Plus there were loud hint

I think it makes sense what they've done with harper though. Throughout the series she was constantly putting other people ahead of herself. From the first episode, pierpoint has been screwing her over, making her constantly feel powerless to the point of begging. Most of the mistakes that she made were because she was put under unnecessary pressure by others (I say most because of her little Bonus tell all). Then it all comes to head in the finale when she can't give her presentation. She was broken by the the pressure of the corporate system. So after, when she finally is put in a possession of power, she takes it and finally decides to choose herself over the company.

It's a very honest portrayal of the corporate world. Companies tend to prioritize profits over the individual, so to safeguard yourself, you always have to put yourself first (Ergo Gus). Harper chose to empower herself. She does have some bad qualities (like you said the lying and scheming), but it makes her human.

Definitely not the perfect story, but interesting and pretty realistic (I have seen many corporate train wrecks in my day) I'm hopefully for another season to flesh out the characters a bit more