But as soon as everyone is in the church, the mood is clouded. Setting the tone is the Roy siblings’ mother, Lady Caroline Collingwood (Harriet Walter), who takes it upon herself to help Kerry – who has brought a lawyer with her just in case anyone tries to bar her from the funeral – to ask to sit with her. Marcia and the legendary Sally Ann. (Caroline introduces Sally Ann as “my Kerry.”) These ladies share the bond of having loved a very difficult man; and when Marcia takes Kerry’s hand, Kerry sobs.
Then the service begins with a surprise. Logan’s fiery liberal brother Ewan (James Cromwell) ignores his grandson Greg’s attempts to stop him from taking the pulpit. Ewan begins by sharing some touching stories about Logan: how they comforted each other as boys crossing the Atlantic during World War II; and about how Logan blamed himself for her sister’s death from polio, which he was convinced he’d brought home from boarding school, which he hated. With that sorted out, Ewan finally burns Logan’s legacy, saying his brother created “a certain kind of poverty in men.” (The ever fawning Greg, after his grandfather sat back down: “That was a good, tough attitude you gave.”)
This is where the reaction shots really start to become a factor. While Ewan is being taken out, we see Roman looking bruised. He came into the day feeling incredibly optimistic, planning to deliver a real grown-up eulogy for his father to some of America’s most important figures after his election-night coup. But Ewan’s commanding, commanding words shake him. Roman has never been in the spotlight like this; And now his siblings expect him to tell “the other side” of the Logan Roy story.
He can not. Roman starts giving his generic “great, great man” speech, but then freezes and begs his family to save him. He collapses in front of everyone, points to the coffin his father is in and whimpers, “Get him out.” It’s another harrowing performance from Kieran Culkin. (The face to watch during Roman’s breakdown is Gerris. She really does look in pain for her former protégé.)
So Kendall steps in; And because he has a lot of experience putting together sentences that his social peers can understand, he does a good job. He acknowledges the pain his father was able to cause, but also celebrates how Logan made a “bloody, complicated life” possible. “If we can’t match his energy, god knows the future will be dull and gray,” he says, while both Mencken and Lukas Matsson look on with seemingly reluctant admiration. For all the talk of how Jeremy Strong’s intensity on set can frustrate his castmates, the results in scenes like this are so compelling and real on screen.