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the first season. The whole sequence with Kendall (Strong) in a car with the waiter and going into the river. He can't save him. Then he's running back through the mud and the rain, and tries to take a bath and cover himself up. It was just an amazing sequence. Last season, also, there were a couple of great scenes that I really liked. The scene where Kendall confesses to his siblings about feeling like he murdered the kid, because he couldn't save him. The wind's blowing and the dust is blowing. I think there were maybe six or seven takes and it was shot with three cameras, if I remember. Also, the very last scene of last season's finale with the kids going to confront Logan and Shiv finds out that Tom betrayed her. Those were some great scenes. Rizzo: One of my favorite scenes I've cut so far is in episode 8 of season 4 when the election is happening. Another favorite of mine is episode 5 from season 3: "Retired Janitors of Idaho." The scenes that are the most challenging also feel like they're the most rewarding, especially when six or seven characters are in one room. We call them "monster scenes," because three or four cameras will be filming at once. Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Greg (Nicholas Braun) always have funny things on their mics that you have to dig out. Shiv (Sarah Snook) does a fair amount of improv, too. The cast is so fantastic and so aware of their characters and know them so intimately. Henry: One of the most challenging and also a favorite of mine is episode 3, "Connor's Wedding," from season 4. Dara [Schnapper] said she was sending me the script for this episode, and I couldn't believe what I was reading. Logan (Brian Cox) is the sun that everyone revolves around. He's such a force both as an actor and character. Jesse came up with this conceit that the kids would be separated and not have an oppor- tunity to right the wrongs from episode two. We gave a lot of thought to how much time should be spent on the plane versus on the boat. We initially never left the kids, but then installed moments from the plane footage into the cut. My favorite part is when they move to the captain's cabin and we have three cameras shooting at once. Jesse and Mark like to always keep the camera moving. That makes scenes like this one, and breakfasts and dinners, fun but challenging. We had several like that in season 2. CineMontage: Each of you have worked with many acclaimed showrunners and di- rectors. How does working with Armstrong and Mylod compare to others? Eluto: Jesse is a very kind person and just very easy to work with. I've worked with a bunch of really great showrunners. When I started out in television, I got hired by Tom Fontana in 1998. I worked on and off with him for 10 years on shows like "Oz" (1997) and "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993). He was also really smart and really fun to work with. After that, I worked with Tina Fey and Robert Carlock on "30 Rock," and they were great in a different way. But everyone has their own style. You have to learn what they like, what they don't like. Jesse's great because all the writers and producers also send in notes and he's the final arbiter, but sometimes he'll take up people's advice and other times he'll just do what he thinks is best. He and Mark are also very complimentary about our work as editors and our contribution to the show, which is nice. Rizzo: So much of working on this show is about holding onto performances, not traditional cutting. There's so much footage and very long scripts. The first cuts are often an hour and 40 minutes. And there's a lot of camaraderie between us [the editors]. I think we all feel it's been so rare to have a show where the showrunner is so trusting and collaborative. Jesse really trusts us. We know what he likes. He's very decisive and knows what he wants. Sometimes I'll be pinching myself because it's been so won- derful to have that kind of respect from the showrunner. We would all jump at the op- portunity to work with him and Mark again. Henry: They're kind of a dream team — Mark and Jesse — they're so trusting in terms of recognizing that there's such a vast amount of footage and performance choice for us to work from. Very rarely with Mark or Jesse would I get queries. It would be more of subtle adjustments. I thought of Mike [Nichols] a lot while working on this show. He would've abso- lutely loved it — he loved dark satire and great writing and acting. Jesse has a bril- liant barometer when it comes to comedy and story. It's been a great pleasure to have this experience, and it will always remain very special for us for the rest of our lives. It will be a difficult act to follow. ■ This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Kristin Marguerite Doidge is a freelance writer and the author of "Nora Ephron: A Biography." 33 F A L L Q 3 I S S U E F E A T U R E Brian Cox in "Succession." P H OT O : H B O