The Walking Dead season 8: Should Chandler Riggs be Emmy contender?

After tonight’s The Walking Dead episode, should Chandler Riggs be considered an Emmy contender? Honestly, he really should have been one a while ago. Think back to the pudding episode, or really anytime in which the actor received some sort of substantial screen time and meaty material. He could make you laugh as Carl Grimes, he could make you frustrated, but at the same time also break your heart. He could do all of these things in a matter of minutes and that was what made him all the more spectacular in this role.

So why haven’t the Emmys taken note of him? The obvious answer there is that this is identified as a genre show — there have been many performances in between Riggs, Andrew Lincoln, Melissa McBride, Chad Coleman, and more that have been deserving over the years. Yet, we wonder if voters have shied away from supporting The Walking Dead because of the gore, the violence, or simply just the subject matter as a whole. Maybe they just view it as pure entertainment and don’t watch with enough of a critical lens.

Yet, with “Honor” tonight you should be seeing a game-changer. This performance by Riggs is one of the finest in the history of The Walking Dead and it should be enough for him to crack the Supporting Actor race. Will he? He’s probably still an underdog just because of the genre, but nonetheless, he’s worthy. He is an actor who, in the midst of despair, is still trying to offer up some hope as his character. He’s finding a way to bring lessons through pain and understanding through suffering. He’s stepping outside of his role of Carl, as a son and member of the group at Alexandria. This is so much more than that.

No matter where the series goes from here, the hope is that Emmy voters do continue to remember Riggs for what he did in “Honor.” It’s a long time until campaign season this summer, but his work here should transcend and speak for itself. Riggs was the heart and soul of The Walking Dead; the series may go on, but it will almost certainly not be the same.

In the end, it’s time for the man behind Carl Grimes to get his due, and we can only hope that others within the awards community feel the same.

Related – Check out what is coming on The Walking Dead next week

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