2022 Emmys: Best Drama Directing category could be a battle between ‘Succession’ and ‘Ozark’

There are a whopping 237 submissions for Best Drama Directing on the 2022 Emmys ballot, which will yield seven nominees. As a reminder, last year’s winner was “The Crown” (“War” by Jessica Hobbs) and the other nominees were “Bridgerton” (“Diamond of the First Water” by Julie Anne Robinson), “The Crown” (“Fairytale” by Benjamin Caron), “The Handmaid’s Tale” (“The Wilderness” by Liz Garbus), “The Mandalorian” (“Chapter 9: The Jedi” by Jon Favreau) and “Pose” (“Series Finale” by Steven Canals).

The only eligible returnee out of this bunch is “Bridgerton,” which entered three episodes of its second season for consideration. It may have a harder time getting back in as “Ozark” and “Succession” will be back to reclaim their crowns, having prevailed in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Winner Jason Bateman is back on the ballot for the “Ozark” series finale, after being absent for the third season, and joining him will be his co-star Laura Linney for her directorial debut, along with three other directors, including previous nominee Alik Sakharov.

“Succession” has also entered a plethora of episodes for consideration, one for each director of the season, off the success of their history-making turn at the DGA Awards in which they nabbed all five nomination slots. They were: winner Mark Mylod for “All The Bells Say,” Andrij Parekh for “What It Takes,” Kevin Bray for “Retired Janitors of Idaho,” Lorene Scafaria for “Too Much Birthday” and Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman for “Lion In The Meadow.” Those same five episodes plus Cathy Yan for “The Disruption” now represent the show on the Emmy directing ballot, and while it would be a rarity for all six to get in, it proves that “Succession” is being more bold in this category, similar to “Ozark.”

That statement can be said for most of these submissions, with “Better Call Saul” submitting all seven episodes for this first half of their final season. However, the show hasn’t had much luck in this category, receiving only one nomination for directing in 2017 for Vince Gilligan, and might suffer that same fate again unless there’s enough support for him or any of the other six directors this season, which include cast members Rhea Seehorn and Giancarlo Esposito making their directorial debuts.

“The Morning Show” has perhaps the two most well-known veterans in their lineup, with Mimi Leder (“La Amara Vita”) and Lesli Linka Glatter (“Laura”) both Emmy favorites, and last nominated in 2020 for shows that were not in the series category: “The Morning Show” and “Homeland.” A third “Morning Show” director has also been submitted, Rachel Morrison (“A Private Person”).

“Squid Game” is the only high contender to have a solo entry, being the pilot directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk. The Korean filmmaker directed all nine episodes of the breakout first season, and thus could only submit one.

SEE Emmy Experts slugfest: Breaking down the 2022 ballots and guest categories [WATCH]

“Severance,” “Stranger Things” and “Yellowjackets” have each entered two episodes. Ben Stiller (“The We We Are”) is one of the directors up for “Severance” and if the show does well, he is almost certainly locked for a nomination based on name recognition, but director Aoife McArdle (“The You You Are”) could also join him if voters are really passionate. “Stranger Things” took a lot of risks visually this season with their extended episodes, which could pay off for The Duffer Brothers (“The Massacre At Hawkins Lab”) or Shawn Levy (“Dear Billy”). And “Yellowjackets” submitted the first two episodes of the show for directors Karyn Kusama (“Pilot”) and Jamie Travis (“F Sharp”).

Lastly, “Yellowstone” and “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” both have four episodes in contention, but each have standouts in Taylor Sheridan and Adam McKay, the former being the creator and writer of all episodes this fourth season and the latter directing the pilot episode, and previously was one of the few nominations for season 1 of “Succession” for the pilot, back when it was not as recognized as it is now.

This branch has been kinder to multiple nominees from the same series, with 2014 (the final year of panel voting) being the last time that all nominees were from separate shows, and 5/7 winners since 2015 have come from the show having at least another nominee in the category. It also benefits that the names of the directors are on the ballot, as opposed to the writing category, which tends to help more well-known and established actors and directors. Emmy nominations will be announced July 12.

Here are some of the Best Drama Directing submissions from top Emmy contenders:

“Succession” season 3
“All The Bells Say” (Mark Mylod)
“The Disruption” (Cathy Yan)
“Lion In The Meadow” (Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman)
“Retired Janitors of Idaho” (Kevin Bray)
“Too Much Birthday” (Lorene Scafaria)
“What It Takes” (Andrij Parekh)

“Ozark” season 4
“A Hard Way To Go” (Jason Bateman)
“Ellie” (Alik Sakharov)
“Pound Of Flesh And Still Kickin’” (Laura Linney)
“The Cousin Of Death” (Amanda Marsalis)
“You’re The Boss” (Melissa Hickey)

“Squid Game” season 1
“Red Light, Green Light” (Hwang Dong-hyuk)

“Severance” season 1
“The We We Are” (Ben Stiller)
“The You You Are” (Aoife McArdle)

“Better Call Saul” season 6A
“Plan and Execution” (Thomas Schnauz)
“Rock and Hard Place” (Gordon Smith)
“Wine and Roses” (Michael Morris)
“Carrot and Stick” (Vince Gilligan)
“Hit and Run” (Rhea Seehorn)
“Black and Blue” (Melissa Bernstein)
“Axe and Grind” (Giancarlo Esposito)

“Stranger Things” season 4
“Chapter Seven: The Massacre At Hawkins Lab” (The Duffer Brothers)
“Chapter Four: Dear Billy” (Shawn Levy)

“Yellowjackets” season 1
“Pilot” (Karyn Kusama)
“F Sharp” (Jamie Travis)

“Pachinko” season 1
“Chapter One” (Kogonada)
“Chapter Four” (Justin Chon)

“Yellowstone” season 4
“Keep The Wolves Close” (Taylor Sheridan)
“Half The Money” (Stephen Kay)
“I Want To Be Him” (Christina Alexandra Voros)
“All I See Is You” (Guy Ferland)

“Bridgerton” season 2
“Capital R Rake” (Tricia Brock)
“The Choice” (Tom Verica)
“Harmony” (Cheryl Dunye)

“The Morning Show” season 2
“La Amara Vita” (Mimi Leder)
“Laura” (Lesli Linka Glatter)
“A Private Person” (Rachel Morrison)

“Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty” season 1
“The Swan” (Adam McKay)
“Who The F**k Is Jack Mckinney” (Damian Marcano)
“Pieces Of A Man” (Tanya Hamilton)
“Promised Land” (Salli Richardson-Whitfield)

PREDICT the 2022 Emmy nominees through July 12

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