'Succession’ Series Finale: Last episode proves you can’t make a ‘Tomlette’ without breaking some ‘Gregg's’
Warning: Spoilers for 'Succession' series finale
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Cousin Greg was a tall parasite, a leech that sucked on his own family. This was how Kendall Roy described him. When he came in rushing on Logan’s birthday, to call in a favor for a job at Waystar Royco, no one entertained him except for Tom Wambsgans, but he had a motive. He lured Greg into becoming his apprentice, making him do illegal and unspeakable things such as destroying evidence of a major scandal. Their relationship turned brotherly with Tom holding all the reins. He never lost control of Greg until the finale of ‘Succession'. Among the scenes of the brother turning against the brother, the sister turning against the brother and the husband turning against the wife, Greg’s betrayal felt more personal and unwanted.
It was smooth sailing for Greg under Tom's watchful eyes but the ATN boss was tough to cousin Greg. He humiliated Greg, kept him at his mercy and used him as his attack dog but always gave him moments of relief, making him believe that their relationship was cordial. He didn’t let Greg out of his sight. However, Greg understood that his role in Waystar would only grow if Tom was in a position of absolute power, and until the finale, it looked like Tom was banished to the sidelines. Greg believed that if he told Kendall about Lukas Matsson’s offer to Tom to become CEO, he will be rewarded. However, that strategy blew up in his face. Tom confronted Greg and the two, like never before, got into a brawl that even saw Greg take a shot at Tom. This was it. Greg’s chapter in Tom’s life was done for, but fate had other plans.
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Were Tom and Greg interdependent on each other?
Tom crept into the Roy family by marrying Shiv, Logan’s daughter while Greg had to work his way up despite already being associated with the family. When Tom first met Greg, he sensed a scared, shy and servile boy who would do anything to secure a job at Waystar. Tom used it to build a rapport with Greg and pummeled him till he did everything that he was asked to. Tom relied on Greg to do his dirty work while Greg saw it as an opportunity to move up.
However, when the abuse became too much, Greg reached out to Kendall to chart another path for himself at the company but he remained Tom's close confidante. During the finale of Season 3, Tom described Greg as his "Sporus," the young slave whom the Roman Emperor Nero favored, castrated and later married. That was the intensity of Tom and Greg’s bond. Greg was the pawn that Tom needed all along and without him, Tom’s journey would have been incomplete.
'Can’t make a Tomlette without breaking some Gregg’s'
Tom wrote, “Can’t make a Tomlette without breaking some Gregg’s,” in an e-mail to Greg 67 times. It was only done to bring Greg’s attention to the value that he brought into Tom’s professional career. When Greg was caught snitching in the finale, Tom was willing to overlook it and planted a sticker on his forehead, anointing him as a member of his team. All the dues have been paid by Greg and it’s time for Tom and Greg to rule over Logan’s empire, something many believed was impossible.
