Connor Roy is the real heart of Heirs

the key successively It was staring you in the face for four seasons and was played as comic relief. As prodigal son Connor Roy, Alan Rugg has not sinned.

Connor is often ignored by the rest of the family. His half-siblings and father see him as irredeemably stupid. But the main theme successively Characterized by his character: he is the eldest son, he is a misfit. He even had to remind his siblings of that He – Not Kendall – the eldest son in the Season 3 finale.

However, Connor is not in the running to replace his father, Logan Roy. He was not tasked with anything important. His mother was sent to a “fun farm” and Logan remarried. In the first season, when the siblings gather at the boathouse before Shiv’s wedding, he is not invited. In the most recent episode – her wedding – her father skips the celebration and only dies on the plane. After Logan is already dead, his half-siblings don’t think to make him say goodbye to his father.

They didn’t think of him for 15 minutes. At his wedding.

When Connor receives the news, Ruck’s portrayal is heartbreaking. He’s in a meltdown about his wedding cake because it’s made from the same type of sponge cake his mother ate the week she was institutionalized. In the first season’s “Chat Sock Wasp Trap”, Connor is upset about butter going wrong during the Roy Endowment for Creative New York. Connor’s invitation to micromanage an event says something about his past, A terrible one. He learned that management style from someone, and it wasn’t Logan.

Shiv and Kendall get Connor to forget about the cake for a few minutes, and Shiv says, “They think he’s dead.” And Connor stares straight at her, seemingly impassive: “Well, is he?”

Kendall says they don’t know, but Logan is going through cardiac arrests. “Oh man,” Connor says. “He never liked me.”

He then immediately swallows his own feelings and begins to comfort his distraught younger brothers. “You know what, I’m sorry,” he tells Kendall. “He did. He did.

Of all the children, Connor is the most aware that being in his father’s orbit is a trap. But it’s Connor that everyone else at Royce fears. He’s a warning sign to his younger siblings: if they step out of Logan’s orbit, they’ll find themselves inappropriate and unloved. After all, if Connor wasn’t sidelined, they wouldn’t be competing for Logan’s attention at all.

In the first season, Connor’s New Mexico ranch, Austerlitz A framework for attempting family therapy. The attempt is more of a PR stunt than actual therapy, much to Connor’s dismay because unlike his siblings and his father, he will do Have a real family. The family business has strained relationships beyond repair as Shiv, Kendall and Roman try to tear each other down for their father’s success.

Earlier seasons focused on the other siblings. The first season is primarily about Kendall. Second, Shiv. Third, Roman. Arguably, Connor is coming — and his rehearsal dinner and wedding provide the backdrop for two of the show’s most dramatic episodes so far.

Earlier this season, Connor’s siblings skipped his rehearsal dinner to plot against their father. They catch the bride running out of the villa and take Connor to karaoke in a belated attempt to comfort him. After Connor sings of Leonard Cohen’s “Famous Blue Raincoat,” saying that his superpower doesn’t need love — “The best thing about having a family that doesn’t love you is learning to live without it” — he takes on his song. The younger siblings go fly fishing when Logan is away. Maybe Connor tells himself he doesn’t need love because he doesn’t believe he’ll ever get it.

Of course, Logan’s arrival immediately sparks a sibling-bonding karaoke moment.

throughout successively, Ruck’s portrayal of the veteran cast aside is superb. Of course, Connor is mostly there for the punchlines — his presidential campaign provides most of them — but even through the jokes, Ruck exudes pathos. From his honest reaction to Logan’s death to comforting his younger siblings, it tells you exactly who Connor is: more ridiculous than the other three, but more human. Kind.

It took a great actor to pull it off. I want to see what else Ruck can do.