Will Willa pull a Tom?
Thursday, March 2, 2023
I first noticed Willa--really noticed her--when she told Tom to fuck off. Tom! Of all people (especially in this cast of sordid characters.) Yes, lovable, puppy dog Tom with his filthy mouth and appetite for exotic birds, abusive relationships and human footstools.
It’s Thanksgiving. At Tom’s request, they are going around the table saying what they are thankful for while they eat pie. Of course it would be Tom—who comes from an entirely different ecosystem—to suggest this activity, as this practice of vocalizing gratitude is not something the Roys would do if left to their own devices. To that point, Roman, true to form, says he is grateful that he wasn’t born a siamese twin. Shiv agrees, but is also thankful for the food, and then Willa pipes up to say that she is thankful to feel so welcomed—whether this is snark or stupidity is unclear, as everyone else looks around at each other with confused side eyes. A few uncomfortable seconds follow, at which point Conner, ever the one to read the room, takes the moment to announce that he and Willa are taking the next steps. By this he means they are “going steady.” Conner is, what? Mid 50’s? It is a fantastically awkward moment.
Moments later, Willa clashes with Tom in the hallway on her way to the bathroom. “Congratulations on your next steps! I’m interested to know what ‘next steps’ actually means? Is there a greeting card I could buy?” he says, his words caked in condescension. “Is there a ceremony? Or is it more of a financial arrangement?” Willa plays along at first, then takes a moment to consider her next move. Relaxed, and with a slight, snide smile, she drops a bomb barely above a whisper: “Hey listen, at least I’m only getting fucked by one member of this family, yea?”
She looks him right in the eye as she delivers that line, letting it sit between them for a beat. She then quietly but firmly closes the door in Tom’s shocked, sad face. He realizes not only that she is entirely right, but — perhaps more devastating — that she and him are exactly the same in the eyes of the family. This is not how Tom views things. In the second episode of the series, Tom whines when Kendall tells him to leave the hospital room so the kids can discuss who will take over the company while their dad is on life support one room over (he taught them well.) Willa has already been told to get lost, but Tom resists. “Oh, c’mon. I’m not the same as her,” he says.
The moment in the hallway is an unexpected turn of face for Willa. Up until that moment she had been submissive, compliant, even coming across as a bit clueless (the hallway moment makes me wonder—is her perceived obliviousness perhaps intentional and strategic?) In this scene, however, she is direct, assertive, and quick on her feet. Her fangs come out, and Tom takes note.
Tom is not the only character who may feel a little unsettled by Willa. Though the Roys believe themselves to be superior to her, in reality they shun her precisely because she is their mirror. Her chosen profession as a call girl is the exact metaphor for who they are. What the family fails to recognize in Willa, however, is that they are exactly the people--not even just the type of people--who employ people in Willa’s line of work. Roman was, after all, the one who introduced Conner to Willa. They sneer at how she makes a living with no hint of irony that not only do they fund her, but they themselves are the lowest form of prostitution. Instead of selling their bodies for money, they sell their souls for relevance, power, and money.
Though the Roys make it out to seem that they are far above Willa, rolling their eyes and yes, yes darling her, the truth is that she makes them so uncomfortable not because they can’t relate to her, but because the Roys are her. She’s just more honest about it. They want to keep her at arm’s length so as not to be associated with her, but they also can’t push her too far away because she’s seen too much.
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Tom finally, tragically, becomes a real Roy boy in the season three finale when he shivs his wife in the throat in order to get a stab at the top job. Not that Shiv didn’t deserve it.
Meanwhile, it seems Willa is intentionally staying on the periphery. She is waiting, watching, writing, listening. She is taking the money. She is typing late at night as Conner lays in bed, oblivious to anything and everything regardless of whether he’s awake or asleep. She is quietly observing while no one pays her much attention or takes her seriously, much like Tom did.
Willa is not, at this point, someone who is going to make a move in the traditional way we’re used to seeing these people make moves--attempted boardroom coups and bear hugs and such. She doesn’t seem to be interested in the kind of consolidation of power that the rest of them are obsessed with, but she’s obviously comfortable with and attracted to proximity to power, which grants her access to worlds she’d otherwise never enter on her own. And she’s been swimming in their water for awhile now. It’d be no surprise if she’s picked up a few of their dirty tricks.
Will Willa pull a Tom, of sorts, appearing unexpectedly and seemingly out of nowhere in the form of a book or an article, or, who knows, maybe just a tweet? She won’t do it for democracy or for free, of course. No one is arguing that Willa is the moral heartbeat of this show, as there is none, and that’s the point. But she’s perhaps playing the long game. Perhaps she’s willing to bet on the potency and power of language to barter a better set up for herself.
It remains to be seen, but it would be sort of delicious if the Roy family gets got by Willa’s words in the end.
