Tomshiv - Blog Posts
PAIRING: lesbians!tomshiv
SUMMARY:
remembered in S4 when Tom mentioned flying to France to Shiv, something about a silk shirt and "do you like this? do you like this?" and then I wrote that moment in France except they're lesbians? yeah!
PAIRING: more about Shiv and Tom, pre-impending-divorce with a tomgreg lean
SUMMARY:
“I've been thinking, I think I'd like to sleep with …” he paused, “Greg.”
He prepared for scepticism, a fundamental objection riddled with snarkiness, but what he got instead was Shiv bringing her iPad back up into her lap to her virtual planner and asking, expectantly, “when?”
Inspired by THIS conversation here between Jesse Armstrong and Lucy Prebble.
the thing about Shiv is that she will only feel secure in a relationship if she’s the dominant one but - at the same time - she won’t respect people who are submissive to her. When she married tom, she felt secure but she didn’t really respect him - she didn’t see him as an equal. Now that he sold her out to Logan, she’ll respect him but she won’t ever feel secure with him again.
tom wambgans telling his assistant he wants to marry him then trying to baby-trap his wife mere days later is why hes one of the fictional characters of all time
do you guys feel shiv's total trust in tom, but manifesting not as love but in how she picked him over nate because nate broke when she tried playing with him but she said that line to tom with absolute certainty that he's better, that he's stronger than that
people will be quick to say shiv underestimates tom and while that's true for his business experience, she overestimates his toughness as seen by her frequent pleas of "i need you"
to shiv, tom is her rock, tom is the guy she met when she was at the lowest point in her life, tom is strong and he can take being played with and she can "build a home thinking she's strong there" but she also undermines the implications of how a marriage is a teamwork and so nothing important can be build if she doesn't put in her own share of the work
The effects of Tom & Shiv's relationship on the main plot
On a rewatch, I found it really crazy how much this dysfunctional relationship––which initially seemed to be nothing more than a b-plot about infidelity and a reversal of traditional marriage dynamics––has sneakily grown into the primary driver of events in the plot. And it started way before the S3 betrayal.
Many cite the beach scene from the S2 finale as one of the most emotionally cathartic scenes in the show. And I totally agree––its fire. BUT, I also think its larger story repercussions are often overlooked; especially how it basically caused the entire S3 civil war plot. Lets just run down the cause and effect:
1. When Tom finally stands up for himself, Shiv is sent into a bit of a guilt-spiral, confronted with just how awful she's been to him. She is reminded how much she NEEDS him, and that she has been taking his support for granted
2. The two main candidates for the sacrifice are Tom and Kendall. Logan says as much when he consults Shiv, and basically asks her to choose between them. If Tom hadn't shared his feelings with her MOMENTS before, she likely would have continued the objective/heartless mindset she showed towards him earlier in the episode. But, because her mistreatment of him is in the forefront of her mind, she decides to protect Tom. This could be read as a change of heart, but i think it's more accurate to say that she does it to make herself feel better; to mend her cognitive dissonance and affirm to herself that she IS a good person after all.
3. Her decision to protect Tom also serves as the final nail in the coffin for her succession aspirations. Logan says that this is the type of decision that she would need to be making if she were to replace him, and the way she frames it as "I cant choose" but also "please not Tom, for me" signifies a shift in the once-equal dynamic between her and Logan. He follows her wishes because he loves her/she's his favorite, and not because he respects her strategic opinions. I think this moment feeds into his complete lack of respect for her in S3.
4. Of course, Shiv's protection of Tom is what puts Kendall under the axe. I think it's clear that Kendall had no intention of going civil-war-mode before Logan deemed him as the sacrifice, and made the NRPI comment about the boy. Neither of these things would have happened without Tom dumping his emotions on Shiv
5. The beach confrontation is also what gives Tom more independence going into S3, tipping the relationship in his favor for a while until it's completely turned on its head in Italy.
I just think it's so cool that the seeds of an entire season's worth of story are sewn in one little scene of emotional confrontation. The Tom/Shiv dynamic has been just as impactful as the one between Logan and Kendall imo, and it's really exciting that the story has such unexpected engines of conflict––and that they all weave around each other in such beautiful ways.
Best show ever guys :,)