danny roper, the 'favoured' son
the thing is. he's not. or at least he wasn't before roper didn't see him for a decade and could reinvent danny in his own head, as danny seems to have done in turn.
here is a relevant scene:
if you want screencaps instead:
and
danny's far to young to take over anything at this point but he's also just not what roper wants in a son. this is a boy who spills secrets like he's unable not to and who read a book about squids to the recuperating stranger in his dad's house. i don't wanna armchair diagnose here but this is not a boy roper understands or is going to be inclined to think much of :(
that's why roper invents 'andrew' and immediately brings him into the business. andrew's actor is tough (army background, the violent 'rescue' of danny), handles people easily (hotel manager, later successfully bribing that lawyer in istanbul), and as far as roper knows he's at a loose end with no real goal in life despite obvious drive. he reminds roper of himself (posh enough but not too posh, questionable morals) and is willing to be dressed in matching outfits when they go out together. i will venture also that jonathan pine has little if any interest in squid.
meanwhile in the background teddy is also getting limited contact (much less though) and ever so conveniently suddenly appears with a lot of money and a new name a few years after roper himself vanishes from the scene, going into the family arms dealing business. i don't think any of that was a coincidence. but the neglect of his childhood has left teddy too obviously an outsider in the social circles roper aspires to, "unfit" to take over as an almost idential replacement for the man himself. he could be left in south america to run a branch of the business but he can never go to england to be presented as the heir.
danny is the last resort and it's not just because of his age. roper's other two choices have failed him, ultimately teaming up on their own side and betraying him. they loved each other more than they loved him, so now both of them have to die. danny's all roper has left to egotistically replicate himself with. he's been 'properly' educated at a boarding school and is young and mouldable and has no other attachments aside from a paid-off mother who i suspect will never be mentioned again (nobody in this story is allowed to have a mother, apparently). between the weight of expectation now placed upon him and his father's experience of filial betrayal i don't things look all that bright for danny. the second he steps out of line he will be punished to a degree neither of the others were to stop him turning into them. he will have to stand in a lot of saltwater and is no more bulletproof than anyone else.
i hope they have squid in heaven :(
