The Emmy Nominees - Drama

Predictably terrible. Granted, Hannibal wasn't eligible this go-around, but JUSTIFIED AND THE AMERICANS SURE AS HELL WERE.

(Here were my wishes last year and the eventual reactionary post).

Okay. Let's do this.

Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards
Mad Men
Orange is the New Black
The Americans
Justified 
The Knick
Daredevil
Outlander 

Me, too, Raylan. Me, too.

Clearly, The Good Wife and The Fall whiffed this season, nor was I entirely thrilled with Broadchurch S2. Sons of Anarchy was a snub for lots of folk, and the Leftovers and Rectify have small, but devoted followings. I've heard S2 of Halt and Catch Fire is a huge improvement from S1. I haven't finished Outlander quite yet, but the first half was fab (THERE'S A COSTUME DRAMA FOR YOU, OLDER EMMY VOTERS), and easily better than Downton. I mean, seriously: nominating Downton and Homeland at this point is ridiculous, I'm kinda almost okay with HoC and OITNB, but GoT is just fucking irresponsible. THERE IS SO MUCH GOOD TV OUT THERE AT THIS POINT, EMMYS. YOUR JOB IS TO WATCH IT.

(Fun with the ballot: True Blood was submitted for its final season! BWAHAHAHAHA.)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Kyle Chandler, Bloodline
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Timothy Olyphant, Justified
Matthew Rhys, The Americans 
Sam Heughan, Outlander
Charlie Cox, Daredevil
Grant Gustin, The Flash
Josh Hartnett, Penny Dreadful

I know several of those sound like fan service, but hear me out.

First off, no Timothy Olyphant? Unacceptable.

ME TOO.

I'm surprised that Josh Hartnett was submitted as a lead for Penny Dreadful, but he had a terrific arc this season. I've never been a fan of his, but he's really surprised me on this show. Plus, he is responsible for my single favorite, most believable moment on tv this year:

And, in that moment, we were all Ethan Chandler.

And granted, it shouldn't surprise me that the Emmys overlook genre work - it took Tatiana three years to be nominated - but it's such a shame to have so much good work overlooked. Speaking of which:

*sniffle*

Daredevil was surprisingly good, and with Charlie Cox's portrayal of Matt Murdock gave us some great scenes, like Matt being surprised by Fisk, his chats with his priest, or - what I think is the crowning bit of the series - Matt and Foggy's episode long-fight when Foggy discover's Matt's secret. It was so devastating and so well played by the two of them. Oh - and he played blind really well.

*open sobbing*

The Flash is, let's face it, a superhero show on the CW, and one that has astoundingly stupid villain names and a hyper-intelligent talking gorilla. Plus it took a few episodes to find its footing -- but damn if it didn't get great. Part of that was due to the season-long arc with Tom Cavanagh's excellent, complex villain. But at this point? I care waaaaay more about Barry Allen's emotional well-being than... most other superheroes. Certainly most of the Avengers. And Grant Gustin gets several great scenes to play: meetings with his father in prison, any father/son scenes with Jesse L. Martin - particularly the finale, watching his mother die AGAIN. Basically, what I'm saying is: the boy cries well.

(I haven't seen S2 of Peaky Blinders yet, so I can't be sure, but I'd be surprised if Cillian Murphy weren't excellent. And I've heard the same for Aden Young in Rectify. He'll never be up, but I love Michael Emerson on Person of Interest.)

OH. PETER CAPALDI. Why is he not eligible for Doctor Who? I LOVED his take on the character.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Taraji P Henson, Empire
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Keri Russell, The Americans
Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
Hayley Atwell, Agent Carter 
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander 
Olivia Colman, Broadchurch 

Helena to all the other nominees

Huzzah for Tatiana! ABOUT DAMN TIME. (Even if I was less thrilled with S3 than previous ones).

And I would like to have seen these ladies included as well:

That is some serious intensity

At least someone does

Finally, The Fall fell off a cliff (heh) at the end of S2, but Gillian Anderson did some more great work up to that point. I haven't seen The Affair, but I love Ruth Wilson so much from Luther, that I'll add her in here.


Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Eve Hewson, The Knick
Cara Seymour, The Knick
Juliet Rylance, The Knick
Alison Wright, The Americans
Taryn Manning, OITNB
Helen McCrory, Penny Dreadful
Billie Piper, Penny Dreadful

All Hail Christine! I would have liked to have seen Archie Panjabi up as a final fuck you to Juliana for screwing the pooch so royally, but Archie didn't get much to do this year. I definitely wanted to see Joelle Carter up for Justified, particularly for the episode when Boyd takes her hunting, and her epilogue, even if for a lot of the season she was mostly terrified (then again, cersei wanders around being pissed off, and that gets her nominated...). The ladies of the Knick were across the board great. And given her arc, Holly Taylor on the Americans really could've been in this category, and Alison Wright should have beem. Her struggle as to whether or not to accept that Philip as Clark was lying to her was heartbreaking. I really liked both ladies on Halt and Catch Fire. Emily Bett Rickards is the entire reason to watch Arrow, outside of the fight scenes. Amy Acker was really good as the heartbroken Root on Person of Interest this season, and she plays crazy but caring really well. Carrie Coon was supposedly great on the Leftovers. Finally, both Helen McCrory and Billie Piper got some excellent material to tear into that was just begging for Emmy consideration. Helen's plea to Sir Malcolm about loneliness was startlingly touching, and Billie's monologue revealing her true nature is just a barn-burner.

Also, shouldn't Katey Sagal be in here?

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Michael Kelly, House of Cards
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Walton Goggins, Justified
Andre Holland, The Knick
Vincent D'Onofrio, Daredevil
Jesse L. Martin, The Flash 
Tom Cavanagh, The Flash 
Matt Czuchry, The Good Wife 
Noah Emmerich, The Americans 
Harry Treadaway, Penny Dreadful 

This category is invalid without this inclusion. It just is.

Just... no. Walton Goggins as Boyd forever. I am counting my blessings that one of my favorite characters got a fitting closure, but his work was SO good, and it deserved to be recognized, for fucks sake.

Vincent D'Onofrio was fantastic on Daredevil. Andre Holland was a true breakout star. The Flash was weirdly submitted as a drama (?), but Jesse L. Martin is great on that show. All his moments with Barry were fantastic. Harry Treadaway managed to toe the line of creepy, without becoming completely repulsive. I actually quite like Ben Mendelsohn, Jonathan Banks, and Michael Kelly as actors, but I've yet to see their seasons. Still, I'm happy to see them included. And of course, I adore Alan Cumming, so I'm thrilled to see him on here, even if it is for a season when I would have preferred to see more of him and less of Steven Pasquale. Also, I heard great things about Christopher Eccleston on the Leftovers. Matt Czuchry got to do some his best work ever in Cary's being framed. Sam Elliott was creepy as all get-out on Justified, and Garrett Dillahunt was an excellent addition to the cast. Jordan Gavarais didn't get as much to do on Orphan Black S3, but he's always good and Ari Millen followed in Tatiana's footsteps to play 5 clones this season. Surprised to not see Mandy Patinkin in here. Tom Hardy shows up on Peaky Blinders, I'm sure he's excellent. And I really enjoy Graham McTavish on Outlander.

Basically... why doesn't this category have 8 nominees, too?

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Alan Alda, The Blacklist
Michael J. Fox, The Good Wife
F. Murray Abraham, Homeland
Reg E. Cathey, House of Cards
Beau Bridges, Masters of Sex
Pablo Schreiber, Orange Is the New Black
Simon Russell Beale, Penny Dreadful
David Hyde Pierce, Good Wife
Dylan Baker, Good Wife 

Sure? I mean, I prefer Dylan Baker's Colin Sweeney to Michael J. Fox's appearances. And David Hyde Pierce was a GREAT foil this season. Beau Bridges and Allison Janey (below) were both heartbreaking on Masters of Sex, although I didn't make it through all of S2 (apparently Christian Borle showed up?) Walton Goggins was up several times for his guest stints on SoA, so why not this year?

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Margo Martindale, The Americans
Diana Rigg, Game of Thrones
Rachel Brosnahan, House of Cards
Cicely Tyson, How to Get Away With Murder
Allison Janney, Masters of Sex
Khandi Alexander, Scandal
Patti LuPone, Penny Dreadful
Rosario Dawson, Daredevil 
Kaitlyn Dever, Justified
Julia Garner, The Americans
Linda Lavin, Good Wife
Julianne Nicholson, Masters of Sex
Lois Smith, The Americans

Love Margo Martindale and love Rachel Brosnahan on HoC. Lois Smith was unbelievably good on her episode of the Americans. Patti LuPone delivered one of my favorite hours of tv. And I loved Loretta on Justified. I hope she grew up to be the weed queen of Harlan.

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
Boardwalk Empire, "Eldorado"
Game of Thrones, "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken"
Game of Thrones, "Mother's Mercy"
Homeland, "From A to B and Back Again"
The Knick, "Method and Madness"
The Americans, "March 8, 1983"
The Knick, "Get the Rope"

Well, I would HOPE Soderbergh gets it, but honestly I thought that Get the Rope was the best directed thing on last year, so I'm surprised that the pilot is up instead (not that it wasn't great, too).  Weirdly, I heard 13 hours in Islamabad was supposed to be the best episode of Homeland.

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
The Americans, “Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?”
Better Call Saul, “Five-O”
Game of Thrones, “Mother’s Mercy”
Mad Men, “Lost Horizon”
Mad Men, “Person to Person”
The Knick, "Get the Rope"
Daredevil, "Nelson v. Murdock"

AT LEAST THE AMERICANS GOT ONE BONE. This was the amazing episode in which Elizabeth deals with the elderly lady who stumbles in on them bugging the mail robot.

Soooo.... Yeah.