Every year the Emmys celebrate the best television has to offer, but that’s not always the case as some of the best are excluded every year. While there are few genuine surprises this year, The Americans finally being recognized after three seasons of being snubbed in every major category or Kit Harrington and Maisie Williams finally receiving nominations, there are still 10 glaring omissions that at least need mentioning.

10) Sophie Turner – Game of Thrones (Season 6)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

For five seasons we see Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark consistently brutalized, face both physical and psychological trauma, and experience unspeakable tragedies at the hand of her captors. By season 6 however, we see the young lady of Winterfell unleash a newfound autonomy, mend broken wounds and establish herself anew in the Seven Kingdoms. It seems almost too perfect a time for Sophie Turner to get nominated, particularly when the co-stars who actually were nominated (Emilia Clarke and Lena Headey) start to feel more static in their roles.

9) Jon Bernthal – Daredevil (Season 2)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

The Emmys seem to be going through a phase of stunted superhero acknowledgement, refusing to acknowledge Daredevil even in cinematography. The second season of Daredevil actually has four great performances: Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, Scott Glenn as Stick and Elodie Yung as Elektra, and, of course, Jon Bernthal as the Punisher. Bernthal is intimidating as all hell, but it’s the weakness he reveals beneath his cold-hearted veneer that make his portrayal of the tortured anti-hero an instant classic and a truly under-recognized performance.

8) Keith Gordon – Fargo (Episode, “Loplop”)

Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special

I’m going to make on thing clear, every episode of Fargo is deserving of a Best Director nod. That being said, no episode deserves the accolade more than Loplop. The deceptively simple kidnapping plot at the episode’s centre is an anomaly, a study of gender politics, institutional misogyny, racism and criminal redemption. The episode itself is an amalgam of every little detail that made Fargo’s second season a masterpiece.

7) Oscar Isaac – Show Me a Hero

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

This one seemed like a no-brainer. Oscar Isaac, a fresh faced up-and-comer, tackling headier performances and destined to become one of the next big things is inexplicably snubbed for what very well is his most tastefully high-strung performance to date. And the fact that he won a Golden Globe a few months prior added to the strangeness of this omission.

6) Orange is the New Black (Season 4)

Outstanding Drama Series

Maybe its fallout from the disappointingly lackluster third season but how did the funniest, most disturbing and morally complex of the Orange is the New Black seasons get snubbed in every major category, especially the big one!

 

5) Krysten Ritter & David Tennant – Jessica Jones (Tie)

Outstanding Lead Actress & Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

It’s cheating to add both but I honestly couldn’t choose between the two. Jessica Jones is the first Marvel production to feature a female lead, and in that respect it completely succeeds. Krysten Ritter is a revelation as broken soul and hard-as-nails private eye. David Tennant is equal parts terrifying and pathetic as a man with everything at the palm of his hands, except the thing he wants most. Both take the superhero genre to another level of artistry not even the films have yet to match, and their snubs are nothing short of criminal.

4) Taylor Schilling – Orange is the New Black (Season 4)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Orange is the New Black completely ups its game, and Taylor Schilling rises to the challenge in more ways than one. I won’t reveal what happens in the show, but Schilling expresses more range this season than in any others.

3) Patrick Wilson – Fargo

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Fargo saw two new talents break out, Bokeem Woodbine as an ironic villain, an African-American criminal who spouts lectures on manifest destiny, and Jesse Plemons, a small-town butcher driven to hard crime. Both were fantastic and more than deserving of their nominations, but let’s not forget that it’s Patrick Wilson’s kind-hearted portrayal of a small town police officer brought the show down to earth. His honest, hard working all-American, tested by cruel fate and societal injustice, works to end the anarchy characterizing Fargo. In other words, Wilson’s performance is a crucial player and his snub is nothing less than surprising.

2) Rick and Morty (Season 2)

Outstanding Animated Program

No question Rick and Morty is one of the best shows on television. It’s a hilarious, profound, ridiculously innovative and deeply poignant animated series which has more to say about the human condition than any show in general. It’s snub is criminal but not surprising. The show is rude, vulgar and crudely illustrated. It’s appalling but more than likely it’s those things alone that prevented this masterpiece from being nominated. That being said it doesn’t take a genius to deduce the amount of emotional expression, inventiveness and vision that goes behind every frame and texture of this animated classic.

1) Peter Gould – Better Call Saul (Episode, “Nailed”)

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

Not a single nomination for writing went to Better Call Saul. As baffling as that sounds choosing a favorite or the “best” was a hard one. I ultimately went with “Nailed“, the second last episode of season 2. This is mostly because the episode had everything it needed to make Jimmy not only a compelling character but a flat out important one. It brought into question Jimmy’s criminal behavior, whether what he did was truly the right thing or petty theft. The conflict between him and his brother amounts to more than petty squabbles, and becomes a moralizing question in and of itself.  This suspense-driven episode demonstrated not only some of the best writing in television.

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