• About Us
  • Advertising on Awards Daily
Thursday, January 26, 2023
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
Awardsdaily
  • Home
  • Good As Gold
  • AD TV
  • Calendar 2023
  • Podcasts
  • Interviews
  • Follow us on Twitter
    • Awards Daily
    • Sasha Stone
    • Ryan Adams
    • Clarence Moye
    • Mark Johnson
  • All News
  • Home
  • Good As Gold
  • AD TV
  • Calendar 2023
  • Podcasts
  • Interviews
  • Follow us on Twitter
    • Awards Daily
    • Sasha Stone
    • Ryan Adams
    • Clarence Moye
    • Mark Johnson
  • All News
No Result
View All Result
Awardsdaily
No Result
View All Result

The Case For: Tom Pelphrey for ‘Ozark’

by David Phillips
August 11, 2022
in ADTV, The Case For
0
The Case For: Tom Pelphrey for ‘Ozark’

Download: The Case For: Tom Pelphrey for ‘Ozark’

It was a sizable surprise to many when Tom Pelphrey didn’t get a Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series nomination for his performance as Ben Davis, the doomed brother of Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney) in the third season of Netflix’s Ozark. Pelphrey’s ability to move from seemingly steady, to euphoric, to deep depression as the bipolar Davis was remarkably believable. 

Aside from whatever technique that was required to phase in and out of his character’s ever changing moods, there was a deep, heartbreaking soulfulness to his performance as well. Whether Ben was sparring with Wendy (seldom has a brother/sister relationship been portrayed with such complexity), bonding with her teenage son Jonah, romancing Ruth, or completely losing his shit at various points, you never questioned the character’s authenticity or Pelphrey’s commitment to the role.

Put all that together with Ben’s tragic end, and Ozark’s Emmy-friendly voting bloc, and one might have seen Pelphrey as a shoo-in for a nomination. However, when the roll was called, Pelphrey was not on it, and many a fan and journalist were left slack-jawed. 

Of course, we never actually saw Ben die at the hands of Nelson (Nelson Bonilla), we only saw the moment that the cartel henchman came for him (at Wendy’s behest) and the aftermath involving the dispatching of his body by incineration. It took the fourth and final season of Ozark to fill in that blank space, and it did so in wrenching fashion. 

We come back to Ben in the restaurant, looking for Wendy, right before the point when he sees Nelson come for him. Wendy has left the restaurant and dropped a dime on her own brother—deciding that he is simply too erratic and dangerous to save. Ben’s very existence puts Wendy and her family’s own fate in a never ending state of peril, and Wendy is nothing if not a survivor. 

That haunting moment as Nelson approaches and Ben knows how he got there was searing enough in season three. Even so, little can prepare the viewer for what happens between that moment and his eventual death. You see Pelphrey masterfully take Ben through all the stages of grief: denial, bargaining, and acceptance, and then even more bargaining.

And that’s the part that hurts so intensely that one could be forgiven for wanting to look away—the bargaining. Nelson is a stone-cold killer. Ben knows that. Even as he weakly tries to reason with Nelson, Ben, who may be mentally addled, is not stupid. This is going to happen. 

Perhaps no moment this year on television was as painful as Ben berating himself and pounding his head against the passenger’s seat window of Nelson’s black as his dark heart SUV. As the tears stream down Ben’s face, and the thudding sound of his soon to be shot through the head cranium connects over and over against that thick glass, and Ben performs a mantra of self-hate, it is an almost unbearable sight. 

In fact, the whole drive is excruciating. Ben’s effort to make some sort of human connection goes entirely unfulfilled. Nelson is a cold as a stone killing machine, and he offers no semblance of humanity back. Ben is a job to Nelson, and Nelson is going to do his job. 

At one point on this excruciatingly long drive, Ben calms down, and seems to find acceptance. Then he and his killer arrive at the secluded location where Ben’s life will be put to an end, and you see him try to engage Nelson one last time, as if to steal just a few more seconds of precious life, but again, Nelson is not there for that. He is there to have Ben go to his knees, stay still, and take a bullet to the head. 

The brutal, efficient nature of the killing is hard to stomach. Ben, a genuine physical force in his own right, never fights or attempts to escape. While that effort would have almost certainly ended in futility, it’s the fact that he doesn’t try that I found so significant. As much as Ben clearly still wants to live, he’s just too tired, too sad, and too lost to put forth the effort. All his pride is gone, and soon, so is he. The writing and direction of the sequence is extraordinary enough, but it’s the performance of Pelphrey that makes every inevitable moment so shattering. 

The Emmys missed on Pelphrey for season three, but they have at least partially redeemed themselves by nominating him in the category of guest actor in season four. Now that Pelphrey is here, where he belonged all along, I can’t imagine how anyone would vote for another actor in this category—no matter how fine the work of Pelphrey’s competitors. 

Tom Pelphrey’s performance in that single episode of Ozark’s somewhat polarizing final season should be impossible to deny. I hope the Emmy voters don’t prove me wrong.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • WhatsApp
  • Print
Tags: EMMYSFYCLaura LinneyNetflixOzarktom pelphrey
David Phillips

David Phillips

David Phillips has been writing for Awards Daily since 2018. He is a co-creator of the Reframe series, interviewer du jour, and proud member of GALECA and the Indiana Film Journalists Association. He also scribes on boxing at NYFights.com and runs his own blog dedicated to the appreciation of classic and overlooked films, reelreframe.com. His essay "My Black Grandpa" was shortlisted as "Best of Folklore" by The Bitter Southerner in 2018. His first work of fiction, "Eat 'Em Up, Tigers!" was published in Detroit Stories Quarterly in the 2020 summer edition. Author of Goodnight to the Peoples. You can follow David on Twitter @BrotherJulius83.

Related Posts

2023 Sundance Film Festival: Megan Weighs In On What She’s Seen So Far

2023 Sundance Film Festival: Megan Weighs In On What She’s Seen So Far

by Clarence Moye
January 24, 2023
0

Megan is virtually representing Awards Daily at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, so she's bringing the best of what she's...

Makoto Shinkai’s ‘Suzme’ To Have International Premiere at 73rd Berlin International Film Festival

Makoto Shinkai’s ‘Suzme’ To Have International Premiere at 73rd Berlin International Film Festival

by Ben Morris
January 24, 2023
0

Culver City, California, January 23, 2023 – The Berlin International Film Festival (“Berlinale”) today announced that Makoto Shinkai’s latest film,...

scadtv fest

Sarah Michelle Gellar to receive Icon Award at 2023 SCAD TVfest in Atlanta

by Megan McLachlan
January 23, 2023
0

ATLANTA, Ga. — Jan. 23, 2023 — The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) proudly announces award-winning actor and producer Sarah...

Crunchyroll Anime Awards Announces 2023 Nominees

Crunchyroll Anime Awards Announces 2023 Nominees

by Ben Morris
January 19, 2023
0

Culver City, Calif., January 19, 2023 - The nominees for the seventh annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards have been announced today,...

NATAS Announces Recipients of 74th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy®  Awards

NATAS Announces Recipients of 74th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy® Awards

by Clarence Moye
January 19, 2023
0

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) today announced the recipients of the 74th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy®...

Ben’s Picks for the Upcoming Crunchyroll Anime Awards

Ben’s Picks for the Upcoming Crunchyroll Anime Awards

by Ben Morris
January 19, 2023
0

The Crunchyroll Anime Award nominations will be announced soon, so I wanted to promote my personal top six shows that...

Next Post
Murray Bartlett On the Magic of Playing Armond in Mike White’s ‘The White Lotus’

Murray Bartlett On the Magic of Playing Armond in Mike White's 'The White Lotus'

Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2023

Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2023

January 26, 2023
A Note on Comments and Comment Moderation

A Note on Comments and Comment Moderation

January 26, 2023
Oscar Predictions 2023: Best Actor and Picture Connection

2023 Oscar Nominee: Wayne Pashley on Recreating Iconic ‘Elvis’ Sounds, Performances

January 26, 2023
Oscars 2023: Is the Oscar Movie Really Dying?

Oscars 2023: Writers Guild Announces Nominations

by Sasha Stone
January 25, 2023
71

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New York and Los Angeles (January 25, 2023) – Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and Writers...

Oscars 2023: Academy Members as Social Media Influencers

Oscars 2023: Academy Members as Social Media Influencers

by Sasha Stone
January 25, 2023
268

A brand new career has opened up for Academy members. It's the same path open to just about about every...

All This and the Oscars Too – Big Awards Drop

Oscar Podcast – Reacting to the Nominees

by Sasha Stone
January 24, 2023
38

A quick chat between me, Ryan and Clarence (we missed Mark this time) on the Oscar nominees. Low key rundown...

Oscars 2023: Frontrunners and Their Challengers, Post Nominations

Oscars 2023: Frontrunners and Their Challengers, Post Nominations

by Sasha Stone
January 24, 2023
541

The Oscar nominations dropped this morning. The Academy's nominations were live for the first time in a while, which was...

2023 Oscar Predictions: Breaking Down the Documentary Short Subject Shortlist

2023 Oscar Predictions: Breaking Down the Documentary Short Subject Shortlist

by Joey Moser
January 26, 2023
1

For most of the year, the short film categories are a mystery. The next time you attend a film festival,...

Good As Gold: Final 2023 Oscar Predictions Manifesto

Good As Gold: Final 2023 Oscar Predictions Manifesto

by Mark Johnson
January 23, 2023
36

Another year, another run through the film awards gauntlet. While the Good As Gold column has not been as prominent...

AwardsDaily Crew

  • About Us
  • Sasha Stone
  • Editor Ryan Adams
  • Editor Clarence Moye
  • Editor Mark Johnson
  • Contact Us

ADTV Crew

  • ADTV Home
  • Megan McLachlan, Editor
  • Joey Moser, Editor
  • Clarence Moye, Editor
  • Jalal Haddad, Senior Contributor
  • Shadan Larki
  • Ben Morris
  • David Phillips
  • Advertising on Awards Daily
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Oscar Podcast
  • AwardsDailyTV

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Good As Gold
  • AD TV
  • Calendar 2023
  • Podcasts
  • Interviews
  • Follow us on Twitter
    • Awards Daily
    • Sasha Stone
    • Ryan Adams
    • Clarence Moye
    • Mark Johnson
  • All News

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In