2014 Emmys: Sophie Turner, Maggie Siff, Melissa McBride score CarterMatt – Supporting Actress nods

We always enjoy Emmy categories where it does not necessarily feel like there is any defined favorite, and that is the sort of position that we are in here for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Anna Gunn is probably the favorite, but will voters feel like the “Breaking Bad” victory tour has already gone on for too long?

Before presenting our picks, we do like to list of some of our honorable mentions, and this time the women who just missed the cut include Christine Baranski (“The Good Wife”), Bellamy Young (“Scandal”), Natalie Dormer (“Game of Thrones”), Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”), Michelle Monaghan (“True Detective”), and Monica Potter (“Parenthood”).

Anna Gunn, “Breaking Bad” (AMC) – We’ve always felt for Skyler White, but the greatness of this character is that she was never a sympathy figure. Gunn’s performance was such that it was complicated to root for her thanks to her own occasional indiscretions, which is probably why many fans chose to embrace people like Walt who were innately far more evil. In the end, we like to imagine that she was able to climb out of her hole and find some peace in her life.

Willa Holland, “Arrow” (The CW) – What’s this? A CW star on an Emmy ballot? It’s time, and Willa completely killed it in the final few episodes of the season. It is moments like hers with Malcolm Merlyn that make you want to petition for her to have way more screen time in season 4.

Melissa McBride, “The Walking Dead” (AMC) – Don’t look at the flowers; instead, vote for McBride. She was the star of “The Grove,” which by our own opinion is the best episode that the series has ever done. While we were bummed by the extended absence of Carol on the show, but it was all worth it to come back to this.

Sandra Oh, “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC) – Sure, there are some out there that will consider this a legacy vote based mostly on this past season being the last one for Sandra on the show. We won’t blame you for feeling that way, but she really ran the gamut of emotions this year. Not only that, but this feels like a nice way to make up for three or four years that Sandra has been snubbed due to other actors who are on “hotter” shows.

Sophie Turner, “Game of Thrones” (HBO) – This was the season where Sophie got a chance to put many of the Sansa-haters in their place. Unlike the majority of our other characters, she has been forced to survive without the aid of armor, weapons, or really very many allies. Yet, somehow Sansa perseveres, and Turner’s work has helped to make this character more and more complex by the day.

Maggie Siff, “Sons of Anarchy” (FX) – Siff’s final year on the show was marked with deceitful plots against Tara, desperation, fear, and at times empowerment. The fact that Tara worked so hard to try to do the right thing, only to lose out to the very woman she had previously defeated in Gemma, is heartbreaking. Maggie has been great in this role for years, but this is the one that pushed it over the top.

Want to sound off with your opinion? That is what the poll below is for! Click here if you also want to see the rest of our Emmy categories so far (there is one coming every day), or here to get further good stuff on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

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