This past week saw the announcement of the 2018 Primetime Emmy nominations. After giving my dream picks for the nominees, I thought that I would now share my picks for the winners in each major category, based on the actual nominees, as well as my quick take on who and what was nominated. Most of it I got wrong, but there were still a few pleasant surprises and many deserving nominees. I'll do this in 2 parts, starting with the drama nominees:
OUTSTANDING DRAMA (2017 winner: The Handmaid’s Tale)
The Americans
The Crown
Game of Thrones
The Handmaid’s Tale
Stranger Things
This Is Us
Westworld
Quick Take: Most of these are predictable but deserving picks, however I have found Stranger Things to be a highly over-hyped and overrated letdown. This is an extremely unpopular opinion, but so be it. Not many people watch it due to being on mostly-unknown streaming service CBS All Access, but I would add The Good Wife spinoff The Good Fight in its place; it's smart, sharp, and highly engrossing tv.
My Pick: I'd call it a tie between Game of Thrones and The Handmaid's Tale. The penultimate season of Thrones raised the stakes both in terms of storytelling and visual spectacle, finally bringing its many characters and stories together and setting things up for an amazing finish next year. Handmaid's is much more quiet in its storytelling but no less effective. The acting is amazing across the board, and it effectively offers commentary on the modern world with its depiction of a fictional, nightmarish dictatorship.
LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA (2017 winner: Sterling K. Brown)
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Ed Harris, Westworld
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld
Quick Take: I don't watch many of these shows, but I can't argue with the caliber of any of the actors on the list. I would add Delroy Lindo from The Good Fight, the strongest male actor on the show. He's a tough but likable boss. Lindo showed his skills this season as his character took center stage.
My Pick: Sterling K. Brown won last year, and I would pick him to win again. He's the best actor on This Is Us and half of the most believable fictional couple on tv. He's the glue that holds this show together, and his story about taking in a foster child this season was moving when it could have been hokey, thanks mainly to Brown.
LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA (2017 winner: Elisabeth Moss)
Claire Foy, The Crown
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Keri Russell, The Americans
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld
Quick Take: I'm happy to see Sandra Oh nominated for the little-watched BBC America drama Killing Eve, but I would add Oh's costar Jodie Comer, who played her rival Villanelle and stole every scene that she appeared in. I would also add Mandy Moore for This is Us, who had an amazing season as her character mourned the death of her husband Jack. She handles the show's multiple time-jumps believably and better than any other actor on the show.
My Pick: I would have to repeat Elisabeth Moss on The Handmaid's Tale. Her character went through the wringer even more in season 2, and Moss more than lived up to the physical and emotional challenges of her role.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA (2017 winner: Ann Dowd)
Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid’s Tale
Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things
Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Vanessa Kirby, The Crown
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid’s Tale
Quick Take: I'm happy to see all of the talented Handmaid's actresses getting nominations, as well as the first nomination for the alluring Vanessa Kirby from The Crown. However, it's a shame that Susan Kelechi Watson wasn't recognized for This is Us in her role as Beth, Randall's (Sterling K. Brown) wife. She holds her own against the best actor on the show.
My Pick: Ann Dowd is incredible and deserved her win last year, but her evil character Aunt Lydia played a somewhat smaller role in the show's second season. I would pick Alexis Bledel, known to viewers for years on Gilmore Girls as Rory but here playing a tortured young woman driven to murder by her circumstances. Bledel's character Emily became unhinged by repeated rape, torture, and slavery, and the actress effectively portrayed a woman on the edge in her increased season 2 role.
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA (2017 winner: John Lithgow)
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Joseph Fiennes, The Handmaid’s Tale
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
David Harbour, Stranger Things
Matt Smith, The Crown
Quick Take: I can't agree with many of these nominations. Dinklage is great and deserved his past wins, but his character Tyrion didn't really do all that much during season 7. In addition, Smith is one of the weaker actors on The Crown. I would add Jeff Perry for his character's evil turn on the final season of Scandal, as well as Max Minghella for his subtle work on The Handmaid's Tale, the only main actor on the show who DIDN'T actually receive a nomination.
My Pick: Based on these nominations, I would have to go with Joseph Fiennes of Handmaid's Tale. Normally I don't like one show to rack up so many major awards, but in this case I believe it's deserved. Fiennes turned his character Commander Waterford from sympathetic to pretty evil and irredeemable in season 2. He never took his character over-the-top, which he easily could have done.
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