As “Succession” winds down in its final season, it’s possible that not everyone will survive.
Brian Cox weighed in on his character’s mortality, recently telling Variety: “He’s getting on! He’s getting old. He’s drained — he’s very drained!”
Cox, 76, stars within the hit HBO drama as patriarch and business titan Logan Roy, whose children are continually at odds over control of his media empire. He’s had health problems throughout the series. So, the fourth and final season would look like an apt time for the show to kill him off.
At the tip of Season 3, Logan alienated his adult kids Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) by selling his company to Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård). As a consequence of that alternative, Season 4 opens along with his celebration, and Connor (Alan Ruck) is his only offspring who attends — a incontrovertible fact that clearly makes Logan unhappy.
“The moroseness is the incontrovertible fact that in a way, he knows he’s failed in relationship to his children. He’s not a idiot. He knows he’s failed. They haven’t stepped as much as the plate; they haven’t stepped up to speed,” Cox said. “And he knows it’s partly his fault. He understands that. He’s completely lost. He’s lost his wife, he’s lost his partner … He’s attempting to think, ‘How do I reclaim my children? How do I get them back?’ “
For Cox, art imitates life, because he’s also had some harsh words about his on-screen son. Strong has made headlines for his method acting techniques, and Cox has repeatedly slammed his style, saying: “It’s f – – king annoying. Don’t get me happening it.”
For his part, Strong sounded unfazed about his on-screen dad’s criticisms.
“Everyone’s entitled to have their feelings,” he told British GQ. “I also think Brian Cox, for instance, he’s earned the best to say regardless of the f – – k he wants.”
But as Season 4 progresses, Logan might show more emotion than usual about his poor relationship along with his kids, Cox said.
“The kids haven’t any consistency in any way. And that’s his sadness. When the children aren’t around, he could be very focused on who he’s,” the Scottish actor told Variety. “And never in a superb way. That’s really what the fourth series is about. Struggling to see how the youngsters come back into the fold — or do they arrive back into the fold? In order that’s really what is essential for Logan, that he needs his kids because they’re his kids and he loves them.
“If he didn’t love his children, it will be a lot easier. However the incontrovertible fact that he loves his children is his Achilles heel. That’s his Achilles heel.”
Cox has previously stated that he’s “joyful” the show is on its final season.
While he didn’t reveal if Logan will survive the tip of the show, he said, “He doesn’t need to be doing the standard, standard repeatedly and again. He wants some sort of completion to what he does, and who he’s. But after all, he’s not going to get it.”
“Succession” is currently airing Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.