The Pain & Pleasure of Toxic TV Couples - Carrie Bradshaw & Mr. Big

Sex & the City

The Pain & Pleasure of Toxic TV Couples - Nate Fisher & Brenda Chenowith

The Liar and his Whore

Where to start with these two...

The relationship between the leading couple on Six Feet Under (sorry David and Keith) couldn't be more of a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. This statement could be more evident as we see the two hooking up in the first episode in an airport supply closest after having met a few short hours on a plane bound for L.A.

In fact, according to this site that discusses the color symbolism of the show, there are a frequent number of times where the two are shown wearing polar colored clothing, Nate's style is usually brown (which symbolizes the ground/earth), while Brenda's trademark color is blue (symbolic of water or the airy sky) these two couldn't be more disparate.

The relationship hits several snags throughout the five seasons.

Nate, an idealist with high expectations with the women he typically goes after

Brenda, an atheist with usually low expectations in her love pursuits.

The Pain & Pleasure of Toxic TV Couples - Tom Wambsgans & Shiv Roy

Succession's "power" couple

Having finally caught up on both seasons 1 & 2 of Succession, I wanted to write a review on what makes this show such a fascinating binge-watch and why viewers might enjoy a show that celebrates truly despicable characters. Let's focus on breaking down Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) and Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfayden), and what makes their relationship so intoxicatingly complex, a common theme in the show.

In the first episode we are introduced to Siobhan Roy, "Shiv" as the youngest child and only daughter of media tycoon, Logan Roy (Brian Cox), who is helping her boyfriend, Tom, shop for the "best" present for her father's 80th birthday, though Shiv warns that her father doesn't like gifts. As we come to see over the first hour, Tom couldn't be more of doormat trying to whoo Shiv's father with a ridiculously expensive watch he bought, despite Logan's lack of interest once he shows it to him and later gives away as a constellation to a local family involved in an incident at the Family's softball game.

The following episode takes place during the aftermath of Logan's near-fatal brain aneurysm. In spite of the Roy family crisis at hand, Tom impulsively proposes to Shiv while her father's in a coma in order to, in his words, "make all of this go away." The timing could not be more terribly off. Shiv, however reluctantly accepts after giving the matter short thought. We also get a glimpse of Tom turning the other way when he walks in on Shiv and Roman having a physical confrontation. Ouch.

The rest of the season follows their engagement plans (Tom even gladly signs a prenup for Shiv) mostly on the sidelines as we get to know more about the two along with the other main characters. Through Tom we mostly see his interactions with Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun), Logan's great-nephew, whom Tom bullies through psychological and verbal mind games as he views Cousin Greg as an inferior target compared to himself. Ironically, Tom is usually treated as an easy target in the Roy family clan. Shiv's story shows her doing her job as a political strategist and has many interactions with a former beau/colleague, Nate, with whom she has an affair with behind Tom's back.

In episode 7, Logan (furious with his daughter's latest political pursuit), bluntly calls her out for being a coward by marrying the type of man who, in his words, "fathoms beneath [her]" due to not only her fear of commitment but also the thought of being betrayed or even stood up to by someone with integrity. Tom, as we've gotten to know him better, is the type of lover Shiv can easily keep under her thumb and could likely throw away if something better were to come along. 

As we get closer to the big wedding at the end of the first season, Shiv and Tom have separate bachelor/bachelorette parties. Before arriving at the cool underground club to which Roman escorts Tom and the rest of the male characters, Tom checks in with Shiv re strippers, Shiv gives him the green light to do whatever he chooses to do without any clues of her own indiscretions with Nate.

The unbalanced couple tie the knot at the end of the first season. However, right before the big day Tom finally picks up on Shiv's indiscretions with Nate. In a vulnerable, dramatic scene, Tom confronts Shiv in a private room asking her if the rumors about her and Nate are true, and whether she actually wants to go through with their wedding or not. Despite giving her a way out, Shiv denies having an affair and reassures Tom that she wants to get married. However, Greg later spots Nate with Shiv and tries to warn Tom the morning of his wedding day while jogging. Tom chooses to deny the truth, beats up Greg, and then literally and theoretically runs away from his problems. Once Tom and Shiv are married and have made their speeches for everyone, we come to another pivotal and heartbreaking scene. Before consummating their marriage Shiv 


The tragedy of Tom is that he claims to love the woman he's married to, but he also resents for how much power she has over him. 

TV Characters you love to hate

Why I hate Nate Fisher of Six Feet Under 

The lead character of Six Feet Under (2001-2005) is the type of 
character who portrays all the things that I despise about people in real life. I do not idolize him nor would I wish to become or know someone like him. The more you come to understand his character, you realize what an infuriatingly arrogant person and a total ass he makes himself out to be throughout most episodes of the beloved HBO show. 

We are meant to relate to Nate as the archetypical white-male protagonist who is searching for some kind of meaning in life, and yet whenever anything appears to actually be working out for him, he takes literally everything he has for granted. For some reason he can never be happy, at least not for too long, with whatever isn't broken in his life and looks for excuses to doubt the things that are reasonably working. He is constantly whining and complaining about the awful/traumatic things that have happened in his life and instead of being able to move on and let it go, or even consider seeking serious therapy for that matter, he holds onto his pain by taking his severe frustrations out on other people, including those who inexplicably love him. 

He is always obnoxious when it comes to preaching how he knows better about life than others do, including the concept of love when in reality he knows nothing and has no authority whatsoever going around telling people what love is and what it's not. David got it right in the pilot by calling him a "sanctimonious prick!"

He is a goddamn narcissistic, immoral, disrespectful coward who'll take whatever pleases him and does not give a single care about whom he hurts in the process. As long as he's able to find some kind of "safety raft" whenever the situation he's currently gotten himself into looks like a "sinking ship," he'll easily let it sink given the chance to do so and avoid any responsibility to try and work things out.

If I knew a person like that in real life, who was constantly getting on my nerves and never taking my opinions and thoughts into validation, I would drop that person without another moment's thought, because nobody should be treated like someone else's prop.