Outlander Emmy watch: Measuring the Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe performances

One of the things that we’ve been doing the past few episodes is an Outlander Emmy watch for the show itself and its cast members. While Emmy season isn’t actually until next summer, these performances we’re seeing now could define whether or not either Caitriona Balfe or Sam Heughan get their first ever nomination for the awards show. (Balfe got some Golden Globe love in the past, as has Tobias Menzies, and we’re hoping that she and Sam both get a nod later this year!)

Are they worthy based on tonight’s “A. Malcolm” alone? We’d absolutely say so for a number of different reasons — with the biggest one being how they were able to make the back-and-forth at times feel effortless even when it was not. With some of the reunion scenes the two had to play Claire and Jamie at their most romantic — yet, there was comedy there and they were jumping back and forth from dramatic, passionate material to something a little bit lighter. Trying to make that dynamic feel natural as opposed to being stuck in your own head is deceptively challenging — there may not have been a huge, powerful monologue in the middle of the episode for either party, but what they had was soft, intimate, and relatable. It felt more true to life than almost any love scene you’ve seen on any other show.

Contrast some of the beautiful material we saw for them tonight, as well, to the deeply vulnerable stuff Heughan had in 3×04 and Balfe had in 3×05. They’ve shown so many wrinkles to these characters and made them feel properly fleshed-out as people. This should also be considered and commended.

We would hope that Emmy voters would consider a cumulative performance for Balfe and Heughan as opposed to a singular-episode performance given that Outlander manages for them to flex so many different muscles. Even with that said, we’re not sure that you are going to find a better episode for the two to submit than “A. Malcolm” that showcases two great individual performances that support each other on the same level. Caitriona makes Sam better and vice-versa.

If Emmy voters out there do have a romantic bone in their body you have to think they’ll take a hard look at “A. Malcolm” when determining whether or not they want to hand these two a nomination. We’ll find out more next year…

What do you think are the current Outlander Emmy odds?

What we’d like to do is get you to interact in a number of different ways. Share in the polls below what you think are the best performances this season for both Balfe and Heughan! We’ll revisit this as the season goes on.

If you missed it, head over here to read our full review for “A. Malcolm” as a whole, and click here to preview more of what is coming up.

Meanwhile, like us on Facebook in the event you want some more news regarding Outlander and some other shows we cover at CarterMatt. (Photo: Starz.)