The Emmys Got It Right (For Once)

The Emmys Got It Right (For Once)
Tatiana Maslany accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for “Orphan Black” at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Tatiana Maslany accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for “Orphan Black” at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

The 2016 Emmys aired last Sunday, and for once I walked away from a winner’s list with the feeling that every award went to a deserving performer or production. That’s a rare thing in awards shows, especially like the Emmys, where most of the winners are chosen through almost political processes of campaigning and hand-shaking, with possibly a little grease on the palms.

This year’s big winner, to literally no one’s surprise, was Game of Thrones, taking home statues for writing and effects among a litany of other things. I’m not going to talk too much about Game of Thrones, as the success and hype surrounding that show has made its Emmy wins a sure thing for half a decade now.

What I am going to talk about, and what I’m fairly sure I’ve spoken of in the past, is the wonder that is Tatiana Maslany. For four seasons, Maslany has knocked it out of the ballpark on a regular basis on BBC America’sOrphan Black, a sci-fi spectacle about a group of clones unraveling the mystery of their creation and existence. Because of the subject matter, Maslany has to channel upwards of eight different characters, each with their own distinct personality, often with many of them in the same room. There’s the street-wise con artist Sarah, the soccer mom Allison, the science guru Cosima, Sarah’s psychotic twin Helena, and a wealth of other distinct personalities. Had it not been clear from the beginning that this was all one woman performing many different roles, I would have been amazed that the BBC was able to find quintuplets that could act so well. After years of fan campaigns, Sunday saw Maslany getting her statue at long last, best leading actress in a drama series.

Danny Moloshok/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images Rami Malek, winner of the award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for “Mr. Robot”, attends the Governors Ball for the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, in Los Angeles.

Rami Malek, winner of the award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for “Mr. Robot”, attends the Governors Ball for the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, in Los Angeles. Danny Moloshok/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images

Rami Malek took home the statue for his performance in the incredible Mr. Robot, a surprise hit from the USA Network of all places. Over the course of ten episodes, Malek took viewers on a journey that can genuinely be described as mind blowing, building a world we thought we knew before making it crumble down as we watched on in awe. Malek plays Eli, an IT guy way too smart for his position where he works. He moonlights as something of a hacker vigilante, and anyone who has seen Hackers or Jurassic Park and sat through terrible Hollywood hacking is in for a surprise from Mr. Robot, which touts itself as the most technically accurate show about hacking ever made, a sentiment apparently shared by the Internet community in question. Malek was also the first man of color to win an Emmy in 18 years, which first of all, what!? And secondly, that’s pretty great considering awards shows reputations with non-white actors. The fact that in 2016, I have to type “the first person of color to” about anything is a pretty ridiculous thing.

On the comedy side of things, deserving awards went all around as Jeffrey Tambor brought home another award for his performance in Transparent, Julia Louis-Dreyfus won again for Veep, newly-minted Ghostbuster Kate McKinnon got the statue for being the best featured player on Saturday Night Live, Key & Peele won for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series, and most delightfully,Last Week Tonight With John Oliver won for Variety Talk Series. I’m looking forward to hearing what he has to say about it when he comes back. I’ll confess to not really knowing anything about Baskets, the show for which Louie Anderson won best supporting actor. That is apparently a big miss on my part, as I’ve heard endlessly since how badly I need to watch it.

The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story won for Outstanding Limited Series as well as awarding statues to leads Sarah Paulson and Courtney B. Vance for their performances therein. Supporting actor Sterling K. Brown also brought home a statue for American Crime Story, not to be confused with Regina King’s supporting actress win for ABC’s American Crime.

The 2016 Emmys felt different then Emmys of the past. Maybe it’s because this year, some truly deserving performers won. Maybe it was because, as even host Jimmy Kimmel acknowledged, Hollywood is finally becoming the diverse setting it’s touted itself as for decades. Mostly, I’m just happy that Tatiana Maslany finally got her statue. You seriously have no idea how much she’s deserved it.

Categories: Commentary