2013 Critics’ Choice TV Awards: Emilia Clarke, ‘Dexter’s’ Jennifer Carpenter do battle

For this Critics’ Choice TV Awards article, we’re sticking with drama and talking about some very strong ladies from the past year. The Supporting Actress field is in part surprising, in part amazing, and it recognizes even that the Sundance Channel legitimately exists. We also have no clue who is going to win this, and that is always something that leads to some pretty fun discussion.

We want to know who some of your picks are below! In case you want to read our take on some of the other nominees, you can see all of our Critics’ Choice TV Awards picks at the link here.

Nominees – Jennifer Carpenter, “Dexter” (Showtime), Emilia Clarke, “Game of Thrones” (HBO), Anna Gunn, “Breaking Bad” (AMC), Regina King, “Southland” (TNT), Monica Potter, “Parenthood” (NBC), Abigail Spencer, “Rectify” (Sundance Channel)

The surprises – Do we need to say Abigail Spencer again? It’s a deserving nod, but this is such a small channel at this point that not a whole lot of people know about the show. We’re also somewhat surprised to see Clarke sneak in here, largely because Daenerys really has not had that much screen time this season, save for a few notable scenes.

Snubs – Archie Panjabi of “The Good Wife” is a big one, but personally we have to say that the names that we are most surprised not to see here is anyone from “Downton Abbey” (Michelle Dockery, Maggie Smith) or “Mad Men” (Christina Hendricks, January Jones, Jessica Pare).  Then again, this goes with this show’s desire to break somewhat for the norm.

Who should win – With so many strong candidates, we’re going to go with King in hopes that she, and “Southland,” finally get their due as the cop drama that all other cop dramas wish they could be. It would be a nice hurrah for the show, as well, given its recent cancellation. We very much admire Monica Potter’s work, so we would put her second.

Who will win – This is another tough one. One particular scene from “Breaking Bad” season 5 (featuring the pool) may be enough to get Anna Gunn the win, but it will probably be close between her, Potter, and maybe even Jennifer Carpenter, who is finally being recognized for “Dexter” even on a year when Michael C. Hall is not.

Photo: Critics’ Choice TV Awards