Succession hasn't been the same ever since Logan Roy (Brian Cox) suddenly died while he was on his private plane a few episodes ago. The whole premise of the show has been about finding a replacement for him as the CEO of Waystar Royco. and, now the time has come, the decision-making process has been devastating for all of the main characters. Nevertheless, Logan was seen again during this week's episode, when he appeared in the pre-recorded presentation of Living+, a new product from the family's media conglomerate. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lorene Scafaria, the director of the episode, talked about what it was like for the team to see Cox on the set of the series again:
As you can imagine, after episode three, I did not think I would be working with Brian again. And then suddenly at the table read, there’s this opening scene, which of course it’s so thrilling to think of the audible gasp the audience would have seeing Logan again. And I love that we’re seeing him in this surreal setting, with a green screen behind him [filming the Living+ video for the launch]. I don’t know if you know this, but I happen to play the director in that scene as well (laugh).
While Logan always raised his kids with the intention of manipulating them to fight over who should lead the company next, he never prepared them to live in a world without him, causing them to spiral now that he is gone. Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv (Sarah Snook) are trying to work together, in a new plan that should benefit everybody while changing the image of the company their father had been running to the ground lately. It's true that Logan was one of the biggest media executives in history but, during the last years of his life, he began taking irrational and impulsive decisions.
The siblings had seen each other as enemies during previous seasons and, since they were surrounded by other people who wanted to take advantage over Logan and his power, there was no one there to make them realize how valuable it would've been to stick together since the beginning. Added to that, they were struggling with problems of their own, such as Kendall's addiction issue and Shiv's unhappy marriage. Nevertheless, when they realized their father wasn't serious about working with any of them as his successor, they decided to form a team to confront him.
Time is Up for the Roys
After four seasons of prestige drama television, HBO's story about the next person who would define the media landscape in the United States is coming to an end. As the story concludes, the show is taking home thirteen Primetime Emmy Awards after receiving forty-eight nominations in various categories, with the current season still being eligible for this year's ceremony. It remains to be seen how many accolades Succession can earn by the time it's all said and done, consolidating itself as the network's most successful production since Game of Thrones concluded in 2019.
You can check out the official trailer for the final episodes of Succession below, before the series finale airs on May 14: