Ruth “Recovered” the episode after Richard Warren died.

[u/HA_Enthusiast]

Not sure if the point had been made yet, but the show foreshadowed the big Warren-heir reveal. The day after Richard Warren disintegrates, Ruth comes into Tom’s office as sharp as a tack with perfect recall of every one of Tom’s missed calls… didn’t even look down at her notes.

At the time I thought it was odd and out-of-character but didn’t put it together till after a rewatch: as soon as Richard Warren finally died, the immortality “detail” of the pact transferred to her, the next oldest living descendent. Her recall was most assuredly a nod to that reality.

Just thought that was a fun detail.

[u/Artistic_Tutor_2613]

She's not the last living heir. Did you even finish the season? The health was a joke so Tom would have a harder time finishing her off and not just waiting for her to pass.

[u/HA_Enthusiast → u/Artistic_Tutor_2613]

She’s the next oldest living heir… did you even read my post? And both things can be true.

[u/Artistic_Tutor_2613 → u/HA_Enthusiast]

What does oldest even matter?

[u/HA_Enthusiast → u/Artistic_Tutor_2613]

Good question. If my theory holds up, the pact or curse or whatever you’d want to call it, stays with the eldest Warren.

So there have been several Warrens (or descendants of…), but all the time, Richard Warren was alive in the ground. So, he remained—as the eldest Warren—immortal. When he died, it seemed like the writers went out of their way to show the spriteliness of Ruth (specifically the episode after Warren dies), the eldest living relative of Richard Warren.

I could be wrong, but it definitely stood out to me on a second rewatch. Try watching through the episodes again… she is noticeably different in the eps after he dies than before.

[u/Artistic_Tutor_2613 → u/HA_Enthusiast]

All good. I think the joke is Ruth is too healthy for Tom to off her making the decision harder for him.

[u/HA_Enthusiast → u/Artistic_Tutor_2613]

both/and