The Nominees Ranked By Which Should Win:
- D'Arcy Carden for NBC's The Good Place - "You've Changed, Man"
- Annie Murphy for Pop's Schitt's Creek - "The Presidential Suite"
- Betty Gilpin for Netflix's GLOW - "A Very GLOW Christmas"
- Alex Borstein for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - "Marvelous Radio"
- Cecily Strong for NBC's Saturday Night Live - "Host: Eddie Murphy"
- Kate McKinnon for NBC's Saturday Night Live - "Host: Daniel Craig"
- Yvonne Orji for HBO's Insecure - "Lowkey Lost"
- Marin Hinkle for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - "A Jewish Girl Walks Into the Apollo"
After several seasons, GLOW has basically moved out of the spotlight for the Emmy voters. However, it's much appreciated to see Betty Gilpin still get recognized. She remains one of the best performers amongst that stacked ensemble. The third season was terrific for her as well. That finale was so madcap in everything that it wanted to produce both in and out of the wrestling ring. She nailed the absurdity as well as the genuine emotional heartbreak. In fact, a number of performances nominated here were truly mesmerizing. Annie Murphy did such a phenomenal job taking a stock character and transforming her into a multi-dimensional human being across six seasons on Schitt's Creek. It was absolutely devastating to see how her love story played out. And yet, it conveyed a sense of maturity that would have been baffling several seasons previously. That emotional growth was Murphy's responsibility to portray. Her episode was the pinnacle of that story and she nailed every single beat. And finally, D'Arcy Carden was simply one of the most enjoyable parts of The Good Place throughout its entire run. She found humanity in bringing a robotic assistant to life. Every season she added a new layer of personification to the central Janet while having an absolute blast playing all the various different models in the afterlife. The addition of Disco Janet was a complete highlight from the final season. Plus, that humor never got in the way of being a significant asset to the various emotional journeys the rest of the ensemble was on. It was amazing work where every single moment was a goldmine of comedic joy.
The Nominees Ranked by Which Will Win:
- Alex Borstein for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - "Marvelous Radio"
- Annie Murphy for Pop's Schitt's Creek - "The Presidential Suite"
- D'Arcy Carden for NBC's The Good Place - "You've Changed, Man"
- Yvonne Orji for HBO's Insecure - "Lowkey Lost"
- Kate McKinnon for NBC's Saturday Night Live - "Host: Daniel Craig"
- Cecily Strong for NBC's Saturday Night Live - "Host: Eddie Murphy"
- Marin Hinkle for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - "A Jewish Girl Walks Into the Apollo"
- Betty Gilpin for Netflix's GLOW - "A Very GLOW Christmas"
Alex Borstein is the two-time reigning champion for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. As such, everyone has to see her as the frontrunner. She once again has a compelling story for winning once more. She has a solid episode submission. Plus, Marin Hinkle also being nominated gives both of them two episodes to showcase their performances. Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong enjoy the same benefit. With the Amazon dramedy, it's clear that Borstein is the favorite. She is the one who has won before while Hinkle has only been nominated. That may be a pattern too difficult to break. With SNL, McKinnon has won several times while Strong is enjoying her first nomination after being long overdue. Annie Murphy, D'Arcy Carden and Yvonne Orji were equally deserving of such recognition this year. Those three each have standout episode submissions as well. It should be noted though that Orji's character had more of a divisive season. The audience was split on whether or not to support or enjoy everything that was happening with her. Her episode was a fulcrum in that debate. That could either help or hurt her. It's hard to tell especially in a field where several of the nominees have been near universally acclaimed. People have talked about the greatness that Borstein, Murphy and Carden have done on their respective shows. It may just be a matter of choosing whether to award the known quantity or pass the baton to one of the performers who won't be nominated for these roles ever again. That does place some urgency for rewarding either Murphy or Carden. That may help them cross the finish line. Or perhaps someone else could sneak in. This could very well be one of the categories that sees a major upset that no one could have easily predicted at this point.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my predictions? Let me know in the comments below!
