Succession’s Heartbreaking New Episode Almost Had a Different Ending

The latest episode of Succession is undoubtedly the most emotional of the entire series thus far. Sunday’s new episode, “Connor’s Wedding,” featured the death of Logan Roy, the patriarch of the Roy family and head of Waystar-Royco. While the story of the episode was all about Logan, the focus was kept on the reactions of his children, and how they dealt with the fallout of their father’s passing. Yes, they hated him, but they also loved him in their own unique ways, leading to a lot of complex emotions. 

The ending of the episode is a wallop, with the camera focusing in on Jeremy Strong’s Kendall Roy as he watches his father’s body get taken away. According to episode director Mark Mylod, there was actually more to that final scene that was shot, allowing for a slightly different ending.

“In this case, as always, we shot quite a way beyond that, because I just never say cut unless the film’s rolled out,” Mylod told Variety. “That was the scripted moments of him watching as the body came down, almost verbatim. But because they were in the moment, Jeremy’s character, in some takes, really fell apart emotionally, in some takes was more stoic. We chose a more stoic take. It just felt right with the balance.”

“But he walked over to his car, to his driver, as Roman was coming back from the aircraft, and shared a look before the two of them got into their respective cars, and the cars drove away,” he continued. “As the cars drove away, the camera just landed on the ambulance, which then drove away. And all the vehicles kind of – oddly, like the end of Ocean’s 11 – all the players exited the stage, to leave us just with this blank runway. Which was very powerful. But ultimately, the more personal close-up of Jeremy’s lovely performance there, with the moon rising behind him, that just felt like the moment to cut to black.”

Ultimately, the choice was made to keep the focus on Kendall, who has always been more like Logan than he’d ever feel comfortable admitting. Perhaps that decision is foreshadowing what’s to come on Succession as the series races toward its finale in May.

What did you think of Succession‘s latest episode? Let us know in the comments!