In a shocking turn of events, Mr. Robot star Rami Malek was snubbed by the 2017 Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series. The only explanation behind this egregious omission is that the dastardly Evil Corp must have hacked into Television Academy to rig things against the meddlesome leader of fsociety.
Granted, competition was incredibly fierce across the board this year — but particularly in Malek's field. Every single actor who was nominated in this category last year was eligible for a repeat nom in 2017; and the chances that they would all hear their names called again was slim to none. Especially you take into account how many acclaimed new series debuted over this past TV season. But almost nobody expected Malek to be one of the victims of this culling, considering that he wasn't just nominated last year… he won the award for his searing portrayal of the antisocial and troubled hacker Elliot Alderson.
Malek also won the Critics' Choice Award and was nominated for the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild Award last year; so while most people didn't expect the divisive second season of Mr. Robot to make it into the crowded Outstanding Drama Series category, it was still generally assumed that Malek would be recognized for his lauded performance.
That being said, it's somewhat hard to be mad about a category that includes returning heavyweights like Kevin Spacey (House Of Cards), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Matthew Rhys (The Americans), and Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan), alongside respected newcomers Anthony Hopkins (Westworld), Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us), and, in the most pleasant surprise, Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us). It's rare for an Acting category to contain seven nominees — it only happens when the vote is very close — which means it's likely that Malek only missed out by a very narrow margin.
Fortunately, Mr. Robot fans still have something to look forward to when the long-awaited Season 3 finally premieres this October. Hopefully, it will give Malek material that's juicy enough to land him back in the race next year.
