Before we dwell into that I would just like to say what I think why ‘The Americans’ didn’t get a lot of nominations. The academy likes certain types of shows that have a certain pacing. If you’ve noticed shows like ‘Breaking Bad’, ‘House of Cards, or ‘Downton Abbey’, they can get pretty slow. Sometimes all they do is focus on the dialogue without showing any action. I’m not against that, I actually like these shows. I’m not saying ‘The Americans’ doesn’t have these kinds of insightful moments, where Elizabeth (Keri Russell) explains her origins or Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) thinks about his friend Chris Amador (Maximiliano Hernandez). But what sets ‘The Americans’ apart is that it’s balanced. We get a lot of dialogue and then we get action. What ‘The Americans’ brought back is a show that is capable of great dialogue while entertaining their audience with some gunplay and knife fights. Apparently, the academy doesn’t like that.
And now to the reasons why The Americans deserve more Emmys:
Keri Russell
When I started watching ‘The Americans’, all I could think of is Keri Russell’s character Felicity. Even when Elizabeth Jennings was kicking heads into walls, all I could think of was “Felicity is a bad ass now”. But as the show progressed and the intricate details started to weave a better and more complicated character, Keri Russell wasn’t Felicity anymore, she was Elizabeth Jennings. There are only a couple of actors who have successfully achieved this (at the top of my head, Bryan Cranston and Claire Danes). So it’s such a disappointment that Keri Russell didn’t earn an Emmy nomination.
Matthew Rhys
Oh Matthew, you sure picked a hard fight. I really believe that TV is the hottest place to be, even for entertainers. If you still haven’t noticed it, the movie industry is invading TV one show at a time. Kevin Spacey has a TV show, Martin Scorsese directed ‘Boardwalk Empire’s’ pilot etc. When movie invades TV, the quality of the shows increase. Cable shows are the front runners now, while network dramas are (successfully) keeping up. My point is, that’s bad news for our main man Matthew Rhys. Although his very excellent portrayal of a Russian spy was obviously best actor material, the competition is just too dense.
Noah Emmerich
Noah wasn’t famous. He was just ‘that guy’ who we see in movies and TV. He hasn’t been a lead, yet, but his performances are so strong that he outshines the other actors. He had a lot of good moments in the show. Outbursts of violence and his nights of inebriation were great, but even if he’s not making any outlandish moves or making big great speeches, even when he’s just talking to his neighbors, you could see a subtlety and an intelligence that some actors only wished to achieve.
I may be biased, but I’m not the only one who thinks that ‘The Americans’ deserves more nominations. Better luck next year guys, I’m rooting for ya’.
