Antron McCray. Kevin Richardson. Yusef Salaam. Raymond Santana. Korey Wise.

Five names that walked into our lives and on our TV screens in Ava Duvernay Netflix Limited Series When They See Us. The four-part series detailed the court case and lives of the Central Park Five, whom were five young black and brown boys who were falsely accused of the rape and assault of a jogger. The series shows how their stories were coerced, their time in jail, and their life afterwards. Although the episodes and their story were painful to watch, their 16 Emmy nominations comes at no surprise.

The writing for this series done by Ava DuVernay and Michael Starrbury was impeccable but I think it was the acting that really took over our hearts. Notably one of the most deserved nominations goes to Jharrel Jerome who played not only young Korey Wise but adult Korey Wise as well. Jerome took us on Korey Wise’s very emotional story and did not let up. Other acting nominations were earned by Niecy Nash, Michael K. Williams, John Leguizamo, Marsha Blake, Vera Farmiga and Asante Black who played a young Kevin Richardson.

The nominations for When They See Us ranges from the acting, to the writing, to the music scores, and the editing. The series has racked up nominations in every category for a limited series.  And although the series was deemed unwatchable by a lot of people due to its nature, it is clear that the Television Academy saw greatness in this limited series.

See the complete list of the 2019 Emmy nominations here.

The 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards Airs On Fox September 22, 2019 8/7C

Maddy Brown

Feature photo: Netflix