Grey’s Anatomy season 14: Celebrating Kevin McKidd, the constant Emmy darkhorse

There was a lot that transpired on Grey’s Anatomy season 14, and with that it’s easy for things to be overshadowed. The performance of Kevin McKidd is one of them in between what happened with Owen and Amelia and also the end of the episode with Riggs departing.

If you want to read more about these things, a good starting-off point is the story over at the link here.

Now, let’s get back into what is the main meat of our discussion here: Trying to understand why McKidd, arguably one of the show’s best actors and a constant undercurrent of greatness on the show, never gets the credit that he deserves. He brings so much power to his scenes, but also relatability. He doesn’t play Owen like he’s out of reach. He could be your older brother or your troubled good friend, someone you would think had at all together only for that to not be the case. He’s an anchor of so many relationships on the show and perhaps this season more so than any other he’s felt a little bit more like a lead.

Unfortunately when it comes to awards, McKidd missed out on the earlier part of Grey’s Anatomy where the handing out of awards was a little bit more liberal. Shows later on in the series’ run just don’t get the same attention. it’s a shame, but it is what it is and it’s hard to know of a good way to turn that tendency for awards-shows around to go with the shiny new toy and ignore some of the standbys.

Yet, all you have to do is look at episodes like tonight’s “Danger Zone” to know that he’s a worthy contender — he’s someone who is maybe a whisper to many voters, but they often get caught up on shows that are either A) on cable or B) streaming. We just hope that with articles like these at least us as viewers out there will be able to not take his performances for granted — the same goes for Ellen Pompeo and Caterina Scorsone, two other actors who routinely turn in great performances and do not get the love that they deserve. (McKidd and Scorsone had an especially wonderful one at the end of “Danger Zone” where some of their best dialogue was unspoken.)

In general, we tend to overlook and undervalue the actors who are with us every week for much of the year. Let’s not do that here, and let’s consider instead the lovely performance McKidd gives on an almost-constant basis.

Do you think that McKidd has always been routinely underappreciated, and what do you think needs to be done for that to change? Share in the comments below!

Also, head over here to get some more news on the departure of Martin Henderson or like us on Facebook for additional news both on Grey’s Anatomy and others we cover. (Photo: ABC.)