The last time we left the spicy Roy family at the end of season two, prodigal son Kendall (Jeremy Strong). It has just publicly accused the ruthless patriarch Logan (Brian Cox) of being their corporate model accomplice on horrific human and sexual rights. When the HBO Emmy winner does finally returns after the two-year Covid-related hiatus. Logan calls Kendall to congratulate him on outsmarting his parents for a while. And wonders what he wants in exchange for his newfound loyalty. Kendall insists they are no longer on the same page.
That he discovered Waystar Royco’s heinous crime and that he meant the greater good.
Her father says Kendall is just taking one step into the endless game of mergers and acquisitions and changing the world of what has long been her family’s trading business. Logan couldn’t even imagine anyone else – especially members of his own family – acting on anything other than self-interest, and Kendall’s testimony confused and angered him.
Not a big spoiler for season three to tell you that Logan is right. Over time, Kendall’s new personality awakens (“To hell with the patriarch!”
But it’s not just an attitude. It’s more than the periodic anguish of his brothers Shiva (Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and also (to a much lesser extent) Connor (Alan Ruck). For the things they and the Company did. in the name of Logan’s boundless lust for money and influence. Inheritance is often best in the subtle relationship between intention and action. Some of the most influential people in the show’s fictional universe succumb to monsters. Because they end up more afraid of losing power than they care about anything else.
Although Logan and Kendall spent much of the first season arguing:
Season three was almost entirely about the Roy family’s civil war and the damage it caused. Which, as usual, affected extended families like Shiv Tom’s wife, McFadien) and cousin Greg (Nicholas). Brown), but Waystar Royco played Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron), Frank (Peter Friedman) and Karl (David Rasche) and ultimately much of America’s political and economic system. This gives a little more fuel to one of the television shows that’s already grown inevitably. Even if creator Jesse Armstrong wisely clings to this week’s crisis episodic structure. That has made it so good so far.
Here I have to admit that I wouldn’t say I liked legacy when it debuted. I admire the accomplishment and creativity of Royce’s insults to one another, but try to account for some of Kendall’s and others’ counter-movements and moves. After watching several different episodes of “I swear this is when the show is great!” An episode that a friend recommended and still not interested in, I stopped watching.
With at least two-thirds of the show being dark comedy and one-third introspective drama. Knowing the points ahead of time didn’t always help me fall in love. But – as happened to me with Showtime’s Billions. Another premium cable line filled with rich people trying to hurt each other almost entirely. While exchanging creative slurs. I got to the point with a legacy that suffers from Stockholm Syndrome. And I’m starting to understand the meaning of this character’s appearance.
Which makes the joys of acting, directing and writing more accessible.
By the time I finished season three of the full screensaver on social media, I was already inside. Sometimes I still wonder why I see these terrible guys wearing nothing but the destruction of others, but that’s how I feel from time to time in, say, The Sopranos, a show I otherwise adore.
Season three begins shortly after Kendall’s explosive press conference. The first episode shows the characters trying to find a haven. Both the geographically Logan and several others try to identify a country that offers luxury accommodation both short term and without an extradition treaty with America) and organizationally.
As everyone is forced to choose a country between father and son. As characters keep regrouping in different locations and loyalty configurations, there’s a risk that this will all feel repetitive or mechanical. But time and time again, Armstrong and his staff keep updating, reminding us that infallibility is a defining characteristic of so many of its regular users.
