Shōgun‘s fourth installment, “Chapter 4: The Eightfold Fence,” includes a brief tribute to the late Larry Beckett. So, who is Larry Beckett and why is Shōgun Episode 4 dedicated to him?
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Why Is Shōgun Episode 4 Dedicated to Larry Beckett?
Larry Beckett’s connection to Shōgun isn’t immediately obvious. He’s not one of the FX historical drama’s many credited cast members, nor did he write or direct any of its episodes. Even so, Beckett was an important member of Shōgun‘s crew, because (as confirmed by Decider) he was the production’s cannon consultant. So, whenever you see John Blackthorne or another character fire – or even talk about – a cannon at any point in Shōgun‘s 10-episode run, Beckett was involved behind the scenes.
This also explains why Shōgun Episode 4, and not another of the limited series’ installments, is dedicated to Larry Beckett: because it contains a lot of cannon content. Several scenes in “Chapter 4: The Eightfold Fence” depict Blackthorne instructing Lord Yabushige and his men in English naval combat tactics. As part of this, Blackthorne delivers a crash course in how to operate cannons, as well as a primer on chain shot projectiles. The latter then returns in spectacular fashion in Episode 4’s finale.
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Interestingly, Shōgun wasn’t initially slated to include any of Episode 4’s cannon scenes. James Clavell’s original 1975 novel had Blackthorne schooling his Japanese allies in firearms, not heavy artillery. However, as co-showrunner Justin Marks noted in a recent GQ interview, this detail doesn’t really track with real-life history, so it wasn’t carried over to the show.
“We changed the gun regiment from the book into a cannon regiment simply because the Japanese had already been introduced to guns in the middle of the 16th century,” Marks explained. “So they were very familiar with them by the time the story takes place. What they weren’t as familiar with – because the Portuguese weren’t as proficient with [them] – were cannons.”
This creative tweak paved the way for Shōgun Episode 4’s cannon-centric carnage, which went ahead under the expert eye of the late Larry Beckett.
Shōgun is currently airing on FX, with new episodes dropping Tuesdays.
