Relationship Experts on Roman and Gerri, 'Succession's' Most Unexpected Pairing
"There is some chemistry there that I never expected," J. Smith-Cameron admitted to The New Yorker a few weeks ago. "Like, there is undeniable chemistry with us." She is, of course, talking about her now legendary chemistry with her "Succession" co-star Kieran Culkin.
The HBO show focuses on Waystar Royco, a fictional family-owned media conglomerate. As Logan Roy, the domineering founder and CEO ages, his family and close staff members all vie for positions of power within the company. Smith-Cameron plays Gerri, the no-nonsense General Counsel turned interim CEO; Culkin plays Roman, the impish, foul-mouthed son of Logan.
The thing about Roman and Gerri is they really shouldn't work. And yet, somehow, they do.
Gerri was originally written as a male character, J-E-R-R-Y. She is in her 60s. She's been with the company for three decades. She watched Roman and his siblings grow up. She's got heaps of business savvy. She's meticulously careful. She's the pencil skirt wearing, bespectacled ice queen of Waystar Royco.
Roman, on the other hand, is a loose cannon. He's in his 30s, but has the stunted maturity of a teenager. He's notoriously unprofessional. He can't sit upright in a chair. He's obsessed with earning Daddy's approval. He's as unlikely as anyone to end up on top in the line of succession, let alone Gerri's right hand man-slash-kind of friend-slash-flirt buddy-slash-maybe something even more.
By season three of "Succession," that's exactly what has happened. After the two actors famously joke-flirted on the set of season one, the show's writers took note of their suitably weird chemistry—to give you a sense of their dynamic, Smith-Cameron told Empire that Culkin called her "mommy girlfriend"—and wrote a storyline for the pair in season two.
The thing about Roman and Gerri is they really shouldn't work. And yet, somehow, they do.
It goes something like this: As Roman struggles to maintain a "normal" sexual relationship with his girlfriend, he also begins to rely more on Gerri's stern, straight-talking advice in the business world. Things get increasingly flirty, until one night, Roman jerks off as Gerri berates him over the phone, calling him names that include the infamous "slime puppy." In a later episode, he masturbates in her bathroom while she humiliates him from the other side of the door.
By the third season, the pair are working and scheming together; a self-dubbed "dream team." Roman has kept the flirting cranked up to a hundred, while Gerri has tried to divert his energy to the business side of their relationship. But, their infamous chemistry continues to fizz and bubble away—so much so, that the pairing has amassed a huge following of fans, all desperate for the couple to get it on.
As one fan tweeted, "Every Sunday millions of ppl gather around their tv wondering 'is this the day gerri and Roman f***???' and every Sunday millions of ppl met w the answer, the succession writers whisper: 'No.'" Another fan wrote, "I am having soooooo many feelings about Gerri and Roman. Like, why am I so invested in this f***ed up ship that's headed for probable disaster?!"
Even the actors are somewhat at odds. Smith-Cameron was initially "horrified" when she heard about her character's storyline; Culkin, on the other hand, was thrilled.
Love them or hate them, your reaction to this unconventional pairing is bound to be a visceral one. We are all freaking out about Roman and Gerri.
Why do fans so badly want these two to sleep together?
The age gap and mommy issues at play are a big part of it. At first glance, it makes a potential romance between the pair seem nothing short of repulsive. "It is extremely uncomfortable for the audience to watch the crackle-and-pop between Roman and Gerri because they are representing a relational dynamic that is not dissimilar to a mother and son," Charisse Cooke, a relationship psychotherapist from London, England suggested.
"Gerri has an important and serious job, wielding a lot of power—a true matriarch—not to mention godmother to Shiv," she said. "We cannot help but be repulsed by their chemistry, knowing on a deep, animalistic level what draws them together is not healthy or, by some peoples' standards, civilized."
Still, thousands of fans can't help but get on board with Roman and Gerri. So, maybe it's not quite as straightforward as that. Maybe, we're judging them based on the wrong "standards."
"As far as there being something Freudian between Gerri and Roman where he is potentially seeking the nurturing and love that he didn't receive from his mother, in a way, we all seek that from someone with whom we are considering having a relationship," said Lee Wilson, Nashville based relationship expert and online educator for TED on the science of relationships. "That, in and of itself, is not wrong."
Canwen Xu, the in-house dating expert for iris, an AI-powered dating app, agreed there is more going on than straightforward mommy issues.
"Maybe if Roman had a history of exclusively being attracted to much older women, it'd raise red flags, but liking an older woman in itself? No, definitely not," she said.
Then there's the nature of Roman and Gerri's sexual dynamic.
Most television viewers want to get behind a "normal" couple—boy meets girl and so on. And a "normal" couple has "normal" sex. Roman and Gerri's sexual relationship may initially seem perverted because it doesn't look like the sexual relationships we're used to seeing. But is it wrong?
Cooke said yes, the dynamic is an unhealthy one.
"Roman's sexual overtures are perverse, fetishizing her humiliating comments as only a Roy family member could," she said. "Gerri is the stern and castrating nanny that disturbs and delights Roman's fantasies, and we are forced to watch cringe worthy scenes where he impishly tries to seduce her in his unselfconscious, schoolboy manner...His therapist would truly have a field day."
Wilson, however, explained humiliation kinks aren't always a sign of a wholly unhealthy relationship.
"If this happened to a real-life Roman character, the question would be if he felt truly belittled or unloved by Gerri's actions," he said. "If what she did truly caused him emotional pain and caused him to feel unloved or unwanted, that is when I would enter into a pronouncement of such a thing being wrong."
This isn't the case with Roman and Gerri.
"The character Roman has lived a life that has delivered him a god-like status," Wilson continued. "He is the free-market equivalent to a royal and so being talked down to provides a novelty that can result in an intimate connection with Gerri, since such an experience isn't something he has experienced with others."
But the sexual side of their relationship is only part of what attracts fans to Roman and Gerri. As the show progresses, their relationship is becoming deeper. They have teamed up—a rarity on this show—and they consistently have each other's backs.
Roman stands up for Gerri when Logan threatens to use her as a human sacrifice. And he helps her land the interim CEO position when Logan steps down in season three.
Gerri is consistently finding ways to help Roman mature. She gives him opportunities to take on new responsibilities and, unlike the other characters, actually listens to his ideas. Yes, in a way, this is all fueled by self-interest from both sides but if you look closely, this pair is beginning to form an emotional bond built on trust and caring. It's—dare I say it—kind of sweet.
"The uniqueness of such a connection in a series where most relationships seem to have an agenda is quite endearing," Wilson said. "We see the two 'lovers' as separated by many things but connected in such a way that they are able to somehow find each other. Their secrecy and the relationship's existence against the odds is one that people love to cheer for and pull for."
Of course, chances are, despite their emotional ties, the desire for power will always come first. After all, this is "Succession."
"It does seem that their relationship is based on real feelings, but it's still going too far to say that they have really formed a genuine bond that runs stronger than their ultimate business goals," Xu said. "They struggle to act completely vulnerable around each other and any signs of affection are veiled under a thin layer of irony and sarcasm."
So, there's no happy ending for Roman and Gerri?
"For these two, a 'happily ever after' is likely to be a knowing look at a high-class party ten years from now," Wilson said.
We can all agree this is a controversial pairing that's probably doomed. But is the dynamic of their relationship "wrong?" Maybe a little. But the relationship is far too interesting to be dismissed. As with everything on the show, this couple is deeply complex. They subvert and confront the traditional portrayal of romance and sex. They deliver raw, unexpected chemistry. They defy the ageist traditions of onscreen romance. They give us glimpses of actual, real caring.
Roman and Gerri are a tantalizing, fascinating cocktail of power plays, sizzling chemistry, surprisingly honest teamwork, mixed with, as Tom Wambsgans might put it, some Freudian sprinkles. Yes, on the surface, Roman and Gerri are a little wrong—but what's so wrong with that?
