Give Sarah Snook an Emmy for That Episode of ‘Succession’
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(Warning: Spoilers ahead for Sunday night’s episode of Succession.)
There’s a moment in Sunday night’s bombshell episode of Succession that I can’t get out of my head—or my heart. After Kendall (Jeremy Strong) rushes to get his sister Shiv (Sarah Snook) to the private room where he and Roman (Kieran Culkin) are dealing with their family crisis, Roman hands her his phone and tells her that they think their father is dead.
“No,” she says, holding the phone like it’s a foreign object she had never seen before. She looks at it with an overwhelmed, stunned expression, as if she were staring at her father’s corpse through it. “I can’t have that.”
I can’t have that.
This is the line that absolutely gutted me, especially as delivered by Snook, who, the internet decreed absolutely must win an Emmy for her performance.
The Shocking ‘Succession’ Death Is a Brilliant Game-Changer
Sunday night’s shocking episode essentially exploded the water cooler. The big twist: Logan Roy (Brian Cox) died while on a private plane to Sweden for a business meeting. He was, at the last minute, skipping out on his son Connor’s (Alan Ruck) wedding, where the rest of the Roy siblings were when they received the news.
There’s something so corporate-speak about “I can’t have that.” It’s a phrase someone powerful would say in response to a boardroom decision they don’t like, or an assistant telling them they won’t be able to fulfill a request. You could cynically read into that line being Shiv’s instinct, the first thing that comes out of her mouth when her guard crashes down like an anvil after receiving such news: these children are so screwed up that they’re programmed to react to personal tragedy with boss-lady dictives.
But that’s not what’s happening. In a matter of seconds, Shiv processes the words that, no matter how much preparation a person does, there’s no managing the reaction to: “They think dad died.”
It’s a complicated, seemingly contradictory feeling of immediately understanding the gravity and the reality of what you just heard and what that means, while needing to be in disbelief and denial, almost as a form of self-care. “I can’t have that” isn’t a business-like dismissal of the news; it’s maybe the most honest—with herself and with her siblings—that Shiv has ever been. After everything she’s been through in her life and especially with her father, she can’t have him die. Not now. She’s not ready.
I don’t think I’ve seen an episode deal with the real-time grappling of a family death in such a recognizable way. In one hour, Succession captures the confusion, shell-shocked feeling, and instinct to leap into planning mode. There’s the impulse to not want to do anything but feel the grief, and the impulse to do any task that will distract from it—and they’re in a constant battle.
The entire cast is brilliant in the episode, but Snook is exceptional. From that initial reaction, to her brittle strength while trying to figure out what to do next with her family, to her quiet and tortured moment with her estranged husband Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), and especially her reading of the official statement of Logan’s passing to the press: She nails every beat, capturing the floating emotional nakedness of a person reeling, while retaining Shiv’s need to retain composure and control at all times.
In the hours after the episode aired, “Sarah Snook Emmy” was trending on Twitter. Here’s a sampling of the praise:
me outside of the academy of television arts and sciences if they do not give sarah snook her goddamn emmy pic.twitter.com/7gWLPGZRGr
— Will Kellogg (@Will_Kellogg) April 10, 2023
The way Sarah Snook engraved her name into the Emmy with this scene - it’s a SPOILER, so don’t click it if you haven’t seen the episode #Succession https://t.co/xoTwFAPX2j
— Jazz Tangcay (@jazzt) April 10, 2023
Sarah Snook collecting Emmy clips like they’re Infinity Stones https://t.co/sNlpgWerTP
— Zoë Rose Bryant (@ZoeRoseBryant) April 10, 2023
Wow. #SuccessionHBO is so brilliant at seemingly insignificant setups that have huge emotional payoffs.. my favorite being that diner scene in the previous episode to this wordless reaction. Bra-fucking-vo! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Also, Sarah Snook better win an Emmy. She’s carrying this season. pic.twitter.com/4GQbAMUGtd
— Steven Canals (@StevenCanals) April 10, 2023
Go ahead and start etching Sarah Snook’s name on that Emmy right now…no need to delay the inevitable! @TelevisionAcad
— Michael. (@yosoymichael) April 10, 2023
SARAH SNOOK THE EMMY IS YOURS!!! pic.twitter.com/bddgX7gGR6
— jenneth goulet (@kennyroysgrammy) April 10, 2023
all i can say is that they’d better start melting down all the current 2023 emmy statues and get to work on making one great big giant fucking jumbo emmy for sarah snook to say sorry for all the years they’ve neglected to reward her incomparably brilliant work on succession pic.twitter.com/xEHM40xIHL
— shiv roy’s sugar baby 🍭 | s4 spoilers (@shivussy) April 10, 2023
The people have spoken. Emmy voters, you’re next.
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