Can Jonathan Banks and Giancarlo Esposito return to the Emmy race for ‘Better Call Saul’s’ final season?

Calling all Emmy voters: The men of “Better Call Saul” are staging a comeback.

Jonathan Banks earned his first Emmy nomination for portraying the dangerous and methodical fixer Mike Ehrmantraut on “Breaking Bad” in 2013. Since then, he’s earned four additional Best Drama Supporting Actor bids for his portrayal of the character on the AMC series’ acclaimed prequel “Better Call Saul.” In 2015, his first bid for the spin-off entered him in the history books: He became the first actor to be nominated in the category for three different shows (he received a nomination in 1989 for his performance as Frank McPike on the CBS drama “Wiseguy”). Six years later, in 2021, Giancarlo Esposito, Banks’ co-star on both “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” became the second actor to do it after earning bids for playing drug kingpin Gustavo Fring on both series before snagging a nom for his turn as the villainous Moff Gideon on the Disney+ Star Wars drama “The Mandalorian.” As we (reluctantly) approach the end of “Better Call Saul’s” Emmy eligibility — the final six episodes aired last summer — fans are left wondering: Can either actor make it back into the Emmy fold in such a deep field?

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The race for Best Drama Supporting Actor has long been one of the most competitive races, in part because of the advent of streaming in the early 2010s, which followed an obvious rise in the quality of TV shows being produced on cable beginning in the 2000s. We’ve seen many talented, deserving actors either never break through or sneak in once only to fall off the ballot the following year and never make it back (see: “Justified’s” Walton Goggins). Esposito’s last nomination for “Better Call Saul” came in 2020, while Banks’ was in 2019. This is despite the fact the show earned a nom for Best Drama Series last year while Bob Odenkirk and first-time nominee Rhea Seehorn scored nominations for lead actor and supporting actress, respectively. The spots Banks and Esposito previously held in supporting were filled by actors from Apple TV+’s sci-fi thriller “Severance” and Netflix’s Korean import “Squid Game.” But neither watercooler series is eligible this year, and with “The Morning Show” also out of the picture, Esposito and Banks could easily slide back in after delivering stellar performances in the show’s final episodes. Banks’ individual Screen Actors Guild Award nomination — his first — earlier this year also bodes well. Whether or not they do largely hinges on the familiar faces fighting for real estate: the men of “Succession.”

Since debuting in 2018, the HBO drama has twice earned three nominations for Best Drama Supporting Actor for stars Nicholas Braun, Kieran Culkin and Matthew Macfadyen (the last of whom won in 2022). They looked prime for a repeat, but with the news that Culkin — the MVP of the show’s fourth and final season — will submit in lead, it leaves yet another slot open. So the odds of Esposito and Banks returning to the fold for “Better Call Saul’s” own swan song appear to be even better than one might have expected.

SEE How ‘Better Call Saul’ could finally win its first Emmy

Esposito currently sits in third place at 15/2 odds behind Macfadyen and F. Murray Abraham of “The White Lotus.” Banks, meanwhile, is in ninth place at 22/1 odds. The rest of the top 10 is filled out by former nominees and respected veterans. Matt Smith (“House of the Dragon”) sits in fourth, while John Lithgow (“The Old Man”) — who could become the third actor to be nominated in the category for three separate shows — is comfortably in fifth. Braun and fellow “Succession” actor Alan Ruck are in sixth and seventh, while Jonathan Pryce (“The Crown”) and Stellan Skarsgård (“Andor”) sit in eighth and tenth place, respectively.

While his arc is a little less meaty this year, Macfadyen is likely a lock for his performance as Tom Wambsgans, and there’s a decent shot Braun will repeat as well for his turn as Cousin Greg. Culkin’s move means that there might finally be room for Ruck, who plays the eldest Roy sibling, to sneak in. However, it remains to be seen where “Succession” star and two-time lead actor nominee Brian Cox will submit after his character, Logan Roy, died in the third episode of the season. Additionally, it’s possible Alexander Skarsgård, who was nominated last year as a guest star, could compete in supporting against his own father if he appears in more than half of the season’s 10 episodes.

Both Cox (an Emmy winner for “Nuremberg”) and Skarsgård the younger (an Emmy winner for “Big Little Lies”) could pose real trouble for Esposito and Banks, neither of whom have ever won for their performances on “Breaking Bad” or “Better Call Saul” despite numerous nominations. But like the men of “Succession,” they too have finality on their side. ​​This is their last opportunity to be recognized for their work on one of the best shows of the last decade, itself an extension of what many consider to be one of the best shows of all time. The body of one’s work on a TV show is something voters have often taken into consideration when casting their votes for a series that is ending. And with so many slots open this year, it would be relatively easy for Banks or Esposito, both of whom have been well liked by the academy in the past, to slip back into their familiar spots. And, hey, even if they don’t, maybe we can convince “Better Call Saul” co-creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould to team up for yet another spin-off.

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