How Season 4’s Biggest Event Left Succession Star Brian Cox Feeling

There are spoilers in this article for the “Succession” season 4 premiere.

Logan Roy (Brian Cox) displays exceptional form in the “Succession” season 4 premiere. In a modest diner, the formidable media mogul enjoys a rare moment of reflection. He is estranged from his family and turns to his security guard, Colin, who is one of the few constants in his life, for comfort (Scott Nicholson). Logan utilizes him as a sounding board to consider life’s most important question: Is this it? He finds solace in his stoic dedication to his work.

Logan is alone at his birthday celebration, surrounded by people he doesn’t particularly care for or trust. The emotional repercussions of a life of cold, calculated business have finally started to weigh on him because of his choice to sell Waystar, which has alienated the majority of his family. In a behind-the-scenes video, series creator Jesse Armstrong said, “He’s obviously in a difficult spot with three of his kids, and if he were asked whether he cared, he would say no, but I believe his every action implies otherwise.”

Logan may not always seem to care about his kids, but when they aren’t around, it’s much clearer how he really feels. A powerful man could be weak in a few situations, but loneliness is one of them. Cox recently told Variety that “it would be so much easier if he didn’t love his children.” His Achilles heel, though, is his devotion for his kids.

The Roy children’s issue is that their love is not truly unconditional. In actuality, it costs several billion dollars. They are striving for Logan’s position continually and hoping that his hard-earned empire will be given to them. The children, according to Cox, “have absolutely no consistency.” And that’s what makes [Logan] sad.

‘All Logan wants is consistency’

Colin serves as the ideal counterbalance to the cunning and spoiled behavior of Logan’s kids. He is a quiet man who wants little more than he currently has. He simply does his work, which gains him a lot of respect in the old man’s eyes because he doesn’t try to get anything from Logan.

Cox said, “What Logan craves is consistency, and Colin gives him that.” “The nicest thing about Colin is that he’s never in trouble, which is why he believes Colin to be possibly his best friend. There is no gay involvement. He is his employer, and he enjoys working for Logan.”

This leads us to their shared conversation in the restaurant. Logan declares Colin to be his best buddy, then proceeds to explain his own personal ideas in the form of rhetorical questions. When Colin begins to discuss his own background, Logan abruptly ends the conversation. In a clip released after the show, Jesse Armstrong described this scenario as “quite an unreflective man having some feelings of contemplation.” Logan views Colin only as a mirror against which he may project his own thoughts. He asks him a few questions, but they are actually rhetorical ones directed at him, aren’t they? said Armstrong. He has already made up his mind about what he believes about life after death.

With the exception of a few pivotal instances in the series when his health deteriorates and his approaching death is ever-so-jarringly brought back to our consciousness, Logan’s enormous fortune and cunning business strategies have long made him seem invulnerable. As he would put it, his wealth has made him a giant among p*gmies, yet not even he can escape the doom that awaits all life on earth.

Armstrong remarked, “You can keep something at bay for a long period, but no one can keep it at bay forever.

Colin is Logan’s best friend — are their feelings mutual?

As long as his employee keeps quiet and keeps his head down, Logan has a lot of respect for Colin, but is that respect shared by Colin? Colin’s actor Scott Nicholson seemed to concur.

The actor told Vulture, “As far as Colin is concerned, I think he has a respect for Logan.” “In a sense, they are both self-made men. Colin feels successful, enjoys his work, and is devoted to Logan. There is that respect between them from episode to episode, even if it’s just a glance Logan gives Colin.”

In Logan’s life, Colin is always there, albeit in the background, according to Nicholson. His statuesque demeanor actually works in his favor. Colin needs to be everywhere, he believes. “He has a unique personality since he doesn’t have to talk all the time. Logan’s weight is on him.”

It is very conceivable that Colin would view Logan as a close buddy. Due to his commitment to his job and his close understanding of the Roy family, he probably hasn’t had much free time or mental energy to pursue interests outside of Waystar. Nicholson stated, “I think he’s so loyal that he lives through his profession. “Jesse [Armstrong] is genuinely married to the job,” the speaker said. “I haven’t necessarily spoken to him about this.”

Though Nicholson claims to be content with his station in life, don’t worry too much about Colin. The actor said, “I personally think that’s tragic, but I don’t think he views it that way. “The show is in many respects about gaining power and moving up, but since he is already in a very strong position, I don’t believe he has any desires to do so. I believe he is content!”

Logan’s loneliness forces him to reflect

Although Colin’s significance in Logan’s life is now more apparent than ever, the audience still knows very little about Colin’s past. Before working for Waystar, Scott Nicholson speculates that he might have been a member of the military police, although this is only the actor’s conjecture. Given that his third wife Marcia, from whom he is estranged in season 4, also has a shadowy history, it would appear that Logan has a penchant for those with obscure histories.

This disregard for one’s own personal narrative is something Logan appears to embrace. He rarely reflects at all, which is one of the strange things about this diner setting. The media mogul’s estrangement from his kids has forced him to take a hard, uncomfortable look in the mirror. He is really focused on who he is when the kids aren’t there, Cox told Variety. “And not for the better.”

Logan seems to be looking for something that is now completely out of reach: a sense of having lived a life with meaning. Cox continued, “He seeks some kind of culmination to what he does and who he is. “Of course, he won’t understand it. Not with those youngsters; they are too preoccupied with pursuing their own dreadful trajectories.”

Colin is one of Logan’s last remaining glimmer of optimism and faith in other human beings, with Logan completely demoralized and alone. This cafe scene reminded me of another vulnerable time for Logan in the show, when he begs Colin for advice on a significant deal while dealing with the mental consequences of a UTI. It may have seemed like a pointless action, but it brought to light a fundamental truth: When reason and rationality fail us, our hearts serve as our sole sources of guidance.

>>>> READ MORE: Review of the ‘Succession’ Season 4 Premiere: The Last Countdown