HBO's The Chair Company Episode 4 shifted gears with a structurally adventurous episode that was carefully balanced between past and present timelines. The flashbacks subtly connect Ron's obsession with futile projects, revealing the fate of our conspiracy theorists' latest side quest well in advance.The Chair Company Episode 4 begins with a (five years back) flashback, where we catch Ron and Barb enjoying some drinks at a bar. After getting a little drunk, they both express their desire to quit their monotonous jobs and start their individual business venture. While Barb explains an elaborate plan about developing “a portable, stylish breast pump” (Everpump), Ron dreams of opening a Jeep-adventure business.This is where the flashbacks work their best. While we see a dreamy-eyed Ron who wants to make it big with his Jeep Tours business, we realize the futility of his entrepreneurial side project (much like the Tecca conspiracy). Since Ron couldn't convince any investors, he had to return to a job that he disliked. This subtle connection between Ron's obsession (both in the past and present) foreshadows the result of his current side project.More on The Chair Company Episode 4 in our story.The Chair Company Episode 4: The enigma of the flashbacks View this post on Instagram Instagram PostIn The Chair Company Episode 4, the flashbacks were not only a clever plot device to break the monotony of Ron's obsessive Tecca conspiracy, but also to delay the conclusion of his maniacal (almost non-existent) tale. However, between the past and the present, HBO's comedy series finds the perfect balance, subtly exposing Ron's obsessive behavior to the audience and his family.Ron's motivation comes to lifeThe bar flashback in The Chair Company Episode 4 makes it clear that Ron dislikes his job. He hates it to the point that he starts to daydream about an independent business idea that would rid him of this soul-crushing job. As the flashback continues, the series subtly suggests that this idea was less about Ron's passion project and more a way out of his dead-end job. His resentment of Fisher Robay and his current job also seeps into the present, and he finally finds a way to break the monotony of his job: The Tecca conspiracy.The present hunt not only keeps him occupied enough not to think about his boring job, but it's like a second chance at his failed business pursuit. Ron's motivations become dual. On the one hand, he wants to prove his worth to his family, and on the other, he wants a side quest to help him get through his boring job.Natalie's 'support' View this post on Instagram Instagram PostRon's Tecca hunt comes to a shocking conclusion in the final moments of The Chair Company Episode 4. After Mike steals a Tecca chair, Ron takes it apart and finds a part missing (the chair appendix), which convinces him that the Tecca chairs are being used as an opioid smuggling agent. He tells his daughter:"I am uncovering a vast criminal conspiracy. I think a chair company might be being used as a fraud to smuggle opioids into a country by a major pharmaceutical company."Natalie appears to believe in him and says in return:"I love you, I trust you, I got you"While this was a supportive response, it is revealed that she had installed a tracking device in her father's phone to keep tabs on him at all times. The ease with which Natalie parents her father in The Chair Company Episode 4 subtly connects to the flashback where Barb asks her daughter to be supportive of her father after his failed business. To lend her support, she says:"I love you, I trust you, I got you"The eerie repetition of this line suggests that Ron's family is mimicking their support in his Tecca conspiracy, as they did after his failed Jeep tours business. This detail hints at how Natalie and Barb use a pre-established family coping mechanism to console Ron, suggesting they don't actually believe the patriarch's claim about the Tecca conspiracy.The Chair Company Episode 4 is streaming on HBO Max.For the latest scoops on your favorite TV shows and movies, follow Soap Central.