The Tail Section

Because he didn’t submit his name.  That was easy.

On Friday the official ballot for this year’s Emmy Awards was sent out to voters, and one name conspicuyously absent is that of former Emmy winner Terry O’Quinn, aka John Locke.  It’s unclear whether he purposefully withdrew his name like Katherine Heigl famously did on Grey’s Anatomy or if he just forgot to submit the required paperwork, but either way, Terry O’Quinn will definitely not have to wake up early when the Emmy nominations are announced.

This is actually great news for the otherwise crowded Supporting Actor contenders, especially on Lost.  Michael Emerson, Jeremy Davies and even Josh Holloway have all been spectacular and without O’Quinn, there might be one more spot to bgrab a nomination.

As for other potential Emmy nominees, the rest of the cast is submitted, with Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly as the only two leads despite the fact that Josh Holloway was more of a leading man this season than Fox as far as I’m concerned.

For the guest acting categories, the only actors from Lost submitted are Sterling Beaumon (aka Young Ben), Alan Dale (aka Charles Widmore) and Lance Redddick (aka Matthew Abaddon).  Interestingly enough, that means the fantastic Fionnula Flanagan didn’t submit herself as Mrs. Hawking and Mark Pellegrino’s wonderful performance as Jacob isn’t eligible either.

A strong, buzzed about season and the fact that the main categories are all expanded to six nominees this year means that Lost is a strong contender for another Drama Series nomination, and the Supporting Actor race is also likely to see one or two Lost men nominated.  Currently, I’d say Emerson and Davies are strong contenders for nominations given how important their characters were.