Yeah. I think a lot of people are viewing that conversation through their lens of hating Shiv and thinking she’s dumb. And obviously, it might backfire on Shiv and Gerri might prevail! But in that conversation, Gerri was clearly aware that she was in a bad spot and trying to end it soon so she can figure out wtf she needs to do.
Keep in mind:
- The Waystar management team has JUST heard that they’re open to a merger, which would mean they would bring in some GoJo execs and that some of the management team would be phased out. A temporary CEO would be in a tough position to keep their job anyway. Meanwhile, Shiv is both a family member AND on the board now.
- Gerri is the victim, but she did cross the line consensually earlier with phone sex with Roman. That’s going to give the board wiggle room to let Roman off the hook—and they’re going to be looking for that wiggle room because Roman is a Roy and Gerri’s not. And, unfortunately, it’s fukked up but “sexual harassment victim” is not going to look good for Gerri.
- Logan made Gerri CEO because he thought she would be a good “shield” and then go quietly into the night…but now she has ammo and leverage, and he hates that.
- She’s the firm’s General Counsel so a good deal of what she knows could be considered privileged. That means she can’t just go whistleblower or even threaten it—unlike with Ken or Greg, the Roys can go after her for breach of privilege and tie her up in expensive lawsuits and threaten her law license. Even if she ultimately wins, it’s going to be at a big cost. And it’s unclear just what leverage she has on Shiv specifically.
- Shiv is taunting her a bit, but Gerri is somewhat trapped. She can report like Shiv says, which would almost certainly cut out Roman, publicly brand her a victim, etc., as well as allow Shiv to play the Defender of Women Change Agent in her role on the board. Or she stays quiet, making her appear to be defending a sexual harasser or like she was also engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship during work with a colleague, which Shiv can STILL play “Agent of Cultural Change” with.
- Of course Gerri would fall back on noncommittal answers and legalese. She’s a lawyer, that’s an ingrained instinct. She would do that if she were panicking and needed time to think this through as well as if she had some master stroke ready to go.
Also:
what sounds more like a Succession plot line?
woman who worked her way up through the ranks to gain power, prestige and wealth gets sexually harassed by the fail-son of the company patriarch in a high position solely because of his name. The fail-son’s sister wants to use this against her while pretending to be an ally. But the scrappy woman prevails against the rich entitled fail children, even with the patriarch against her, through her wits and smarts. Justice prevails! The rich fail children get what they deserve!
OR
Woman who worked her way up through the ranks to gain power, prestige and wealth gets sexually harassed by the fail-son of the company patriarch in a high position solely because of his name. The fail-son’s sister wants to use this against her while pretending to be an ally. Scrappy woman fights, but even her smarts and wits can’t overcome the machine of corrupt familial power and wealth. The wheels turn and she gets crushed even though she was the victim all along. Fail children win (in a Pyrrhic victory), justice does not prevail.
......That shyt legit had me in tears. Roman sitting in the cut like
.
......her convo with her mom put the battery in her back. Thinking she understands the game now but she's still playing checkers. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Her reality check is gonna be devastating. Roman fukked up his momentum with that dikk pic (
