Rhea Seehorn deserves more recognition for her complex performance in Better Call Saul

Better Call Saul absolutely surprised me this season with its high quality. Ordinarily with TV shows, after 1-2 seasons I expect a dip or a breather, but Season 3 aced the previous 2 seasons altogether, and now my expectations are sky-high. With the crisp writing, the performances, and the direction being this good, every episode was a banger and its hard to believe this is a spin-off of an established franchise. It holds so well as a stand-alone. Hat's off to Team Gilligan. But what's stood out increasingly for me is the performance of Rhea Seehorn whom I pretty much consider the soul of this show at this point, and am shocked at how little she's spoken of in terms of acting. I'm not one for crushes on on-screen personalities, and she's objectively far from the prettiest, but its how she plays Kim Wexler that's humanized for me, all those dull lawyers I see with their suited back against their firm's wall, routinely smoking their next cigarette. Yes, I love her voice. But here are some reasons I'd like her to get some recognition, possibly even an important industry award:

[MILD SEASON 3 SPOILERS BELOW]

1. Restrained emotions: Its not just that she's playing a lawyer, a profession who's impersonation already demands a combination of authoritative aggression and suave subtlety as Michael McKean spectacularly shows us; its a facade she needs to increasingly maintain even when she's around with Jimmy, and it helps her to step back from indulging him. What is interesting here is I spot a growth every season from how easily she used to participate with Jimmy in his antics before when she was in HHM, to how she tries to humor Jimmy without insulting him to later on even looking at him as one sees a child that is beyond change, but someone she still loves having known him for so long because that's the kind of person she somehow still needs. That's a lot of emotional handling with facial expressions and timing alone.

2. Her relationship with Jimmy: I personally think she lights up the screen (and Jimmy's life) every time she steps in, but putting personal feelings aside, every season, there's been a change in her relationship with Jimmy, and yet, she stands by him in the end. Each time she moves back a step further away because of his decisions (and Rhea's performance is so subtle here); this psychological shift is so evidently contrasted by her physical availability for Jimmy (without bending over backward). She's trying so hard to somehow keep him in her life. Though we know what's going to happen to Jimmy( and kudos to the makers for still managing to keep us engrossed in his life despite of that), its obvious that Kim Wexler will probably have to bury the child inside and part ways because the other irresponsible child she's dealing with will never grow up.

3. Staying headstrong: In Season 3, we were really allowed to come close to Kim and the importance of her own ambitions become relevant to us; the scenes where she gets back at Howard for handing her a chit while she's dining with her clients was a kicker and crystallized her ambition, her previously subtler hints at respect are now vocalized with amour-propre, and yet, while Jimmy undermines her ideas though he's the underperformer between the two, she remains unfazed, every-single-time. What we don't know sometimes is if she's being tolerant or being a very generous person. This is cleverly held back by her performance. Even in the midst of her preparation for the new client, she's being repeatedly distracted by Jimmy - and I did expect her to at least blow her top then, but she gives him all the time he needs. In the same episode IIRC, this regard for Jimmy is contrasted by how she sleeplessly organizes her next client meeting and has a horrible breakdown (won't spoil it!). But it kind of summarizes how tough her position in the show is in relation to her ambitions of her character. Just for that, I really wish they expand her storyline and even add some reasonable back story before dismissing her from Jimmy's life.

I just checked her IMDb page and she's got 2 satellite awards. I mean what? So it took a brilliant mind like Vince Gilligan to unlock her previously untapped potential? Hope other producers take note now, because she's someone who clearly throws everything into her performance. She's the kind of actor I'd love to see go a long way.

Submitted September 24, 2017 at 03:10PM by ultra_paradox http://ift.tt/2hoc2FJ