There are no two ways about it. Rhea Seehorn has consistently given one of the best performances on all of TV over Better Call Saul’s 5 seasons on air. Over the past couple of seasons, she’s arguably giving the best performance and has easily made Kim Wexler’s argument as the best character in the entire Breaking Bad universe. Because of her relatively low-key role in the series through the initial seasons, fans such as myself have been peeved but ultimately not too upset by her yearly Emmy snubs. Even her snub for season 4, when she stepped into the impossible void left by the absence of Michael McKean’s performance as Jimmy’s brother, Chuck, was somewhat excusable since it was the first season where Seehorn really began to dominate the show.
Fine, Emmys, you get your one year to realize your mistake and make up for it. I don’t like it, but I understand it. Season 5 is a no-brainer, though, right? Nope. Here we go again.
To put it plainly, season 5 of Better Call Saul belonged to Kim Wexler. Indisputably. She was as much a main character as Saul himself, if not more so. This year’s snub isn’t understandable. It isn’t excusable. It isn’t a case of a good actress who just couldn’t break through on a list of amazing actors who deserve it just as much as she did, or more. Rhea Seehorn is giving the best performance, on arguably the best show, and couldn’t even get a nomination. This is the same kind of snub as Carrie Coon and The Leftovers never getting nominated, as The Wire not getting nominated for Outstanding Drama, as Bojack Horseman being ignored.
This is the kind of snub that reminds you why the Emmys are not, and have never, been an actual judge of the best on TV. It’s the kind of snub that reminds you why their ratings hit new lows every year.
I understand how it is impossible to fully recognize everyone who deserves a mention in every category. I truly do. It’s why I’ve never felt too angered about Seehorn’s previous snubs because they typically fell in line with the others you see people ranting about online. There have never been more great shows that deserve recognition. Here’s the thing, though; at some point, when basically every TV critic and everyone in the business is in agreement about a particular show, actor, director, etc., there comes a point where the snubs become a joke.
The dirty little secret about the Emmys, that its judges don’t even watch the shows they judge and fall back on the same nominations ever year so that they don’t have to watch anything else, becomes obvious. So does the fact that it’s all about hype and network gift baskets, as seen by the awards lavished on Game of Thrones over the years. This is nothing new. It won’t be new when the next Emmys do it. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck to see happen year after year after year. You’d like to think the show awarding “the best of TV” would actually reward the best.
As usual, I could go on about the obvious mistakes and lazy cop-outs littering the nominations as they do every year. Maybe at some point before the show, I will. Right now, though, we have yet another historic snub, one that just purely shames the entire event. Rhea Seehorn deserves better, and will deserve it next time, when yet again the Emmys will snub her. And I’ll yet again not be watching their bogus awards ceremony, along with another huge chunk of their previous audience.
