Everybody kicks Roman Roy

He deserves it, remember?

Roman, you’re a moron.

Roman Roy is the worst child of Logan Roy. I’m not being facetious, it’s just the truth. From the pilot onwards, he’s a man who is willing to hurt everyone around him for the thrill of it. I spoke last week about Shiv’s tendency to engender the ire of the fans (for a good reason), but it’s her brother that is consistently the absolute worst.

Remember the pilot, where he dangles a life-changing amount of money over a poor child? That’s who Roman is from day to day. He’s the type of rich man who’s bored of just being comfortable. He wants to experience the power that wealth provides, the thrill of being the biggest dick in the room, but knows he’s not good enough to be his father. That belief changes over time, but the end result is the same. Roman does something terrible, and his dad cleans it up.

It isn’t just one thing, although you could easily pin his brand of nastiness on anything he does, really. He’s the type of man who uses his money less as a tool and more as a bludgeon. Whereas Connor and Kendall were brought up coddled by their wealth, Roman goes to inflict damage on others. He’s actually kind of feral.

In the most recent episode, the co-CEO of Waystar fires the two women who speak to him plainly about the precariousness of his position. Joy, a studio executive, is thrown away for daring to question the security of the brand. For her insolence, the younger brother decides to fire her without counsel or any real thought. When questioned on this, he basically demands fealty from Gerri, before also turning on her. It’s a move that attempts to emulate the fire of Logan Roy, with none of the logic. He doesn’t feel the need to throw money at the problem. He just fires her.

Considering the last person to fire Gerri dropped dead, this seems dangerous.

Logan may have been brutal and incredibly callous, but he wasn’t completely cold-blooded. Time and time again he gives people the rope to hang themselves, but he rarely did more than rage against the injustice of having to provide justice. That’s part of why Gerri’s termination came at such a shock. She is –and she will tell you– good at her job. She did what was asked of her and is only really going punished for Roman’s…let’s call it impulsiveness. The more accurate word would be harassment.

Who says you don’t know how to flirt?

But at the time of Logan’s death, he knew that Gerri was a point of weakness for his son. If Roman was to join his side, it makes sense to remove her with haste. In emulating his father’s decision, his son is once again trying to play to his legacy. The truth is that the ruthlessness of Romulus, nicknamed for a child suckled on wolves, is baked into his very DNA. No other character on the show is this interpersonally reckless, or this alone.

I don’t think Roman was in the wrong for calling out that she doesn’t respect him. In a less complex corporate setting, Gerri’s condescension to her employer would 100% be grounds for dismissal. But we’re not just talking about Karl or Frank. These are two people who have seen too much of each other. In layman’s terms, he had definitely shown her his, even if she will never show him hers.

The obvious thread between them is the dick pic situation, that hangs above him like an anvil on a rope she could let go of at any moment. It’s textbook sexual harassment, done at the height of the cruise debacle. Roman Roy is playing with fire by turning against the woman who could easily destroy whatever reputation the rocket exploding son-of-a-bitch has.

But it’s deeper than that. She’s been his mentor. The one he confided in, the person who he relied on for support. It’s a stupid move to piss of the lawyer with all your secrets, but he’s high on life. At the moment, in a co-dependent entanglement with his unhinged elder brother and often cold sister, he doesn’t think he needs her. He probably doesn’t. But he needs somebody.

People blame Kendall for the mutually toxic dependency going on between the two of them, but in fairness to him, this is how Roman has run through the entire show. Everybody else has stuck out on their own at some point (to often disastrous results), but never Roman. There’s always someone to lean on. He’s never alone for long enough to think. And when he is, he’s listening to deepfakes of his father insulting him. Interesting.

I’m not uninterested in solving you.

Hey, look, there’s Tabitha! Wandering in with good vibes and the patience of a god while trying to understand this strange man. I miss her so much.

The least explored “romantic” pairing on the show is the one of two eunuch buddies. Tabitha is both a necessity to establish Roman’s brokenness, and an interesting insight into how somebody can get the upper hand on the family. Unlike a Tom or a Willa, she’s not particularly interested in money. Roman being rich doesn’t bother her, but it isn’t a motivating factor. Their dynamic is way less clear than that.

Tabitha is at least open to Roman being her lover. They literally attempt to have sex in the show, and his impotence is a source of frustration on both ends. But like everyone else in his life that Roman opens up to at least a little, she also is trying to fix him. They’re intimate and comfortable together in a way nobody else on the show ever is, and it’s kind of adorable. But she wants more than this. The woman he shares a bed with would like to make him somewhat open to taking things to a more serious level. Or at least, make him able to have sex with her, at least once.

I mean, everyone hit me. I’m fucking annoying.

This is where the story around Roman becomes…complicated. You have to ask: what the fuck actually happened to Roman Roy to make him into this twisted and fragile man? It’s clearly more than just the daddy issues of the Roys. Everyone is constantly using the physical abuse he suffered as a cudgel against Logan, who feels comfortable enough to hit him as an adult. He clearly suffered as the “other” child in the equation.

Connor was the eldest, Kendall was the heir, and Shiv was the Princess. But Roman, he was the whipping boy. More than anyone else, we’re made aware that Logan traumatised this man. Maybe his mystery sexuality is a product of that or not, but you can definitely see it in his eyes. The twitchy little movements, the bravado and the bullshit, it’s all at least related to the violence of his childhood. A cruelty never acknowledged by Logan.

In the car ride after Logan hits him in season two, he questions whether he even made contact, while his son agrees that this is out of character for him. It’s clearly an example of Logan talking his way out of guilt, consequences, or accountability. If this is a man who kicks things and waits for them to come back, Roman is the one thing he is sure will always return. Even their playful moments feel more brutal than the other siblings. Despite the clear discomfort, he will always return to his father, because he has nothing else constant in his life.

You know dad is never going to choose you, because he thinks there’s something wrong with you.

In the wake of Logan’s death, it’s Roman who is falling apart at the seams. Kendall is too obsessed with finally winning to see his brother’s deterioration, and Shiv is busy playing games. Gerri might think something is off, but she’s also looking after herself. She warned him that would happen.

But Roman is in a deep and unacknowledged pain. He basically refuses to accept Logan’s demise until he sees the body, and immediately starts popping pills and striking out. Now, as things are getting real and he is about to lose what is left of his father, he’s willing to throw away the dream he and his siblings had (with Kendall) to keep a media empire that’s crumbling before his eyes.

There is something wrong with Roman Roy. It isn’t totally his fault, but he is not a well man. But being misused isn’t an excuse to hurt people for fun. The Joffrey defence doesn’t hold water.

I hold that Roman is the worst of the Roy kids. He does unquestionably terrible things for fun and shows no remorse. His relationships are absolutely parasitic. But he’s also probably the most damaged. If Shiv had an out and didn’t take it, Roman is basically begging to be set free from this unending torment. Even in death, his father follows him.

He wants to be taunted – that’s better than being alone.