Now this is a race.
You heard my spiel in the video I posted, and it’s true: once the nominees are set and they (and their “people” and/or the network) pick the one episode for Emmy voters to judge their past year’s performance on, I watch all of them. Yes, ALL. (Nerd alert!)
I figure, if you’re going to be an armchair awards prognosticator, you need to do your homework. Thank goodness for summer travel and all its trains, planes and subways, because that, my friends, is a lot of TV.
So, after watching more than seven hour of great performances, here are some musings from the Pop gallery:
- Lizzy Caplan, “Masters of Sex”: In the series’ pilot episode, Caplan is a revelation in a performance that’s luminous, grounded, sexy, bold, firm, maternal and powerful. She gets to play it all: scenes as a nurturing mother; in-charge and cool in a tryst with a co-worker; fierce with a university clerk when she asserts, “Sign me up for sociology classes… now”; reservedly confrontational with Masters in the hall, confidently declaring that an orgasm feels “fantastic” for a woman; and, the coupe de grace, a barn-burning scene on the terrance outside a formal event, where she comes raging back after getting slapped by her disgruntled lover. There’s a reason Caplan got in over many other actresses vying for this slot, and it could bring it home for her.
- Claire Danes”Homeland”: Danes does her best Carrie in “The Star,” the season finale in which she navigates the shocking developments surrounding Brody’s final capture and execution. She’s never not explosive, but the performance is much of what we’ve seen before. And while that’s boded well for her in this race in the past, I think voters will feel she’s been honored for the role.
- Michelle Dockery, “Downton Abbey”: The two-hour season opener that finds Lady Mary deep in grief after losing her beloved Matthew is a great pick for Dockery. Her despondent, nearly catatonic state at the beginning evolves and eventually erupts as she crumbles onto Carson’s shoulder at the end. It’s the most emotional we’ve ever seen the character, and Dockery plays it for all it’s worth.
- Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”: “The Last Call” opens with that unforgettable scene where Margulies’s Alicia, poised to speak at a political function in support of her husband, is told by Kalinda over the phone that Will is dead. It’s a spiral of grief, guilt and guesswork from that point on, as Alicia desperately tries to process a voicemail he left her before the shooting. Margulies displays excellent restraint and skilled emotional balance throughout the reel, with lots of screen time and a surprising range of choices that resonate.
- Kerry Washington, “Scandal”: One word was at the top of my notes on Washington’s episode: “YES!!!” As true a leading role as there is, Olivia is front-and-center in nearly every scene in “The Fluffer,” a can’t-stop-won’t-stop script (co-written by my old pal Raamla Mohamed) that gives Washington the opportunity to do it all—yes, including getting choked at the end. It’s a powerful female portrait that radiates an amazing energy, and Washington has everything to do with it.
- Robin Wright, “House of Cards”: As Claire, Wright shows new dimensions in the season finale, the first half of which is pretty much hers to own. Fantastic scenes visiting the young girl and breaking down on the staircase afterwards, only to compose herself, march upstairs (those boots!) and get back to being her old snakey self reverberate throughout the second half where she’s less present. Considered a frontrunner, and with good reason.
The Breakdown: This is looking like a three-way race between Wright, Caplan and Washington. Personally, I would have ticked one of the latter two ladies’ names on my ballot, but we’ll see if the Academy agrees.
So much talent in this group of top divas but only one award. Where are you putting your money? Next up: The Lead Actresses: Comedy Series