about them being the best „couple“ on the show and that they should have been canon. Honestly that‘s when you know it‘s a convincing ship lmao 💀 I think it‘ll take some time for me to finish the show but oh boy am I looking forward to more of this haha
@@NewYasmine-nl9jq The article wasn’t satire. That’s why I’ve said the journalist said that they “SHOULD HAVE BEEN canon” and not that they “ARE canon” :)
what is the heterosexual explanation for this. honestly. i understand the power dynamic helps us understand both tom and greg as characters but some of the sh*t they say? the blatant flirting? where is this headed if not towards some weird little romance?
@@johncouch587 tom's behavior towards greg goes quite a bit beyond friendly lol the guy is psychosexually obsessed. has nothing to do with porn, this is something readily apparent to most watchers of the show. you're the odd one out.
I've mentioned this before on other videos and subreddits - but Tom always calls Greg "Greg" (well, more like GGgggReeeegahhhh!") but Greg rarely calls Tom "Tom" and when he does it pisses Tom off.
Tom is my favourite character in Succession. Greg does not have as much screen time or development to be number 1, but their pseudo-friendship is one of the defining aspects of Succession. When Greg thanks Tom for not squealing when playing "find the sausage" and Tom says, "It's ok, Greg" and lays a tender hand on his arm is brilliantly funny and touching. Tom knows who he is: Obsequious, nasty and vindictive and a total a**eho^^ to all below him in society. But he knows this, doesn't hide it or try to change to suit others. The Roy children on the other hand "think" they know who they are but are deluded and this delusion causes all of their woes. President Connor, Kendall the messiah, Shiv the eco-lib- saviour and Roman the odd-ball all with Daddy issues and fighting for their Dad's approval. Fascinating character studies and anything from Jesse Armstrong is always top-notch (check out "Peep Show" and "The Thick of It" my US cousins).
Tom is actually a really good person its just he understood that in corporate surroundings he has to be a cuthroat to get where he wants to get. He sees in Gregg the innosence and probably himself 15-20 years ago and he offers to take care of him because nobody every took care of him. Tom teases, bullies and bellitles Gregg but when push goes to shove, Tom always protected Gregg. When there was a possibility for Gregg to end up in prison Tom accepted to take all the blame. When Gregg's job was hanging in the balance, Tom kept him and probably gave him a nice sallary and his own Greggs. Tom actually did appreciate everything Gregg did for him and its the opposite of Shiv when it comes to recipriprocating what others are doing for him
I think, obviously, it’s more of a relationship that Tom likes having power over Greg vs actually being attracted to him. He likes being the dominating person in their relationship and any defiance makes him really upset. I don’t think this will ever go past these types of low key gay interactions and we shouldn’t be mad at that.
a friend told me about these two & i got curious & found this video so the title seems perfect lol (i don't go here but i am somewhat invested now huh)
Tom: What do you know about Nero and Sporus? Me, watching this for the first time: Absolutely nothing, but I get the feeling this is about to be the gayest shit since the fall of the Roman empire 🍿🍿 Me, 30 Seconds Full Later: And.... I was right. 🙃
I wanted to watch succession and when I searched the characters tomgreg was everywhere and the first episode when Tom asked Greg if he could kiss him , I was thinking he was going to cheat on shiv with Greg eventually. The fact that I saw an article explain each couple and there was tomgreg before I watched it, so I was expecting a lot but I got over it after season 1.
