I think the buyout from the guy in "Wingless" kind of previewed how Roy was going to buy out Joe had Brian not offered to step up in the end. I also think Brian carrying enough to save them when Cord messed up also showed he was willing to help when absolutely needed. He'd grown in the years that he was an almost halfway partner on the business. I like to imagine after the year Joe & Helen spent abroad, the business was running fine and maybe had even grown a bit.