forgot i had the thought like if anyone's leaving b/c they're so totally to nice for this business why isn't it ben (ft. tuk as a duo) the person who's always been [hey this guy doesn't fit in here! he's too nice!!] thee most, as well as actually committed the whole time to Not bullying anyone around him

if ben & tuk had just left / stayed away then (a) maybe they were so loath to possibly have an episode without ben kim, speaking of the [s1 shit] priority put on the overall season. but it's a sacrifice that could be considered for the tradeoff of "why not give that [walking away b/c you just can't accept being So Mean]" which would of course also feel much more relevant for ben being told like "yeah you'd have to do what i did to step on tuk specifically, for example" versus rian who was just turning her own [is herself actually among the Constant Workplace Bullies] on tuk 4 min prior. and (b) then i guess we could have rian just standing there in the end too like oh right who are you again? and that also would've made it all the clearer like oops she's just become a generic employee who Could blend in with victor and dollar bill b/c she's just Another bully with Another slight variation in her style of being so, but that's a matter of like: yeah you made this bed now lie in it. she stopped having a chance to be a funny little guy of a tertiary rank & file character b/c she started to be an inconsistent plot device instead, & was never given the prominence to at least truly drive plots instead of staying that [plot device who just veers off in whatever direction another, truly prominent character's plot needs] like yeah you should've picked one for this character, or if not, had her leave at the end of s5. and if not, had her leave at the end of s6. and if not, well, here we are dealing with billions having to insist she's had an arc, as well as that she hasn't Already just been yet another employee with the bullying spirit completely suited to just stick around here forever

meanwhile billions seemed to focus not on "the thing about ben, & tuk, isn't that they don't fit in b/c way too much they're among the people who try not to be awful to everyone else whenever they feel like it" but instead focused on "the thing about ben & tuk is that [sound of luke bradford crashing their fake married bank heist moment] people think they're PUSSIES!!!!!!!!!!"