My Picks For This Year's Emmys: Best Actress in a Drama

The last three consecutive winners are ineligible, and the one prior to that (Viola Davis) has seen her series go into a steep decline. Emilia Clarke was considered an early favorite, but she couldn’t get in last year, and that was before the shift in her character’s arc that was so great even Clarke had a problem with it. As for Robin Wright, I think the stink of scandal that now surrounds House of Cards is likely to poison any chance she might have at a final nomination. So who will compete? So glad you asked…

Christine Baranski, The Good Fight

The fact that she was shut out last season is enough of a reason to see the voters rectify their mistake. (They managed to do it with Keri Russell the last three seasons of The Americans.)  Over the past decade, Diane Lockhart has become one of the most remarkable female characters on television – a bastion of feminism now trying to stand for sanity in an increasingly anarchy driven world. Watching her stand against foes without and within is one of the great treats of the medium, and it’s been worth watching her anger direct her towards this strange new world was part of. The Emmys have yet to honor her for her superb work playing this character. This seems like a great chance to start.

Jodie Comer, Killing Eve

For all of the (understandably) high praise that has been lavished upon Sandra Oh, Comer’s psychotic assassin seems to get short shrift when it comes to what makes this series rock and roll. I really hope Villanelle never hears about that. Because Comer has taken what would be the most worn-out of clichés – the femme fatale assassin – and given it fear and menace in a way that we’ve never seen before. It’s been more than two years, and we’re still not sure what motivates Villanelle – other than Eve, of course.  And watching her recovery the attack – both physical and psychological – that climaxed the first season reminds us that there is a micron of humanity buried under there. Villanelle remains one of the most startlingly original women on television, and Comer should get credit for it.

Laura Linney, Ozark

Is she still too young to be considered an icon? Linney has established one of the more remarkable careers on television over the past twenty years, and its hard to imagine that she would be capable of surprising us. But as Wendy, the wife and mother who has been dragged into certain death scenario after another over the past two seasons on Ozark, Linney takes the usual warmth that we have come to expect from her as an actress, and turned into a dark realism that is really frightening. One of the sadder parts of the New Golden Age is how the wives of antiheroes – be they Carmela Soprano or Skyler White – take harsher criticism than the men do. Its hard to imagine anyone given that kind of critique to Wendy Byrde, because she has established her ruthless streak early and well. Linney already has three Emmys, and I think it likely she may end up getting another one for her work here. Though maybe not yet.

Mandy Moore, This is Us

It’s even harder to understand why Moore’s alternately heartwarming and heartbreaking work hasn’t even earned her a nomination. Her brilliant scene last year when Rebecca learned of Jack’s death alone deserved a nomination. And yet despite her incredible work, she doesn’t even seem to enter the conversation this year. Are the Emmy voters blind? As the one actress who links the past and the present, she remains the heart of the show in a way that not even Brown does. Her prickly relationship with Kate, her learning of her husband’s past, the unforgettable monologue in the waiting room as she finally broke down over just what it meant to be back in a hospital decades later – any one of these would make an Emmy highlight film. Are we so driven by ruthless females we can’t recognize the good ones anymore? I really hope the Emmys start making up for this. A nomination this year would be a good way to start.

Sandra Oh, Killing Eve

Even though the Golden Globe, SAG Award, and all the other trophies have effectively come for the first season, I think its safe to see that this year’s best actress is Oh’s to lose. Never mind that she’s been working in TV for more than twenty years – including five consecutive Supporting Actress nods – and never received a trophy. Or the fact that she would be the first Asian actress to received an Emmy for a lead for anything Emmy related. Watching Eve and Villanelle do their bizarre dance for two years, and watching Eve realizing that the relationship with this cold-blooded killer is worth more than anything – including her job, her friendships, and her marriage – is one of the most mesmerizing pas de deux in the history of television. The fact that its being done by two women is even more groundbreaking. They both deserve to win eventually, but let’s be honest – Eve should always come first.

Julia Roberts, Homecoming

Watching Heidi go through two separately fascinating timelines – the past where she works as a therapist to concentrating on helping a battle-scarred veteran, and the present, where’s she working as a waitress and has absolutely no memory of why she there’s in the first place – would seem to be an ideal setup for Rod Serling or the Coen Brothers. It’s a matter of personal triumph that Roberts – who, for all her box office pull, is still an incredible actress – plays these two different personalities like she’s slipping on a coat, with just enough residual bits to remind you that they’re both the same woman. Even if you know how this is going to end doesn’t change the fact that this is a tour de force by a great actress, and more than deserves to be remembered even if she can’t.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Christina Hendricks, Good Girls

I actually think this satirical crime drama wouldn’t be out of place among the Emmys picks for Best Drama. But Hendricks work is definitely of a higher level. Beth is one of the more unique characters above the new breed of antiheroines – a woman who gets involved in crime because she wants to save her family, but admits to herself that there’s something in it that appeals to her more than just holding bake sales and attending PTA meetings. Beth has more self-awareness to her than so many of the other antiheroes in the Golden Age, but can’t seem to stop herself from sliding to darkness, no matter what the cost. Add the fact that Hendricks was, next to Jon Hamm, the most shafted actor on Mad Men by the Emmys, and you have a solid reason that she should be considered for Best Actress.