Let “Succession” use its final season to flip the script for the 2023 Emmy race. The unexpected events of the third episode of season 4 could upend several major acting categories and lead to a lot of drama as the HBO series could upend the Emmy balance.
Major spoilers for the “Succession” episode “Connor’s Wedding” below.
The shock came early in the episode, when the children of media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) learn that he crashed on a plane to his death. His death was not necessarily a surprise; after all, the show’s title alludes to who will replace patriarch Roy in the event of his passing. And death has always hung over the show ever since Logan suffered a massive stroke in the series’ first episode.
While the “Succession” creatives still have seven episodes to work toward the end of their narrative, they also raised a burning new question for awards watchers: Where will Brian Cox, whose ferocious performance as Logan has earned him two nominations? in Best Leading Actor? in a drama series at the Emmy Awards, will he end up running in the competition this year?
Given his quick exit this season, Cox could possibly end up in one of three different categories, with the Television Academy letting him decide which one.
But first, let’s look at the story of “Succession” at the Emmys, which went from being also nominated to being a cultural monolith in one year.
In its first season, the series earned five Emmy nominations, for drama series, directing, writing, music and cast. Not a single actor earned a nomination, as another HBO drama, “Game of Thrones,” earned 10 acting nominations in its final season.
Things started to look up for the second season of “Succession” with 18 overall nominations, nine of which were for her performances. Cox and Jeremy Strong were featured as a lead actor, Nicholas Braun, Kieran Culkin and Matthew McFadyen as a supporting actor, Sarah Snook as a supporting actress, James Cromwell as a guest actor, and Cherry Jones and Harriet Walter as a guest actress. (Strong and Jones took home trophies.)
And in season 3 things really exploded, with 25 overall nominations and a record 14 acting nominations. Cox, Strong, Braun, Culkin, McFadyen, Snook, Cromwell and Walter returned to compete in their respective categories, where they were joined by J. Smith-Cameron as a supporting actress, Sanaa Lathan and Hope Davis as a guest actress and Adrien Brody, Arian . Moayed and Alexander Skarsgård in guest actor. McFadyen was the only “Succession” actor to win an Emmy in 2022, though the show did take for Outstanding Drama Series.
Assuming “Succession” holds up in the goodwill of Emmy voters, and there’s no reason to suspect otherwise, particularly without the juggernaut that was “Squid Game” to serve as a spoiler, it seems safe to assume that another passel of the artists of the program will do it again. score nominations. But where will Cox fit in?
Let’s look at the Emmy rules as a guide. The six drama series acting categories are Lead Actor/Actress, Supporting Actor/Actress, and Guest Actor/Actress. The rule book states: “It is up to the entrant to enter as a lead, supporting, or guest artist.”
The only restrictions are that a performer must appear in more than 5% of the show’s total runtime to qualify as a lead or supporting role, and in less than half of the episodes to qualify as a guest.
It seems unlikely that “Succession” will feature Logan in a flashback or dream sequence in the remaining seven episodes, so it’s likely that Cox will end up appearing in three of the show’s final 10 episodes. If that’s the case, Cox could appear as a guest star. But as long as he appeared on screen (or was audible from off screen) for more than 30 minutes during the first three episodes, he too will pass the 5% minimum and be eligible to participate in the main or secondary category.
So what are the ramifications of Cox’s choice regarding Emmy careers? An actor who was nominated twice as the star of his show could well become the man to beat if he ended up in the guest category, with his strongest competition probably coming from “Succession” or from “The Murray Bartlett” and Nick Offerman. Last of Us” or even Andy Serkis from the Disney+ hit “Andor”.
But would voters bite for Cox in a guest slot? Even if he doesn’t appear in every episode, Logan’s influence is so ingrained in “Succession”‘s DNA that voters may perceive Cox as more than just a major player. To that end, the actor could remain as a lead actor, where he would likely face formidable opponents in Strong (who bested Cox in 2020) and Bob Odenkirk in his final season of “Better Call Saul.”
And yet, that scenario might well be more palatable than Cox opting to compete in supporting actor, where he would almost certainly be up against Braun, Culkin, and McFadyen, all of whom have been nominated for the previous two seasons. Adding Cox could further split the vote.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that the void left by Logan could be filled with other characters, meaning either Culkin or McFadyen could become leading players to take on Strong.
HBO did not respond to TheWrap’s question about which category Cox would pick. It’s just another “Succession” quandary that we hope we’ve solved by the time the series takes its final bow at the end of May.
