'Lost': Did Michael Emerson deserve his Emmy for Best Supporting Actor?
I'm not aiming to cause a riot here on the blog today, "Lost" fans. But the title of this entry is one I have not seen anyone ask, so I figure I might as well be the first one to do so. Keep in mind: this isn't some attack on Michael Emerson. His portrayal of Benjamin Linus will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest performances in television history. My question isn't whether the man is worthy of an Emmy: my question is, "Was this the right year to honor him?"
I ask this because I'm not sure Season 5 featured his best work. Is "good" Michael Emerson better than most actors' best? Undoubtedly. But his win this year surprised me, and not in a good way. I wasn't thinking, "About time!" Which maybe I should have been thinking. And sure, deep in the back of my mind there was no small mount of glee at learning he had one. But the thought at the forefront of my cerebral cortex was, "Why now?"
Let's take a quick peak at what Michael Emerson put forth on the small screen in his first few seasons on "Lost," shall we?
Season 2: Arrives on the scene as the mysterious Henry Gale. Gets beaten to a pulp while swearing by his own innocence. Causes no small amount of confusion for both the Lostaways and the audience. Turns breakfast into the single creepiest meal of the day. Mind-fraks everyone while showing surprising flashes of strength and violence. Oh, and reveals himself as the leader of the Others.
Season 3: Engineers a long con that eventually cures his fatal tumor. Manages to maintain order of a splintering group of natives even while bound in a wheelchair. Manages to snag victory from the jaws of defeat over and over again until, at last, streaks of vulnerability are shown once Locke confronts him about Jacob. Turns at the end into The Man Child That Cried Boat, so soaked with decades of misdirection that no one heeds his Cassandra-like calls.
Season 4: Turns defeat into black comedy, layering shades of pungent comedy that had rarely been seen before. His initial bemusement at Team Locke's cluelessness melts into pure tragedy as Ben forces us to actually FEEL for the show's former Big Bad as he watches Alex, and all his preconceptions about his place on the Island, die before his eyes. The once haughty leader is reduced to teary-eyed donkey wheel turner, unaware of just how much he himself has been fooled.
All three seasons to me were Emmy-worthy. And it's not that Season 5 suddenly featured phone-in performances from a bored Michael Emerson. But in terms of screen time, interesting arcs, and overall levels of performance, I fail to see how this one pushed him over the top. Aside from the jaw-dropping scene at the end of "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," and his climatic scene in "The Incident," it's hard to point to a place in the season where Emerson took his already-amazing performance to levels heretofore unseen. (If his silent scene in "Cabin Fever" with Jorge Garcia in which the two silently share an Apollo Bar didn't net him an Emmy, what possibly could?)
"But Ryan," you say, "You're missing the point. The Emmys aren't an accurate metric by which performances are measured. It's all politics." Possibly. But I'm still left wondering if Emerson's win this year wasn't a recognition of his work this particular season, but rather a belated, collective recognition of the four-year body of work that he's imparted upon a consistently surprised, engaged, and impressed viewing public.
"But Ryan," you say, "You're dead wrong. Emerson managed to pull off the impossible this season: turning the once all-knowing evil genius into a hollow, pathetic figure in an organic manner. You better recognize!" Again, let me reiterate: I'm not slamming Emerson's work this season. My problems with Ben in Season 5 lie in the writing of his character, not his execution of it. Until he arrived back on the Island, the show managed to make Ben...uninteresting. Which I thought was physically impossible to do. A man who once made every scene in which he was in was instead saddled with craptastic dialogue like this:
Jack: You said John never came to see you.
Ben: That's true, Jack. I went to see him.
Ryan: Kill me in the face with a hammer.
Kate: I'm coming with you.
(That might not be an entirely accurate transcript.)
While he did convincingly complete his regression from Season 2's all-powerful high to Season 5's all-time low, I just didn't get to see all the various layers that Ben so often got to show in the previous three years. It was a beautifully played slide downward, but it was unidirectional. Emmy-worthy? Sure. But not more so than previous years, in which you simply didn't know what kind of Ben you'd see in a particular scene.
The upside? Having hit bottom, Ben has nowhere to go up, and in doing so might reach another level that his character has rarely shown: heroism. If he can stop asking, "What about me?" he might realize that his thwarted destiny as Island Heir might still yield a life in which he can make a positive difference for the place that he currently covets, but might learn to love. And if that happens, I'm sure we'll get another award-worthy performance from one of the most reliable actors on television.
Then again, maybe thinking about awards this much is the wrong way to approach it. Doing things in order to seek public accolade seems antithetical to Jacob's basic approach, no?
What did you think of Emerson's win: given in the wrong year? Long overdue? Both? Leave your thoughts below!
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Michael's performance in season 2 was insanely good. However he was a guest star not a supporting actor. He was nominated in seasons 3 and 4 and did not receive it. Doesn't matter what could have happened he did not get it. In my opinion his performance as Ben Linus must be recognized by the Emmys and if they did not do it this year they would to some degree be forced to do it next year and we do not yet know what season 6 hold for Ben Linus. What if season 6 is not a strong season for Ben or God forbid he is killed off. Giving him the Emmy this year was perfect letting the academy off the hook for next year unless they choose to nominate him again. Michael has his Emmy for his performance on Lost so does Terry O'Quinn which is as it should be. They are the best actors on tv at the moment. Finally all the other actors nominated in Michael's category will go on in there perspective shows and can be nominated till the academy's content. And as for Shatner he's received his Emmy already.
I LOVE MICHAEL EMERSON!!! THE LAST POST WAS BY ME. I FORGOT TO GIVE MY NAME AND EMAIL.
Ya, the academy is screwed up, there is NO ONE who disagrees with that. But you know what, 20 years from now, I'm going to remember Michael Emerson as the Emmy-winner actor for Lost, not the Emmy-winner for Season 5 of Lost. I see this award as an honor for his acting in all seasons.
As soon as you made your cryptic post on the LTDA post, I knew exactly what you were going to write (although I admit I didn't see the hammer/face thing coming!).
I agree totally that S5 was Ben's (not necessarily Emerson's) weakest year; however, for an Academy that has some sort of perverse obsession with James Spader and Boston Legal, I will accept and exult in a rare moment of sensibility on their part (in other words, even a broken clock is right twice a day)!
If it makes you feel any better, imagine the Emmy statue placed in the Orchid chamber and sent back one or two years. I know, it's metal, so it shouldn't go in the chamber, but that never stopped Ben before!
To me, it seems like you're asking whether Season 5 was the best written work for Ben, not about Emerson's portrayal. In your season by season breakdown you question more the way the writers directed the character, not Emerson's portrayal of it, except for maybe Season 4, which I think was his best season.
Season 5 of Ben wasn't the best, but Michael Emerson deserved the Emmy this year. He was still great as Ben even though the storyline of his wasn't.
OK, I was having thoughts similar to yours when I heard he won. I guess the question is: Who do you think should have won? I think he's as deserving as any of the nominees.
I honestly agree with you Ryan, but the Emmys are awarded with no regard for merit at all.
Shows watched by massive audiences tend to win more often (30 Rock and Mad Men), and actors tend to either win too soon (actress from US of Tara) or too late (actor who used to play the father in Malcolm in the middle) or too late (case in point, Michael Emerson).
The same that happened with Michael Emerson is probably going to happen with Michael C. Hall, who was incredible in the first two seasons of Dexter and only moderatly awesome in season 3.
I think we're over thinking a bit too much. Shocker to me that Michael didn't receive the Emmy sooner than he did. It is all just inevitability, you act great you get an Emmy, Michael was bound to get one sooner or later. Besides his acting didn't get worse in season 5, his character did. I also agree with griffey, Michael got his Emmy for his overall acting on Lost. Narrowing it down to winning for his performance in season 5 alone would make me assume that whoever decides that he would win never even watched Lost before season 5. To me it seems that for Michael to win based alone on his performance in season 5 that would have to mean he deserved one for seasons 2-4 as well. Personally I see Ben as a more outstanding character prior to season 5, and an actor playing an outstanding character exceedingly well for 3 seasons deserves an Emmy. In my opinion there is nothing outstanding about Benjamin Linus in season 5 as a character when compared to what else we've seen about him. So for a character not many notches more interesting above the rest I would think an outstanding performance is hard to give. Not that I'm saying Michael's acting was any less brilliant in any way in season 5 than 2-4, simply that Ben was toned down as a character. All that being said it is obvious to me that Michael Emerson's achievement this year was based on his overall performance. If it isn't then I'm going to have to grab the zodiac, make a trip between a freighter and the island, experience a flash to my past, find the appropriate people, and finally slap them in their face with the rotting feet of Jennifer Gale, Henry Gales' dead wife, for obvious ignorance and recognition to Michael Emerson before season 5 of Lost. I know, I'm a nerd.
What episode did Michael Emerson submit anyway?
I would just like to point out that in Season 5, Ben Linus KILLED JOHN LOCKE. As much as I wasn't the greatest fan of 'The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham,' I would argue that that scene is one of the more amazing things that has ever happened. Certainly some of the best acting I have ever seen.
Ben killed John, and Jacob, and got everyone back to the Island, all in one season. As weak as the writing was at times, I bought all of it, and was intrigued by his motivations. Michael Emerson always rocks my socks, but this year he was given less material than usual and still gave some of the best performances of the year. Dude deserves some major props.