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Thoughts on Bill and Guy? (Needllero as I like to call it)

Oh yeah, there's a lot to dig into there.

It's certainly Bill's most fleshed out relationship. Not that that's saying much, but still. I think of it primarily from Bill's perspective because of course I do, but I'd like to go back and see how it fits into Guy's bigger picture as well.

What's intriguing to me - and what I'll talk about here today - is how they have two pretty distinct dynamics that don't seem to overlap.

On one hand, Bill serves as Guy's right hand man for his little schemes. This side appears in wraparounds, when they interact face to face - Moral Majority, Pledge Week, Staff Christmas Party. Then during the People's Global Golden Choice Awards, we get a twist - Bill isn't collaborating on this one, and in fact leads the dissent against it.

So, what happened there? I think Bill gives it away in how he describes Guy's motivations. He references Guy wanting "power" and "ratings", but nothing about money. I suspect that, at the end of the day, Bill's in it for the money, since that's the focus of the other schemes he’s involved with. I do find it interesting that Bill never tries to boost his own career through the schemes - maybe he does have a spine after all. Except for, y'know, all the swindling.

On the other hand, there's Guy as the tyrannical boss that's constantly suppressing Bill's freedom of speech and cancelling his shows. This is the side we see during Bill's shows - it's introduced right from the start on Mailbag, and is more implied than outright stated in Series 4, though that tension never fades away.

Bill always refers to a nebulous "they", "the station/SCTV", "management", "the powers that be", when he talks about the forces holding him down, but it's gotta just be Guy, right? Guy's seemingly the only one who ever makes decisions about programming like that. The unspecific language feels like an intentional decision on Bill’s part to separate Guy, his boss, from Guy, his partner in crime. Especially when, during Stand Up and Be Counted when Guy calls in to personally cancel the show, Bill says, not moments later, “They cancelled my show.” Maybe Bill’s just that committed to propriety, but I don’t think so.

How do we reconcile these two sides of Needllero? Well, that's where we get speculative. The way I've characterized it so far over at the Needleblog, even Bill's not quite sure where they stand. There's a lot of uncertainty and intimidation at play, although how much of that is Bill's own anxieties being left to sprawl out is left to the reader's interpretation.

Now, I don't ship it, personally, but I see the appeal. They're great for each other (make each other so silly). The dysfunction is definitely a big part of the charm. In a way, I do think Bill needs Guy - not only because he's just gotta be on TV, but also for the companionship of somebody, anybody, who can put up with him.

Also, Lola says "or even love" right as Bill turns to look at Guy, and that's just precious.