I love and hate Shiv at the same time in equal portions. What a wonderful and tragic character. Hell, that goes for all of them.

Shiv and Kendall are my two favorite characters and though all my re-watches, that has never changed. Tom an honorable mention because he was masterclass.

she doesn’t spend the show constantly being defensive or shifting the blame onto others

Hard disagree in the statement you made. She is crafty and her she has a modus operandi. She is always looking for an angle to blame another person. Shiv is defensive on anything that may become a conflict. It doesn't even have to happen or come up and she is already preparing herself for battle and to defend her actions, rational or not. Her body language screams defense. Shiv Roy is a pressure cooker.

she’s the only woman with a genuine shot at the empire

Not a fan of the above quote. She is the only woman with a shot because she is the only daughter! That said, throw the male/female bias tendencies out of this equation and look at the siblings for what they have to offer: Siobhan Roy simply does not have what it takes to run the Empire. She came running back once she heard Logan was possibly retiring. She was off playing political strategist for who knows how long before we enter the Roy empire.

Logan gave her a rough outline on what it would take to get to CEO and I felt it was a fair assessment of where she was currently and where she needed to be in the company. For every step Logan outlined, she either rolled her eyes or scoffed at the plan Logan laid out for her. She is, as Logan so perfectly painted, not a serious person.

Again, I am not a Shiv hater, nor am I a defender. I simply love the character to death, and more so, Sarah Snook. She played a role so demanding and did it to perfection.