Aahana Swrup
‘Absentia’ centers around the story of Emily Byrne, an FBI Agent, who has been missing for six years. Eventually, the authorities manage to find her again in a cabin, severely tortured and amnesiac. As the agent returns to her old life, she finds it entirely changed in the wake of her husband, Nick Durand’s, second marriage to Alice. Worse yet, the latter seems to fulfill more of a motherly role in young Flynn’s life than Emily ever had the opportunity to. However, even that isn’t the worst of her luck. In the aftermath of her rescue, wherein her kidnapper and abuser remains unidentified and free, the protagonist also finds herself implicated in a string of murders. Thus, while finding her footing back into a normal life, Emily must also fight for her innocence while trying to track down the people who ruined her life. Logan Brandt comes up as an integral player in this narrative, making them an object of inevitable intrigue. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Logan Brandt/Laurie Colson Harbors an Early Feud Against Emily
Laurie Colson is introduced on the peripheries of the story’s narrative from the beginning. She is an investigative reporter who often crosses paths with Emily and other FBI agents during their investigation into the string of murders. Although at times, her line of questioning seems to agitate and villainize the protagonist, there’s nothing particularly suspicious about her. However, as it turns out, the reporter is a big part of the abduction scheme that torturously robbed six years from the FBI Agent’s life. Laurie Colson is actually just an alias for the woman whose real name is Logan Brandt. The latter grew up in the same orphanage as Emily. However, while she was a possible candidate for adoption, the other girl’s antisocial behavior made her a much weaker candidate.
Yet, a young Emily decided to increase her chances by swapping out her file with Logan’s. As a result, while she was considered for adoption and eventually went on to become a part of Warren Byrne’s family, the other girl faced a much different fate. She was chosen as a test subject for Dr. Shen’s experimentation. Consequently, she faced years of physical and psychological torture, including water submersion, electrocution, and more. This experience intrinsically changed something in Logan and instilled a deep desire for revenge against Emily, whom she blamed for her predicament. For the same reason, as she grew up, Logan took on the alias of Laurie Colson and partnered up with serial killer Conrad Harlow to ruin her sworn enemy’s life. The duo put the FBI Agent through a six-year-long exposure to torture similar to the one Laurie had faced in her childhood. Additionally, they intentionally framed her for their own killing spree to further agitate and destroy her life.
Lydia Leonard Seamlessly Embodies the Complexity of Logan Brandt in Absentia
In ‘Absentia,’ Logan Brandt/Laurie Colson remains a uniquely nuanced character. Off-the-bat, the character’s dual nature, as a result of her fake identity, requires a level of separation between her two personas. Furthermore, even in her antagonistic role, the serial killer/reporter’s backstory naturally instills a level of empathy for the character in the viewers’ minds. Actress Lydia Leonard does an exceptional job of translating all these emotions on the screen to deliver a layered and refined performance as Logan Brandt. The actress discovered her love for the craft at an early age. She trained at England’s Bristol Old Vic Theatre School following her high school education at Bedales School in Steep, Hampshire. Leonard found her start in the world of acting in 2004, when she made her TV debut with an episodic role on the period police procedural ‘Foyle’s War.’
Around the same time, she also started working in theater and stage plays. In 2005, she was a part of the Royal Shakespeare Company production of ‘Hecuba.’ Over the course of her career, she has built an impressive stage performance catalog, including works like ‘Time and the Conways’ at the National Theater, Novello Theatre’s production of Martin Sherman’s play ‘Onassis,’ and more. Most recently, she became a part of ‘Women, Beware the Devil,’ at the Almeida Theatre in 2023. However, fans are most likely to recognize her from some of the varied work she has done on TV/film. Some of Leonard’s most recognizable roles come from shows like ‘Da Vinci’s Demons,’ ‘Casualty 1907,’ ‘Quacks,’ and more. Additionally, she also has an impressive filmography under her belt with titles like ‘The Fifth Estate’ and ‘Last Christmas,’ among others. In the aftermath of her role on ‘Absentia,’ the actress can also be seen in famous projects like ‘Ten Percent,’ ‘Gentleman Jack,’ and ‘The Crown.’
Read More: 9 Shows Like Absentia You Must See
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