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Boss 01x07 - ‘Statis’

Last time I reviewed Boss, I made the mistake that I think everybody watching the series initially did. I thought that I knew the Tom / Meredith dynamic from the second episode - he was the tired old politician, ready to bow out with his legacy intact and go for something more substantial. His relationship with his daughter seemed to be the way forward. She, on the other hand, was the cold, calculated puppetmaster, the political dynasty who would stop at nothing to keep him in power for her own means.

I think I got her character assessment fairly correct, she works behind the scenes for her own ends. 01x06 pretty much confirmed my assumption about her being cold and calculating too, as she started making moves against her husband when he seemed ready to fall out of office. The slap obviously contributed too.

Him, I underestimated 100%. I was way too sympathetic to this dude. Like, wow. Two things have really defined his character up until 01x06 - his illness and his relationship with his daughter. It was easy to see him as the beaten old man who was sick of it all, and relate to him in a fairly big way. Sure, he’d done some bad things, but he’s a politician, you expect some shady dealing.

Now though?

The writers of the show baited me perfectly. Right up until the last moment, I was super sympathetic to the old dude. Then a side of him we’ve only really had glimpses of until now, despite its central role in the narrative - Tom the Politician - reared its exceptionally ugly head. Shock, confusion, anger and a great deal of respect for whoever puts all this together. One of my favourite shows.

Side note, it’s nice to see Ben Zajac totally fall apart. Dude was getting way way too smug and annoying.