‘Succession’ director Lorene Scafaria explains Logan’s surprise return

The following post contains spoilers about “Succession” Season 4, Episode 6, “Living+”

Logan Roy returned – at least on video.

At the start of Sunday’s episode of “Succession,” the deceased Roy family patriarch appeared via previously unseen footage produced to launch the new Waystar Royco initiative Living+, a Waystar-branded retirement community that sought to bring the synergy of the company’s cruise, parks, news, and content divisions into the lives of the elderly. The twist allowed “Succession” star Brian Cox to return to the show for the fourth time this season. (Logan died in the season’s third episode.)

Speaking in interviews published after Sunday’s broadcast, the episode’s director, Lorene Scafaria, said it was a real treat to get to bring Cox back to “Succession.” 

“As you can imagine, after episode three, I did not think I would be working with Brian again. And then suddenly at the table read, there’s this opening scene, which of course it’s so thrilling to think of the audible gasp the audience would have seeing Logan again,” Scafaria told The Hollywood Reporter. The “Hustlers” filmmaker has directed three “Succession” episodes, including Season 3’s “Too Much Birthday,” which scored her an Emmy nomination. 

“I love that we’re seeing him in this surreal setting, with a green screen behind him [filming the Living+ video for the launch],” Scafaria added, noting that she’s actually the unseen director in the opening sequence, one of the people whom the cantankerous Logan verbally abuses before the scene is over.

“It was my honor, obviously!” Scafaria said of her acting debut on the show. “At some point [creator] Jesse [Armstrong] asked if I’d like to play the role, and I mean, I can safely say it was the most nervous I’ve ever, ever been on any set, certainly on the set of Succession, hands down, acting opposite Brian Cox. Even though I was off camera, I was sweating down to my waist and I brought a change of clothes that day! It was so great to have Brian back on set and resurrected. Everybody was very excited, on their best behavior.”

After Logan died in Episode 3, Cox gave a number of interviews where he teased that his character could potentially return. “I do pop back and I have a couple scenes later on, which is flashback stuff,” he told Vulture last month. In a subsequent interview, however, “Succession” director and executive producer Mark Mylod said some of the Logan scenes Cox shot were “dummy scenes” to “misdirect” any paparazzi and online scuttlebutt. Both answers appear to be true – but whether this was the actual last time Cox appears on “Succession” remains unclear.

“I don’t know,” Scafaria said when asked if Cox was officially finished. “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” airs new episodes Sundays on HBO.

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