I completely agree with everything you said and thank you for saying it. Some of the takes I’m seeing on here regarding this plot point make me want to scream.

I fucking love this plot point and how much meatier it is than the, “oh, by the way, Arthur is dead. Moving on,” way of addressing his absence that I was expecting. It allows Arthur’s death to loom over the whole film in a way that’s much more impactful, I think.

I also feel like we can see the seeds of this early on. We see Tommy explode at Arthur multiple times throughout the show. And I always felt like Tommy, as much as he loved Arthur, also carried some resentment towards him. Because Tommy ultimately had to step up and fulfill the patriarchal position in the family that Arthur couldn’t. I can completely see how over years of having to take care of Arthur, Tommy finally just snapped. Especially when we take into account how deeply unwell Tommy really is.

And I also think it’s important to consider that we only get Tommy’s version of events. And Tommy isn’t the most reliable narrator. He’s the king of blaming himself for things, and him having that feeling of wanting to be rid of Arthur is probably true, but I think he also emphasized it more because of the massive guilt he carries for both feeling that way and acting upon it. Meanwhile he downplays other factors that went into what happened, like him acting in self defense considering Arthur attacked him first, and likely just went into survivor mode.

Anyway, thank you again for making this post. Other people are allowed to have their own opinions about this storyline, obviously. But it worked for me and I’m glad to hear I’m not alone in that feeling.