#also i think the fact that tom didnt explicitly include the part of the story where it was rumored that nero's wife was pregnant is a point

[literallyshiv]

personally i would love for shiv to be pregnant from a narrative perspective & i definitely think it's plausible given the pattern the season finales have followed thus far: tom having moments where its revealed that he is in fact aware of where he stands with shiv—that he's not just the supporting partner he makes himself appear to be—and stepping out of that passivity to take on a confrontational role

(asking shiv again if she's been cheating on him despite her numerous assurances that she's not, and kicking nate out of the wedding after finding out about the affair even though he agreed moments before to having an open relationship // being honest with shiv about not being happy about their relationship, nearly outright saying he wants them to seperate by saying he's miserable being with her and is experiencing turmoil over whether he genuinely loves her)

followed by the next season picking up with unforseen circumstances that send them into a shuffle of other priorities that force them to put their personal feelings about their marriage on the backburner rather than following through with any implications from the previous finale or even working anything out for the better, with both of them stepping back into the dynamic they played with each other before the scene of confrontation— shiv taking the lead while tom plays passive husband and seemingly tries to give shiv the impression that he agrees that she knows what's best for them.

(when shiv is told she's getting the CEO position and tom supports her despite their previous "plan" that he'd go for CEO while she continues working in politics. while after their wedding it may have seemed like he was going to be somewhat more upfront in the role he plays in their relationship, shiv entering waystar at a position above tom as well as being the one who secured his new position at atn gives her undeniable leverage over him that he decides isn't worth upsetting the balance of by rocking the boat.

then, after the s2 finale, people seemed so certain that that would be the start of their seperation, only for s3 to pick up with them being flown off to different counties with the only parting words being that they'd talk about it later. things escalate rapidly again and soon we see them back together once again, the raw in the moment emotions from the last finale have settled back down into just an afterthought in the back of their minds as they deal with events that take higher precedence; the question of what they are to each other seeming trivial in the face of the potential for their entire world being turned upside down with the company.)

SO: what we've seen so far is tom getting progressively more frustrated with his relationship with shiv, and consequently being pushed closer to his breaking point for staying in the relationship, only for external events to come in and force them to stay together so they don't have to add navigating a divorce to their already full plates. each season it has raised the intensity of those external events, because as tom grows more dissatisfied it takes more to convince him to stay. and the season 3 finale is the largest rift we've seen struck between them yet, with tom explicitly betraying shiv rather than confronting her to her face. but the narrative structure we've seen so far doesn't allow for them to seperate entirely, instead it implies that what's coming next is an even more extreme reason to keep tom and shiv tied together than what we've seen yet.

all that combined with the frequency of discussions about next generations, the sheer amount of mentions of pregnancy and conception throughout season 3, the goddamn emporor nero and his pregnant wife of it all, makes a tomshiv pregnancy seem like a strong potential plotline and i for one want to see the psychological torture it puts tom through to have the first time he puts into action his plan to put himself on equal footing with shiv, immediately reveal itself to have been more detrimental to him personally than he ever could have anticipated

#also i think the fact that tom didnt explicitly include the part of the story where it was rumored that nero's wife was pregnant is a point #in favor of shiv pregnancy because if he Had then the foreshadowing would have been like TOO heavy handed yknow? #like they have always tried to walk a line of foreshadowing but still plot twisty and surprise and wow !! and adding in a reference #in the actual dialogue to neros wife being pregnant would have definitely tipped it over the line from foreshadowing to outright spoiling #anyway that's my two cents ^_^ #emily.docx #succession #tomshiv #m