But once everyone is in the church, the mood softens. The tone is set by the mother of Roy’s siblings, Lady Caroline Collingwood (Harriet Walter), who takes it upon herself to ask Kerry – who has brought a lawyer – in case someone tries to bar her from the funeral – to join 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 reaches for 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 attempt to prevent him from entering the pulpit. Ewan first shares some touching stories about Logan: of how they comforted each other as boys as they crossed the Atlantic during World War II; and about how Logan blamed himself for their sister’s death from polio, which he said he brought from the boarding school he hated. With that out of the way, Ewan ends by setting fire to Logan’s estate, saying that his brother fed “a certain kind of leanness in men.” (The ever-sycophantic Greg, after his grandfather sits back down: “That was a good, hard effort you gave.”)
This is where the reaction shots really start to become a factor. During Ewan’s takedown, we see Roman looking shaken. He began the day with an uncanny glee and planned to follow his coup d’état on election night with a proper grown-up eulogy for his father, in front of some of America’s most important people. But Ewan’s commanding, authoritative words shook him. Roman has never had such a spotlight; and now his siblings expect him to “say the other side” of the Logan Roy story.
He can’t. Roman starts giving his generic “big, great man” speech, but then freezes and asks his family to rescue him. He breaks down in front of everyone, gestures to the coffin containing his father and whimpers, “Get him out.” It’s another smashing performance from Kieran Culkin. (The face to watch during Roman’s meltdown is Gerri’s. She looks genuinely hurt for her former protege.)
So Kendall fills in; and because he has a lot of experience putting together sentences that his social peers can understand, he does a fine job. Acknowledging the pain his father can cause, he also celebrates how Logan made a “bloody, complicated life” possible. “If we can’t match his vim then God knows the future will be slow and gray,” he says, as both Mencken and Lukas Matsson look on with what seems like grudging admiration. Despite all the gossip about how Jeremy Strong’s intensity can frustrate his castmates, the results seen on screen in scenes like this are so compelling and real.
