Below are spoilers for those who have not yet read the latest episodes of “Legacy”, so be careful!
Whenever history books close on TV 2023 is a common thing for history books, isn’t it? — I would put money on Logan Roy from “Legacy” being recognized as the most remarkable death on the small screen this year. Fans were still getting used to the idea that the show would end with season 4, and then there was the award-winning episode “Connor’s Wedding” with amazing expectations for Roy’s family. The HBO drama soared high and mighty again with the funeral-oriented penultimate episode “Church and State,” during which Logan’s body was interred in a ridiculously luxurious mausoleum. Unless it was actually his body in the coffin! An idea that would have sounded much more incomprehensible if Brian Cox himself had not kept the “Logan is not dead” theory in the finale.
The continuity will end completely (and presumably forever) whenever the finale of the series “With Open Eyes” airs on Sunday, May 28. when Cox’s Logan comes out of the shadows to reveal that it was all a ruse, but I can’t help but be lovingly fascinated by the Scottish actor playing up the idea that his character isn’t actually dead, all the while bemoaning the fact that his (fake) death went so early in season four. Speaking on BBC Two’s The Amol Rajan Interview, Cox shared his previously shared opinion on Logan’s potential survival. According to him:
I still believe it, maybe Logan isn’t dead. This may be part of an elaborate ploy to figure it out. Well, if you think about it, from Logan’s point of view, he has to figure out how his children will behave when he dies, what will happen then? And the only way to do this is to fake his death, but in fact, at some distant point, he is watching the chaos that follows him.
The directors of “Frequent Succession” Mark Maylod and Jesse Armstrong offered a logical and quite justified explanation of why the episode of Logan’s death was filmed in such a way that his body was shown as rarely as possible, and only in one frame focused on his face and head. And it really helped to create an unusual tension throughout the entire run, although at the same time it contradicted television stereotypes and expectations. Because, as many viewers are well aware: if you don’t see someone’s body rotting in the ground without a head, there is a pretty decent chance that the character may return in the future. Even if the HBO series doesn’t actually air after May 28.
Most actors try to avoid this kind of possibly unnecessary speculation about the fate of the character, as it usually leads to fans constantly asking the same questions about it for years. But Brian Cox is DGAF, and he’s here to pour lighter fluid into this bonfire of speculation. Because, by all means, if there is any character on television who is scheming, duplicitous and in every way rich enough to carry out a scenario of a staged death like this, complete with a crowded funeral (complete with Cox’s real wife), who almost broke the Romance brain, that would be Logan Roy 110%. (The numbers are inflated, as Kendall likes them.)
Kieran Culkin’s self—hating novel is the only character in the series who has himself expressed a belief, albeit in the form of emotional denial, that Logan is not dead. He said this in episode 403, noting that he had not seen the body, and then during his funeral he asked if his father was really in the coffin. I sincerely hoped that someone would open this sucker, even if it could traumatize old Romulus to the end of his nihilistic existence. Moreover, Cox was really on the spot to refute rumors that his funeral was filmed. Alas, the coffin remained closed, and the younger brother, perhaps, will mourn his father without closing for many years to come. (No happiness for him after the final, which is normal.)
Anyway, Brian Cox doesn’t really think there will be any plans to bring Logan back, whether on or off the show, saying:
No… I’m just saying it could have been an assumption.
I really hope that the main reason Cox keeps this train of thought open is because there’s another little clue in the finale that could be a legitimate twist. Despite the fact that the last episode of The Heir will focus on the respective attempts of Kendall, Roman and Shiv to take over the family business with the help of treacherous ruthlessness, I can’t imagine that all this hype played out without mentioning Logan’s name and his influence.
Maybe someone will see an unknown number eavesdropping on a board meeting, or see a gray-haired gentleman standing nearby who simply disappears when he is chased around the corner. Although I guess it might sound more like Waystar’s offices are crawling with ghosts… and that might be what I want more than anything: a fifth season or a spin-off that turns its financial drama into a paranormal thriller. I think I need to start writing this.
The last episode of “Legacy” will air on HBO on Sunday, May 28, at 21:00 Korean time. ET, and will be available for streaming with a Max subscription. Go to our TV premiere schedule for 2023 to find out what other shows are being prepared, and Logan Roy will also not be haunted as a ghoulish ghost.
