Spoilers below for those who haven’t yet watched The Chair Company’s latest episode on HBO or via HBO Max subscription, so be warned!
Four episodes in, and HBO’s critically acclaimed The Chair Company may just be the least predictable thing on the 2025 TV schedule and beyond. It’s impossible to properly describe in simple terms, and fans aren’t even completely sure how much to consider it a laugh-out-loud comedy and how much of it fits squarely in the psychological thriller/horror category. And while it seems as if the mysterious company Tecca is the most nefarious entity here, the latest episode puts the mental state of Tim Robinson’s Ron in a disturbing new light.
As hinted at in earlier episodes, Ron and Barb’s marriage was previously tested on a grand scale due to his past efforts to turn his Jeep Tours business model into a legitimate company. Just seeing the storage box in the garage was enough to set off Barb’s anxiety, and now we seem to have a far clearer idea of why Jeeps are such a red flag in this family, thanks to the flashback-filled fourth installment.
What We “Know” About The Jeep Tours Situation
Six years prior to Ron and Barb’s current-day lives, they both took a shot at reaching their dreams, with Ron exiting his job at Fisher Robay in order to develop a giant plot of land into becoming a peaceful and calming setting for Jeep Tours. We don’t actually know much about what he’d want people to see while driving around, just the sense that he idealized an out-of-the-way spot for people to just feel like themselves without everyday pressures.
Given that we haven’t seen Barb calling Ron out for batshit insane ideas for the new business, I’m inferring that Ron’s research and planning were logical and made sense. To the point where he attracted the attention of a potential investor, whom he took out to drive around the lot, and that’s where things get extremely hazy for both Ron and audiences.
As he confessed it to his wife, Ron started driving far faster than is safe for such vehicles in wooded areas, and bafflingly attempted to launch the car over a log, only to hit it, which almost efinitely gave the investor a major concussion, if not other injuries. After which, Ron says he drove the guy back to his hotel to sleep it off, make it seem like he’s unaware that sleep is the worst thing for a concussion-sufferer to deal with.
My Two Biggest Theories About Ron’s Jeep Tours Accident
- Theory #1: The investor died, either in his hotel room or in Ron’s car right after the accident.
This would definitely be a dark twist for Ron and Co., although it could technically be true without any other characers being fully aware of it.
In the first scenario, everything went as Ron said it did, only after he helped the guy back into his hotel room, the guy may not have ever woken up after falling asleep. If the investor did die, it’s not likely that anyone would have reached out to tell Ron about it, especially if no one at the hotel witnessed the dropoff.
The second scenario paints Ron as a darker character, in that it surmizes the accident was deadlier than Robinson’s character let on, and he just dumped the body rather than reporting it to the proper authorities. Either way, nothing good for Ron’s sanity, and definitely something that Lake Bell’s Barb would continue worrying about for years and years to come.
- Theory #2: The Trip With The Investor Never Actually Happened
This idea is related to the overarching theory that Ron is experiencing a complete mental collapse, where the majority of his experiences are believed to be mental constructs. However, it would make more sense, and possibly be more effective, if only some of Ron’s daily motions were eventually revealed to be completely inside his own head.
For instance: Ron’s disturbed conversation with his dog made him seem self-aware that his Jeep Tours idea was lacking. So what if, instead of putting himself at risk of not getting any loans, Ron decided to just not meet up with any investors, and instead made up the entire trip.
Then, instead of telling Barb he lied, or even that his ideas were turned down, what if Ron just made up the entire Jeep accident story on the spot and kept digging himself into a deeper hole? Imagine if Barb went outside to check on the Jeep and saw it was undamaged. It would be a disturbing sign of proof that her husband isn’t everything she thinks. Lying about harming someone isn’t that much better than legitimately harming the person.
Now, that pair of theories wouldn’t fully explain everything else that is or isn’t happening in Ron’s life, from the face model phone calls to the guy trying to buy Fab Four action figures to Douglas being rescued at home. But it’d definitely strengthen Barb and Natalie’s innate worries about him, while possibly weakening his attempt to track down everyone involved with Tecca and the Red Ball.
