The nominations have been announced for The 71st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. So now, it's time to speculate on who will and should win in each major category. Next up for analysis is Directing for a Drama Series.The Nominees Ranked By Which Should Win:
- Miguel Sapochnik for HBO's Game of Thrones - "The Long Night"
- Adam McKay for HBO's Succession - "Celebration"
- Daina Reid for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale - "Holly"
- Lisa Brühlmann for BBC America's Killing Eve - "Desperate Times"
- David Nutter for HBO's Game of Thrones - "The Last of the Starks"
- David Benioff & D.B. Weiss for HBO's Game of Thrones - "The Iron Throne"
- Jason Bateman for Netflix's Ozark - "Reparations"
Game of Thrones has long been one of the most visually stunning shows on television. It has the budget to create some incredible special effects. The battles that Miguel Sapochnik got to direct were absolutely spectacular. Sure, his episode received complaints about being too dark visually. And yet, there were still a number of truly chaotic and gorgeous moments that proved such a command over the set and the story being told. It also just benefits from being one of the episodes from the final season that was actually thrilling in a way that engaged the audience and made them want to see what happened next. David Nutter probably submitted the wrong episode while the series finale was full of some questionable choices from David Benioff & D.B. Weiss - more so from the writing but the directing could suffer from that response too. Of course, it's still baffling that Ozark gets into the directing race. That's a show with a grim and unbearable visual palette that makes no sense whatsoever. It's simply more fun to spend time in the worlds of Succession and Killing Eve. Those are the shows breaking new ground with the ways in which they tell stories about a specific collection of characters and the insane plots they get trapped in.
The Nominees Ranked by Which Will Win:
- Miguel Sapochnik for HBO's Game of Thrones - "The Long Night"
- David Nutter for HBO's Game of Thrones - "The Last of the Starks"
- Adam McKay for HBO's Succession - "Celebration"
- Daina Reid for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale - "Holly"
- David Benioff & D.B. Weiss for HBO's Game of Thrones - "The Iron Throne"
- Jason Bateman for Netflix's Ozark - "Reparations"
- Lisa Brühlmann for BBC America's Killing Eve - "Desperate Times"
Nutter and Sapochnik have both win Emmys for directing Game of Thrones. Nutter won in 2015 for the fifth season finale while Sapochnik prevailed in 2016 for the battle of the bastards. And now, Sapochnik could once again be seen as the frontrunner for directing one of the most epic battles to be depicted in the series. Again, it's such a mastery of the craft that it's easy to see "The Long Night" ahead of most of the competitors. Nutter did some stunning work during the final season as well. It would just be strange if "The Last of the Starks" won instead of the other two Game of Thrones nominees. If that HBO show doesn't win though, then another could easily take its place thanks to Adam McKay. Succession has received significant critical praise. Plus, it's premiere was directed by an Academy Award winner. That has been a winning strategy in this category in the past. Those appear to be the strong contenders for the win in this category. It would be notable if either Daina Raid or Lisa Brühlmann won simply because only three women have ever previously won in this category. But their victory would come just two years after Reed Morano's which is certainly better than having to wait twenty years for the voters to recognize that directing is no longer an all-boys club. It's still an ongoing struggle though. But two nominees here makes the odds stronger despite how formidable the frontrunners may be.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my predictions? Let me know in the comments below!
