Ahead of Severance's second season finale on Friday, Gold Derby has broken down the show's Emmy potential in the top races for series and acting. (Sadly, there is no category for Best Goat.)
For its first season in 2022, Severance was nominated for 14 Emmys and won two craft awards, for main title design and music composition. The series ended up playing third fiddle to Succession Season 3 (which won for series, writing, and supporting actor Matthew Macfadyen) and Squid Game Season 1 (which won for directing, and actor Lee Jung-jae). While Succession is long gone, Squid Game is back this cycle for its second season, though the critical response was somewhat muted.
The four nominated Severance performers the last time around were Adam Scott as Mark Scout in lead actor, Patricia Arquette as Harmony Cobel in supporting actress, and John Turturro as Irving Bailiff and Christopher Walken as Burt Goodman in supporting actor. Severance was also nominated for director Ben Stiller and writer Dan Erickson. Flash-forward three years, and the Apple TV+ sci-fi show about office drones who separate their workplace memories from their personal memories is in prime position to win some major hardware.
According to Gold Derby's most recent Emmy odds, Severance is the one to beat for Best Drama Series, in a field predicted to include The Last of Us, The White Lotus, Slow Horses, The Diplomat, The Pitt, Squid Game, and Andor. If our experts, editors, and users are correct, that would make it Apple's first drama champion ever, after the streamer previously prevailed twice on the comedy side for Ted Lasso in 2021 and 2022.
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This category looks to be a battle between Scott and Gary Oldman (Slow Horses), with seven of 10 Emmy experts from major media outlets predicting the former, compared to two forecasting the latter. It would be the first career Emmy win for either gentleman.
Britt Lower as Helly Riggs (aka Helena Eagan) is in fourth place to win the lead actress race, behind category frontrunners Kathy Bates (Matlock), Keri Russell (The Diplomat), and Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us). A nomination would be just desserts for Lower, after being snubbed for Season 1.
For the supporting actress contest, Arquette is in fifth place behind Allison Janney (The Diplomat), Carrie Coon (The White Lotus), Kaitlyn Dever (The Last of Us), and Natasha Rothwell (The White Lotus). Arquette of course is an Oscar champion for Boyhood (2014), and she has two Emmys on her mantel for Medium (2005) and The Act (2019). Other Severance cast members with potential to break through in this category are Dichen Lachman as Ms. Casey/Gemma Scout and Merritt Wever as Gretchen George.
Turturro is currently the odds leader with nine of 10 Emmy experts picking him to win (the other is going with Jack Lowden of Slow Horses). This would be Turturro's second career Emmy Award after a guest-acting win for Monk in 2004. Also watch for Walken to make a repeat appearance in this category, while first-timers could include Tramell Tillman as Seth Milchick and Zach Cherry as Dylan George.
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