Hey Hoot readers! I’m Zach and this is my first article for The Hoot. To begin my time writing for the art’s section, I thought I’d write about my favorite show, “Succession.” If you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend it, as it’s a truly riveting dramedy about money and power in America. It centers around members of the Roy family, who’s patriarch Logan Roy, is the founder and CEO of fictional media conglomerate WayStar Royco. One of the best parts of the show is its dynamic characters, my favorite being Tom Wambsgans, who’s played by the brilliant Matthew Macfadyen. He’s married to Shiv Roy (Logan’s daughter) and desperately seeks to climb the corporate hierarchy at Waystar Royco. This may not seem like an appealing character (none of the Succession characters are likable at first), but I find Tom very endearing and believe we would actually be best friends! Here’s why:
- We’re both Midwesterners living on the East Coast
I may be an Illinois native living in Massachusetts and he’s a Minnesota native living in New York, but it’s the same two regions. Also, I have a friend from Minnesota and she’s super cool, so I bet Tom would be cool too! I would love to just chill with Tom for a day and compare our Midwestern accents.
- We’re both aggressive wavers
I LOVE to wave, and so does Tom! When Tom sees people he likes (or needs to like him), he lights up and waves very aggressively at them to convey his excitement. While his excitement may sometimes be feigned, mine is always natural because you are enough to make me happy. 🙂
- We’re both very handsome
Let’s get something important out of the way: Matthew Macfadyen is extremely handsome—dare I say it, hot. Don’t pretend he’s not attractive, there’s a reason he was cast as Mr. Darcy in “Pride and Prejudice.” Apparently, I’m good-looking too because my friend Yen (who is in all seriousness, the sweetest person ever) told me I was handsome when I walked into lower Usdan last year (she’s really the best). We would be very effective wingmen for each other.
- We’re both politically involved (minor spoilers)
Tom is very politically active and like me, enjoys getting involved in important elections. When I care about an election, I phone bank, canvass and write letters in support of my candidate of choice. Tom enjoys getting involved by controlling media coverage of the candidates and mobilizing the millions of angry boomers that watch his news channel into voting. Unfortunately, Tom supports Republicans, but don’t worry, he isn’t actually a conservative, he just does that for his job. His dog’s name is Mondale so he’s likely a Democrat! A fun hangout between us could involve me introducing him to canvassing and him introducing me to corporate media control.
- We’re both sensitive guys
Like me, Tom is sensitive and cares deeply about his family and friends. I think we would treat each other with profound respect and exchange daily positive affirmations. Tom’s behavior towards Greg and other subordinates is quite concerning, but I could fix him!
- We both enjoy fashion
Tom may be working on a much larger budget than me, but I like to think that we both serve from time to time. We both have very clear visions when it comes to our styles and look to our icons for inspiration. Tom strives to fit in among the upper class and I enjoy adapting outfits from my favorite celebrities. We would have so much fun clothes shopping together!!!
- We both like chicken (minor spoilers)
A very silly scene in season 2 involves Tom sitting next to Logan, grabbing chicken from his plate, devouring it, and simply uttering “Thank you … thank you for the chicken” before walking away. This leaves Logan bewildered in what is one of my favorite comedic moments of that season. A spoiler-free takeaway from this scene is that Tom enjoys eating chicken. I, in fact, love chicken as I eat it every day at the AllGood station due to my food allergies. If Tom was real, he could take me to a fancy restaurant to get chicken. Or maybe, I could take him to Usdan Dining Hall for some delicious AllGood chicken as our first bro outing!
- We both speak with great inflection
Everything Tom says is more interesting and/or funny because of the captivating inflection that Matthew Macfadyen brings to the delivery of his lines. I speak with strong inflection so I feel very seen whenever Tom says something in a dramatic or goofy way. This means that Tom and I would have the most riveting conversations!
- I made Tom an awesome Spotify playlist
This past April I made a playlist called Tomcore composed of songs from my favorite edits of Tom and other tunes that fit the vibe (follow me @zduvel on Spotify to find it). Featured artists include those I’m sure Tom would love such as Saucy Santana, RuPaul, and Taylor Swift. If any of my friends dedicated a Spotify playlist to me, I would love them forever, so I know Tom would be my BFF. <3
- Tom is not real
Tom is a fictional character. He isn’t real. He’s being presented to us through the lens of his creator, Jesse Armstrong, and only serves to further the narrative of “Succession”. I’m sure that if I could view Tom as a whole person and meet him, we’d connect instantly. If you disagree, there’s no way to definitively prove me wrong. You nor I will ever truly know Tom. So no, Tom and I can’t be best friends, but nothing can wholly disprove my hypothesis about what would happen if he was real, and I think that’s wonderful.
