>When Tom doesn't have a clear power position, he's a straight
>up lap dog. the definition of a corporate kissass, a coward
>looking to align himself with anyone whose power he can co-opt
>for his own gain. He's an absolute doormat.
>
>It's why he's married to Shiv at all, and that's irony here:
>
>She has very little to gain by marrying him. Her love, such as
>it is, for him is genuine, even with the savage emotional
>abuse that comes with it.
>
>Him? He loves her last name, and the proximity it gives him to
>everything that comes with it. She could have been anyone, as
>long as she had the right name and position, he'd have fallen
>for her.

... not give Shiv too much credit.

Tom very clearly loves Shiv, the way he acts with her and toward her in their scenes together makes that abundantly clear. And that can be true even if you're of the belief that a lot of that love has to do with her proximity to power and his ability to benefit from that, as you mentioned.

It's actually not at all clear whether or not Shiv loves Tom at all, or ever did. And I think *her* actions with him and toward him in their scenes together make her feelings about him ambiguous *at best* .. but it's my opinion that her feelings are very clear: she has zero respect or love for him, and is only with him because she can use and abuse him at her will. You're right, she doesn't gain anything by being with him in terms of her position in the world, but nobody said that her relationship or reasons for being in it had to make sense. But even if you believe that she *does* love him, it could be argued that her love has more to do with his lower class roots and her (perceived) ability to abuse him and treat him like trash due to those humble origins, than it does any true feelings for him as a person.