Yahoo News Succession director breaks down character's surprise return
Succession spoilers follow.
Succession welcomed a familiar face back into the fold this week, as Brian Cox made a surprise appearance.
Patriarch Logan Roy died after suffering heart failure in the third episode of season four, but Cox teased that Logan would appear in flashbacks.
As new co-CEO Kendall makes a presentation to the Los Angeles division of Waystar Royco, Logan makes an appearance in a video recording.
'Living +' was the third episode directed by Lorene Scafaria, who also took the reins for 'Too Much Birthday' in season 3 and 'Honeymoon States' earlier this season.
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Scafaria opened up about working on the episode, telling The Hollywood Reporter: "As you can imagine, after episode three, I did not think I would be working with Brian again.
"Then suddenly, at the table read, there’s this opening scene. 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]."
The director said everyone was delighted to welcome Cox back, sharing: "It was so great to have Brian back on set and resurrected.
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"Everybody was very excited, on their best behaviour. He told me that day, 'I never watched the show.' I said, 'Oh, you really should, you are quite good — it’s a pretty great show!'"
Despite the secrecy around the final season, it wasn’t a closed set for Cox's green-screen performance.
"Everybody was tight-lipped," Scafaria said. "I think maybe after having Brian not around for a couple episodes, should anyone have seen him on the lot that day in costume, it maybe wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world to show that he’s still up and about."
Speaking about the atmosphere of the reunion on set, Scafaria revealed: "It was emotional. I think this whole thing is so emotional. I’ve only worked on three episodes and I’m deeply saddened that it’s over…
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"They all have such real, intense relationships with each other. They really do feel like family. And the crew is so incredible and Jesse, all the writers."
"It’s just the loveliest group of geniuses, and I will miss it dearly," she added.
On whether fans would see Logan Roy again, Scafaria teased: "Oh, I don’t know. What’s fun for me is that I know how it ends, but I never read ahead. I’m a fan and I want to be surprised. It’s one of those shows where even if you know, you don’t know."
Succession season 4 airs on HBO in the US, and Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK.
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